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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…

Conspiracy Theories

As I’m writing this, I see someone else had a similar idea. So I’m watching CNN yesterday, Aug. 10, and I hear Christiane Amanpour say that many young Muslims in the West believe that 9/11, 7/7, and now the new attacks on planes were plots by Western governments in order to start a war with Islam. O Muslims in the West, are you stupid? Either: 1. The West has the wherewithal to plot such destructive events against their own people, including American and British Muslims, and the ability to keep it secret, but not so secret that we can’t figure…

He doesn’t get it

The article starts out so very promising on the varieties of interpretation that we call shari’ah. Then it so quickly devolves into conflating constitutional law with religious law, without really explaining how such conflations take place. The article also talks about the religious Shi’ah and the secular Kurds and Sunnis. What about the secular Shi’ah and the religious Kurds and Sunnis? There are huge varieties of interpretation even within the traditions. Finally, page 2 is mostly about cultural practices that the author makes sound like shari’ah. This is a blog, I can say things and pre-suppose knowledge, and get into…