Category: Intra-faith

Inter-faith Intra-faith

Jews, Muslims, and Orthodoxy

islamoyankee

Over at Talk Islam, Abu Noor talks about what the face of Islam in America will look like. He picks up two issues that I have argued previously: 1. The Catholic-Protestant divide is not a useful analogy for discussing the Sunni-Shi’ah divide. 2. We do not need a Reformation in Islam. (See more recently, my talk on Muslims in the Media (part 2)) Where I have difficulty with his argument is the extension of the analogy with Judaism. I agree that the movement approach (Conservative, Reform, Orthodox, etc.) better fits the Muslim experience. We generally speak of turuq (paths), of…

Read More
Inter-faith Intra-faith Media

On a New York Times Roll

islamoyankee

The NYT had an interesting series of unrelated articles about Muslims over the last week. Deprogramming Jihadists I respect that the article is trying to show how the Saudis are attempting to deal with demon they helped create, but really does not address some of the inconsistencies in the approach. For example: Saudi schools teach a version of world history that emphasizes repeated battles between Muslims and nonbelieving enemies. Whether to Afghanistan in the 1980s or present-day Iraq, Saudi Arabia has exported more jihadist volunteers than any other country; 15 of the 19 hijackers on Sept. 11 were Saudis. and…

Read More
Inter-faith Intra-faith

A Conversation in a Mosque

islamoyankee

A friend recently went to Turkey and the tour guide started explaining Islam. It’s actually pretty good, and the guide is funny. Of course, I have objections to both a five pillar definition of Islam and linking of religious acts as dependent on science, but overall it is fun. It’s also nice to have a Muslim, from a Muslim-majority country, explain Islam in a way that resonates with the way many of us understand our own faith. Turkey

Read More
Intra-faith

What is Ramadan?

islamoyankee

Here’s an interesting article from the Washington Post on a Saudi cleric who is trying to put the spirit back into Ramadan. Interesting and more representative than the wackos calling for the death of TV station owners. (h/t Sven over at The Devil’s Advocate)

Read More
Intra-faith

The Modern Muslim Arab Male

islamoyankee

This is a decent article in the NYT about Arabs, specifically Muslims, and modernity. I’m saddened that they only focused on males, because there is another half of the population. Also, it seems like the issues they are investigating would benefit with a comparison as to what is happening in the US and how we are negotiating the same issues.

Read More
Inter-faith Intra-faith

Nobody likes Jews or Muslims [Updated]

islamoyankee

Isn’t that reason enough for us to get along? New poll says anti-semitism and islamophobia on the rise. Other interesting tidbits from the poll: Muslims are worried about Muslim extremism. We don’t like it either. Why don’t people understand that? The Muslims most worried about Islamic extremism are countries that are dealing with … Islamic extremism and a growing OBL fan club. Finally, look at the poll. Muslims don’t approve of suicide bombing. [Update]: The complete report can be found here.

Read More