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Hijab

There is an op-ed written in a NY Urdu language paper (English translation) that deals with the issue of hijab. I’m looking for the Urdu version, but the English translation reminds me very much of what some of the early debate was like in NY in English. You would throw out a whole bunch of arguments and see what would stick. The arguments have become much more sophisticated and targeted, helped both by time and the easy accessibility of more academic material. I think this article is important, not because of what it says, but because of the language and…

Excerpt from “Butterfly Mosque” by @g_willow

Very excited that G. Willow Wilson has made the Prologue of her excellent book, Butterfly Mosque, available. I think, once you read it, you get a flavor of the character in the story. [I am of the opinion that even in memoir, the protagonist is the creation of the writer. The question is that creation recognizable as the writer.] —- PROLOGUE In the upper reaches of the Zagros Mountains, the air changed. The high altitude opened it, cleared it of the dust of the valleys, and made it sing a little in the lungs; low atmospheric pressure. It was a…

Muslims, Jews, and the Holocaust

Although now we hear quite a bit about Muslims denying the Holocaust, things were not always thus. NPR has a good interview with the author of a book called Besa: Muslims who Saved Jews in World War II. I have Besa, and can tell you it is very good. In searching for the title on Amazon, I found two other related books, listed below. “Besa: Muslims Who Saved Jews in World War II” (Norman H. Gershman) Related: “The Grand Mosque of Paris: A Story of How Muslims Rescued Jews During the Holocaust” (Karen Gray Ruelle, Deborah Durland Desaix) “When Courage…