islam doesn't speak, muslims do | "the ink of the scholar is worth more than the blood of the martyr" – Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
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.
A review of the book by an Indian academic can be found here. The book can be purchased here.
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…
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…
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…
The number of US servicemen killed in 2004 exceeds the number killed in 2003. We are fast closing in on a 1000 servicemen killed since the beginning of operations in Iraq. Almost all will have died after President Bush declared “Mission Accomplished.”
What means more to Steve, being a new Mac user, or being a new Christian?
In May I had posted an open letter to the two well-known presidential candidates, and actually sent it to both campaigns. I recently received a follow-up from the Kerry camp that someone has read the letter and will be forwarding it up to campaign management. It doesn’t read like a canned letter, nor does it end with a request for money. Will keep you posted on further follow-ups.
Lt. General Boykin is back in the news (1, 2). This time, the New York Times is calling him an embarrassment. Glad to hear that major papers are thinking this might not be right guy to be interrogating non-Christians, or to be involved in the War on Terror[ism] in any way. But for the record, what is an “Islamic American?”
Rachel does it again. I’ve been sitting on this post for too long. The Islamic tradition, according to Qur’anic injunction (17:78-79), is for three times prayer, dawn, just before sunset and just after sunset. And of course, many Muslims have seen the little prayer books for the pre-anything prayers, including going to the bathroom. Recently found one for a dua to say before having sex. Who says we’re a repressed people? Rachel’s post, and the obvious similarities to Muslim traditions, got me thinking about the meaning of ritual. The idea of using a symbolic language, in this instance ritual, is…