Two political movies

Malcolm X, before he converted to Islam, was known as Satan. Al-Hallaj claims that the truest lover of God was Iblis, because he refused to bow down in front of Adam; Iblis acknowledged no other than his Beloved. I suppose that means I’m not in such bad company. Some of you may remember this comment by the Attorney General of the United States, John Ashcroft, entrusted with making sure I suffer no discrimination: “Islam is a religion in which God requires you to send your son to die for him. Christianity is a faith in which God sends his son…

Received from Haroon: Dear Colleagues, The Arab American Institute (AAI) and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee are asking for your organization’s support. The two organizations have drafted the attached two sign-on letters in opposition to the racist billboard campaign initiated by the Coalition for a Secure Driver’s License (www.securelicense.org) in North Carolina and New Mexico. Kindly review these attachments and contact either Rebecca Abou-Chedid < rabouchedid@aaiusa.org > or Kareem Shora < kshora@adc.org > if your organization is able to endorse these letters. For more information on this issue please see: http://capwiz.com/adc/issues/alert/?alertid=8301626&type=CU . (ADC and AAI continue to research which billboard company…

Been laid up up for a few days with a bum ankle. This has given me some time to catch up on my web reading. It doesn’t look good from here. Forgetting Iraq and Saudi Arabia, for the moment, I am saddened that calmer voices have been shouted down both here and in the Muslim world. We have made this an issue about Islam, and I too have been guilty of this. I apologise. I have recently been in the company of some really interesting thinkers listening to them debate the current state of Islam. Thinkers such as Reinhard Schulzeand…