Ahl al-Kitâb

In 2002, the Insitute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World, Leiden, Netherlands, published a series of essays dealing with the issue of Islam and Modernity. The publication entitled "New Voices of Islam", edited by Farish Noor, is available for download in PDF format. It features the following essays: Muslims Must Realize That There Is Nothing Magical about the Concept of Human Rights Interview with Abdullahi An-Na’im The Responsibilities of the Muslim Intellectual in the 21 s t C e n t u r y Interview with Abdolkarim Soroush We Need New Intellectual Tools for the Age We…

So Bush was in Beantown for a fundraiser, and his Chief of Staff, Andrew Card, was asked about Richard Clarke’s book. Card was honest and said he had not read the whole book. He did say that he thought Clarke’s proposition that Al-Qaeda operatives were in Boston and looking at using liquid natural gas (LNG) was untrue. I got all of the above from an op-ed in the Globe. The funny thing is that one of the front pieces on the Globe, on the same day, was a former counter-terrorism agent talking about the intelligence that has him convinced Al-Qaeda…

So proud to know Willow. Looking forward to this book.  ‘Granddad, There’s a Head on the Beach’ and Other Summer Reads – NYTimes.com. But this year’s improbably charming book about hackers is “Alif the Unseen,” a novel prompted by its author’s frustration. G. Willow Wilson, admired for her graphic novels and memoir, says that she was sick of treating her readers as separate factions (“comic-book geeks, literary NPR types and Muslims”) and sick of assumptions that blogging and social media could not have political consequences.  So she conjured Alif, a young Arab-Indian hacker living in an unnamed Middle Eastern high-security…