Year: 2006

Conferences Inter-faith Intra-faith Religion

MLT – Talent Bazaar and Knowledge Transfer

islamoyankee

The Talent Bazaar was a time for individuals to share things that they do. Mostly it was a display of authored/edited books, catalogues of artists, and CDs. The obligatory range of pamphlets were present, as were free copies of Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet. I’ll talk more about some of the artists and musicians after the post on the Artists Panel. The Knowledge Transfer session was intriguing. The two basic questions were: What motivates you to do what you do? What would enable you to achieve what you do in the context of this conference? The first question was a…

Read More
Current Affairs

Bad joke

islamoyankee

Teacher Arrested At New York’s Kennedy airport today, an individual, later discovered to be a public school teacher, was arrested trying to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a setsquare, a slide rule, and a calculator. At a morning press conference, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said he believes the man is a member of the notorious Al-Gebra movement. He is being charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction. “Al-gebra is a fearsome cult, ”Gonzales said. They desire average solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in a search…

Read More
Current Affairs

Muslims for Secular Democracy

Ghostdog

From AIM (Asian in Media), June 12, 2006 Muslim journalists, writers, filmmakers and activists are banding together to form a new organisation aimed at influencing the media to move beyond “easy and simplistic portrayal of Muslims” and build on issues relevant to British Muslims today. Called ‘Muslims for Secular Democracy’, the lobbying group is being headed by the journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown and supported by others such as Ghayasuddin Siddique of the Muslim Parliament, playright Nasreen Rehman and Sharq magazine editor Reem Maghrebi. The organisation says it supports a clear separation between religion and the state and wants to make “democratic…

Read More
Current Affairs

Bombings

islamoyankee

OMFG! What the hell is wrong with people? Bombing trains? While we don’t know who has done this (the fact only first class cars were targeted leaves open the possibility of some sort of pseudo-Naxalite movement), I must say even I am inclined to believe that this is the work of some members of the Cult of Bin Laden – who, like the members of the Seas of David, have heard enough about the Qur’an to consider themselves Muslim. This is a horrible tragedy, and I pray for the deceased, and that the perpetrators truly understand God’s Justice. Technorati Tags:…

Read More
Sports

Zidane should still be President [Updated][2x]

islamoyankee

I was trying hard not to do a World Cup post (can’t believe the Italians won it all). But watching Zidane being sent off the way he was shocked me. Couldn’t decide if Materazzi talked about his wife or his mother. Turns out he may have called Zidane “a dirty terrorist.” Read this post from the Chapati for more. Update: Ali Eteraz has more at Progressive Islam (1, 2). Update: As always, Wikipedia is on top of the situation. It seems if Materazzi did in fact use a racist slur, it could jeopardize the win. That’s severe, and probably unlikely,…

Read More
Conferences Inter-faith Intra-faith Religion

MLT – Discuss the Undiscussable

islamoyankee

Four questions were posed to us in small groups. The questions are below, with my thoughts in brackets. Couldn’t capture everyone’s ideas, but feel free to answer in comments on your own. Topic: Integration of Islam and the West What frustrates/angers/annoys/etc. most about the topic? [The question. As long we see a dichotomy between Islam and the West, others will as well. For the most part, I have to say, at least in the US the integration question seems to be coming more from the Muslim community. Those who want to reach out to us already accept religious identity and…

Read More
Conferences Inter-faith Intra-faith Religion

MLT – The New Cordoba

islamoyankee

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,…

Read More
Conferences Inter-faith Intra-faith Religion

MLT – Opening Comments

islamoyankee

Ministry of Integration in Denmark 1. Daisy Khan’s opening a. Conference planned before cartoon crisis in Copenhagen b. Now need to heal wounds c. Introducing Susanne Clausen from Integration Ministry 2. Refugee, Immigration and Integration Affairs 3. Danish gov’t had no control over publication of cartoons in private newspapers a. Could emphasize freedom of speech, freedom of religion were co-existent b. Protests in Denmark were peaceful i. International scene clouded scene in Denmark c. 210,000 (3.9%) population is Muslim d. 85 approved communities, 19 of which are Muslim (aside from National Church) e. 120 prayer rooms f. Muslims are free…

Read More