Year: 2011

Conferences Inter-faith

Interfaith Event in NYC: Our Better Angels

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The Jewish Theological Seminaryand Union Theological Seminary invite you to join us for the three-part series Our Better AngelsReligious Leaders Commemorate the 10th Anniversary of 9/11 with The Reverend Dr. Serene Jones President of the Faculty and Roosevelt Professor of Systematic Theology at Union Theological Seminary and author of Trauma and Grace: Theology in a Ruptured World Dr. Ingrid Mattson Immediate past-President of the Islamic Society of North America, Professor of Islam at Hartford Seminary, and author of The Story of the Quran: Its History and Place in Muslim Life and Rabbi Dr. Burton L. Visotzky Appleman Professor of Midrash…

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Conferences

DC Event: Deconstructing the Clash of Civilizations

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The British Council and The Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding request the pleasure of your company for a special panel discussion to launch the Our Shared Future project: Deconstructing the ‘Clash of Civilizations’: From ‘Us and Them’ to ‘We are Them’ May 24, 2011 6:00 -7:30 pm Lohrfink Auditorium – Rafik B. Hariri Building Georgetown University Featuring: John L. Esposito University Professor and Founding Director, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding Deborah Amos Foreign Correspondent, National Public Radio Rashad Hussain US Special Envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference, US Department of State Mohamed Younis Senior Analyst,…

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Women

On the Need to be Ethically Committed to being an American Muslim Woman « Ify Okoye

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On the Need to be Ethically Committed to being an American Muslim Woman « Ify Okoye. I find it challenging to reconcile between my belief in my faith as one that within limits is both progressive and pragmatic with one that bears no relation to my lived reality. The Islam I believe in respects and encourages women to be full participating members of society. It’s not one, which seeks to restrict women to their houses and limits their opportunities for spiritual growth and development simply due to their gender. That I believe in the equality of the sexes does not detract from an…

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Media

Explaining Islam to the public « The Immanent Frame

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Explaining Islam to the public « The Immanent Frame. The expectation that Islamic studies scholars were prepared to “cover” the Islamic tradition and speak to its beliefs and practices on a normative, global basis was stressful for many of us. The idea that we could speak with authority about the practices of 1.4 billion people who speak dozens of languages and have inhabited the planet for the last 1400 years is absurd, of course. Like other academics, Islamic studies scholars are trained in certain fields of knowledge; in the best of programs, they are trained to be exceedingly careful about…

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Intra-faith

Remember @omar_ahmad

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My friend Omar Ahmad passed away today. God rest his soul, forgive his sins, and make it easy for his friends and family. Please take a moment to remember him if you knew him, or to get to know him if you didn’t. If you are Muslim, please read Ya Sin for him tonight. Below is a video from his TED talk.

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Politics

Bin Laden’s theology a radical break with traditional Islam

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Bin Laden’s theology a radical break with traditional Islam – CNN Belief Blog – CNN.com Blogs. Osama bin Laden wore the mantle of a religious leader. He looked the part and talked a good game, but his theology was a radical departure from traditional orthodox Islam.  The pitch to join al Qaeda did not start with an invitation to put on a suicide vest but, like other religious splinter groups and cults, took advantage of disenfranchisement and poverty.  Bin Laden had no official religious training but developed his own theology of Islam.

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Charity

Charity: Out of Darkness

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A friend of mine is doing an overnight walk to raise funds for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. I do not think we take mental health seriously enough, and especially not in the Muslim-American community. I would love to generate some more awareness of this important issue by supporting Gareth’s work. Please see the site here.

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