Year: 2011

Books

International Women’s Day: They Speak for Themselves, in America and Egypt – City of Brass

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International Women’s Day: They Speak for Themselves, in America and Egypt – City of Brass. Readers of I Speak for Myself are presented with a kaleidoscope of stories, woven together around the central idea of limitlessness and individuality. A common theme linking these intimate self-portraits is the way each woman uniquely defies labeling, simply by defining for herself what it means to be American and Muslim and female.

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Politics

Stoking irrational fears about Islam

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Eugene Robinson – Stoking irrational fears about Islam. For more than a century, the most remorseless and violent terrorist organization in the nation was the Ku Klux Klan. Watchdogs such as the Southern Poverty Law Center would be happy to share with King voluminous information about heavily armed militia groups out in the backwoods, training for some imagined Armageddon.

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Politics

As Rep. Peter King’s Muslim hearings approach, his past views draw ire

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As Rep. Peter King’s Muslim hearings approach, his past views draw ire. In 1985, the Irish government boycotted the St. Patrick’s Day parade in New York City, the biggest celebration in the Irish-American calendar. The cause of its umbrage was Peter King, that year’s grand marshal and someone the Irish government said was an “avowed” supporter of a terrorist organization, the Irish Republican Army.

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Inter-faith

The Seeker: Rahm’s religion is irrelevant

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The Seeker: Rahm’s religion is irrelevant. Last week, Chicago made history in several senses: it was the first time in about two decades that a Daley was not on the ballot for Mayor of Chicago. In addition, it was the first time that a man of the Jewish faith was elected to the highest office in the city. This is indeed significant, given the historic discrimination and racism that has been directed – and is still directed – at Americans of the Jewish faith.

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Inter-faith

Faith in Roots: Special Web Event

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Faith in the Roots: Stories from the Field, reporting out from the first year of the Community Organizing Residency Date: Wednesday, March 9, 2011 Time: Noon – 1 pm Eastern/ 9 – 10:am Pacific Registration: Register for this event. Registration is required by March 7. No fee. Date: Wednesday, March 9, 2011 PRESENTERS: Joshua DuBois, Special Assistant to the President and Executive Director of The White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships Rachel Feldman, Director of Organizing, Jewish Funds for Justice Rabbi Lizzi Heydemann (Jewish), organizing resident at IKAR Susana Lopez (Christian), organizing resident at United Power for Action…

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Books Intra-faith

Islam Doesn’t Speak, Muslims Do

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The fourth caliph Imam Ali faced Khariji rebels who insisted that he simply “apply” the Qur’an’s judgement without interpretation. In that situation of armed conflict, Imam Ali gathered the people and brought out a copy of the Qur’an and as he touched the book he exclaimed, “O Qur’an, speak to the people!” The people gathered around Ali, saying, “O Ali, do you mock us? It is only paper and ink and it is we [human beings] who speak on its behalf.” To this, Ali stated, “The Qur’an is written in straight lines between two covers. It does not speak by…

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Books

Turning The Pages Online: Book Menu

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This is awesome. The National Library of Medicine has a virtual library of rare books, where you can actually turn the pages. Turning The Pages Online: Book Menu. The Kitab Aja’ib al-makhluqat wa Gharaib al-Mawjudat, usually known as “The Cosmography” or “The Wonders of Creation,” was compiled in the middle 1200s in what is now Iran or Iraq and is considered one of the most important natural history texts of the medieval Islamic world.  The author Abu Yahya Zakariya ibn Muhammad ibn Mahmud-al-Qazwini (ca. 1203-1283 C.E.), known simply as al-Qazwini,  was one of the most noted natural historians, geographers and…

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Travel

Tajikistan Tourism: The Tajik People Shine | Marin Magazine

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Tajikistan Tourism: The Tajik People Shine | Marin Magazine. The Pamiris are predominantly Ismaili Muslims, whose geographic nexus occurs in this historic region of Badakhshan, extending from southeastern Tajikistan into northern Afghanistan and Pakistan. At the core of Ismailism is Prince Aga Khan IV, the imam whose religious leadership provides a living interpretation of the Koran. The Aga Khan’s embrace of women’s rights and education has fostered a uniquely progressive orientation among the Ismailis, whose peaceful communities constitute a foundation of stability in one of the world’s most polarized regions.

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