Did any of you catch the episode of Tony in Saudi? As usual the show had sensational segments in which he ate the “weird stuff” that average Joes of whatever nation don’t usually eat—bugs in Cambodia and Mexico, pig anus in Colombia—this time it was lizard curry and roasted baby camel including the hump and none of the Saudis he was with had ever had either one. But they had more typical foods too, including a stop at Al Baik, the Saudi fried chicken joint. The show was surprisingly sensitive. I am wary of all the racist and Islamophobic barbs that spike any mainstream show that touches on Islam and/or the Middle East…I must say that I was expecting the worst. Tony was understandably curious and unapologetic about things he didn’t fully understand, but at the same time respectful and not the least bit patronizing or insulting. A pleasant surprise, really. He admitted that he didn’t know what to expect and that he had been propogandized to think of Saudi in only a negative light. He refers to Saudi Arabia as a country about which Americans have little understanding and even less sympathy. But he actually liked his trip. Catch it in a re-run if you can.
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luckyfatima
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aziz
Michael Totten talks about his experiences in Kosovo, perhaps the most truly liberal muslim country in the world. What struck me however was the repeated statements by various kosovars he interviewed, to the effect that they self-identify as “muslim” but also insist that religion is not the basis of their identity. I While I admire the way the Kosovars have crafted a free society, I can’t help but be curious about what their perception of Islam actually is. Is this “cultural Islam” made manifest?
perhaps the word Islamic can be used in a similar fashion to the old Woody Allen joke: “I’m not a Jew, I’m Jew-ish”
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thabet
Radical Muslim and Christian groups stoke the embers of Papua’s conflict.
Note the involvement of American Protestant churches in this region — not dissimilar to Saudi-funded Salafi preachers in the West…
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thabet
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thabet
The Guardian has an interview with South African batsman Hashim Amla. He talks about the Australian commentator who called him a “terrorist” and his religious beliefs (including a discussion on beards).
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aziz
Manas is on a blog hiatus, but don’t miss this older post about why he feels the “West vs Islam” is a false dichotomy.
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aziz
Islamcrunch writes about the virtues of acts of worship during Rajab. A great post, despite a cybermullah gatecrasher.
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thabet
Islam and Hinduism’s blurred lines in Rajasthan.
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thabet
The British government is to fund a board of Muslim theologians (and jurists?) to debate key issues such as loyalty to the United Kingdom. It is hoped this will sideline ‘violent extremists’. The Times reports Muslim women will also be part of what they dub a ‘board of imams’. There are also plans to teach Muslim children about citizenship in mosques across the country.
What authority will this board hold? Who will define the label ‘Muslim’? Ministers are quoted by the BBC as saying the board will “reflect the diversity of Islam and Muslim communities in the UK”. What does that even mean? Does this include Muslims who may hold unpopular views regarding women, liberalism or gay rights? Or how about those on the other side of the spectrum (e.g. Muslims who are also gay, people who self-define as ’secular Muslims’)?
At first glance, this looks like an extra-legal attempt to set up so-called ’sharia courts’, but without the accountability element.
No separation of church and state, please. We’re British.
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Lawrence of Arabia
I would really like to see the whole letter, which is not posted. But in any case, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in the midst of all the other problems he is having, bravely continues to try stimulate a dialogue(?)/ build bridges between Christianity and Islam in order to combat secularism.
Meanwhile, whole congregations of the Anglican communion are in negotiations with Rome to become Catholic, and a whole different group boycotted the Lambeth Conference.
You couldn’t pay me enough to take his job!
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thabet
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Andrea Useem
While writing a post on why forgiveness is good for you, I got thinking about Muslim traditions about forgiveness. I’m wondering: Do you think hadiths and teachings about forgiveness are not emphasized enough by Muslim leaders? Should we be talking about forgiving, say, Muslim-haters?
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aziz
In India, the line between Hinduism and Islam is not all that fine, thanks to centuries of familial bonds and religious syncretism.
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aziz
Islam Waktu Telu, a mixture of Islam and ancestor and spirit worship, remains alive on the island of Lombok, in Indonesia.
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willow
All right, let’s go there. In another thread Andrea suggested we devote a discussion to white converts–what we mean, what we hijack, how we’re useful or not. I will observe something that will make me unpopular among others of my ilk: a lot of educated white converts (in other words, ones who grew up with a certain amount of implicit cultural authority) use their conversion as an excuse to analyze subjects with which they have no experience: honor killing, arranged marriage, poverty. They function, and to a certain extent see themselves, as religiously privileged anthropologists. There is a reason for this that is understandable: one wants to simply tack a Muslim identity on to one’s existing identity, which gives one a comfortable cushion of implied expertise.
The problem, besides a level of inherent obnoxiousness, is that this muddles up existent identity politics. In the West, Islam is deeply tied to ideas of race, cultural identity and immigration. When white converts come in, rhetorical guns blazing, to talk about Who Muslims Are and Are Not, the narrative gets skewed. Thirty years of postcolonial activism, meant to take the Muslim/non-western narrative out of the hands of white scholars and put it back in the hands of the people who live it, becomes confused. The unspoken bottom line is this: to some people, the fact that white Muslims exist is very inconvenient.
My solution: we, educated white converts, have to accept that we don’t get a unified cultural identity. We just don’t. Not this generation. If we work hard, our kids will. We no longer fit seamlessly into the white majority and we can’t tack ourselves on to the immigrant/emergent American/British community, because *we’re not from there*. (Hello? White dude in the thobe with the fake foreign accent? I’m talking to you.) We are, for now, identity-less. Rather than denying it, moaning about it or getting a martyr complex about it, we should accept it, poke our heads up and see how this can be useful.
Next: How to Be White, Muslim and Vocal Without Co-opting Everything
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willow
I’ve been blogsurfing the other side recently (and wherever I go, Muse has stepped in to mediate the fray–I suggest adding a Best Diplomat award to the BCs), and came across this post at The Apostate, one of the few genuinely eloquent and persuasive ex-Muslim blogs out there. I’m in a minority of white converts who believe that sometimes the best thing a white convert can do is sit down, shut up and let other people do the talking, which is why I don’t comment on things like honor killing. (Being from a middle class white American family, honor killing hasn’t ever been and won’t ever be a factor in my life experience, so it’s unfair for me to comment on the role it has played in the experiences of others.) However, it’s an interesting and disturbing discussion of the interplay between misogyny and Islam, which has, I think, some real intellectual merit.
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wangdaiyu
The Guardian features a debate between Inayat Bunglawala and Harun Yahya on Evolution and the origin on life.
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thabet
The zebiba used to be the mark of an elderly Muslim man, the fruit of a lifetime’s devotion, but it is increasingly seen on the faces of young Egyptians.
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muse
The Fight for Turkey. An op-ed by Roger Cohen in the NYT. He argues that a dose of “secular fascism” is healthy for the bout between the AKP and the secular establishment. Am I the only one finds this ludicrous? Does “Islamofascism” get the same courtesy?
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aziz
Examples of the fluidity of Islamic thinking.
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