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Listen to the Reed

Rachel has a wonderful post on how the Divine is heard through Divine creation. It reminded of this poem of Rumi (posted many moons ago in a different context): بشنو از نى چون حكايت ميكند از جدائيها شكايت ميكند beshno az nay con hekaayat mekonad az judaa’ihaa shekaayat mekonad listen to the reed as it tells a tale as it complains of separation How beautiful is the image of humanity simply being instruments for the Divine sound? Technorati Tags: inter-faith, Rumi

Newsday on America to Zanzibar

Here is a Newsday article on the exhibit America to Zanzibar: Muslim Cultures Near and Far, at The Children’s Museum of Manhattan, for which I was the lead academic advisor. It’s a good chance to shout out my friends from high school. “Our goal is to have children deal with differences in a healthy, positive way and encourage them to be inquisitive while exploring the world instead of running away from its differences,” Rashid said, an experience not so different from his years growing up in Elmont.  

Review: Domestic Crusaders

I have to imagine that writing fiction about Muslim-Americans is a thankless task. People from outside the community are already pre-disposed to like it or hate it. Unless you’re Rizwan Manji, Aasif Mandvi, or Aziz Ansari, you can’t quite draw the crowds to be able to change minds. Of course, you also get heat from inside the community. People will invariably say “it doesn’t represent me,” “it’s not my experience.” These same people will simultaneously identify with Lady Chatterly’s Lover, and support Umrao Jaan Ada, but will not have empathy with Muslim-American characters because it is not exactly their experience.…