Talk Islam

Latest Updates: Muslim writers RSS

• 

  johnpi 12:02 pm on November 20, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: American Muslim leaders (10), American Muslims (71), muslim american (20), Muslim writers, Muslims in America (36), Muslims in Politics (5)

  The people power is with Zeba.

  Zeba Khan has blown the competition out of the water in the latest round of the Washington Post’s ‘America’s Next Great Pundit Contest’ beating the nearest competitor by over a thousand votes. See Zeba’s powerhouse performance here in the video competition.

  The competition now comes down to Zeba and one other contestant, who have been tasked to write one final column for the contest that will be published on Monday, which will be your opportunity to participate in the FINAL VOTE in the contest.

  Watch here on Monday for your opportunity to vote for Zeba and give her a platform to launch her pundit career at the Washington Post.

   

  Reply Click here to cancel reply.

  Name (required)

  Email (required)

  Web Site

   
• 

  johnpi 11:38 am on November 20, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: American Muslim leaders (10), American Muslims (71), Muslim journalists (4), Muslim writers

  Elan magazine profiles Muslimah Media Watch founder Fatemeh Fakraie.

   
• 

  johnpi 9:57 pm on November 17, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: American Muslim leaders (10), American Muslims (71), muslim american (20), Muslim writers, Muslims in America (36)

  Zeba Khan advances to the next round in the Washington Post’s ‘America’s next great pundit’ contest.

  Zeba and the other two remaining contestants are being brought to Washington DC where they will meet face-to-face for a roundtable debate. She came in third for votes among the three participants who are advancing, so you’ll really need to show up for the next vote on Thursday, when you will be able to see video of the debate and vote for the best pundit – which will be Zeba of course.

  The winner of this contest will write a weekly column for 13 weeks and paid $200 for each, which then may be published in the print or online edition of the Washington Post.

  In the meantime, here is an excerpt of a blog post Zeba wrote for the round two competition in which she proposed making Detroit, Michigan, into a center of Islamic finance.

  Much has been said about the economic devastation in the Motor City, and weekly stories abound, letting the rest of us in on just how grim the situation is. But in the midst of economic ruin, there are flickers of hope, with occasional stories of small business owners entering the city and setting up shop. Yesterday, a very big flicker of hope was announced in the form of online mortgage mogul Dan Gilbert, the CEO of Quicken Loans, who wants to help spark a revival by relocating his company’s headquarters and its 1,700 employees into the heart of the city. If Gilbert moves his company, it will surely be a step in the right direction. But as Gilbert admits himself, if Detroit is going to become a success story, more people are going to have to follow him in, and it’s going to need to make good business sense to do so.

  Gilbert intends to recruit innovative companies into the downtown area, envisioning an entrepreneurial center that would be critical for a true transformation. In light of his plans, I want to relay an idea that came up over dinner last week with my friends: Let’s turn Detroit into a hub for Islamic finance.

  I know it might seem like I’m throwing a curve ball, but hear me out.

  Follow this link to read more about Zeba’s idea to turn the ‘Motor City’ into a showcase city for the Islamic finance sector.

   
• 

  johnpi 6:25 pm on November 16, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: American Muslim leaders (10), American Muslims (71), muslim american (20), Muslim writers, Muslims in America (36)

  Vote for Zeba (again).

  Zeba Khan who founded Muslim Americans for Obama, has made it into the group of final four contestants being considered in the Washington Post’s “America’s Next Great Pundit” competition.

  Earlier, she requested help from friends and supporters to vote for her in the competition, and she needs our help again.

  I’m writing to inform you that thanks to your votes, I made it past Round 2 in the Washington Post’s “America’s Next Great Pundit” Competition! But there was little time to celebrate as Round Three was a live Q&A session this morning. Online voting has already begun and will go until tomorrow, Tuesday Nov. 17 at 3 pm EST.

  You can read the Q&A transcript here.

  And hopefully, you’ll find reason to vote for Zeba again here.

  What next if she wins this round?

  Should I garner enough votes to proceed, there are two more rounds before the Post determines the overall winner of the competition. So worst and best case scenario, you’ll be finding my name in your inbox two more times this week.

   
• 

  johnpi 8:47 pm on November 7, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: American Muslim leaders (10), American Muslims (71), muslim american (20), Muslim writers, Muslims in America (36)

  Vote for Zeba.

  Last week, I was selected as one of ten contestants in the Washington Post’s “America’s Next Great Pundit” competition. Nearly 5,000 entries were submitted. The Post is holding an online voting weekend starting today and ending Monday, Nov 9th at 3pm EST for readers to choose the top 4 (plus 1 Judges’ pick) to move on to the next round.

  I am shamelessly asking for your vote.

  You got it!

  Zeba Khan created the Muslim Americans for Obama website and blog – http://www.mafo2008.com.

  Here’s something she wrote back in September for The Huffington Post: Muslim Americans missing from the political fray.

  Last week’s “Tea Party” demonstration in D.C. illustrates that using the term “Muslim” as a slur is still acceptable in many parts of the country as protesters exclaimed they were afraid “Muslims are moving in and taking over” – an echo of their leader Mark Williams’ comments about candidate Obama being an “Indonesian Muslim” during the presidential campaign.

  That Muslims aren’t well liked hasn’t been lost on Muslim Americans themselves. But rather than confront the stereotypes and misunderstandings that led to the negative views, most Muslim Americans seem to have gone into hiding and decided not to participate in American political life.

   
• 

  johnpi 4:39 pm on October 17, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Muslim journalists (4), Muslim writers

  Magazine puts spotlight on Muslim women.

  A Montclair (NJ) State University senior has enlisted writers from around the world to contribute to a magazine she created for Muslim women.

  Yasmin Essa, 20, launched Modest Beautiful Muslima in July. The magazine caters to Muslim women while tackling topics including beauty, fitness, health, family, food and religion. Since then, the bimonthly online magazine has attracted more than 800 readers from 30 countries, including the U.K., China and Egypt.
  ….

  The magazine’s unpaid contributors hail from across the globe — writers from Canada, Qatar, Germany, Nigeria, India and the U.S. have all been published in Modest Beautiful Muslima.

  She met some through mutual friends and others through the Facebook social network, where the magazine has a page, and the Twitter micro-blogging Web site, where Modest Beautiful Muslima has 200 followers.

  Essa, of Edison, said she is proud that some non-Muslims read Modest Beautiful Muslima as well. Some have told her they love the recipes (supplied by My Halal Kitchen blog), and one of her friends, a non-Muslim man, said he wants to write an article for the magazine about how non-Muslim men perceive Muslim women.