Faith in the absence of Reason

Recently there have been a couple of incidents reflecting the hazards of being and Islamic traveller.  First Jarrar is told to change his shirt because of its Arabic script.  Second a Northwest Airlines flight is diverted because of 12 "unruly" Muslim passengers. I quite liked this analysis in Salon about this situation.  May Allah help us all and may our fellow non-Muslim passengars have compassion and mercy on us: GO-AROUNDS Re: Passenger vigilantism The Raed Jarrar case is especially troubling because it makes so little sense. Not only did security at JFK assume that Jarrar was potentially dangerous because of…

First hat-tip here. The NYT is not allowing perma-links on the issue. Try to check out their coverage. Tajikistan, the country with which I’m most familiar, has a great deal of potential in terms of human capital. It would be a shame if the corruption of the government kept it from realizing its potential. While the initial blush of post-Soviet headiness in the international community has faded, I believe there is enough aid and interest in Tajikistan that it still has a short window in which it could develop a sustainable economy.

“There are no longer any signs of life along 240 kilometers”. (Reporter in helicopter over Aceh) “In this kind of a tragedy, there is no religion,” said Imam Syed Abdullah, who led a team of Indian rescue personnel in retrieving bodies along the coast. He agreed to have Muslim victims buried with others in a mass burial. “They died together in the sea. Let their souls get peace together.” “We’re concerned about providing safe water and preventing the spread of disease. For children, the next few days will be the most critical.” (Carol Bellamy, executive director, Unicef) Please give generously.…