First ever US envoy to OIC

Only time will tell what this announcement means for the OIC or the Islamic world in general, but for now, it is a good move and Cumber deserves our support!

Hope not Hate Film festival: Revitalizing US-Middle East relations - Saturday, 9/15

Americans for Informed Democracy

&

Imagining Global Asia at The New School

PRESENT A FILM FESTIVAL

MISSION POSSIBLE:

Revitalizing US-Middle East Relations

FEATURING:

CONTROL ROOM

WHOSE CHILDREN ARE THESE?

A SON’S SACRIFICE

MUHAMMAD: LEGACY OF A PROPHET

DISCUSSION FACILIATATORS:

HAROON MOGHUL - Contributing Editor, Islamica Magazine;

Director of Public Relations, Islamic Center at NYU

YASMIN HAMIDI – Network of Arab-American Professionals of New York

MUSA SYEED - Producer: A Son’s Sacrifice

THERESA THANJAN - Producer/Director: Whose Children Are These?

FATIMA ASHRAF – Community Activist

DATE: Saturday, September 15^th, 2007

TIME: 10 AM – 6 PM

VENUE: The New School

Swayduck Auditorium - Room F-102

65 Fifth Avenue (between 13^th and 14^th streets)

Light refreshments will be served throughout the day!

More info and RSVP at: http://www.aidemocracy.org/hnhfilm.php

Newsweek feature(s): Islam in USA

More to be written about this later, but meanwhile, check it out - hot off the presses!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032542/site/newsweek

On the Pew Center's recent study on American Muslims...

The folks at Pew must be commended for a survey/poll that recently came out on American Muslims. While it may have been long overdue - at least it was done! The results were pleasantly refreshing, too. But I wont bore you with repetitions, and instead, draw your attention to an interesting article that speaks to the phenomenon of why news regarding Muslims is always negative - even when there is good news (such as in the results of the poll)!

Read on over here...

NY Event: Mediterranean Dialogues: Judaism and Islam at the Roots of Modern Europe - 4/16

Many thanks to Ms. Natalia Indrimi who passed this information on! Please do forward

Centro Primo Levi

Italian Studies at the Center for Jewish History

PRESS ADVISORY

Visit the Press Room at www.primolevicenter.org/press/1.html

Contact: news@primolevicenter.org or 917-606-8202

EVENT

Mediterranean Dialogues: Judaism and Islam at the Roots of Modern Europe.

Roundtable, gala concert, and reception.

WHEN

April 16, 2007 at 6:00 pm

WHERE

Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16 Street. Tickets are $30 including refreshments. Box office: 917-606-8200, www.ticketweb.com.

WHAT

Panel discussion moderated by Ross Brann (Cornell University) among fellows of the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania addresses the historical crossover of imagery and ideas in Mediterranean lands, its relevance within academia, and its impact on the society at large. Gala concert features Italian-Libyan singer Miriam Meghnagi whose work in Hebrew and Arabic beautifully represents the “rich tapestry of Jewish art in the multicultural world in which we live”.

ABOUT

Centro Primo Levi is dedicated to study and foster interest in the history, culture, and traditions of the Jews of Italy.

This program is held in collaboration with the American Sephardi Federation and the Italian Cultural Institute.

More info available here:

http://www.primolevicenter.org/news/1.html
http://www.primolevicenter.org/press/1.html

The Sixth Annual CIR Conference at Yale - 4/14

The Sixth Annual CIR Conference at Yale
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Hermeneutics and the Future of Islam in America

Linsly-Chittenden Hall, Yale University
Conference Schedule
8:00 - 9:15am Registration; Breakfast & Coffee
9:15 - 9:30am Welcome
9:30 - 11:30am Panel 1: Hermeneutics: Texts and Society
Response: Zareena Grewal; Moderator: Homayra Ziad

Juliane Hammer, "Hermeneutics, Identity & Society:
American Women's Approaches to the Qur'an"
Martin Nguyen, "Hermeneutics as Translation: An
Assesment of Islamic Translation Trends in America"
Saminaz Zaman, "From Imam to Cyber-Mufti: Navigating
the Supermarket of Islamic Identities in America"
Mark Gould, "Kemal A. Faruki: an Islamist, a
Modernist"

11:30 - 11:45am Coffee Break
11:45 - 1:45pm Panel 2: Change and Continuity in Theology
and Law
Response: Yasir Qadhi; Moderator: Sayeed Rahman

Ayesha Chaudhry, "The Problems of Conscience and
Hermeneutics: A Few Contemporary Approaches"
Fareeha Khan, "Gender, Tradition and Change: Some
Reflections on the Deobandi Presence in America"
Youshaa Patel, "Tradition in Motion: Pluralizing
Islamic Law through Incorporation of Custom"
J. Ahmed, F. Ahmed, I. Syed, "From Liberal to
Liberation Theology: An Islamic Hermeneutics of Social
Justice"

1:45 - 3:00pm Lunch Break and Dhuhr Prayers
3:00 - 5:00pm Panel 3: Case Study: Pluralism
Response: Matthew Ingalls; Moderator: Altaf Saadi

Vice Biondo, "Islam in the U.S. and Britain:
Tribalism and Pluralism"
Anas Malik, "The Case for a Minarchist Libertarian
Political Islam"
Al-Husein al-Madhany, "Pooh-Poohing Pluralism:
Ijtihading Hadith to Build a Theology of Exclusion"
Peter Wright, "Rethinking the Inimitable"

5:00 - 5:30pm Coffee Break and 'Asr Prayers
5:30 - 6:30pm Roundtable Panel Discussion, Moderator:
Mahan Mirza
6:30 - 7:30pm Keynote Address, by Ingrid Mattson,
Moderator: Mahan Mirza
7:30pm Conclusion & Maghrib Prayers

Islam in Democratic Societies Conference - 4/27

Islam in Democratic Societies Conference

Sponsored by The Jebsen Center for Counter-Terrorism Studies, The Hudson Institute, and The Fletcher School
Friday, April 27
Time: 4:30 pm
Location: ASEAN Auditorium in the Cabot Intercultural Center at The Fletcher School, Tufts University. Reception will follow the panel discussions in the Hall of Flags. For directions please visit http://fletcher.tufts.edu/IslamInDemocraticSocietiesConf/directions.shtml.
Panel discussions will include: Moderates & Radicals; Supporting Moderates: How Moderate Muslims Can Counter Extremism
RSVP: For those who will be attending we ask you to register at http://fletcher.tufts.edu/IslamInDemocraticSocietiesConf.

Islam and Innovation: Muslim Entrepreneurs Talk Business - 3/30

Please attend and spread the word! I'm moderating!

SHURUQ 2007

A Muslim American Mosaic: Celebrating Islam, Activism and Enterprise in America

www.shuruq.net

You are invited to a networking mingle with Muslim entrepreneurs to discuss their innovative ideas and inspiration from a faith-based perspective. Come learn how Muslim Americans are promoting enterprise in America. The event is free and open to the public.

Co-sponsored by the ICNYU Alumni Association and Americans for Informed Democracy.

Islam and Innovation:

Muslims Talk Business

Friday, March 30, 2007

7:00 PM

Kimmel Center, Room 802

New York University

60 Washington Square South,

New York NY 10012

Dinner and desserts will be served.

Entrepreneurs include:

Nabeel Kaukab

UBS, Associate Director

Moushumi Khan

Attorney, Law Offices of Moushumi M. Khan

Asma Shikoh

Visual artist

Omar Taha & Yasser Salem

S&T Group

Musa Syeed

Filmmaker

Sarah Musa

Fashion designer

Sajjad Chowdhury

Editor, Dinar Standard

Toufique Harun

Internet start-up

Extended Biographies of Panelists:

Zeeshan Suhail our moderator, is a graduate student in Political Science at The Graduate Center (CUNY). Zeeshan was recently appointed Board Member for Americans for Informed Democracy and is currently pursuing a Master's degree in International Relations at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). Zeeshan was also an active member of student government at his undergraduate school, Queens College-CUNY, where he was the first Pakistani and the first Muslim to be elected Vice President in the 35 years of student government history. Zeeshan has appeared on CNN and his work has been published in Q-News (Britain), The World Scholar (New York), Pakistan Post (New York) and The Nation (Pakistan).

Asma Shikoh is visual artist, whose main concerns are her immediate environment. She grew up in Karachi, Pakistan--a society constrained by tradition, threaded through with colonial legacy and subjected to the most rapid changes due to the impact of globalization. Her work there attempted to define national and cultural identities of a society in flux. ‘Ronald’ from McDonalds and ‘Colonel Sanders’ of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) became revered icons in the imagery of my artwork; celebrating, dancing, invading, controlling, and challenging the very vulnerable/sacred ideals of nationalism in our society. She recently had an exhibit at the Ceres Gallery in New York City.

Sajjad Chowdhry is creator of Dinar Standard, a new business strategy e-magazine, released the first ever ranking of top businesses in the Muslim world covering companies from the 57 member countries of the OIC (Organization of Islamic Conference.)

Yasser Salem is a former consultant with McKinsey & Company in New York and Dubai. Prior to McKinsey & Company, Mr. Salem held several positions within the financial services industry, including investment banking and buy-side investing. Mr. Salem works with Sponsors for Educational Opportunity, a non-profit organization which recruits, trains, and places outstanding minority college students in substantive financial services internships. Yasser graduated with honors from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University with degrees in Finance and Accounting. He is currently a recruiter for Sponsors in Educational Opportunity, nation’s premiere summer internship program for talented students of color leading to full-time job offers. Since its inception, SEO’s Career Program has placed over 4,000 Black, Hispanic/Latino, Asian, and Native American students in internships that lead to opportunities in exciting and rewarding careers in the most competitive industries worldwide.

Omar Taha has various experiences in the financial services industry, including Foreign Exchange trading in New York. Prior to Foreign Exchange trading, Mr. Taha was an Investment Banking analyst at Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse First Boston. Mr. Taha graduated from the Honors Program at the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University with degrees in Finance and Accounting. He started The S&T Group, a financial services executive search firm catering exclusively to Dubai and the greater Gulf; focusing on direct investing (private equity and hedge funds), investment banking, capital markets, and accounting opportunities. They were founded with the mission of being primary contributors to the economic and corporate development of the Middle East. They believe, with the right professional talent, the Middle East has all the resources necessary to become leaders in the corporate world. The S&T Group focuses on high quality long-term relationships with clients and candidates.

Moushumi Khan is an attorney and business consultant in private practice in New York City. She has had extensive experience with cross-cultural issues affecting companies dealing with Muslim employees, customers or suppliers. She has been active in the non-profit, economic development and legal sectors. Since February 2001 Ms. Khan has been in solo legal practice concentrating on corporate and civil rights law. Her clients include the Muslim immigrant populations, and companies with Muslim employee and community relations issues to resolve. Ms. Khan is a co-founder and President of the Muslim Bar Association of New York and is a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Toufique Harun is a technology entrepreneur at heart. He is currently the founder and CEO of an Internet search start-up. He was formerly the VP of Systems & Technology at an oil trade facilitation company he helped build from conception. Prior to that, he was consulting at Deloitte. Toufique has a Bachelor's and Master's in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. In his spare time, he enjoys talking to and learning from ambitious leaders and entrepreneurs who want to change the world for the better.

Sarah Musa started Haya, LLP to meet the overwhelming demands for modest, contemporary clothing for women living in the West. There are countless stories by women who have spent hours in shopping malls, only to find that they have to compromise simply to get a long garment, perhaps something that is not walk-able, has slits, is made to be fitted, etc. She is currently a student at Fashion Institute of Technology.

Musa Syeed is a 2005 Fulbright Fellow producing experimental films related to identity in the Muslim world. His work has taken him from the deserts of Egypt to the mountains of Kashmir. His other filmmaking honors include being named a finalist for the George A. Heinemann Film Production Award. As a writer, he produced original theatrical work for the Children's Museum of Manhattan and serves as a film critic for Islamica Magazine. Syeed has worked as an educator in schools, community centers, and prisons. He focuses on interfaith education and serves as an advisor for film and television companies, including Thirteen/WNET, the PBS affiliate in New York City. He is an alumnus of New York University's Middle Eastern & Islamic Studies and Tisch School of the Arts.

Questions? Please contact Sadia Kalam at sadia.kalam@gmail.com

NY Event: Confronting domestic violence in Muslim communities - 3/27

My Article: An evening with Irshad Manji

I had heard so much about Irshad Manji and then, out of nowhere, I get an email about a speaking engagement of hers. Naturally, I was skeptical, but was interested in what she had to say. Additionally, it was an opportune time to see what the Muslim community would think.

But alas. As expected, many scoffed at the idea of hearing her speak, and others just outright wanted to boycott her/the event. I, on the contrary, was enthusiastic to go, and will never regret the decision.

I realized after the event that it's not so much what she has to say that rubs people the wrong way, but instead, how she says it. Many people are turned off by her attitude and/or style while many others are too conservative to stand her viewpoints. I, on the whole, was fairly satisfied, and realized she is most certainly an ally in the fight against ignorance and seeks to build bridges. Perhaps her real troubles will be in deciding who to partner with.

Another friend, who apart from my friend and I, was one of the few Muslims there, remarked that it would be interesting if another Muslim reformer, Tariq Ramadan, teamed up with her. He's got the scholarly background and she has the media savvy. What a team!

I heard from many that she is not worth talking to, or not worth engaging and the like, but then thought, there can possibly be no harm in talking to them or listening to them. At least we can hear it from the "horse's mouth" and not rely on scandalous propaganda. I am glad I attended the event, because I got to see the real Irshad Manji - not the one i've read and heard about - who, by the way, seemed totally different. (She was extremely nice to my friends and myself)

I wrote this week's column on my experience listening to a "Muslim Refusenik" - i.e. Irshad - and have copied it below in its entirety. I look forward to feedback - all sorts! :)

An evening with Irshad Manji


Being a graduate student means being able to listen to a diversity of viewpoints and then indulge in a civil and thoughtful debate or dialogue. Oftentimes though, this is not the case – even with the most seemingly ‘civilised’ people. And oftentimes, we also hear about certain people who are rebels, renegades and outcasts – or so the media portrays them – who, we assume, will probably be the last to indulge in the sort of dialogue we might hope for.

And then we have Irshad Manji. She is one person who can engage in thoughtful dialogue, yet still remain on the periphery when it comes to religious debate and has been chastised for quite some time now. I had seen enough bad press about her to think of never attending any event where she was to speak, and urged others to not support her in her endeavours as well. One fine evening, I decided that I had heard enough and wanted to make up my own mind instead. After all, this is the stuff graduate students live for!

And so I made my way to New York University where Irshad Manji was to speak, and lo and behold, an audience of scores of people was already present – and as expected – only a handful of Muslims were in attendance. I was already intimidated. And saddened.

I was monitoring a discussion on Manji taking place on a listserv, and while some participants had positive things to say about her, others simply wished to not engage her at all. I am of the view that no matter to what extent the person in question has stooped, they at least deserve to be heard. A conversation may not ensue, but our eyes and ears must stay open, even if our mouth is clamped shut.

It was only after I started hearing her speak that fateful evening that I realised she is not a force to dampen, but a force to reckon with. She is outspoken and has definitive viewpoints that irk many, but inspire and motivate many more. She told stories about the horrors she encountered with closed-minded individuals all over the Muslim world and the persecution and violence that others faced because of ‘radical and/or extreme’ views, even though these views were, in essence, only challenging the status quo. For them to bring such a violent outpouring was disturbing and shows that an internal reformation is hardly possible if we cannot even sit at a table and indulge in a debate rationally.

Later on in the evening, she mentioned explicitly how Muslim scholars of the ‘Dark Ages’ were responsible for the transmission of the writings of Greek philosophers and scholars, which was, in turn, responsible for the Age of Enlightenment that the West is so proud of now. If only we could go back to that time and somehow instill in Muslims today that spirit of ijtihad, Manji said. I could not have agreed more.

Manji’s childhood has been one of abuse and turbulence. Even though her secular schooling may have been great, her Islamic education on the side was anything but. Her thought-provoking questions to Islamic scholars did not yield any thoughtful responses and so out of sheer disillusionment, she left her official religious education behind and embarked on a path of “self-enlightenment”. After years of research, Manji came out with a best-selling book titled, The Trouble with Islam Today. Frankly, I have not read the book – yet – but the trouble with Islam today, I believe, lies truly with the propagators of its message.

On the one hand, we all constantly complain about how our narrow-minded clergy have made our lives worse by bringing stagnaton in the religion and not allowing for the crucial debates that keep religious traditions alive. On the other hand, we despise people like Manji who have views that might be considered normal and appreciated by mainstream Muslims, but that come out in such a way that it provokes a backlash. I sometimes wonder how women like Manji would be perceived if they wore a hijab. Certainly something to think about!

In the end though, I must give her credit for raising the same debate on issues I deal with on a daily basis in trying to inform people – usually non-Muslims – about what my faith really teaches me and has taught me. Manji may have left her Islamic school as a young child, but she did not leave Allah. She also wants to create a clear demarcation between Allah and His self-appointed ambassadors (i.e. the clergy). She related to the audience how her mother sternly told her not to anger God, and then also told those present in the audience about the time when her mother was in a masjid and the Khutbah being delivered by the Imam had to do with Manji. He said that she was worse than Osama bin Laden, because she was creating divisions in the community and that was unacceptable. Her response was that this call for unity was actually a call for uniformity, which could eventually lead to the end of ‘ijtihad’ as we know it, and this was her greatest concern. To Manji, Islam does not seem like a religion anymore, but instead an ideology of fear. The tradition of honour also scared her and the stories she narrated were truly difficult to digest.

On many counts, Manji hit the nail on the head. But on others, I still remain doubtful. Is it my ignorance? Perhaps. An acquaintance of mine attending the event remarked how Tariq Ramadan, a prominent Islamic scholar and fellow reformer, could maybe get together with her and combine their individual traits and fortes and create impact of positive, meaningful change. This may remain a pipe dream, but Manji is media savvy and should use this to her advantage. Perhaps with more coalition-building, we might see her single-handedly spark a reformation. God knows we need it, and God knows only we can do it.

Occupied Gaza like apartheid South Africa, says UN report

I remember blogging about UN Special Rapporteur for human rights in the Palestinian territories, John Dugard, earlier when one of his articles appeared in a prominent Atlanta newspaper. But alas, that was Atlanta, and this current article is from The Guardian. One can imagine the difference in readership, as well as the impact its contents can have.

He says similar things, ie Israel is an apartheid state and it is racist, but one would hope that we move beyond these discussions, and instead, work toward a sustainable solution.

I must say, though, that such a solution cannot take place without the developed world's support, and if the US and Britain continue to play irresponsible, or rather, unresponsive, roles, then we are truly doomed.

Without further ado, here's the article.

The myth of Muslim support for terror

This article made my day! I love the Christian Science Monitor as a media outlet to begin with, but wish their mass appeal somehow made its way down South or further West where mainstream America should be reading it as a matter of habit.

The results of the polls do not surprise me; it is the publishing/coverage of them in a major media outlet that does. But then again, the CS Monitor is always a step ahead of the rest of its peers.

I've copied the article in its entirety below. Happy reading and enjoy the weekend!

The myth of Muslim support for terror

The common enemy is violence and terrorism, not Muslims any more than Christians or Jews.

By Kenneth Ballen

Those who think that Muslim countries and pro-terrorist attitudes go hand-in-hand might be shocked by new polling research: Americans are more approving of terrorist attacks against civilians than any major Muslim country except for Nigeria.

The survey, conducted in December 2006 by the University of Maryland's prestigious Program on International Public Attitudes, shows that only 46 percent of Americans think that "bombing and other attacks intentionally aimed at civilians" are "never justified," while 24 percent believe these attacks are "often or sometimes justified."

Contrast those numbers with 2006 polling results from the world's most-populous Muslim countries – Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nigeria. Terror Free Tomorrow, the organization I lead, found that 74 percent of respondents in Indonesia agreed that terrorist attacks are "never justified"; in Pakistan, that figure was 86 percent; in Bangladesh, 81 percent.

Do these findings mean that Americans are closet terrorist sympathizers?

Hardly. Yet, far too often, Americans and other Westerners seem willing to draw that conclusion about Muslims. Public opinion surveys in the United States and Europe show that nearly half of Westerners associate Islam with violence and Muslims with terrorists. Given the many radicals who commit violence in the name of Islam around the world, that's an understandable polling result.

But these stereotypes, affirmed by simplistic media coverage and many radicals themselves, are not supported by the facts – and they are detrimental to the war on terror. When the West wrongly attributes radical views to all of the world's 1.5 billion Muslims, it perpetuates a myth that has the very real effect of marginalizing critical allies in the war on terror.

Indeed, the far-too-frequent stereotyping of Muslims serves only to reinforce the radical appeal of the small minority of Muslims who peddle hatred of the West and others as authentic religious practice.

Terror Free Tomorrow's 20-plus surveys of Muslim countries in the past two years reveal another surprise: Even among the minority who indicated support for terrorist attacks and Osama bin Laden, most overwhelmingly approved of specific American actions in their own countries. For example, 71 percent of bin Laden supporters in Indonesia and 79 percent in Pakistan said they thought more favorably of the United States as a result of American humanitarian assistance in their countries – not exactly the profile of hard-core terrorist sympathizers. For most people, their professed support of terrorism/bin Laden can be more accurately characterized as a kind of "protest vote" against current US foreign policies, not as a deeply held religious conviction or even an inherently anti- American or anti-Western view.

In truth, the common enemy is violence and terrorism, not Muslims any more than Christians or Jews. Whether recruits to violent causes join gangs in Los Angeles or terrorist cells in Lahore, the enemy is the violence they exalt.

Our surveys show that not only do Muslims reject terrorism as much if not more than Americans, but even those who are sympathetic to radical ideology can be won over by positive American actions that promote goodwill and offer real hope.

America's goal, in partnership with Muslim public opinion, should be to defeat terrorists by isolating them from their own societies. The most effective policies to achieve that goal are the ones that build on our common humanity. And we can start by recognizing that Muslims throughout the world want peace as much as Americans do.

• Kenneth Ballen is founder and president of Terror Free Tomorrow, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to finding effective policies that win popular support away from global terrorists.

Mr. Ballen's contact info is below - send him a thank you note!

Ken Ballen, President

Terror Free Tomorrow

(202) 274-1800 x 201

Kballen@terrorfreetomorrow.org

www.terrorfreetomorrow.org

PO Box 5704

Washington, DC 20016

NY Event: Frontline Pakistan: The Struggle with Militant Islam - 3/13

Asia Society cordially invites you to

Frontline Pakistan: The Struggle with Militant Islam

Featuring
Zahid Hussain, Pakistan correspondent for the Times of London, the Wall
Street Journal, and Newsweek.
Hasan-Askari Rizvi, Pakistan Studies Scholar, Johns Hopkins University
(moderator)

After September 11, 2001, President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan vowed to
fight extremism in his country and has since established himself as a key
ally in America's "global war on terror." But as veteran Pakistani
journalist and commentator Zahid Hussain reveals in this book, President
Musharraf is in an impossible position. Based on exclusive interviews
with key players and grassroots radicals, Zahid Hussain, exposes the
threads of Pakistan's complex political power web and the consequences of
President Musharraf's decision to support the U.S.'s drive against
jihadism, which essentially took Pakistan to war with itself.

"Frontline Pakistan is the first serious exposure of the rise and
continuation of Islamic extremism in Pakistan. Zahid Hussain shows the
links between the major jihadi groups of Pakistan, Al Qaeda, and the ISI
with a degree of detail not seen in any Western writing on the subject"
-Ahmed Rashid, author of Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and
Fundamentalism in Central America

Tuesday, March 13, 2007
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10021

Copies of Frontline Pakistan: The Struggle with Militant Islam will be
available for purchase and signing.

Policy programs at the Asia Society are generously supported by the
Nicholas Platt Endowment for Public Policy.

Please Register in Advance:
$7 Member, $10 Nonmember

To register ONLINE: https://tickets.asiasociety.org/public/default.asp
To register by FAX (credit card orders only please): 212-517-8315
To register by PHONE call (M-F 10am to 5pm): 212-517-ASIA

No cancellations, exchanges or refunds

NY Event: NYU Wagner's INTERSECTIONS featuring Irshad Manji - 3/5

NYU Wagner's INTERSECTIONS
with Lesley Stahl, 60 Minutes & CBS News Correspondent

featuring

Irshad Manji, Author of the National Bestseller, "The Trouble with Islam
Today"

Ms. Manji will preview and discuss her new PBS documentary, "Faith without
Fear" which is based upon her national bestseller "The Trouble with Islam
Today". Her film addresses the challenges of being a progressive Muslim
woman and the need to voice her opinion even though it is often met with
fierce opposition.

Book signing and reception to follow.

Monday, March 5, 2007
5 - 6:30 pm
Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service,
New York University
The Puck Building's Skylight Ballroom, 7th Floor
295 Lafayette Street, NY, NY 10012

RSVP online: https://www.nyu.edu/wagner/events/
Space is limited.

What the West Can Learn From Islam: Article by TARIQ RAMADAN

I've become a great fan of Ramadan's articles. While I Have yet to read any of his books, his articles have been engaging, thought-provoking and comprehensive. His knowledge and expertise would have made Muslim America, and America in general, better off - had the Government not interfered and denied him entry numerous times.

No doubt, we live in troubled times, but when we have the opportunity to engage in dialogue, I implore all my readers, to please grasp and cling to that opportunity and take full advantage of it. Modern technology and civilization has been kind to us. Let's not deny ourselves the pleasure and good fortune of doing without some "spin-offs" such as inter-religious and interfaith communication.

With that, I present to you Tariq Ramadan's most recent article, "What the West Can Learn From Islam" and copied below is a teaser that will hopefully compel you to read further...

In late September, I finally received a response to the question I had been asking the Bush administration for more than two years: Why was my work visa revoked in late July 2004, just days before I was to take up a position as a professor of Islamic studies and the Henry Luce chair of religion, conflict, and peace building at the University of Notre Dame? Initially neither I nor the university was told why; officials only made a vague reference to a provision of the U.S. Patriot Act that allows the government to exclude foreign citizens who have "endorsed or espoused terrorism." Though the U.S. Department of Homeland Security eventually cleared me of all charges of links with terrorist groups, today it points to another reason to keep me out of the country: donations I made totaling approximately $900 to a Swiss Palestinian-support group that is now on the American blacklist. A letter I received from the American Embassy in Switzerland, where I hold citizenship, asserts that I "should reasonably have known" that the group had ties with Hamas.

What American officials do not say is that I myself had brought those donations to their attention, and that the organization in question continues to be officially recognized by the Swiss authorities (my donations were duly registered on my income-tax declaration). More important still is the fact that I contributed to the organization between 1998 and 2002, more than a year before it was blacklisted by the United States. It seems, according to American officials, that I "should reasonably have known" about the organization's alleged activities before the Homeland Security Department itself knew!

Conference on Guantanamo Bay, human rights and civil liberties - 2/10

Dear friends,

I'm writing to inform you of a conference that will be taking place this Saturday, February 10 at the CUNY Graduate Center (365 Fifth Avenue, between 34th and 35th sts.) from 1-3 P.M. (followed by a video screening of the documentary "Outlawed"). I would appreciate it if you could forward the information to students or anyone else you think may be interested.

The focus of the event is Guantanamo Bay and post-9/11 civil liberties in America. Adem Carroll of the Muslim Consultative Network and Lynne Kates from the Center for Constitutional Rights will be speaking on their work with the Guantanamo issue and civil liberties in general as well as giving advice to students interested in careers in the field. In addition to this specific topic, we want to address the disconnect between expert opinion on these types of issues and actual U.S. policy, in an attempt to learn how to make our careers as influential as possible.

The conference will be open to 20-25 qualified students, giving them a chance to have all of their questions answered and ideas critiqued, as well as offering great networking opportunities.

An invitation is below, and I would greatly appreciate it if you would forward it to students you think may be interested.

Thank you in advance for your support,

Zeeshan Suhail

===========================================

Saturday, February 10, 2007
1 PM
at the CUNY Graduate Center

Guantanamo Bay & Post-9/11 Civil Liberties in America

Who are the most influential figures when it comes to U.S. decisions affecting civil liberties? How do we balance civil liberties with national security concerns after the 9/11 attacks? How can we impact positive, meaningful change when states are listening less and less to their citizenry?

Adem Carroll (Muslim Consultative Network) will speak on infringement on rights and liberties of Muslims after 9/11

Lynn Kates (Center for Constitutional Rights) will speak on the state of affairs of civil liberties and human rights at Guantanamo Bay (and elsewhere) after 9/11

A brief panel discussion will be followed by an open dialogue between the experts and attendees. Come share your views on Guantanamo and civil liberties in America and find out how to have the most impact on U.S. security policy.

Please RSVP with a short bio to clmadden@gmail.com for details.

Event: Who speaks for Islam? Who speaks for the West? - 11/29

“Who speaks for Islam? Who speaks for the West?”

A panel discussion with:

• Munir Akram, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations
• Lisa Anderson, Dean of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs
• Isobel Coleman, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations
• Karen Pierce, Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations
• M. Javad Zarif, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Iran to the United Nations

Moderated by Mustapha Tlili, founder and director of New York University’s Dialogues: Islamic World–U.S.–The West.

The Danish cartoon crisis, the controversy surrounding Pope Benedict XVI’s remarks about Islam, the escalation of violence in Iraq and Afghanistan — these are but a few recent examples of flash points between the Muslim and Western worlds. Five years after 9/11 we are clearly set on a troubling path, defined at the core by a mix of political and cultural issues. With tensions threatening to spiral out of control, what can be done to remedy the current situation? How can we re-inject mutual respect and understanding into the relationship between two great civilizations?

Participants will debate these questions and offer recommendations for charting a new course in Muslim world–Western world relations, focusing on the findings from the report of the February 2006 Dialogues conference, “Who speaks for Islam? Who speaks for the West?”

Wednesday, November 29, 2006, 6:30 — 8:30 pm

NYU’s Silver Center for Arts and Science, Jurow Lecture Hall, 100 Washington Square East, New York, New York

RSVP to 212–998–8693 or nlh2@nyu.edu by November 22, 2006.

Please note: non–NYU guests will be required to show a photo ID for admission.

Article: Seminary To Get $2 Million For Islamic Studies Position

Awesome news! Hartford Seminary is also where Dr. Ingrid Mattson - the first female President of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) - is based. Good to see that inter-faith activities are going strong and that the money is coming from all over the world, and not just US-based Muslims and/or others.

Seminary To Get $2 Million For Islamic Studies Position

Faculty Chair Funding To Promote Understanding Of The Contemporary Faith
November 10, 2006
Courant Staff Report

Hartford Seminary will receive a gift of $2 million from a Muslim community in Turkey to advance the study of contemporary Islam.

This is the largest gift from the Muslim community in the history of Hartford Seminary, said David S. Barrett, director of public and institutional affairs at the seminary. The largest gift ever received by the seminary was $6 million in 1997, he said.

The donation, announced by the seminary Thursday, will be used to fund a faculty chair bearing the title of professor of contemporary Islamic studies. The donor, Ali Bayram, a Turkish scholar and representative of the Muslim community made up of followers of Turkish theologian and religious leader Fethullah Gülen, said he hopes the chair will help in the understanding of contemporary Islam.

"For many unfortunate reasons, Islam has been greatly misunderstood," Bayram stated in a release issued by the seminary. "Neutral scholarly knowledge on Islam is missing from the discussion and not highlighted."

A key aspect of the gift is that, in accordance with Islamic principles, it may not be invested in companies or funds that are based on the sale or promotion of alcohol, gambling or tobacco.

Hartford Seminary houses the Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim relations. The chair will be housed in the Macdonald Center to enhance its program.

The seminary has worked with the Gülen community for many years. The community, which condemns violence in the name of Islam, has several students studying at the seminary, and has had scholars come to the seminary for sabbatical work. Its followers favor modernism, tolerance, dialogue and democracy without sacrificing religious precepts.

"The study of Islam is especially important in these difficult times, and this gift will allow us to offer precedent-setting research and teaching on contemporary Islam as it is lived out in the world today," said Hartford Seminary President Heidi Hadsell in the release.

Article: For Muslims in the United States, it's the American way

I thought this article was very comprehensive, used credible, authentic sources and was informative. A well-rounded write-up that gives a pretty good picture of the state of affairs as many of my friends and I see it.

Happy reading!

For Muslims in the United States, it's the American way

A growing Islamic elite channels grievances into political capital

By Katrin Bennhold / International Herald Tribune

Published: November 7, 2006

CHICAGO: Amid copies of the Koran and Arabic calligraphy, a small American flag sits on a table in a corner of Ahmed Rehab's office at the Council on American-Islamic Relations here.

"I am proud to be American, and I really mean that," said Rehab, who as executive director of the council's Chicago branch spends his days handling civil rights complaints from fellow Muslims. "I'd rather be a Muslim in America than anywhere else."

At first glance, such patriotism appears paradoxical. The United States led the invasion of Iraq and passed the Patriot Act. It was here that the war on terror was dubbed a war on "Islamo- fascists." But, for now at least, the violent backlash is in Europe, not America.

The Sept. 11 attacks of five years ago have galvanized efforts by a small but growing elite of Islamic intellectuals and young activists to find their voice and carve out an identity that is as American as it is Muslim.

"It's one of the ironies of the post- 9/11 world: the pioneers of a Western Muslim identity are here, in America," said Eboo Patel, 30, executive director of the Chicago-based Interfaith Youth Core and an adjunct professor at the Chicago Theological Seminary. The attacks, he said, "forced the community to stand up for itself and to think hard about what it means to be a Muslim in America in the 21st century."

There is surely no shortage of tension in Muslim America. Some experts say the United States is becoming more like Europe, with the arrival of poorer, less educated Muslims in recent years and a rise in feelings of suspicion toward religious Muslims. Others warn that a future generation of homegrown terrorists might arise from radicalization within the prison system or "sleeper cells" implanted by Al Qaeda.

But for now, the fears and frustrations in the community are being channeled in ways that are strikingly different from those that have made headlines across the Atlantic - suicide bomb attacks in London in July 2005, rioting across France a year ago.

Muslim Americans are doing what minorities here have done before them - turning their grievances into political capital and staking out territory in the nation's vast landscape of interest groups.

Over the past five years, advocacy groups and interfaith initiatives like Rehab and Patel's have gained momentum. The children of Pakistani doctors, Palestinian businessmen and Iranian engineers are going into law, public policy and public administration, said Zahid Bukhari, director of the American Muslim Studies Program at Georgetown University in Washington.

"You have to get into the political institutions," said Umar Abd-Allah, resident scholar at the Nawawi Foundation, an educational charity in Chicago. "It's always worked like that in America. When a minority becomes identified with the enemy, they fight back and become assimilated."

Meanwhile, within the Islamic community, second-generation Muslims have begun asking tough questions on subjects from women's rights to homosexuality, challenging immigrant imams who see Islam through the cultural prism of their countries of origin - and who still control most mosques.

Humaira Basith, 32, a second-generation Indian Muslim, and her husband, Edmund Arroyo, 31, a Mexican-American who converted to Islam, stopped going to the neighborhood mosque in their western Chicago suburb three years ago because they were fed up with politicized sermons and rules that made women and men pray separately.

Along with five like-minded friends, they set up a Muslim foundation to sponsor American-style social events, like movie night and father-daughter camping trips. With a monthly income stream of $3,500, the Webb Foundation, named after a 19th-century American convert, is now seeking to rent a space that can house a secular library and coed prayer room. Eventually, the group hopes to build an "American mosque."

"We want to be able to worship and socialize as a family unit," Basith said. "We want our children to grow up to identify as Americans as well as Muslims."

Basith is a real estate broker and founding host of Chicago's Radio Islam; her husband is a counselor at a local school. Their friends are lawyers, computer scientists and teachers; they include a second-generation Syrian, a Pakistani-Filipino and an American convert to Islam. All hold college degrees and live in middle-class suburbs.

Unlike European Muslims, many of whom are stuck in poor neighborhoods with chronic unemployment, U.S. Muslims are both wealthier and more educated than many Americans, research has shown. They graduate from college at more than twice the average national rate, with half earning an annual household income of at least $50,000, a survey by Georgetown University showed in 2004 - some $3,000 more than the median household income nationwide suggested by the 2004 U.S. Census. They are also more ethnically diverse than Muslims in Europe.

More important, perhaps, this country's estimated six million Muslims blend into the religious and ethnic landscape more easily than their 15 million European counterparts, and not just because there are fewer of them.

"Being an immigrant and organizing around faith is part of the American experience - it's part of our national identity," Rehab said. "It's much harder to fit into a more homogeneous and secular bloc, like Europe."

European concerns - about mass immigration and national identity, about the colonial past, about secular values - are focused on Muslims. While America has similar concerns, they are spread out over various groups: Mexicans are associated with illegal immigration, blacks with the struggle against slavery. Religious conservatism poses little problem in a country that is itself deeply religious; the debate in Europe over the Muslim head scarf, for example, has not crossed the Atlantic.

"The unease with Islam is fundamentally different in the United States and Europe," said Olivier Roy, a French expert on Islam. "In the U.S., it's essentially a security issue. In Europe, it's deeper: There is the idea that Islam itself represents a threat to Europe's identity."

The United States does not share Europe's long history of clashes with Islam, beginning with the Crusades. Instead, it has a form of indigenous Islam that is unique in the West: African- American Muslims who trace their line of belief back to the arrival of the first West African slaves in the 16th century.

Increasing numbers of white converts also help bridge the gap with non- Muslim Americans. Abd-Allah grew up a Protestant in Nebraska. The Islamic Society of North America recently chose Ingrid Mattson, 43, a former Catholic from Canada, as its head.

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf is a white, Christian-born Californian with a neatly trimmed goatee. He wears a smart shirt and flannel trousers and jokingly refers to Bob Dylan as "Imam Bob."

Shaykh Hamza is a prominent proponent of an American Islam free of politics and anachronistic culture. He likes to tell how, when he converted as a student, he had to choose which Islam to embrace - Sudanese, North African, Pakistani - and to change his name accordingly. This is no longer necessary.

"We have an indigenous leadership that has emerged in the last 10 years, and that helps develop an indigenous culture of Islam," he said. Next year, his Zaytuna Institute in Hayward, California, will launch a master of arts program in Islamic Studies with an option to qualify as an imam, the country's first such program run by nonimmigrants, he said.

With scholars like Hamza, Abd-Allah and Mattson shaping the debate and training future leaders, said Patel of the Interfaith Youth Core, the United States could become a model for Muslims elsewhere, especially in Europe.

Others are less optimistic. Congress has already issued warnings about radical imams in prisons and "Future Jihad," a book by Walid Phares, a professor of political science at Florida Atlantic University, argues that Al Qaeda is working hard to establish sleeper cells in the United States.

Meanwhile, cases of hate crimes and discrimination surged almost 30 percent in the United States last year, Rehab said. A survey by the University of Illinois, published in August, shows that the income of Muslims and Arab non- Muslims has fallen since 9/11.

American Muslims worry about anti- Islamic rhetoric used by some on the Christian right, and see the younger generation growing up in the post-9/11 climate.

Perhaps the biggest wild card is another terrorist attack. "Things could still go wrong for America," said Bukhari of Georgetown. "If another 9/11 happened, things could get very bad."

Article: Dubai tours offer positive view of Islam

This is an interesting concept that i'm sure Saudis and Israelis are using, and is one that Pakistanis should use too - especially because of their high profile in the media. I've been giving a lot of books on Pakistan to interested friends recently, and have seen their facial expressions change vivdly as they peruse the different sections of the books. Reliance on mainstream media must be changed. Thank God for alternative media!

Dubai tours offer positive view of Islam

Leader funds mosque tours for Western visitors to clear up misconceptions

The Associated Press

Updated: 12:51 p.m. ET Oct 24, 2006

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - With tensions high between the Western and Islamic worlds, Dubai's leaders are trying to help with an unusual new form of tourism in this Gulf Arab boomtown best known for shopping and sunbathing.

Dubai's leader, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, is funding mosque tours for Western visitors that aim to clear up misconceptions about Islam, especially that the religion condones violence. The ultimate goal is defusing strains between Muslims and Christians that rose after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, and the war in Iraq.

The hope is that tourists can spread understanding of Muslims in their home countries.

"They are our messengers," said Abdallah bin Eisa al-Serkal, a 40-year-old real estate salesman who moonlights as director of the Sheik Mohammed Center for Cultural Understanding.

The tours of Jumeirah Mosque have grown over a decade from irregular gatherings of a dozen people to five-times-weekly tours of a hundred or more.

Now, the government-linked center wants to expand inside the United Arab Emirates and beyond with an eye on the more than 1 million Westerners, mostly Europeans, who visit every year.

It has budgeted $2.7 million for a multimedia center devoted to Islam and Arab culture at the mosque. The center is also expanding tours to seven more mosques in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, capital of the Emirates.

On a recent Sunday, about 100 Western tourists reclined on perfumed carpet under the soaring dome of the Jumeirah Mosque to listen to al-Serkal describe the beliefs of 1.5 billion Muslims, with references to common themes in Judaism and Christianity.

He explained the idea behind Ramadan fasting — sacrificing things you like — and demonstrated Muslim prayer technique: standing, bowing, kneeling, sitting and then pressing his forehead to the carpet.

Then he revealed the contents of his prayers. Standing, he cleared his mind of anything related to work. Kneeling he recited a bit of the Quran. Prostrate, he whispered "glory to God in the highest." And sitting he prayed for his parents.

Tourists had plenty of questions, asking about the differences between Sunni and Shiite sects, and between Christianity and Islam, as well as Islam's problem with violent extremists. Two of the 19 hijackers in the Sept. 11 attacks were from the Emirates.

Briton Steve Smith, 53, who works for the London Underground train system, said al-Serkal's message didn't explain how suicide bombers could use Islam in 2005 to justify killing 52 commuters.

"This message is all peace and happiness. As an English person I see the bad side of it. How can you equate one with the other?" Smith asked.

Al-Serkal said Muslim lands suffer from extremist "psychos and crazy people."

An American woman asked why men and women worship separately. Al-Serkal responded by separating men and women on opposite halves of the mosque and aligned them shoulder to shoulder, like Muslims at prayer.

He asked a Belgian man, "If a strange woman has her shoulder pressed against yours, are you going to be able to concentrate?"

"No," the Belgian replied.

Separating men from women prevents distractions, al-Serkal said.

It isn't just tourists who seek answers about Islam in Dubai. The Jumeirah mosque recently hosted 180 U.S. Navy sailors and an American businesswomen's group.

The center has managed to turn its Ramadan fast-breaking dinners into a vogue event for Western diplomats and dignitaries.

Eventually, the center wants to open branches in Europe and North America. Al-Serkal stressed that he wants only to improve the West's view of Islam, not chase converts.

Al-Serkal's message did make some headway. Belgian Lode De Busscher, 43, and his Slovak wife Zdenka Ochodnicka, 33, said they now questioned their "very negative" opinions of Muslims in Belgium.

Ochodnicka said she was scared when arriving in Dubai seeking women veiled and men in traditional Arab robes. After a few days, she realized Dubai was safe and that her negative impressions stemmed from television.

"When anything is Muslim, it's automatically negative," Ochodnicka said. "Maybe it shouldn't be that way. That's why I'm glad I came here. Now I'm open to this."

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15400715/