islam doesn't speak, muslims do | "the ink of the scholar is worth more than the blood of the martyr" – Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo has a brief discussion of the recent Spanish elections and the impact the bombings may have had on the results. I have a great deal of respect for his analysis in general, although I do occasionally have reservations about his discourse with respect to Islam. Since I’ve now got a soapbox, I wanted to talk a little about his interpretation of the meaning of events in Iraq from a religious perspective.
I’ve been debating about whether to post something about the whole Janet Jackson breast-baring incident [warning: explicit image]. Then I got lazy, it burned out of import. Then Howard Stern got banned, and it brought up the issue again. I got lazy again (see a pattern?). Now George Carlin has gotten into the act, and while I won’t comment on his remarks on religion, he said something that made me want to write about the issue again. He said: “And yet, they’re very inconsistent — on that Super Bowl broadcast of Janet Jackson’s there was also a commercial about a…
Two articles by Ted Swedenburg on Islam and Hip-Hop. One on the 5% and one on the international context. Man knows his stuff, and it helps mark a new face of Islam that’s growing world-wide, the Western Muslim. No more gharabzadegi for us, we sit (un)comfortably in all worlds.
Mother Jones has a great write-up on what we can look forward to in four more years of a Bush presidency. I really hope “our” Muslim organizations tell us to vote for him soon, otherwise we might to start to think he’s no good for us. [goes off to get sarcasm remover.]
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.
CNN is reporting that there have been several people detained for the Spain bombings, and it appears more likely now that they are killing in the name of Islam. Since they have chosen to use a thin veneer of religion to justify their blind, ignorant hate, allow me to respond to them with religious language. Damn them! May God take the people responsible for these attacks and burn them in the hottest hell-fires. May they feel the fear, pain and anguish they have inflicted upon others a thousandfold. Damn them! If they want to use religious language, let them. True…
Did you know Muslim men can trade in their wives like used cars? Neither did I, but apparently it’s in the “Koran.” I’m not sure if mentions used cars specifically, or more like used camels. I’ve never seen this version of the “Koran” before, but anti-Muslim pastor in Australia says it’s in there, so it must be true. I don’t know if I like this idea of legislating tolerance to be honest, I struggle with hate crimes legislation in the US as well. This trial though is bringing me a great deal of comic relief as I realize what people…
One of the favorite topics of conversation amongst my friends and I is whether certain foods are haram (forbidden, like pork) or makruh (discouraged). Our case study is usually lobster, but it seems God hates shrimp. Glad to see we’re not the only ones contending with this issue. Like I said before, we can’t see the Muslim the community in a vacuum.
May God rest the souls of the victims of the subway attacks in Spain. We condemn this terrorist attack, regardless of who is responsible. Terrorism does nothing but perpetuate a cycle of violence and costs innocent lives.