Month: January 2016

“Muslim women are often celebrated as courageous when pushing back against legal, social and cultural norms within their faith communities. But … aren’t Muslim women pushing back against Islamophobia ‘courageous,’ too?” Are American Muslim Women Brave? How About Those in Europe? (Huffiington Post) When it acted “against all its tall and much-publicized claims about the […]

Sami Al-Arian tells the inside story of his persecution and explains why the 81% of Americans who don’t trust their government are right: I Was the Target of Jeb Bush’s Vicious Political Dark Side: Exploiting the Politics of 9/11 (Alternet) David Cameron refers to the “traditional submissiveness of Muslim women” in a private conversation and gets […]

The unusual public announcement of arrests for such an incident suggests Iran is signaling that it will no longer condone such actions: Iran Announces 100 Arrests Over Attack on Saudi Embassy (AP / abc News) “Met Commander Richard Walton praised the Muslim community for fighting terrorism and added police were receiving more similar calls from […]

“It’s an incredible irony here because … Islam … [is] intellectual as well as religious and chess was the emblem of that. The pieces themselves were aesthetically reshaped into abstract pieces there”: Why the Grand Mufti’s Fatwa Gambit Is Unlikely to Checkmate Chess (Christian Science Monitor) Despite Kerry’s professed optimism, the peace talks are threatened by refusal […]

We live in an age when a spelling error can lead to a criminal investigation: Muslim Schoolboy, 10, Quizzed by Police After Writing ‘I Live in a Terrorist House’ when He Meant ‘Terraced’ (Daily Mail) … and “problems with alcohol, anxiety and depression and [having] just finished watching a week of Fox News coverage on the […]

A senior Iran analyst calls the exchange for seven Iranians “a smart move to prove to hard-liners on both sides that even a narrow arms control agreement can produce more positive knock-on effects than coercion and confrontation” … Iran Frees 5 Americans, Including Reporter, as Nuclear Deal Is Affirmed (Christian Science Monitor) … it came on […]

“The decision comes after objections to a proposal to keep schools open on the Jewish holy days … for the first time in more than three decades. Maryland law already requires schools to be closed on days that include [3] Christian holidays”: Why Some US Districts Are Adding Muslim Holidays to the School Calendar (Christian […]

“The swift release … contradicted speculation that the hardline Revolutionary Guards were seeking to sabotage the mending of relations between Iran and the west days before the planned implementation of the nuclear deal”: Iran Releases 10 US Sailors Who Entered Territorial Waters (Guardian) “Not only are these things strictly forbidden under criminal law, they are […]

“[Q]uestioning the state-sanctioned interpretation of the Quran[,] … providing alternative interpretations for discussion…[, d]ebate, discussion and questions are seen as seditious. … [b]ecause Islam is used as an instrument of control”: Islamicity Indices — The Best Instrument for Changing the Muslim World (Huffington Post) “The report also substantiates last month’s claims … that the chemical […]

Music … [and] figurative art … traditions are meshed completely into Islamic culture in South Asia” disproving the notion that countries must choose between “secular embrace of modern arts or austerity”: How South Asia Will Save Global Islam (Diplomat) “Both New York City and the nation must respond to the threat of violence – whatever […]