IIA – Teaching Islam

I found this military intrusion into civilian affairs and subsequent events worthy of note. Especially since this is the type of conference that I might have attended had I been in Austin at the time.

In a stunning turn of events in India, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s BJP party was upset by Mrs. Sonia Gandhi’s Congress Party. As an American Muslim of Indian descent, I have some strong feelings about India in general and about the communal violence between Hindus and Muslims in India over the past few years. Though the majority of Indian citizens are Hindu, people quickly forget that there are more Muslims in India than in Pakistan (approx 100 million). I believe that the ousted party bears some responsibility for the communcal violence, but the reason I am posting this information…

I liked this CNN article because it blew away a few stereotypes I had. Also, today, I heard an Iranian girl recite a prayer in Arabic, and some South Asians recite poetry in Persian. I love Muslim prayer spaces. Sometimes it’s nice to be reminded we can all just get along. If only we’d let ourselves.