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Eating Your Own

In the last month three articles have come out regarding the Muslim attack on Islamist ideologues. Chris Dickey came out in Newsweek with a few good examples in the Muslim majority world. My two (minor) gripes are that he didn’t mention the stuff happening here in the US, for example, that’s been going on much longer, and the gates of ijtihad never closed for the Shi’ah, so the debate is very different. Lawrence Wright has a wonderful piece in The New Yorker that highlights the nuances involved in the ideological dispute happening in AQ now. Most importantly what emerges is…

Islam, business, Aga Khan

I am a Nizari Ismaili, and hold that the Aga Khan is the direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) through his daughter Fatima (PBUH) and his cousin/son-in-law Ali (PBUH). The New York Times ran a decent story yesterday on the Aga Khan and his humanitarian efforts. I don’t call it philanthropy, because according to the Imam: I am fascinated and somewhat frustrated when representatives of the western world — especially the western media — try to describe the work of our Aga Khan Development Network in fields like education, health, the economy, media, and the building of social infrastructure.…

MLT – The New Cordoba

New Cordoba 1. Reza Aslan a. Daisy quotes from former CEO of HPs comments on Islam after 9/11 as set-up for Cordoba b. PPT presented as written by Shafique Walji (staff volunteer) c. Challenge master narrative of what went wrong i. Islam achieved something great and then went into steady decline d. Introduce Cordoba to get to the discussion i. Basic history of Islamic expansion ii. Expansion of knowledge, and development of institutions of learning iii. Reasons for decline from zenith 1. Seljuq advancement 2. Mongol invasion 3. Advancement of European pardigm iv. Cultural renaissance with Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals,…