islamicate

Congratulations Rachel

Our friend Rachel of Velveteen Rabbi fame has made it on to Time Magazine's blog index. Mazel tov and mubarak.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Rachel has been a wonderful friend to us virtually and in the real world. She deserves this recognition not only for her insightful output, but also as a great person.
Go vote for her in a good way. And if you read us, but you don't read Rachel, you should start now.

Muslim Woman Ruler

A Muslim woman ruler before the 20th century. It's amazing how much we've regressed.

Shi'ism, Yemen

Muslims and Good Governance

It goes back to the beginning. Why do non-Muslims get this, but Muslims don't?

Imam Ali, Shi'ism, governance

This is not us

I don't think I've posted about this before, but if I have, it bears repeating.

Yeh Hum Naheen is a music video from Pakistan about Muslims denouncing terrorism, it means "this is not us." Video clips below.

terrorism

Quran on Cloth

Quran on Cloth
Originally uploaded by Swamibu.

Click through and read the description. You won't believe that amount of work that went into this.

A Quote from Rushdie

In light of my earlier post:

"But members of the new colony have only one real problem, and that problem is white people. British racism, of course, is not our problem. It's yours. We simply suffer from the effects of your problem."

p. 138

"But it is often argued that those old days, those old ideas are long dead, [racism which resulted in slavery and colonialism] and play no significant parts in the events of contemporary Britain. If only that were true. If only history worked so cleanly, erasing itself as it went forward."

pg. 145

From:

"Imaginary Homelands" (Salman Rushdie)

race, racism, Untitled, Salman Rushdie

Gardens and Afghanistan [Updated][2x]

Does a war-torn country need a garden?

[update]: Sectarian bias is a blight on a rare Afghan good news story

[update]: Afghanistan's fight for it's cultural heritage

Afghanistan

Synagogue in Afghanistan

Amongst all the cultural loss, I'm glad to see that all the focus isn't just on the Muslim community, but on the entirety of the Afghan community. Synagogue restoration in Herat.

Afghanistan

Asma Hasan at Glamour

My friend Asma Hasan is blogging at Glamour Magazine about the presidential election. Do check her out, but as she says, she's a Republican, and I am most assuredly not, so don't be surprised if you read very different things over there. Enjoy!

Karen Armstrong Interview

She talks a lot about religion and politics in this particular piece. I think her history of the Sunni-Shi'ah political divide is a bit off. Arguably the first empires fighting about this were in the 11th century (Fatimids and Abbasids), but I would argue the political division goes back to the time of the Prophet. However, that doesn't mean that they didn't live well together.

Karen Armstrong