Is it 1909 or 2009 in Philly?

Two articles by Ted Swedenburg on Islam and Hip-Hop. One on the 5% and one on the international context. Man knows his stuff, and it helps mark a new face of Islam that’s growing world-wide, the Western Muslim. No more gharabzadegi for us, we sit (un)comfortably in all worlds.

Sorry for my prolonged absence from substantial posting. Been a busy few weeks. I tried to keep up with the basic interesting links post, and then lost that well. I hope to catch-up on the backlog and comment on the new stuff soon. Until then, here’s something to keep you amused.

I understand that in some “Progressive Muslim” circles it is almost blasphemous to criticise Khaled Abou El Fadl, but I am going to to do it anyway. Let me state first off that I think all Muslims and non-Muslims should read ” A Conference of the Books: The Search for Beauty in Islam”. It is a moving, well written, collection of essays that will forever change the way one thinks about Islam. I will read anything by El Fadl and consider him to be one of the foremost thinkers on Islam today. He is a great legal scholar and one…