Month: March 2007

Intra-faith Poetry Religion

Milad an-Nabi

islamoyankee

The birthday of Prophet Muhammad, our most blessed role model. From Nasir Khusraw: Of Muhammad I chose the Qur’an and the faith of Muhammad, for that is the choice that was made by Muhammad. I’m certain by faithfully following these, my certitude will be like that of Muhammad. My key for the heavens, my guide to delight, my fortified castle: the faith of Muhammad! Muhammad is sent as God’s prophet to us: thus is the imprint of the seal of Muhammad. The faith, the Qur’an they are fixed in my heart just as they were fixed in the heart of…

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Inter-faith Intra-faith Shi'ism

Navroz Mubarak 2007

islamoyankee

Yes, it is a hybrid date format. But the holiday is now hybrid. Little bit of Zoroastrianism, little bit of Iranian nationalism, little bit of Islam, little bit of 21st century style globalization. Here is a good, short history of contemporary Navroz. Just a clarification, the Ismailis don’t recognize Navroz as Hazrat Ali’s birthday, we recognize Yawm-e Ali as a separate holiday. Navroz is also a marker of the solar new year for most Ismailis. The Fatimids marked a celebration of the holiday as well in the 11th century. (see Ritual, Politics and the City in Fatimid Cairo). Here’s the…

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Literature

First Day of Spring

islamoyankee

On this perfect day, perfect for forgetting God, why are they – Hindu or Muslim, Gentile or Jew – shouting again some godforsaken word of God? Agha, Shahid Ali. The Country Without a Post Office: Poems. New York: W.W. Norton, 1997, pg. 77. cross-posted from Qalandar Technorati Tags: Agha Shahid Ali

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Inter-faith Intra-faith Religion

My God Hates More Than Your God

islamoyankee

My friend Eboo Patel, founder of the Interfaith Youth Core, has a blog over at Newsweek, and I’ve been meaning to plug it for a while now. What’s prompted me to do so now is his most recent posting Discrimination Against Muslims, which has forced me to pen some thoughts that I’ve been kicking around for awhile now. Aziz, too, has a piece on people’s understanding of the West and Islam, which highlights some of the issues I’ve been thinking about. For me, Eboo’s key quote is: Read how the commentators insist on highlighting only the dark sides of Islam,…

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Legal

DOJ does a good thing

islamoyankee

The Department of Justice did a good thing by forcing New York’s Dept. of Corrections to allow Muslim men to wear a kufi. I particularly like the line in the article “A kufi is a knitted skullcap that carries religious significance for many Muslim men.” The key element, of course, is that it carries significance for some Muslim men, not all. Details via here. Technorati Tags: DOJ, New York, discrimination

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Inter-faith Intra-faith

Muslims and the Cross

islamoyankee

via one of my favorite Texans, I saw this on Street Prophets. A. This is a huge violation of church and state in my opinion. Public schools should not be holding services in any religious space. Period. B. The kid is a moron. It’s not about him being Muslim. Let’s not get stupid with him. To the best of my knowledge there is no legal tradition that prevents Muslims from entering house of worship of other faiths. There are reservations (and prohibitions) about joint worship, but not actually entering the space. The closest I’ve heard about this religious image issue…

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Current Affairs

Synchronicity

islamoyankee

Within 24 hours I read two different blog posting, that taken together basically say we should do more profiling at the airports because it’s pointless. OMFG, is anybody running the US government literate? Technorati Tags: profiling, war on terror[ism/ists]

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