Inter-faith Intra-faith Religion

Tweeting the Qur’an #Quran #Ramadan #ttQuran 2020/1441

Traditionally, Muslims read the Qur'an in its entirety during Ramadan, in a section a day. The Qur'an is split into thirty sections, called juz', and one section is read each night.  This year is the 12th year I am inviting people to tweet the Qur’an for Ramadan. I will be tweeting @islamoyankee. Starting in 2019, I expanded the invite and encourage people share commentaries and art work. I am excited by the commentaries offered over at Sapelo Square, and I encourage you to check them out for yourselves. I'll also be tweeting commentaries from the Prophet's beloved family. In addition, you…

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Inter-faith Intra-faith Literature Media Religion

Faith in Fantasy on Imaginary Worlds Podcast

I am a longtime fan of the Imaginary Worlds podcast, and was ecstatic was I was asked to participate in roundtable on the role of faith in imaginary worlds. I was joined by friend of many years, the Velveteen Rabbi, Rachel Barenblat, who did a wonderful write-up of her experience here. The episode description is: Science fiction has not always been compatible with religion — in fact many futuristic settings imagine no religion at all. But sci-fi and fantasy have long fascinated people of different faiths because the genres wrestle with the big questions of life. You can listen to episode…

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Inter-faith Intra-faith

Tweeting the Qur’an #Quran #Ramadan #ttQuran 2017/1438

Traditionally, Muslims read the Qur'an in its entirety over this time, in a section a day. The Qur'an is split into thirty sections, called juz', and one section is read each night.  This year is the 9th year I am inviting people to tweet the Qur’an for Ramadan. I will be tweeting @islamoyankee. To see how the call has (not) evolved, here are the six call outs: 2009 Windsor Star Article 2010 (despite the title, which says 2011) 2011 USA Today Article 2012 2013 Storify (including press stories) 2014 A piece I did on Immanent Frame The Background [from the 2009…

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Art Inter-faith Intra-faith Media Appearances

Children’s Museum of Manhattan – America to Zanzibar – POLITICO

DE BLASIO press shake-up — CUOMO bans insider lobbyist — REDSTONE saga – POLITICO. NYC Council Speaker Melissa Mark Viverito, NYC Council Majority Leader Jimmy Van Bramer, NYC Council Members I. Daneek Miller and Helen Rosenthal toured the America to Zanzibar: Muslim Cultures Near and Far exhibit at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan earlier this week with the museum’s executive director Andy Ackerman, the museum’s honorary board chair Laurie M. Tisch, museum board member Judith Hannan, the exhibit’s academic advisor Hussein Rashid and others. America to Zanzibar: Muslim Cultures Near and Far is a groundbreaking new interactive exhibit for children…

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Conferences Events Inter-faith Intra-faith Religion

Leading Edge – Conference

I’ll be speaking at the following conference on a Muslim theology of Black Lives Matter. I’ve spoke at the church before on a similar topic, but this will be different.   “Body Politics” :: Jan 17 @middlechurch from Middle Collegiate Church on Vimeo.       The Leading Edge 2016:  REVOLUTIONARY LOVE—Tools, Tactics, and Truth-telling to Dismantle Racism  Friday, April 15 – Sunday, April 17 in New York City  Our nation is in a crisis. Though there is only one race — the human race — racism is a construct with lethal consequences. People die while in its custody. Racism…

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Events Inter-faith Intra-faith Religion

Panel: Advancing Religious Literacies: Exploring Islam through the Cultural Studies Method

The loud discourse on Islam in the United States today marks Muslims as a threat, embroiled in pre-modern sensibilities, and unable to participate in democratic societies. These articulations are often made by recycling colonial and oriental images of Muslim women as oppressed and Muslim men as violent, with objects such as the hijab and the figure of the terrorist at the center. This rise of Islamophobic commentary has resulted in myriad incidences of bullying, teasing, and direct violence against teachers and students who identify, or are read by others, as Muslims. All this points to the lack of understanding about Islam and…

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Art Books Events Film Food and Drink Games Inter-faith Intra-faith Literature Media Appearances Music Photos Poetry Religion

Newsday on America to Zanzibar

Here is a Newsday article on the exhibit America to Zanzibar: Muslim Cultures Near and Far, at The Children’s Museum of Manhattan, for which I was the lead academic advisor. It’s a good chance to shout out my friends from high school. “Our goal is to have children deal with differences in a healthy, positive way and encourage them to be inquisitive while exploring the world instead of running away from its differences,” Rashid said, an experience not so different from his years growing up in Elmont.  

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