January 1, 2011 – islamicate

5 Ridiculous Things You Probably Believe About Islam | Cracked.com

islamoyankeeJanuary 1, 2011

5 Ridiculous Things You Probably Believe About Islam | Cracked.com. A conservative commentator recently made headlines by claiming 10 percent of all of the world’s Muslims are terrorists. An amazing claim, considering that equals 150 million terrorists and if each were to pull off an attack killing just 40 people, they could exterminate all non-Muslim life on earth. Either they’re not all that dedicated to terrorism, or the claim is utter insanity. Well, if there’s one thing everyone thinks of when they hear “Cracked.com” it’s “friend of Islam.” Which is why we feel compelled to clarify a few misconceptions for…

Art

Muslim American Artists Strive to Bridge a Chasm – NYTimes.com

islamoyankeeJanuary 1, 2011

Muslim American Artists Strive to Bridge a Chasm – NYTimes.com. When Wajahat Ali, a young Muslim American playwright from Fremont, needed to build an audience for his work, he produced his plays in cramped Pakistani restaurants in the East Bay and used Facebook to get the word out. His play “The Domestic Crusaders” went on to open at the Berkeley Repertory Theater in 2005, and then moved to Off Broadway. … Mr. Ali is one of a growing number of Bay Area artists who are reimagining one of the country’s most complicated compound identities: Muslim American. At a time…

Intra-faith

Young Russians in search of faith are turning to Islam

islamoyankeeJanuary 1, 2011

Young Russians in search of faith are turning to Islam. But Sarachev’s forebears didn’t practice Islam the way he understands it today. Over a millennium, Tatars had developed a rich and complicated theology, comfortable with rational thought and mindful of the need to coexist with the Christian Russians. In Kazan, Tatarstan’s capital, the religious establishment endeavors to carry on that tradition today. But Soviet hostility to religion left most Tatars with only a perfunctory sense of their own Muslim inheritance. Growing up, Sarachev remembers, religion meant grandparents and holidays, and little else. Yet even then, just after the collapse of…

Inter-faith

Book Review – Holy Ignorance – By Olivier Roy – NYTimes.com

islamoyankeeJanuary 1, 2011

Book Review – Holy Ignorance – By Olivier Roy – NYTimes.com. Yule as we celebrate it today owes more to Charles Dickens than to Thomas Aquinas. Our major solstice holiday is what Roy calls a “cultural construct” rather than a sectarian ceremony, which explains why Muslims buy halal turkeys and Jews transformed Hanukkah into a gift-giving occasion. Mistakenly believing that Christmas is sacred, those who defend it find themselves propping up the profane. The Christ they want in Christmas is a product not of Nazareth but of Madison Avenue.

Intra-faith

My Wish for 2011: A Better World for My Daughter

islamoyankeeJanuary 1, 2011

My Wish for 2011: A Better World for My Daughter. Now that I’m expecting my first child, my prayers for the state of the country have gotten more urgent. Yes, I think good thoughts for the America of tomorrow. The idea of bringing into the world a little girl who will be Muslim and Arab and American makes me anxious about the future. When I dream now, it’s for her and for the world I hope she will grow up in.

Politics

Al Akhbar, a Lebanese Paper, Aims at Provoking Readers – NYTimes.com

islamoyankeeJanuary 1, 2011

Al Akhbar, a Lebanese Paper, Aims at Provoking Readers – NYTimes.com. They are a remarkable blend: the paper champions gay rights, feminism and other leftist causes, even as it wholeheartedly supports Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shiite movement. Al Akhbar’s access to Hezbollah allows it to scoop other papers on Lebanon’s biggest continuing story, but it also publishes muckraking exposés on the abuse of domestic workers, prison overcrowding and other delicate subjects. Add splashy full-page color photos and witty tabloid-style headlines, and you have an alluring product.