Hijabi Love
I got an email from the organizer of the Islam in America Conference today, and he attached the following poster image. It’s good to know the ‘blog world is having an influence somewhere. Congratulations HijabMan.
Month: February 2004
Schimmel and the Marsiya
Annemarie Schimmel was one of the greatest, if not the greatest, commentator on Islamic literatures writing in English. Her works are magisterial, and very diverse. I’ve discovered one of her articles on-line, and it’s about the marsiya tradition. Her translations are just beautiful. I wish they had also included the original texts.
New Books added
A few new books added to our sidebar items. One is on mystical poetry and symbolism in Islamic literatures, by Annemarie Schimmel. Another is a theoretical framework for understanding some of the issues plaguing Muslim majority societies. It covers a wide-range of disciplines including religion, economics and history. The newest one is a discussion of the stories of Joseph/Yusuf found in the Hebrew Bible and in the Qur’an.
Such a long time
It’s been such a long time since I read Salman Pax’s blog. I recently returned to it and found a great write-up by him about the formal split between Shi’ahs and other Muslims. The photos are new for me and he’s really got an eye for it.
Morocco Quake
A major earthquake has hit Morocco, causing hundreds of deaths. Please give to whatever relief effort you can. I personally use the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, so money can go where it’s most needed. While we do recognize disasters that predominantly affect Muslims, we also acknowledge the value of all human life and strive to help people whenever we can. Any surplus given to the general fund will be redistributed to needy areas.
Education and Ignorance
This article is a nice discussion of what’s at stake in the education process in Pakistan, particularly for women. I particularly like the closing paragraph, cliché as it is: we cannot afford to allow a minority to hold a majority at ransom. We just cannot afford to allow any individuals or any groups to derail the present efforts in the education sector or give foreign agencies working in this field any reason to pull out.
The Reel News
I was watching The Daily Show with Jon Stewart last night and he had the most succinct commentary about why a constitutional amendment banning gay-marriage is a flawed proposition. They only other time we’ve had an amendment dealing with individual morality was prohibition. We all know how well that one went. What would we do without independent news outlets?
Yo Say José
One of the activities that some Shi’ah participate in during Muharram is to chant “Ya Hasan! Ya Husayn!” “Oh Hasan! Oh Husayn!” These were the Prophet’s (PBUH) grandsons, both of whom were assassinated. When the British came to South Asia they heard “Hobson-Jobson” and thus was born the Anglo-Indian Dictionary. Hobson-Jobson is the dictionary of all the words that have entered English from South Asia. The list is quite entertaining and exhaustive. There has been an attempt to supplement it with some of the words that have gained currency in the 20th century in a book called Sahibs, Nabobs and…
Moslemic America [updated]
Been going to this conference since its inception. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. This year looks good. Come out and represent. [Update] Much love to HijabMan for reminding me about the conference. Most of the islamicate group will be coming, as will he. If anyone else from the blogosphere is planning on attending, please drop me a line and I’ll try to get us all together. Email is: islamoyankee at yourmotheristhesourceofallspam.mac.com (just remove the “your mother” comment.)