Approaching the Ramadan fast for the first time. (Link courtesy of The Velveteen Rabbi.)
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The “ex-Muslim” Industry
Critics Say Caner Isn’t Only Self-Styled Ex-Muslim. On his website, Saleem claims to have carried out terror missions in Israel, fought with Afghan Mujahedeen against the Soviets, and came to the U.S. hoping to wage jihad against America. He also once claimed on the site that he was descended from the “grand wazir of Islam,” until skeptics pointed out that it was a nonsensical term, akin to calling someone the “governor of Christianity.” Skeptics point out that Shoebat and Saleem claim to have carried out their terrorist activities in the 1960s and 1970s, long before modern Islamic radicalism emerged in…
Powell’s Iftâr Remarks
I’ve been sitting on this link for too long, for now good reason other than poor time management. Secretary of State Colin Powell’s remarks at an official iftâr. He says all the right things. Very nice overall.
Torture is Terror
The passage below is a problem I have been struggling to articulate. From Aziz: What is needed is a generalized principle under which both opposition to terrorism and opposition to torture can be articulated. From a religious perspective, muslims have been arguing (usually defensively) that terrorism (ie, hirabah) goes against Islamic teachings for quite some time – see my own ongoing articles on hirabah here on beliefnet and my earlier hirabah posts. Recently, several muslim organizations issued a joint statement against torture (to which I also signed). Many of the same religious arguments that are made can be applied equally…