Current Affairs

Haroon Siddiqui Speech

Just read this. Interesting. Three things come to mind: I find it interesting that Mr. Siddiqui has to qualify his statements with the idea that he is not the follow of the Aga Khan, even though he is in front of a “progressive” audience, where being an Ismaili, or Ithna’ashari, or Sunni shouldn’t matter. He critiques the term “extermist” but speaks to a group called “progressive,” which continues to reassert the binary, although from a different direction. He begins talking about how aware Muslims around the world are of prison abuses. I don’t dispute this, but I wonder how the…

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Books

CS Lewis is Muslim

I’ve been sitting on this idea for a little bit; when I work with Muslim kids I often explain to them that The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe is not a Christian allegory, so much as it is a Muslim one, specifically a Shi’ah Muslim allegory. Let me walk you through my ill-thought thinking. First, we know Lewis was opposed to a live-action version of the Chronicles, calling the representation of Aslan “blasphemy,” strong words from a religious person. The presence of an anti-iconic can be felt in such a statement. Second, we know that the lion is named…

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Current Affairs

Friends and Enemies

So, Americans can be spied upon by the NSA without the need of a warrant. No need to be worried (sorry Calabash [1, 2, 3]). Individuals who have attempted to assassinate OBL are imprisoned and tortured for that act. (That means it’s a crime to take down America’s most wanted?) Individuals who are actively killing Americans are arrested and released just for fun. Any questions as to how the war on terror(ism) is going? Technorati Tags: Afghanistan, domestic surveillance, Iraq

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Current Affairs

Unicycle for Kids

Following on a previous post: —- Dear Friends, In light of the tragedies in New Orleans and South East Asia, like many, I have been struggling to keep hope. When the earthquake hit Pakistan and India, I was speaking on the phone to a friend in Kabul. At first he was surprised, then he began cursing in anger. Later, we learned that two Afghan children died near Jalalabad. Just across the border, more than 80,000 men, women and children died in Pakistan and northern India. As you know, millions in Kashmir remain homeless. In the face of such tragedy, I…

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