islamicate

Faith in Fantasy on Imaginary Worlds Podcast

I am a longtime fan of the Imaginary Worlds podcast, and was ecstatic was I was asked to participate in roundtable on the role of faith in imaginary worlds.

I was joined by friend of many years, the Velveteen Rabbi, Rachel Barenblat, who did a wonderful write-up of her experience here.

The episode description is:

Science fiction has not always been compatible with religion -- in fact many futuristic settings imagine no religion at all. But sci-fi and fantasy have long fascinated people of different faiths because the genres wrestle with the big questions of life.

You can listen to episode embedded below, or on the podcast page here.

 

Intro. to Islam Video | Religion for Breakfast

Tweeting the Qur'an #Quran #Ramadan #ttQuran 2017/1438

Traditionally, Muslims read the Qur'an in its entirety over this time, in a section a day. The Qur'an is split into thirty sections, called juz', and one section is read each night. 

This year is the 9th year I am inviting people to tweet the Qur’an for Ramadan. I will be tweeting @islamoyankee.

To see how the call has (not) evolved, here are the six call outs:

2009 Windsor Star Article

2010 (despite the title, which says 2011)

2011 USA Today Article

2012

2013 Storify (including press stories)

2014 A piece I did on Immanent Frame

The Background [from the 2009 post]

This year, I have been thinking it would be fun to tweet the Qur'an for Ramadan. Coincidentally, Shavuot came, and several people I follow on Twitter tweeted the Torah. Since that experience seemed to be successful, it further cemented my belief that this would be a good idea.

I remain grateful to Aziz Poonawala (@azizhp), who helps me refine our guidelines and provide technical feedback every year.

Our guidelines from last year:

1. Anyone is welcome. You do not have to be Muslim.
2. The point is to provide greater access to the Qur'an, so please tweet in English, regardless of the language you read in. Multiple language tweets are welcome.
3. You should tweet verses that appeal to you each night, not the entire juz'. Some of you may wish to do the whole juz', but the idea is that we find comfort in the word of God, and we approach it and understand differently every time we come to it. Each night, there are certain verses that will have more power/resonance. Simply tweet those.
4. Include chapter and verse numbers using "Arabic" numerals, eg. 1:1, 33:72, etc.
5. Some verses may be too long for 140 characters. Split the tweet. Summarize. As you will, but make sure you make it clear what you are doing, and include the verse number.
6. You should feel free to offer commentary on why you chose that verse. If you know some tafsir, please include as well, if relevant.
7. Tags: please include #ttQuran .
8. You do not need to commit to reading/Tweeting every night. However, when you do Tweet, please make sure you are on the same juz as everyone else.

If there are are other guidelines you believe should be included, please leave them in comments and I'll move up some to the main post.

This year, I plan on using:

Children's Museum of Manhattan - America to Zanzibar - POLITICO

DE BLASIO press shake-up -- CUOMO bans insider lobbyist -- REDSTONE saga - POLITICO.

NYC Council Speaker Melissa Mark Viverito, NYC Council Majority Leader Jimmy Van Bramer, NYC Council Members I. Daneek Miller and Helen Rosenthal toured the America to Zanzibar: Muslim Cultures Near and Far exhibit at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan earlier this week with the museum’s executive director Andy Ackerman, the museum’s honorary board chair Laurie M. Tisch, museum board member Judith Hannan, the exhibit’s academic advisor Hussein Rashid and others. America to Zanzibar: Muslim Cultures Near and Far is a groundbreaking new interactive exhibit for children and families that explores the diversity of Muslim cultures in New York City, the U.S. and abroad. The exhibit showcases the cultural expressions of various Muslim communities around the world through age-appropriate experiences with art, architecture, travel, trade, design and more.

Leading Edge - Conference

I'll be speaking at the following conference on a Muslim theology of Black Lives Matter. I've spoke at the church before on a similar topic, but this will be different.

 

“Body Politics” :: Jan 17 @middlechurch from Middle Collegiate Church on Vimeo.

 

 

 

The Leading Edge 2016: 

REVOLUTIONARY LOVE—Tools, Tactics, and Truth-telling to Dismantle Racism 

Friday, April 15 – Sunday, April 17 in New York City 

Our nation is in a crisis. Though there is only one race — the human race — racism is a construct with lethal consequences. People die while in its custody. Racism has annihilated the souls of citizens and ripped out the heart of our nation. Recent surveys show that 60% of the people in our nation think race relations are in a significant decline, that our dream for justice and equality is dying on the vine.

At the 10th annual Leading Edge Conference and the 6th annual Transform Network Gathering, we will learn and teach each other the best practical wisdom for movement-making, mingled with theoretical underpinnings and theological reflection. Join thought leaders like Chris Crass, Melissa Harris-Perry, Jim Wallis, Jacqui Lewis, Huseein Rashid, and Miguel De La Torre; and activists like Linda Sarsour, Micky ScottBey Jones and Valarie Kaur. In plenaries, short talks, and small group conversations surrounded by music and art, we will create strategies for change.

Activists, analysts, preachers, poets, prophets, teachers, trainers, writers, queer, and straight folk of all faiths ready to make a change: Come and bring your hopes, disappointments, and dreams. We must disrupt the narrative of white supremacy if we are to be free. We need tools, tactics, and truth-telling to dismantle racism.

Ours is #PropheticGrief. Even in our anger and tears, we are ready to do something, to organize. This is a multi-faith, multi-racial movement. Those of us who are disgusted with the status quo are called to join the movement if we are to save our nation, save our world, and save our souls.

Powered by the Middle Project, Transform Network, The Unitarian Universalist Association, and Auburn Seminary 

To register, visit middleproject.org.

 

 

Panel: Advancing Religious Literacies: Exploring Islam through the Cultural Studies Method

The loud discourse on Islam in the United States today marks Muslims as a threat, embroiled in pre-modern sensibilities, and unable to participate in democratic societies. These articulations are often made by recycling colonial and oriental images of Muslim women as oppressed and Muslim men as violent, with objects such as the hijab and the figure of the terrorist at the center. This rise of Islamophobic commentary has resulted in myriad incidences of bullying, teasing, and direct violence against teachers and students who identify, or are read by others, as Muslims. All this points to the lack of understanding about Islam and Muslims in the United States. This panel will argue for the urgent need for religious literacy and introduce the Cultural Studies method to understand Islam and Muslims.

Panelists:

Dr. Ali Asani, Professor of Indo-Muslim Religion and Cultures; Director of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Islamic Studies Program, Harvard University

Dr. Diane Moore, Director, Religious Literacy Project; Senior Lecturer on Religious Studies and Education; Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard University

Dr. Hussein Rashid, Founder of islamicate, L3C, a consultancy focusing on religious literacy and cultural competency

Shenila Khoja-Moolji, Research Fellow, Teachers College; Education Affiliate, Religious Literacy Project, Harvard University 

 

Date: April 21, 2016

Time: 7 to 9pm

Everette Lounge

Teachers College, Columbia University

 

Sponsors:

Vice President's Office for Diversity & Community Affairs

Teachers College Student Senate

America to Zanzibar elumenati Video

elumenati is the company that did a wonderful immersive architectural experience for the Children's Museum of Manhattan's America to Zanzibar exhibit. They have posted a promo video that only hints at how great the experience is.

 

Newsday on America to Zanzibar

Here is a Newsday article on the exhibit America to Zanzibar: Muslim Cultures Near and Far, at The Children’s Museum of Manhattan, for which I was the lead academic advisor. It's a good chance to shout out my friends from high school.

“Our goal is to have children deal with differences in a healthy, positive way and encourage them to be inquisitive while exploring the world instead of running away from its differences,” Rashid said, an experience not so different from his years growing up in Elmont.

 

Reuter's Coverage of America to Zanzibar

Here is a Reuter’s video on the exhibit America to Zanzibar: Muslim Cultures Near and Far, at The Children’s Museum of Manhattan, for which I was the lead academic advisor. I had no idea the tie was rakishly crooked.

The Muslim Culture Exhibition on TRT Showcase from Reuters Content Solutions on Vimeo.

The Muslim Culture Exhibition on TRT Showcase

My Secret Thoughts of America to Zanzibar at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan — Ummah Wide — Medium

My Secret Thoughts of America to Zanzibar at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan — Ummah Wide — Medium.

For the last few years, I got paid to play with toys. I was able to put a philosophy of Star Trek’s Vulcans into practice, and live as a Jedi. Comics littered my work space, and Dr. Who’s TARDIS traveled with me through space and time. All I was missing was a Buffy or Firefly fix. All of this was possible because I was working on religious literacy and global citizenship.