Author: islamoyankee

Intra-faith

THE CHAMP IS HERE | 30mosques

islamoyankee

THE CHAMP IS HERE | 30mosques. Being teased about his appearance was tormenting, he said.  Until he was seven years old when an African American woman at school told him something that he still remembers to this day.  “She said ‘You look that way because you’re special,’” he said. “’If God wanted you to be like everybody else and just be normal, he would have made you that way. But he made you look special because you’re supposed to be special. If you’re going to be special, all the stuff you’re going through is training for that.’  “And the thing…

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Politics

Rick Perry: The pro-Shariah candidate? – War Room – Salon.com

islamoyankee

Not really related to Shari’ah at all, but a good article. In the interests of transparency, I was briefly involved with the Texas curriculum project. Rick Perry: The pro-Shariah candidate? – War Room – Salon.com. Perry is a friend of the Aga Khan, the religious leader of the Ismailis, a sect of Shia Islam that claims a reported 15 to 20 million adherents worldwide. Sprouting from that friendship are at least two cooperation agreements between the state of Texas and Ismaili institutions, including a far-reaching program to educate Texas schoolchildren about Islam. That’s a partnership that has already prompted a…

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Inter-faith

Michelle Goldberg Explains Why Jews “Recoil from the GOP” | NJDC Blog

islamoyankee

Michelle Goldberg Explains Why Jews “Recoil from the GOP” | NJDC Blog. Newsweek’s Michelle Goldberg published an article today in Tablet detailing why today’s Republican Party repels a majority of American Jews. In the article, Goldberg explained that the Republican Party’s coziness with radical Christian factions makes Jews uneasy. She criticized Republican claims that Jews are leaving the Democratic Party as one of the “perennial canards of American political commentary.” Using historical facts about Jewish voting patterns, she emphasized that the majority of Jewish voters are unlikely to vote Republican because many in the GOP define America as a Christian…

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Intra-faith

Beliefnet Voices – Aziz Poonawalla – City of Brass

islamoyankee

Beliefnet Voices – Aziz Poonawalla – City of Brass. It is in these 6:42am moments, as I am woken by the blinding sun, hungry and incapacitated that I know there is no magic in the minute, no need to count fasting by the number of hours completed. It is the simplicity of routine, the humility borne from discipline that I always seem to leave out of my lofty Ramadan plans. It is my favorite lesson to rediscover and it leaves me forever thankful that Ramadan graces us, and especially me, every year.

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Television

TLC Orders ‘All-American Muslim’ Series – The Hollywood Reporter

islamoyankee

TLC Orders 'All-American Muslim' Series – The Hollywood Reporter. TLC is attempting to take a deep dive into Muslin-American culture with its new series, All-American Muslim. The series, set to premiere in November, is designed to bring viewers inside a Dearborn, Michigan community with the largest mosque in the United States. The cameras will chronicle the everyday lives of five appropriately diverse Muslim families, focusing on their customs, celebrations, conflicts and misconceptions.

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Politics

Post-9/11 ‘Arab Slayer’ Mark Stroman’s Last Words Offer Message Of Peace

islamoyankee

Post-9/11 'Arab Slayer' Mark Stroman's Last Words Offer Message Of Peace. After a lifetime of bitter prejudice that drove him to kill innocent strangers, Mark Stroman died with a message of peace. Stroman, 41, was executed by the state of Texas on Wednesday night by lethal injection, punishment for a shooting rampage in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks that left two South Asian convenience store workers dead and another seriously injured.

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Intra-faith

A Mosque Story: Wajahat Ali | Spiritual Appetite

islamoyankee

A Mosque Story: Wajahat Ali | Spiritual Appetite. This man, a former convict who was selling $3 Ramadan Cards with his friend who had served 37 years, stood up and gave one of the most beautiful adhaans I had the pleasure of hearing in years.  His voice soared – beyond the bricks and mortars of a building that would not dare confine such a gift. We were all blessed and grateful to hitch-hike this voice that probably flirted with the Heavens, if even for the briefest of moments.  As I sat and listened, I shocked myself by spontaneously uttering something…

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