Air America Appearance

Daisy’s introduction very good introduction to the role of arts in the Islamic tradition. [couldn’t capture it all] Azhar talks about comedy, jazz, and unique American art forms artists are the only ones who can and do speak truth to power Ani musician women’s issues important full music accompaniment Muslim pop Performs song for her daughter Yasmine author not comfortable in in English, asks Rajae to translate works for freedom can be free without losing religion not just one way freedom to be able to make choices Daisy asks “who took away your freedom?” answer later Shahzia [I’ve loved her…

New Cordoba 1. Reza Aslan a. Daisy quotes from former CEO of HPs comments on Islam after 9/11 as set-up for Cordoba b. PPT presented as written by Shafique Walji (staff volunteer) c. Challenge master narrative of what went wrong i. Islam achieved something great and then went into steady decline d. Introduce Cordoba to get to the discussion i. Basic history of Islamic expansion ii. Expansion of knowledge, and development of institutions of learning iii. Reasons for decline from zenith 1. Seljuq advancement 2. Mongol invasion 3. Advancement of European pardigm iv. Cultural renaissance with Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals,…

The Progressive Faith Blog Con started last night, and what a good beginning it was. Thurman Hart of Xpatriated Texan gave us some powerful opening remarks. Go read. We began with a Jewish prayer service, led by the Velveteen Rabbi herself, Rachel Barenblat. It was pleasure to finally get to meet her. The service was full of taqwa – God consciousness. It was not just about the prayer, but about praying to remember God outside of the liturgical setting, to know that God is, and always should be, with us. Download and read her prayer book. We sat down for…