Baby Carriage in a Mosque
lotfollah mosque, isfahan oct. 2007 Originally uploaded by seier+seier+seier. It’s just an awesome photo.
Year: 2008
Who Speaks for Islam?
Against our tag line of “Islam doesn’t speak, Muslims do” John Esposito and Dalia Mogahed have published a book called “Who Speaks for Islam?” What I have read so far is really promising. Gulf News is running a series of articles about the book. Worth looking at: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Also, related: Muslim Women want Equal Rights Who are Muslims? and The Queen of YouTube
Fear and Hate
For those of you who don’t know an organization called the Clarion Fund (see TPM for more on this group) sponsored the release of a virulently anti-Muslim and borderline anti-Semitic DVD in five swing states (see Haroon’s blog for more on this. He’s really been doing the Yeoman’s work here.) When I was asked about this DVD a couple of weeks ago, I joked that it was going to be released in German as Untermenschen, because it is clearly the inheritor of Goebbel’s vision. Little did I realize how prophetic I was. A mosque was attacked in Dayton, Ohio, one…
Nationalism is not anti-Semitism
The New York Times savages “An Icon of Evil,” which equates Muslims with Nazis because of a meeting between the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem with Hitler. Turns out Yitzhak Shamir met with the Nazis in Jerusalem as well. Was he too supporting the Nazis? Or were they both interesting in allying themselves with anti-British forces as a nationalist concern? What about SC Bose of the Indian National Army who also met with the Nazis during WWII. Are Indians Nazi-sympathizers now? I’m not sure using the strategies of the Nazis, to create a new class of untermensch, is really a way…
Religious Common Cause
The New York Times has a good article on how Muslims in France are turning to Roman Catholics to fill the educational needs of girls, who are prohibited from entering the public school system if they wear a head scarf. Here is a quote from an employee at a Catholic school explaining that Roman Catholics are more tolerant than secularists: Mr. Chamoux, a slow-moving, jovial man, has been here 20 years and seems to know each student by name. Under a crucifix in his cramped office, he extolled the virtues of Catholic schools. “We practice religious freedom; the public schools…
What is Ramadan?
Here’s an interesting article from the Washington Post on a Saudi cleric who is trying to put the spirit back into Ramadan. Interesting and more representative than the wackos calling for the death of TV station owners. (h/t Sven over at The Devil’s Advocate)
Shannah Tova and Eid Mubarak
This will be the last convergence of the holidays for a few years, so celebrate and make the best of it. I’ve been sitting on this post from Rachel for a few weeks now because I thought this was the day to highlight it. In the name of God…
Ramadan Photo Album 2008
Courtesy of the Boston Globe. Really wonderful set of photos. My only small criticism, it’s only from a select area of the world. Still, fantastic.