A year ago I stumbled upon an interesting website. After relating a short story, it asked the reader to guess the religious context in which the tale was set. The questions varied from the way women dressed (burqa-esque, fully clad) to the practice of allowing men multiple wives. When I …
I had a friend in college who was discovering Islam around the time I was. Though we were both born Muslims, we were now understanding it and practicing of our own accord. We were not converts, but “Reverts”. After college, she went on to study Islam at a madrassa-esque school for …
I recently came across two worthwhile pieces on Persian Gulf states punching above their weight. The first is a New York Times analysis of Qatar, the lil’ oil rich country that could:
Qatar is smaller than Connecticut, and its native population, at 225,000, wouldn’t fill Cairo’s bigger …
2011 – in the world of religion and politics, we have seen banning of Muslim “Hijab” in France, Congressional Hearings on “Radicalization of Muslims in America” and various similar acts across the globe; but what I keep coming back to in my mind are the lives lost on account of …
Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani was arrested in 2009 and sentenced to death for apostasy in Iran – various Human Rights groups are now pleading for his release. Although the ruling itself is said to be questionable in light of the Iranian civil code, the …
On Wednesday, the a federal jury awarded $20,000 to a Muslim woman suing Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) for refusing a Muslim woman a job based on her choice to wear the Muslim headscarf. More than the news article, the comments on it interested me.
Various …
The Telegraph reported two days ago an absolutely absurd story about the movie actress Julia Roberts and the shooting of the new film, “Eat, Pray, Love.” Apparently, Roberts managed to prevent villagers from celebrating the religious rites of Navratri by closing a local temple to the public and …
A month ago a new wave of fighting started between Yemen’s government forces and rebel Shi’ite Muslims. According to Reuters/Alert Net, the conflict has spread and the plight of civilians is at “alarming levels.” The most recent fighting has been on-going for five years, displacing about 150,000 people. …
This week in Egypt, two American couples were arrested and charged with human trafficking after they engaged in illegal adoptions.They were sentenced to two years in prison and fined $18,153. According to the AP, “They adopted children from a Cairo orphanage that allegedly gave them forged documents stating …
You cannot imagine a stronger mix of religion and politics than the news out of Iran today. According to the LA Times, Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has been prevented from leading the Friday Prayers in Tehran on the occasion of Quds Day. The alleged reformist leaders …
On Monday, BBC News reported from Aceh province in Indonesia that a new law was passed to make adultery punishable by stoning to death. According to the BBC report, “Sharia law was partially introduced in Aceh in 2001, as part of a government offer to pacify separatist rebels.” …
I’m always impressed by how much religion permeates the life of Tajikistan, even when it is incorporating trends from abroad. This past week, as Tajikistan celebrated its 18th year of independence, there was a small art festival entitled, “Graffiti is Flight Fantasy.” (sponsored by the Institute for Eurasian Studies). Although …
Overlook Press has recently published Dilip Hiro’s new book: Inside Central Asia, which is an all-encompassing history of practically everything the average reader of history might want to know about the region. It even considers the ancient history of the 5 major “stan” countries, as well as Iran and Turkey. …
The most interesting article I’ve come across recently concerns Morocco and the spread of Islamic radicalism. Although articles are being published practically every second on “Islamic radicals,” Steven Erlanger’s and Souad Mekhennet’s piece in the New York Times alerts readers to an element of the spread of radicalism that is …
Christopher Hitchens, on Slate.com, has written a piece on Guantanamo Bay and the current Presidential policies that has made me re-consider my understanding of tolerance (at least for a time). After much consideration, though, I have to say that this Hitchens article is not very compelling. He basically …
