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Inter-faith

Books

Velveteen Rabbi: The voices of American Muslim men

islamoyankee

Velveteen Rabbi: The voices of American Muslim men. Because I've been blessed to know Hussein for years, I paid special attention to his essay. He writes eloquently about growing up "painfully normal" in Queens, New York. His grandmother and his grade school were both located in Forest Hills, Queens, "one of the most diverse Jewish communities at the time." He writes about how he developed racial identity consciousness first, and religious identity consciousness later. (Indeed: as a good second-generation American teenager, he rebelled against his parents, which naturally meant steering away from religiousness. For a while.)

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Intra-faith

Ayesha Mattu and Nura Maznavi: Fathers Day: A Love Letter to Muslim Fathers

islamoyankee

Ayesha Mattu and Nura Maznavi: Fathers Day: A Love Letter to Muslim Fathers. All of my life, Muslim men — from my father to my uncles, from my cousins to my friends — are the ones who have nurtured, supported and protected me. They've cheered every success, inspired me to push higher with my personal and professional ambitions, and believed in me even when — especially when — I did not believe in myself.

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Politics

Rent Affordability on Minimum Wage – NYTimes.com

islamoyankee

Rent Affordability on Minimum Wage – NYTimes.com. But even if you quibble with how exactly the Coalition put the chart together, it’s clear that there’s a mismatch between the minimum wage and the cost of living (or at least a decent cost of living). In New York, which is in the midst of a fight over raising the minimum wage, two individuals would need to work 68 hours a week each to manage the rent on a two-bedroom unit. If they have kids, the 70 percent of their paychecks left after rent won’t get them very far.

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Inter-faith

So, what did the Muslims do for the Jews? | The Jewish Chronicle

islamoyankee

So, what did the Muslims do for the Jews? | The Jewish Chronicle. Islam saved Jewry. This is an unpopular, discomforting claim in the modern world. But it is a historical truth. The argument for it is double. First, in 570 CE, when the Prophet Mohammad was born, the Jews and Judaism were on the way to oblivion. And second, the coming of Islam saved them, providing a new context in which they not only survived, but flourished, laying foundations for subsequent Jewish cultural prosperity – also in Christendom – through the medieval period into the modern world.

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Intra-faith

Chaplain works to be ambassador for Muslim faith, U.S., Army | Mobile Augusta

islamoyankee

Chaplain works to be ambassador for Muslim faith, U.S., Army | Mobile Augusta. At 6-foot-4, 250 pounds, Maj. Khallid Shabazz is physically imposing. But what seems to intimidate some people more than his size is the little crescent moon stitched above the name tag on his uniform. That crescent identifies Shabazz as one of five Islamic chaplains, called imams, in the Army. It’s a position that often draws considerable attention and sidelong stares given that America’s armed forces have fought Muslim extremists for more than a decade.

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