Category: Current Affairs

The Muslim American Society has been organizing people to boycott Fleet Bank for allegedly discriminating against Muslims. Based on the evidence they, MAS, have presented, I think it’s important to bring any impropriety out and to use not only criminal sanction, but also market sanction. But…

“To God We belong, and to Him is our return” [2:156] Trans. Yusuf Ali For those unaware, the new numbers for the Iran quake are close to 50,000 dead. I won’t belabor the point, as Muslim Wakeup! has already compiled a list of agencies to which you can donate. Please give as much as you can.

Despite recent tragedies and fears, the New Year was well-spent, and hopefully it was for you as well. May the new year bring us greater knowledge of ourselves, of our faith, and allow us to be of greater service to our families, communities, and our faith.

Now what? We got Saddam, what’s next? Do we put him on trial? All of sudden his connections with Rumsfeld and Cheney get highlighted. Of course everything is in the public domain, just most news outlets have no interest in negative reporting on their associates. [Yes I do believe the fourth estate is dying.] But you can’t keep such a high-profile character in hiding forever. You could try him in Iraq, instead of in an international court designed to deal with international criminals, to make it sound as though there is a functioning judiciary in the country and to emphasize…

Today a group of confirmed Muslims attacked another Muslim in a mosque today. Now I understand that there are politics and frustrations involved, but using the mosque as a place of violence can’t be a good thing. Historically it’s where Imam Ali was assassinated, and where Baruch Goldstein committed his atrocity. Have we really sunk to a level that we consider it acceptable to kill and pray in the same place? Isn’t that the worst stereotypes of Muslims made flesh? I know the Minister wasn’t killed, but I’m not sure that wasn’t the ultimate goal. In any event, in a…

A friend and mentor pointed out this article from the International Herald Tribune on splitting up Iraq. I thought with the recent capture of Saddam, now might be a good time to talk about the implications of our long-term strategy in Iraq. Broadly speaking we either keep the country whole, or we divide it. If we keep it whole, we have a few different approaches to keeping it together: Impose our rule, like the IGC; let loose a real representative democracy, putting the Shi’ah in charge; set-up a power sharing scheme, like Lebanon; some confederation of autonomous regions.

Commentary coming. In the meantime, please distribute widely, and feel free to re-post on your own sites. [Disclaimer: We are not part of the Task Force. However, I believe the issue is important enough to get out the word.] ACTION ALERT: Title VI Funding Renewal Poses Dangers to Academic Inquiry, Integrity and Security Dear Fellow American Citizen: We are writing to alert you to proposed legislation, HR 3077, which poses a potential threat to academic freedom. Professor Rashid Khalidi has noted that this legislation creates “an ideological litmus test for academics” which could limit freedom of expression in the classroom…

This post is not the one on Shi’ism I promised below, but it is still related to Shi’ism. Roy Mottahedeh has a great piece on the nature of the Shi’ah groups in Iraq. Juan Cole has a short summary of the relationship amongst Shi’ah groups in Lebanon, Iraq and Iran. Both men are incredibly knowledgeable and extremely lucid writers. While both are predominantly political, they do give a surprisingly good idea of the religious landscape as well.

How do you save 70,000 sheep from being exported for slaughter? Feed them pig! Read the following link from the Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/11/19/1069027168975.html

Today Yahoo! News is reporting about the number of religious attacks made against Jews and Muslims in 2002. According to the FBI, the number of attacks against Jews greatly outnumbered those against Muslims. More telling are the numbers from 2001, where attacks against Jews outnumbered attacks against Muslims almost 2-1. Now, there very good reasons as to why the numbers of attacks against Muslims might be depressed, particularly in 2001 (see the DRUM website for an immigration angle). However, I still find the numbers telling. Judeophobia and Islamophobia spring from the same well [see Ali Asani’s excellent speech on the…