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Eating Your Own

In the last month three articles have come out regarding the Muslim attack on Islamist ideologues. Chris Dickey came out in Newsweek with a few good examples in the Muslim majority world. My two (minor) gripes are that he didn’t mention the stuff happening here in the US, for example, that’s been going on much longer, and the gates of ijtihad never closed for the Shi’ah, so the debate is very different. Lawrence Wright has a wonderful piece in The New Yorker that highlights the nuances involved in the ideological dispute happening in AQ now. Most importantly what emerges is…

Islam is all-American for one U.S. Muslim leader

Islam is all-American for one U.S. Muslim leader. Al Azhar, the centuries-old center of Islamic learning in Cairo, is a world away from Oklahoma City where William Suhaib Webb grew up. But it was not until the American Muslim leader immersed himself in Islamic studies at Al Azhar that he realized just how American he was, regardless of his religion.

Pakistani Conversations

Here’s an interesting conversation that happened in Pakistan. If the “West” is in fact corrupting Muslims, it’s the foil against which many Muslims show their true hatred of Islam by turning their back on the challenge of the Qur’an to think, to appreciate the diversity of and amongst faiths, and by saying ritual is the only marker of righteousness. ‘For how long have you been here?’ I asked. ‘A year and half, now. I’m studying economics at a university in Karachi.’ ‘So, how has Pakistan been treating you so far?’ ‘It’s nice. It’s my country,’ he proudly said. ‘Yes,’ I…