Ran across this interesting article on how “grassroots” are Progressive Muslim academics.
If you haven’t already read Edward Said’s Representations of the Intellectual, you should.
Related Posts
New Books on Religion Podcast
A colleague is involved in this wonderful project. It’s a real pleasure to see so many of my friends coming out with books now. Please take a listen to podcasts. I would like to draw your attention to the website New Books in Religion (http://newbooksinreligion.com/). This is a regular interview podcast with authors of new books exploring religion and religious studeis. Being an Islamicist, I find the study of Islam both essential and illuminating for the study of religion more generally. Many of the books that will be discussed on New Books in Religion revolve around Islamic studies. Additionally, there…
More Young Americans Identify as Mixed Race – NYTimes.com
This is a great trend overall. My fear is that religion will become a reified, unitary identity that will become over-determined as many traditional group markers are redefined. More Young Americans Identify as Mixed Race – NYTimes.com. The crop of students moving through college right now includes the largest group of mixed-race people ever to come of age in the United States, and they are only the vanguard: the country is in the midst of a demographic shift driven by immigration and intermarriage.
Islam and the Earth
The Qur’an says that God is the light of the heavens and the earth. If you believe you see all of creation as being illuminated by a Divine light, than part of the trust that we, as the most noble of creation, have been given is the care and protection of the Earth. This type of thinking is not new to Muslims. We have shaped the world to reflect our belief in Heaven. Gardens are created to mirror the vision of Heaven with water and split into 4 quarters. Mecca, the center of our religious life, is the gateway to…