Category: Intra-faith

Guest Voices: Mosque near Ground Zero? “It’s about the community, stupid” – On Faith at washingtonpost.com. For all their noble intentions, the individuals behind the proposed community center near Ground Zero failed to do one major thing before they presented their plans for their Muslim center, which would include a mosque, to city officials: they did not consult with other American Muslims. In doing so, they effectively cornered American Muslims into taking a position, especially once opposition to Park51 mounted. This was unfair to millions of American Muslims who are bystanders in what has become an attack on our religious…

I think Aziz makes some powerful points in this interview. This is America! – An Interview with Aziz Poonawalla on the Cordoba House Project | The League of Ordinary Gentlemen. I think that the Muslim American community didn’t ask to be included in Park51′s project, but we have been dragged into it forcibly. In some ways it would be a relief if the issue went away. However, if they do decide to move, then I think that the message that will be sent is that bigotry and fear of Muslims is not just permitted, it is effective. This may result…

The Pew numbers are so wrong, that I am amazed they are still being used. We know that there are over 800,000 Muslims in NYC alone, which would mean 1/2 of the US Muslim population is in NYC according to Pew’s numbers. Other than that, the slideshow that goes with the article is amazing. The Biggest Muslim Capitals in America – The Daily Beast. “I think Muslims view the U.S. as a beacon of freedom,” says Farhana Khera, president and executive director of Muslim Advocates, an advocacy organization. According to Pew, two-thirds of the Muslim population was born outside the…

I like Eboo a lot. I think he’s actually behind the curve on this one though; the Muslim-American community is well on the path he describes. Doesn’t mean that he doesn’t say it well. The Faith Divide: The future of Islam in America – On Faith at washingtonpost.com. Big tent Islam means that Muslims from a range of geographies, ethnicities, theologies and intensities all consider themselves part of a single community whose similarities outweigh their differences. It means Sunnis and Shias, sufis and salafis, African-American converts and Arab immigrants, five-times-a-day-prayers and once-a-year-mosque-goers have two words for each other: fellow Muslim.

Watch the video. The Ismaili: Video: Dr Reza Shah-Kazemi delivers the 2010 Yawm-e Ali lecture at the Ismaili Centre, London. The 2010 Yawm-e Ali Lecture at the Ismaili Centre, London was delivered on 14 July by Dr Reza Shah-Kazemi, Reasearch Fellow at The Institute of Ismaili Studies in London. In his lecture titled Imam Ali and the Power of Compassion, Dr Shah-Kazemi explored the role played by Rahma — divine compassion — in the teachings of Hazrat Ali.

The Saturday Profile – Ismail Serageldin Seeks an Arab Age of Reason – Biography – NYTimes.com. And one of his core messages, aimed at his own community, is that Muslim societies today need to learn from Muslim leaders of the past, like Ibn al-Nafis, the 13th-century religious scholar, philosopher and scientist who called for tolerance in hearing out opposing views.  “How different these enlightened voices from the past sound compared to the frenetic ranting and condemnations of everything that is new and different that we see and hear everywhere in the Arab and Muslim worlds today,” he wrote in one…