Very Inventive

I just finished re-reading an interesting article by Kathleen Moore, “Representation of Islam in the Language of Law: Some Recent U.S. Cases,” in Muslims in the West: From Sojourners to Citizens edited by Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad. I quite like this article because it talks about the works of the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in preserving the civil rights of Muslims. CAIR launches lawsuits on the behalf of Muslims who have faced some sort of discrimination because of their beliefs. This particular article focuses on a few cases of men who were fired/not hired because they had beards, and these…

I tend not to post on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict because I do not perceive it as an issue of religious conflict from the Muslim perspective, and with the sizable number of Christians there, it is easy to make this obvious. However, the recent Gaza bombing, immediately following a blockade of food and certain medical supplies, is horrific. Haroon is covering, as is the excellent Global Voices. Mark Lynch, Abu Aardvark, posts some possibilities  for how this may destabilize the entire region. Not a good scenario. Brian adds more. Apparently the strike has been in the works since before the ceasefire. (h/t…

Unveiling the truth: Muslim life on campus – The Hofstra Chronicle – @Hofstra. “For being one of the most religious nations in the world we don’t have a good vocabulary to talk about religion. There should be education on religion not about Islam per se, but about religion in general starting on a secondary level,” said Rashid, “It’s not just about getting people interested in learning about other cultures and religions, it’s about people getting curious again. People need to get excited about learning again.”