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Eid ul-Isa Mubarak

December 25 marks the day we commonly celebrate the birth of Prophet Isa (a.s.), known in English as Jesus. It’s a wonderful occasion to spend time with family, and to think about the commonalities amongst all the Abrahamic faiths. I have to theological objection to celebrating the birth of a prophet of Islam, after all I celebrate the birth of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and Imam Ali (a.s.). However, since we don’t recognize Jesus as the Christ, I felt we as Muslims needed to recognize both our commonalities and differences with other faiths, hence Eid ul-Isa. If you like it, please…

Political Correctness Gone Mad

Perhaps the recent terrorist outrage in the skies will bring the delusional opponents of group profiling to their senses. But I fear not. It should be a cut and dried case. A member of a group that is notoriously associated with terrorist violence and fundamentalist political beliefs tries to set off a bomb in a plane and only fails because of sheer luck. The nabobs of political correctness will try to convince us yet again that there are many strains of thought among these people, that most of them are non-violent, that compulsory cavity searches will alienate them and so…

Two Takes on Hanukah

Richard, at Tikun Olam, has a piece up entitled Hanukah: Holiday of Spiritual Renewal or Jewish Nationalism? This summation is, I think, a good review of what Hanukah is becoming. Growing up I only knew the miracle story from my friends. The nationalist aspect is new to me, even now.  Muslim holidays have been politicized, albeit in a different way, for quite some time. The celebration of the Prophet’s birthday is a touchstone of Wahabbi ideology. To recognize the uniqueness of the Prophet in any way is to commit a sin in their worldview. The Hajj has always been a good time…