Muslims battle to be official voice of U.S. Islam – The Washington Post

A Ramadan Roadtrip Around The US – The Takeaway. Two men are spending Ramadan in 30 different mosques in 30 different states for all 30 days of the month of fasting. They’re traveling 13,000 miles, from Alaska to New York City, and are speaking with us today from South Carolina, where they’re a little more than halfway through their trip. What they’ve found is that generations of American Muslims have lived in small pockets of the U.S. since the 1800s.

Why Are Some Muslims Calling to Replace GMT with Mecca Time? | Culture | Religion Dispatches. This summer, the world’s largest clock began its first official duty: marking time during Ramadan in Mecca—Islam’s holiest city. This colossal clock bears a striking resemblance to Big Ben, and the tower that hosts it (courtesy of the Canadian-based Fairmont hotel operation) is six times taller than the British landmark, making it the second tallest building in the world, visible for 16 miles.  All well and good. One can marvel at human ingenuity and move on. However, what makes this case interesting is the…

Recently I had the chance to visit, after a 7 year gap, one of my favourite cities in the world, Istanbul.  The city is a perfect melange of East and West.  For some reason it feels like home to me even though I am not from there or live there,  It physicaly represents both my Western and Muslim identities.  Its very modern and cosmopolitan, yet steeped in history and tradition. Its been over 5 years since I have actually visited a Muslim-majority city and something did not feel right for the first few days.  Then it occurred to me that…