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On Being a Conservative-Liberal Muslim (or why the progressive label is bad)

Several things began to come together in my thinking at the MLT Conference in Copenhagen. To be clear, it was not a result of the planning of the MLT, but a series of amorphous thoughts that started to click from meeting people at the conference. With the Progressive Faith Blog Con coming straight after, these ideas began gaining more clarity. Coincidentally, both the good folks at Progressive Islam (1, 2, 3) and Von Aurum published pieces that further moved my thoughts forward. I had been planning on this post for some time, but as the adage goes “Man proposes, God…

Reading the Qur’an – part 1 – Interpretation

The Qur’an (also Quran, Koran) is the Muslim holy book, believed to have been revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) – through the angel Jibra’il (Gabriel) – over the span of 23 years. The Arabic language of the time was a nascent language of literature, used mostly as a mnemonic guide in its written form; because of the close association of Semitic Languages (including Hebrew, Aramaic, and Syriac) the turn of Arabic into a literary language was not unprecedented. The script did not (and still does not) mark short vowels, punctuation, differentiate amongst different letters, and depending on the scribe,…

Navroz Mubarak 2007

Yes, it is a hybrid date format. But the holiday is now hybrid. Little bit of Zoroastrianism, little bit of Iranian nationalism, little bit of Islam, little bit of 21st century style globalization. Here is a good, short history of contemporary Navroz. Just a clarification, the Ismailis don’t recognize Navroz as Hazrat Ali’s birthday, we recognize Yawm-e Ali as a separate holiday. Navroz is also a marker of the solar new year for most Ismailis. The Fatimids marked a celebration of the holiday as well in the 11th century. (see Ritual, Politics and the City in Fatimid Cairo). Here’s the…