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My Salaam – Bringing comics to heal and preserve culture in Syrian refugee camps. CYRIC’s founder, A. David Lewis, is himself a comics and graphic novel author. He started the organisation as a way to help Syrian refugee children by preserving their cultural heritage. “Specifically, it focuses on traditional Syrian stories,” CYRIC board member Hussein Rashid explained. “It helps the children, and hopefully will aid in making sure some part of Syrian story culture persists.”

Aziz Ansari has a funny suggestion to end Islamophobia. Here’s why it’s important. – The Washington Post. The azan is meant to remind the listener of God’s majesty. Revealed to prophet Muhammad, it puts the believer in a state of awe and humility. For every claim that we may understand God, we are reminded that God is greater than anything we may conceive. That moment of being lost in the transcendence of God, in the tradition of prophet Muhammad, is an ecstatic one. It is not about bells or dancing. It is about exercising the gifts God has created in…

My original piece at Religion Dispatches: Muslim Boycott of Bloomberg’s Interfaith Breakfast | Religion Dispatches ‘I AM NOT A TERRORIST’ shirt at Bloomberg event (via @capitalnewyork) – YouTube Muslims Skip NYC Mayor’s Event to Protest Spying – ABC News Bloomberg Avoids Surveillance Controversy at Interfaith Event – WNYC At Mayor’s Interfaith Breakfast, Some Muslim No-Shows – NYTimes.com Interfaith Breakfast Boycott Protests NYPD’s Alleged Surveillance Of Local Muslims – NY1.com ‘I’m not a terrorist’: One man quietly protests NYPD at Bloomberg’s breakfast | Capital New York Kelly on his department’s relationship with Muslims; a Muslim professor on his protest T-shirt | Capital New York Muslims Skip NYC Mayor’s Event To Protest Spying – From the Wires – Salon.com Espionnage à New York : des musulmans boycottent un déjeuner avec le maire | International | Radio-Canada.ca AFP: Muslims boycott NY mayor event over alleged spying Muslim Academic Wears “I’m Not A Terrorist” To Bloomberg’s Interfaith Breakfast: Gothamist Interfaith Breakfast: Controversy with Your Coffee?