Current Affairs

Last Night’s RNC

From the DNC, my take away message: Kerry fought in a war 30 years ago. America is a great country full of hope and promise. Because Kerry fought in the war, he values the greatness of America and will fight to keep it great. From the RNC, my take away message: 9/11 was great. Without it you’d never know that Bush was chosen by God. And by God, we’re more than happy to have another 9/11 to prove how great we are. Overall big disappointments for me: John McCain and Bob Dole. They’ve become tools. Rudy Giuliani did not disappoint…

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Intra-faith Women

Hijab in the UK

Via this Crooked Timber piece [sorry CT folks, can’t find your trackback ID] I found out about this case in the UK about a Muslim girl wanting to cover in school. I like Harry’s last paragraph: But the fact that the regulations might drive a girl into an educational situation in which her religious beliefs will not be challenged or tested seems to me a reason for bending, or revising the rules, not a consideration in their favour. The parents’ enthusiasm that their child should attend a state comprehensive school is to their credit. Telling them that they should school…

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Religion

Quick Links

A religious stereotype not true?! Wait, you mean all Muslim men are not waiting for their 72 virgins? Some just want raisins? Muslims give America the blues. If you trace the history of American music you know that it also eventually gives us hip-hop, in multiple ways. For those of you haven’t heard yet, some Iraqis appreciate that they can play soccer, but are also willing to fight in Fallujah. How can you face your God is a question that runs both ways. Of course, I love the fact the administration tried to spin the interview. These players’ answers are…

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Women

Women in Mosques

The latest article on Asra Nomani and her struggle for the recognition that women are God’s creation, not man’s slave. Both Muslim Wakeup! and altmuslim are cited in the article and they have had great coverage on the issue. I’ve posted some of my thoughts on MWU in the comments section.

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Current Affairs Intra-faith Religion

The Wahhabi Movement Hates the Prophet (PBUH)

The Wahhabis are apparently putting toilets over where the Prophet (PBUH) lived. Clearly what the Qur’an meant when it said God and the angels praise him (33:56). In 1990, sympathizers tipped him off that the site thought to contain the foundations of the Meccan house of Muhammad and Khadija was to be paved over. He rushed to the site, even threatening to put his young son in the bulldozer’s path. He used his contacts to win permission for a last-minute archaeological dig. It lasted 40 days, and he says his team of volunteers uncovered stone foundations that appeared to be…

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Current Affairs

A small point

I have the utmost respect for Juan Cole and his blog. Today, he had a post that I wanted to make a small comment on, because I don’t think it gives either Sistani or Gandhi the credit each one deserves. The relevant paragraph, to be found at the end of his post, is as follows: If Sistani does lead a popular march of the sort the press is describing, it might be the most significant act of civil disobedience by an Asian religious leader since Gandhi’s salt march in British India. And it might kick off the beginning of the…

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Current Affairs

Kerry on the Middle East

Via a link on Loose Democracy, I found this article by Sen. John Kerry on his vision of the relationship of the US to Israel. It is not, in my mind, a commitment to reforming the Middle East. First, I find it problematic for Sen. Kerry to define America’s interest as the same as Israel’s interest. I do agree that Syria, Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia pose various threats to the US, but they are threats to the US; the challenges to Israel, European countries, Russia, etc., are different. By equating America’s and Israel’s interests, it makes it harder to…

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