Intra-faith Religion

I do run, run, run; I do run, run, run

Name the country with the following traits: A female Olympian with medal hopes in marksmanship. Queen – the band with an openly gay lead singer – is highly popular. Has a very successful family planning program. Allows abortion – albeit in limited circumstances. Transsexuals are accepted as part of society. Hopefully the first thought that came to your mind was an Islamic state described as fundamentalist. A state where women are supposed to wear hijab and the state is theocratic. Perhaps a state that is part of the Axis of Evil, and has had no diplomatic relations with the US…

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Religion

Quick Links

A religious stereotype not true?! Wait, you mean all Muslim men are not waiting for their 72 virgins? Some just want raisins? Muslims give America the blues. If you trace the history of American music you know that it also eventually gives us hip-hop, in multiple ways. For those of you haven’t heard yet, some Iraqis appreciate that they can play soccer, but are also willing to fight in Fallujah. How can you face your God is a question that runs both ways. Of course, I love the fact the administration tried to spin the interview. These players’ answers are…

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Current Affairs Intra-faith Religion

The Wahhabi Movement Hates the Prophet (PBUH)

The Wahhabis are apparently putting toilets over where the Prophet (PBUH) lived. Clearly what the Qur’an meant when it said God and the angels praise him (33:56). In 1990, sympathizers tipped him off that the site thought to contain the foundations of the Meccan house of Muhammad and Khadija was to be paved over. He rushed to the site, even threatening to put his young son in the bulldozer’s path. He used his contacts to win permission for a last-minute archaeological dig. It lasted 40 days, and he says his team of volunteers uncovered stone foundations that appeared to be…

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Inter-faith Religion

Rabbi, please continue to teach

Rachel does it again. I’ve been sitting on this post for too long. The Islamic tradition, according to Qur’anic injunction (17:78-79), is for three times prayer, dawn, just before sunset and just after sunset. And of course, many Muslims have seen the little prayer books for the pre-anything prayers, including going to the bathroom. Recently found one for a dua to say before having sex. Who says we’re a repressed people? Rachel’s post, and the obvious similarities to Muslim traditions, got me thinking about the meaning of ritual. The idea of using a symbolic language, in this instance ritual, is…

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Inter-faith Religion Weblogs

A rabs and Moslems

Our favorite beduouina has posted her life story. As many numbers as I throw at you about most Muslims are not Arab, nor are all Arabs Muslim (say hello to Edward Said, Hanan Ashrawi, and Tariq Aziz, to name a few), her own background gives a much sense of that reality. Just for the record, and for those of you who care about numbers: 6.3 billion people in the world (source) 1.3 billion Muslims in the world (no cited source, just the number that’s being bandied about right now) 300 million Arabs (source [projected from source]) ~5% of the world,…

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Religion

Muslims In Vegas

The LA-Times is running a five day series about Muslims living in Sin City. First article was fairly interesting. Blurbage about the series In an effort to depict the lives of American Muslims in an extraordinary time, staff writer Peter H. King and staff photographer Genaro Molina spent a year among the Islamic community of one U.S. city — Las Vegas. From April 2003 to April 2004, they periodically visited the city’s mosques and Muslim homes, workplaces and social events.

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Current Affairs Religion

It’s amazing what turns up

I went searching for an article entitled “Counterterrorism at Miami Airport” by Ali Mazrui, and found it at Swahili On-line (asante sana). It was attached to an article about Islam in East Africa. Both are worth a read. The link is here. I like Dr. Mazrui’s writings quite a bit because he treats Islam as part of the African cultural landscape, rather than something foreign that can be separated out and potentially removed.

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Religion

Islamic Extremisim

Haroon over at Avari-Nameh has posted a great piece on the current (or not so current) bouts of extremisim in Islam. Here is a blurb from the end of the piece: “Muslims must consider their reactions to present-day occurrences with a view to the past and also to the future, to see that, despite claims of resisting American or Israeli aggression, radicalism is not likely to help the Muslim community in any way. Radical Islam desires the subjugation of all competitors – no policies or procedures except shari‘ah, as imagined by activists with brittle education but plenty arrogance. Their immanent…

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