chickenbones and katrina

Also, even though I already put up a link to their homepage, it is probably worth pointing out that Chickenbones Journal has recently been including a lot of pieces on Katrina and New Orleans. Not just the latest news but also survior accounts, more "big picture" ethical/historical essays and poetry. (That's where I found the Rootswork blog)

a cyberhoodoo webspace

I just found a blog called rootwork the rootsblog which the author describes as a cyberhoodoo webspace with "timely observations on politics, literature, culture, struggle and the hoodoo way". Even though we are coming from significantly different "places" I really feel an affinity for how the political commentary is tempered by spiritual and cultural concerns.

as ramadan approaches

Muslim prisoners in Guantanamo, Cuba are doing what they can to resist their conditions. Many of them are going on hunger strikes. The Baltimore Sun by way of Common Dreams

and god said...

the light of muhammad (saaws)

This entry is a bit more theological than most. If Sunday School was a traumatic experience you might want to skip this one. Currently I'm reading And Muhammad Is His Messenger: The Veneration of the Prophet in Islamic Piety by the late Annemarie Schimmel. I still have a few hundred pages to go but so far the most interesting chapter to me is the one on the concept of the light of Muhammad (saaws). And like several other ideas recently discussed on Planet Grenada, this is a concept which resonates both with certain Judeo-Christian sources and Islamic ones.

If we begin with Genesis, we can note that after mentioning the heavens and earth and the dark formless void, the first thing specifically created by God's speech is light.

And God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.

And some are tempted to think of this as referring to physical light, made up of photons, subject to Maxwell's equations on electricity and magnetism. Just as some insist that creation took six literal 24-hours days and that there were plants and water before there was a sun and moon (as described in Genesis). But if we assume that the Bible was intended as a book of spiritual and moral guidance instead of assuming it should be read as a science textbook, then maybe we can be encouraged to read the words a bit differently.

For comparison, we might want to consider another description of the origin of things. For example, in John's Gospel, chapter 1 we read:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. [...] The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. (John 1:1-5,9-10)

So in both beginnings, in Genesis and in John's gospel we have God's "word" bringing light into existence. Only if we read further in John, it is clear that the "light" and the "word" referred to are identified with Jesus(as) himself. We will be coming back to this later.

Then, for a third example from the Bible we can consider the following passage on the personification of Wisdom, from Proverbs 8. This differs from the first two in that it is in the first person, from the perspective of Wisdom. But there are clear similarities in how the Word is described in John's gospel and how Wisdom describes herself here:

The LORD created me at the beginning of his work,
the first of his acts of old.
Ages ago I was set up, at the first,
before the beginning of the earth.
When there were no depths I was brought forth,
when there were no springs abounding with water.
Before the mountains had been shaped,
before the hills, I was brought forth;
before he had made the earth with its fields,
or the first of the dust of the world.
When he established the heavens, I was there,
when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,
when he made firm the skies above,
when he established the fountains of the deep,
when he assigned to the sea its limit,
so that the waters might not transgress his command,
when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
then I was beside him, like a master workman;
and I was daily his delight,
rejoicing before him always,
rejoicing in his inhabited world
and delighting in the sons of men.
(Proverbs 8:22-31)

So here Wisdom is the "first of his acts of old, before the beginning" "beside him, like a master workman".

Putting all these pieces together suggests that perhaps Light/Word/Wisdom are really just different names for the same entity which was created by or proceeded from God at the beginning of time and was intimately involved in the creation of what came after. And from a Christian perspective, this entity is also identified with Jesus. Mainstream Christians don't necessarily speak in these terms, but I think a strong case can be made for this idea from the Bible. (And I would point out that the passage in Proverbs, at least using the revised standard version, is quite explicit that Wisdom is a creation of God, not God Himself.)

In Islamic religious thought, the idea of the "light of Muhammad(saaws)" is much more explicit.

It is related that Jabir ibn `Abd Allah said to the Prophet : "O Messenger of Allah, may my father and mother be sacrificed for you, tell me of the first thing Allah created before all things." He said: "O Jabir, the first thing Allah created was the light of your Prophet from His light, and that light remained (lit. "turned") in the midst of His Power for as long as He wished, and there was not, at that time, a Tablet or a Pen or a Paradise or a Fire or an angel or a heaven or an earth. And when Allah wished to create creation, he divided that Light into four parts and from the first made the Pen, from the second the Tablet, from the third the Throne, [and from the fourth everything else]."

And this first creation, the "light of Muhammad", from which everything else was made, has shined through the lives of all the previous prophets, including Jesus(as). But for Muslims this light is especially identified with Muhammad (saaws).

It is common for people to paint a stark contrast between how Muslims view Muhammad and how Christians view Jesus. Muslims believe that Muhammad was "just a man", a mortal human prophet, a teacher. While Christians say that Jesus is God. And that contrast is absolutely valid and appropriate. Islam teaches very clearly that Muhammad was not divine nor equivalent to God in any way. At the same time, if we consider the honor and respect Muslims lovingly give to Muhammad, especially Muslims from a more Sufi-tinged traditional background, I think there is a shade more room for dialogue and common ground (with Christians) than is generally acknowledged.

For more information on the Light of Muhammad from a Muslim perspective: Check out The Light of the Prophet by Dr. Mostafa al-Badawi. From the Living Islam, Islamic Tradition site: The First Thing That Allah Created Was My Nur and The Light of the Prophet And finally, Haqiqat al-Muhammadiyya by Nuh Ha Mim Keller

unusual churches

And do not abuse those whom they call upon besides Allah, lest exceeding the limits they should abuse Allah out of ignorance. Thus have We made fair seeming to every people their deeds; then to their Lord shall be their return, so He will inform them of what they did. [6.108]

For me this is one of the more interesting verses of the Quran. It is remarkable that a relgion as iconoclastic as Islam would still caution Muslims against making fun of other folks' idols. There is alot of wisdom in that. Firstly, if you are rude to people and lack common courtesy you will probably turn people away from Islam rather than attract them. As they say, you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. But secondly, we don't always know what is really in the other person's heart and mind just by outwardly looking at their religious practicies. So just as we get upset when people accuse Muslims of worshiping the moon or worshiping the black stone in the Kaaba, we should be slow to make unwarranted assumptions about others. And that's true whether you are talking about other religious groups (e.g. "Zoroastrians are idolaters, they worship fire") or individuals (e.g. "She doesn't wear hijab. I'll bet she sleeps around too".)

On that note, here is a blog I found recently on unusual churches.

Given what I just said, I'm not going to make fun. I'm certain that some of the groups listed are more tongue-in-cheek and meant to be funny, while other groups listed are probably sincere. But for the moment, I'm not going to guess which is which. I'll just say that I've never stopped being surprised by the amount of religious diversity which exists in the world.

eucharist

Behold! the disciples, said: "O Jesus the son of Mary! can thy Lord send down to us a table set (with viands) from heaven?" Said Jesus: "Fear Allah, if ye have faith."

"And behold! I inspired the disciples to have faith in Me and Mine Messenger. they said, 'We have faith, and do thou bear witness that we bow to Allah as Muslims'".

They said: "We only wish to eat thereof and satisfy our hearts, and to know that thou hast indeed told us the truth; and that we ourselves may be witnesses to the miracle."

Said Jesus the son of Mary: "O Allah our Lord! Send us from heaven a table set (with viands), that there may be for us - for the first and the last of us - a solemn festival and a sign from thee; and provide for our sustenance, for thou art the best Sustainer (of our needs)." (Quran: 5:111-114)

From my perspective as someone coming from a church background, one of the most striking aspects of Islam, especially when I was first learning about it, was how old Judeo-Christian elements were rearranged in "new" ways which were fresh yet familiar. Joseph and his brothers. Moses and Pharaoh. Noah and the flood. In some cases, like the doctrine of the immaculate conception of Mary the similarities are fairly clear. In the case of something like the non-crucifixion of Jesus the differences are quite radical.

The miracle described in the above provocative passage from the Quran seems to fall somewhere in the middle. At once, it is reminiscent of Christ (as) feeding the multitudes, Moses (as) calling down manna from heaven, and even of the "daily bread" mentioned in the Our Father. But an argument can also be made that it refers to the Christian celebration of the eucharist. Heavenly food. A solemn festival. For the first of us (followers of Christ) and the last of us (the later generations of Christians). I might even suggest that from a spiritual perspective the Quran is actually evoking all of these associations at once. Just as there are other examples in Islam of entire worlds of meaning being compressed and represented by simpler elements. (allahu alim)

why the devil has more vacation-time than santa: reason number 5,012

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, a former chief rabbi and the spiritual leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas movement, said on Wednesday that Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment for U.S. President George W. Bush's support for Israel's Gaza pullout. [...] Yosef also said recent natural disasters were the result of a lack of Torah study and that Katrina's victims suffered "because they have no God," singling out black people.
Associated Press

bean soup times

The Chicago-based satirical journal,Bean Soup Times, published and edited by Toure Muhammad, Sr. is kind of like a "Black" version of the Onion. As one review puts it: "No, it's not the Onion but an Afrocentric variant with a similarly edible name." I've seen it in print for a while now, but just today I "discovered" it online and felt like sharing:

No Limit soldier, Iraqi veteran share awkward moment in local liquor store
Gangster gets Folk Art Festival ad all wrong
Despite pay gap, 75% of white men still angry
Closet Pagan smirks every time Bible-thumping friends talk about putting up Christmas tree

black looks

Check out the blog:
Black Looks: Musings and Rants of an African Fem

reality television

Bush's Bird on Badmash

jose padilla and the death of the republic

Padilla and the Death of the Republic By Tom Gorman is a reflection on what Jose Padilla's continued imprisonment means for American democracy.

a god with whom i am not familiar

A God with Whom I am not Familiar by white anti-racist activist, Tim Wise is an interesting theological exploration on God's justice in the aftermath of Katrina.

elena mary costello tzintzún

My favorite Latino/a blogger, Elena Mary Costello Tzintzún, is running for office! She is trying to get named as a representative for the Indiana-Kentucky-Ohio region for the Instituto de los Mexicanos en el Exterior (roughly, Institute for Mexicans Abroad). So check her out, and if you like what you see, think about giving some support (writing a letter, including a link, a blog entry, etc.)

recent changes

Most recently, I've added avari/nameh to my blogroll. And on the side I also added a section called Grenada's Molten Core which consists of my favorite Grenada entries which exemplify for me why I started blogging in the first place. Many of them explore (explicitly or implicitly) the idea of being a modern-day Moor and the connection between Afrolatin and Islamic elements. Other entries just focus on one or two specific issues which interested me.

"jerusalem is ours"

A qiyamah-worthy picture of Ricky Martin wearing a kaffiyeh which reads "Jerusalem is Ours". And here is the July AP story which goes with it. The story is a few months old but was alluded to in the last entry on the United States of Islamexica.

It reminds me of an older entry on the soccer player Ronaldo's visit to Palestine. Maybe if enough Latin celebrities keep visiting the Middle East, Islamexica will come into existence sooner than we expect.

you say it like its a bad thing...

The United States of Islamexica is a weird article by Julia Gorin who seems oddly frightened of a world where different groups of brown folks figure out how to get along.

moonsighting.com

For a collection of interesting articles on issues of astronomy and Islamic practice, you might want to check out Moonsighting.com
According to them, the new moon will be born on October 3, 2005 but still very difficult to see in most of the world. It should be visible on October 4 in North America and so the first day of Ramadan is likely to be October 5.

until the color of a man's skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes

On the question of racial discrimination, the Addis Ababa Conference taught, to those who will learn, this further lesson: That until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned: That until there are no longer first-class and second class citizens of any nation; That until the color of a man's skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes; That until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race; That until that day, the dream of lasting peace and world citizenship and the rule of international morality will remain but a fleeting illusion, to be pursued but never attained; And until the ignoble and unhappy regimes that hold our brothers in Angola, in Mozambique and in South Africa in subhuman bondage have been toppled and destroyed; Until bigotry and prejudice and malicious and inhuman self-interest have been replaced by understanding and tolerance and good-will; Until all Africans stand and speak as free beings, equal in the eyes of all men, as they are in the eyes of Heaven; Until that day, the African continent will not know peace. We Africans will fight, if necessary, and we know that we shall win, as we are confident in the victory of good over evil. - Haile Selassie I

The above is just an excerpt from a larger speech delivered by Haile Selassie I to the UN in 1963 which was later set to music and turned into the song "War" by Bob Marley.

matisyahu

I heard on NPR the other day that the two current top-selling reggae albums right now were by Matisyahu (a white Hassidic Jew) and Willie Nelson (more well known as a country singer). As a friend of mine would say: "interesting times".

From a certain perspective, its not surprising or deep that Willie Nelson, long-time marijuana advocate would cover a reggae song. Besides, many reggae songs definitely have a "country" or rural feel. But Matisyahu's very existence as a performer raises some more thought-provoking questions. For example, is Matusyahu's music a form of cultural appropriation? If he simply sung secular dancehall party music the issue might be alot simpler. But since he also performs more in the spiritual tradition of Rastafari-influenced reggae things get more interesting. Rastafarianism is, loosely speaking, a form of Christianity which sees former Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie as the fulfiller of certain Biblical prophecies. At the same time, Rastas tend to emphasize the Old Testament of the Bible and speak often of Babylon, Zion, the themes of captivity and exodus, and they incorporate other "Jewish" ideas into their practice, language and theology.

So on the one hand Matisyahu could be seen as a white guy playing black music. Or a Jewish guy playing Christian music. Or more circularly, a Jewish guy who is reclaiming a musical form popularized by Black Christians but ultimately inspired by Jewish spirituality in the first place. Any of those answers is probably too simple by themselves. Maybe we can only say he's an ordinary guy playing good music, and leave it at that.

Wikipedia on Matisyahu
Matisyahu's official website

god's gonna trouble the water

On Belifnet, Michael Eric Dyson discusses how the black religious tradition deals with Katrina and how prophetic rage can be transformed into real change.

an open letter to minister louis farrakhan

An Open Letter to Minister Louis Farrakhan from Najee Ali of Project Islamic H.O.P.E. asking Farrakhan to postpone the Millions More Movement March on Washington next month, and instead encourage people to volunteer in the New Orleans area to help with humanitarian efforts there. Good idea.

it's a small world after all

Not particularly "Granada-ish". But it has been on my mind for a while, like the Damocles stuff.

Area Applebee's A Hotbed Of Machiavellian Political Maneuvering
Marxists' Apartment A Microcosm Of Why Marxism Doesn't Work
Both are older stories from The Onion

For long-time I've noticed something funny. The political attitdes I have when it comes to national/world issues necessarily don't always match up to my political attitudes when it comes to the smaller levels. For example, a benevolent dictatorship or oligarchy actually works out pretty well at the family level, but I wouldn't want to run a country that way. A bowling league should be run differently from knitting club. Student government should be run differently from a life boat. And so on. Man is a political animal, but we all hunt in different habitats.

the crayon people

The Crayon People is an interesting site with news for people of color (arab, asian, black, indigenous, latino, south asian). It is a bit weird that the groups are "segregated" the way they are. i guess they imagine a neat box of crayons where each color is individually wrapped. It reminds me of how when I was little I liked melting crayons on the radiator with my friends.

the second message of islam

thanks to George Kelly, I found out about this page of links (books, journals, and articles) focusing on Islam and Africa. There is a good amount of interesting material there. Some of it on the scholarly side, dealing not just with "theology" but with culture and politics. And in multiple languages too (English, Spanish, French and Portuguese),

Right now, the piece which stands out the most for me is a pamphlet called: An Introduction To The Second Message of Islam, which briefly summarizes some of the ideas of Sudanese reformer Mahmoud Muhammad Taha. His basic idea seems to be that in the past, Muslim societies were only ready to implement a certain portion of the Quran. But in more recent times, after certain developments and changes have happened, we are able to understand and apply the Quran in a deeper way and we are ready for the "second message of Islam" which for Taha happens to include a vision of freedom, equality and democratic socialism.

damocles revisited

This is more a personal comment than anything else. For reasons I don't plan on getting into, I think about the story of Damocles alot in my life. It tends to form a big part of my perspective when it comes to small-scale politics (PTA, local school board, that type of stuff). But I have to do some soul searching. For a long time, I think I've had a good understanding of the nature of the "sword", at least in my own small pond. But now I'm not so sure. Things should be clearer tomorrow.

suheir hammad on katrina

a prayer band

every thing

you ever paid for
you ever worked on
you ever received

every thing

you ever gave away
you ever held on to
you ever forgot about

every single thing is one
of every single thing and all
things are gone

every thing i can think to do
to say i feel
is buoyant

every thing is below water
every thing is eroding
every thing is hungry

there is no thing to eat
there is water every where
and there is no thing clean to drink

the children aren't talking

the nurses have stopped believing
anyone is coming for us

the parish fire chief will never again tell anyone
that help is
coming

now is the time of rags
now is the indigo of loss
now is the need for cavalry

new orleans
i fell in love with your fine ass poor boys
sweating frying
catfish blackened life thick women glossy
seasoning bourbon
indians beads grit history of races
and losers who still won

new orleans i dreamt of living lush within your shuttered eyes a closet of yellow dresses a breeze on my neck writing poems for do right men and a daughter of refugees

i have known of displacement
and the tides pulling every thing
that could not be carried within
and some of that too

a jamaican man sings
those who can afford to run will run
what about those who can't
they will have to stay

end of the month tropical depression turned storm

someone whose beloved has drowned
knows what water can do
what water will do to once animated things

a new orleans man pleads
we have to steal from each other to eat
another gun in hand says we will protect what we
have
what belongs to us

i have known of fleeing desperate
with children on hips in arms on backs
of house keys strung on necks
of water weighed shoes
disintegrated official papers
leases certificates births deaths taxes

i have known of high ways which lead nowhere
of aches in teeth in heads in hands tied

i have known of women raped by strangers by
neighbors
of a hunger in human

i have known of promises to return to where you come from but first any bus going any where

tonight the tigris and the mississippi moan for each other as sisters full of unnatural things flooded with predators and prayers

all language bankrupt

how long before hope begins to eat itself? how many flags must be waved? when does a man let go of his wife's hand in order to hold his child?

who says this is not the america they know?

what america do they know?

were the poor people so poor they could not be seen?

were the black people so many they could not be counted?

this is not a charge
this is a conviction

if death levels us all
then life plays favorites

and life it seems is constructed
of budgets contracts deployments of wards
and automobiles of superstition and tourism
and gasoline but mostly insurance

and insurance it seems is only bought
and only with what cannot be carried within
and some of that too

a city of slave bricked streets
a city of chapel rooms
a city of haints

a crescent city

where will the jazz funeral be held?

when will the children talk?

tonight it is the dead
and dying who are left
and those who would rather not
promise themselves they will return

they will be there
after everything is gone
and when the saints come
marching like spring
to save us all

From the artists network of refuse and resist

"9/11 was like being black twice"

Four African-American Muslims sit around a kitchen table discussing the intersection of race, religion and terrorism at Negrophile

that was kanye west, not cornel west -- kanye west

This piece from Negrophile (a transcript exerpt from an episode of CNN "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer) raised all sorts of questions for me like: Which Black voices does white America listen to? But mostly, I just really liked the title.

intelligent design

Good news. My blog evolved. I'm no longer an insignificant microbe but i'm actually a large mammal.

It's weird though... before sitting down to blog I just got some bad news which doesn't bode well for my living situation (not like homeless bad... but i just won't be a happy camper for a while). So being a large mammal is good news, but it might have tasted better under different circumstances.

under suspicion

Neocon Pundits Malign American Muslims by Louay M. Safi is another piece from the alt.muslim site. It points to some disturbing criticisms coming from certain individuals and organizations against Muslim organizations. What is really disturbing is that the Muslim organizations which are the targets of these accusations are the tamest and most mainstream (some of them even endorsed Bush in the 2000 presidential election). The accusation which really frustrated was me was one which came out a while ago against Tablighi Jamaat. They are literally the largest Muslim organization/movement of Muslims in the world and the members I've met are some of the gentlest people I know. The Muslim turnout to their annual convention is bigger than Hajj (the required pilgrimage to Mecca). Imagine... a Muslim "Mecca" which isn't Mecca! (If that is hard to believe, just consider the fact that the group started in Southeast Asia, a large percentage of their members are based there, and the convention takes place there.) But if a group as mild and as apolitical as Tablighi Jamaat should be under suspicion as some kind of terrorist sanctuary, then the US may as well lock up all the Muslims in concentration camps right now and make us wear green crescents on our arm when we go out in public. (If anyone from the government is reading this, that was an example of hyperbole.)

But when the Islamophobes accuse even the mildest Islamic groups of terrorist associations, then the implication is that all Muslims are suspect.

moorish past finds new life in a storied city

A useful piece, geared for the tourist, from the NYTimes (courtesy of George Kelly) on modern-day Granada and its Hispanic-Moorish past.

how progressive is the progressive muslim movement?

How Progressive is the Progressive Muslim Movement? by Aamir Siddiqui.

To be honest I didn't like this article at first. But after thinking about it a little more I decided it is a mostly fair description of some sectors of the so-called Progressive Muslim movement. But at the same time, I'm not sure I see myself in his descriptions. I think it goes back to the recurring ambiguity of whether "progressive Muslims" are more interested in reforming Islam or are they more interested in reforming society as Muslims commited to justice, anti-racism, anti-sexism, etc.

i knew i forgot something...

where is osama bin laden?

9/11 poetry

The most beautiful 9/11 poem I've read or heard, by far, has got to be First Writing Since by Suheir Hammad. Another deep piece, with a good amount of historical perspective is A moment of silence before I start this poem by Emmanuel Ortiz. I've mentioned both poems on Planet Grenada before, but due to the anniversary they could bear some repeating. I also found a 9/11 poem on the LADO (Latino American Dawah Organization) website called Pharaoh is just a Leaf which is a bit rougher than the other two but still kind of interesting.

the mystery of iniquity (original sin)

from Sahih Bukhari
Volume 2, Book 23, Number 441:
Narrated Abu Huraira :

Allah's Apostle said, "Every child is born with a true faith of Islam (i.e. to worship none but Allah Alone) but his parents convert him to Judaism, Christianity or Magianism, as an animal delivers a perfect baby animal. Do you find it mutilated?"

Sometimes the first part is rendered "Every child is born in a natural state of righteousness (fitra)" and it is probably one of the most common "proof-texts" for the fact that Muslims don't believe in original sin.

Contrary to a widespread impression, Original Sin is actually not the claim that babies born today get punished for the sins of Adam and Eve. The central core of the doctrine is actually the idea that as a consequence of what Adam and Eve did, people born today are inclined towards sin. That human nature is so fundamentally twisted and perverted, that we can't help but live sinful lives. That's a part of why many Christians say you need to be "born-again" (apparently you didn't get it right the first time). In contrast, Islam teaches that we are born whole, unmutilated, naturally inclined to submit to God's will. Or at the very worst, neutral.

In past conversations I've had with Christians on this subject, this is the point where they typically ask: If there is no original sin, then why is there evil in the world? Good question. One of the oddest statements on this topic ever made has got be the words of Anne Frank: "...in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart."

I would give the example of a family where everyone on some level loves one another or at the very least is well intentioned towards each other, but nevertheless baggage accumulates, and misunderstandings develop. Family members acting out historical events in the past behave in ways which continue to hurt their own loved ones. No one wants to hurt the other, but in spite of that fact, they do.

immaculate conception

Sahih Bukhari
Volume 4, Book 55, Number 641:
Narrated Said bin Al-Musaiyab:

Abu Huraira said, "I heard Allah's Apostle saying, 'There is none born among the off-spring of Adam, but Satan touches it. A child therefore, cries loudly at the time of birth because of the touch of Satan, except Mary and her child." Then Abu Huraira recited: "And I seek refuge with You for her and for her offspring from the outcast Satan"

The connection is interesting to me. While Islam doesn't have a doctrine of Original Sin, there are some provocative statements in Islamic sources which evoke the idea of the Immaculate Conception. For the catechetically-impaired, this is not a reference to the virgin birth of Jesus, which is also found in the Quran, but it specifically refers to the idea that Mary was conceived without the stain of Original Sin. I realize that it (believing in the immaculate conception without believing in original sin in the first place) may sound paradoxical but I plan to explain it in a further entry

So in Roman Catholic theology, Mary and Jesus were born purified from sin, while in Islamic teachings Mary and Jesus were born without "the touch of satan"

This idea is also echoed in the Quran (3:35-36). When Mary's mother was pregnant, she dedicates her unborn offspring to God, thinking that she would be a male priest who would serve in the Temple

When a woman of Imran said: My Lord! surely I vow to Thee what is in my womb, to be devoted (to Thy service); accept therefore from me, surely Thou art the Hearing, the Knowing.So when she brought forth, she said: My Lord! Surely I have brought it forth a female-- and Allah knew best what she brought forth-- and the male is not like the female, and I have named it Marium, and I commend her and her offspring into Thy protection from the accursed Shaitan.

And again, Mary is protected from Satan's influence. I want to follow up on the idea of Original Sin momentarily, but for now I'll just end by saying this sort of similarity is actually not uncommon. Considering that Islam (especially orthodox traditional Islam) and Christianity (especially Catholicism) are two different religions, there are many different points where their features echo one another in intriguing ways.

insignificant microbe?

Wow... so I've been try to stretch my blogging legs a little... checking out what other folks are writing... trying to get on different blogrolls or rings... adding bells and whistles... the last tweak I've made to my blog is joining the Truth Laid Bear ecosystem where different blogs are categorized by their "status" in the blogosphere (probably some mystic calculation involving number of links, frequency of visitation, etc.) anyway it turns out I'm an "insignificant microbe" in the great scheme of things. ouch. Hopefully, that is just some default setting which everyone gets at the beginning and that some day I will evolve. I'm at least hoping I'm a fish. We'll see...

dime con quién andas y te diré quién eres - after world blog day

For the past week or so I've been thinking about writing an okay-i-missed-world-blog-day-so-let-me-make-it-up-later post. But the more I thought about it, the more I thought that Planet Grenada can already be an odd hub for different communities. (Progressive, Black, Latino, Muslim) So this may be a bit of a cop out but I'd like to firstly like to point out that if folks are feeling like exploring something new, they could just click on a button they haven't clicked before.

However to stay in the spirit of World Blog Day I'll still highlight five blogs

Brown Rab Girl Fish is a cool blog on the Progressive Blog Alliance roll. I like her emphasis on race, culture and politics. And she has some really good "funky-ass" links. (Along with Left End of the Dial she is probably my favorite blogger on that blogroll)

For some south of the border bloggin' check out Elenamary - de aquí y de allá - Irish Xicana in Ohio Ponders who keeps a nice roll of blogeros y blogeras.

Negrophile is an award-winning Black blog who has some nicely written stuff and a good set of black blog links.

Anarcho Akbar a Muslim blog with a real political slant. I think he's still figuring stuff out (as am I from a certain point of view). Seems really thoughtful, interesting.

Abdul-Rahim Borges When I started blogging, I thought to myself... I didn't want to be the kind of personal self-absorbed blogger who has entries like "Tuesday I had Fruit Loops". I don't want to say this cat is like that. But I think it is cool that he is able put in "alot" of stuff about his day-to-day life and still make it interesting. He's really young. A sincere struggling Muslim. Also with some "Latin" content on his blog which I like.

Check 'em out.

another piece on prison islam

PRISON HAS THE BODY, BUT ALLAH HAS THE SPIRIT (an excerpt from the NY Times, July 2, 1992)

mercy and wrath

Sahih Muslim
Book 37, Number 6626:

Abu Huraira reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: When Allah created the creation as He was upon the Throne, He put down in His Book: Verily, My mercy predominates My wrath.

mother and child

I was thinking more about the idea of how Allah's mercy in Islam might be associated with a "feminine" side and found the following hadith:

Sahih Muslim
Book 037, Number 6635:

'Umar b. Khattab reported that there were brought some prisoners to Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) amongst whom there was also a woman, who was searching (for someone) and when she found a child amongst the prisoners, she took hold of it, pressed it against her chest and provided it suck. Thereupon Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: Do you think this woman would ever afford to throw her child in the Fire? We said: By Allah, so far as it lies in her power, she would never throw the child in Fire. ' Thereupon Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: Allah is more kind to His servants than this woman is to her child.

do you know what it means to lose new orleans

originally published on Sunday, September 4, 2005 by the New York Times Do You Know What it Means to Lose New Orleans? by Anne Rice

so was there a burqa competition?

I honestly don't know what to say. Maybe the folks at Qiyamah Forecast will pick-up on it and give it a funny caption (they've actually been kind of dormant for a while but I have a hard time believing it is because there is not enough qiyamah-worthy stuff going on in the world) How could they have missed the Crowning of the First Muslim woman as Miss England I sort of want to say its a good thing, and then I sort of don't. What do y'all think?

prison islam

The movie South Central was on BET tonight. It's been years since I've seen the whole movie from beginning to end. All I caught was the scene where Ali (the presumably Muslim inmate) defends Bobby (the main character) from being raped by the Aryans.

Ali: We all know Bobby here a man. He a man, so nobody punking nobody here. Am I right, Buddha? Buddha, do you, or do you not recognize this is a man standing here?

The scene also reminded me of a fact which I've mentioned here before. Without any exageration, one of the most humane and sympathetic portrayals of Muslims on tv has been the HBO series Oz, where all the Muslims are inmates in a prison! (And South Central probably comes in second.) Instead of being stereotyped as fanatical single-minded violent terrorists, the prison Muslims which appear on film and tv are often shown as principled (invariably African-American) men striving to live righteously in an overwhelmingly negative environment. Occasionally overzealous, but generally sincere. Even when they are flawed, they still are more Malcolm X than Detroit Red.

I say all of this as a preface to a recent article from alt.muslim:

Rehabilitating Islam's Prison Image by Shahed Amanullah which goes into some of the real-life positive changes which Islam is bringing about in the lives of inmates.

chuck d on katrina

Chuck D on Katrina: Hell No We Ain't Alright courtesy of Adisa Banjoko at Holla at a Scholar. I wonder how much time it takes most rappers to put a decent song together. Maybe we'll be seeing a Hurricane Katrina benefit album, with Kanye and Chuck D but heavy on groups from the dirty, dirty...

what's up with blog spam?

There is a Philip K. Dick short story (I'm blanking on the name right now) about how in the future there will be so much economic pressure to sell things and companies will go to greater and greater lengths to present ads to consumers such that privacy and peace and quiet virtually disapper. If I remember right, it gets so bad that the main character ends up leaving the planet just to get away from the commercials. In fact, that was probably the inspiration for how in the film Minority Report (also based on a Philip K. Dick short story) the computerized billboards gave people retina scans and personalized their sales pitch to each potential customers. Well... we are quite that bad... yet. But we are getting there...

As for the here and now.... I'm happy to get supportive comments on my blog. I'm even happy to get critical negative comments on my blog (hey, at least folks are reading it). But gettings ads which are disguised as comments are starting to annoy me.

black orpheus

I rememeber back in college I was taking a class on Philosophy, Race and Racism. One of the readings included the introduction to a famous collection of negritude Poetry called Black Orpheus. The author (Jean-Paul Sartre) was pretty deep. He was saying that the French language was made for French people. White French People. For centuries upon centuries the language was designed to express, reflect and support their history, their experience, their ideas, their feelings and emotions, their point of view. And so when Black people use French to talk about their own lives, they are using French for a purpose it was never meant for, so the the language can't help but break and crack and come out as poetry. I like that.

wickedary

Another book I am currently grazing through is Wickedary (the link is to an online version) by Mary Daly. In fact, I was thinking about it alot when I wrote my decolonized tongue entry. It is hard to explain but Wickedary is basically is an attempt to remake the English language according to feminist principles. New words are created. Old words are given new meanings, new spellings, new etymologies. My words can't really do it justice. Check it out.

islam and the divine feminine

a brief exploration of the feminine side of God in Islam, especially through the words of the Sufis. It takes a kind of syncretic approach which gives me reservations but it definitely makes interesting reading.

jesus and the virgin mary in islam

Jesus and the Virgin Mary in Islam is a brief summary of some of the Quranic verses on the subject by Juan Galvan from LADO (Latino American Dawa Organization).

the once and future goddess

In a roundabout way, this is part of a follow-up on the Mary stuff I was blogging about earlier:

These days I'm grazing through a couple of related books. One is called the Once and Future Goddess by Elinor W. Gadon which looks at religion from the Paleolithic period to the modern day and highlights and describes different forms of Goddess worship.

The general claim is that while many ancient humans worshiped a male (Judeo-Christian) God, a Sky Father who is distinct from creation, and who reinforces a male-dominated patriarchal social order, originally a more prevalent and older kind of religion worshiped a female Goddess, an Earth Mother who is more intimately related to creation. The world comes out of her. She represents, among other things, the sanctity of human reproduction, and presumably affirms either a matriarchal or an egalitarian social order. I remember many years ago having a conversation with someone who was telling me that way back in the day before folks completely understood the birds and the bees, the fact that women could produce new life was a pretty amazing thing and so societies tended to be matriarchal. (I happen to think its still pretty amazing.) But then later on when men figured out they had something to do with it too, some of the wonder and amazement went away.

The book tells the story of how Goddess worship has existed in different civilizations around the world, and was often suppressed by the male God worshippers. But then the book also goes into how Goddess worship has managed to survive, resist and re-emerge in modern times. And Gadon actually mentioned the Virgen de Guadalupe (along with the cult of the Black Madonnas, and Marian devotion in general) as forms of Goddess worship within Christianity.

I get the feeling that Gadon would probably lump Islam in as a patriarchal male God worshipping religion but as a Muslim, I would have two main responses.

Firstly, I find Islam to be very clear when it comes to saying that God is ultimately beyond the capacity of human language to adequately describe. He is not like anything in creation, so in particular, orthodox Muslims would insist that God is neither male nor female. Anyone who says differently is standing on shaky theological ground.

Secondly, since we can't help but use human language and images to talk about God, it is worth noting that some of the theological imagery and language which comes up in Islam is POWERFULLY feminine.

For example, every sura of the Quran (except one) begins with the widespread Islamic invocation "Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim" (In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate) and these common names for Allah (ar-Rahman, ar-Rahim) are both etymologically related to the concept of womb.

If you are interested, a really good resource for further information about this feminine aspect of God is the book The Tao of Islam: A soucebook on gender relationships in Islamic thought.

In any case, it definitely seems inappropriate to set up "Allah" as a male God in competition with the "Goddess". Instead, there is only one Supreme Being. Muslims try to approach that Supreme Being by following Islam, while in modern times, certain neo-Pagans are trying to approach that same Supreme Being in a very different way.

constantine: screenplay

I mentioned the movie Constantine when I blogged on the Da Vinci Code a while back. But since Manrilla had mentioned recently it I felt moved to include a link to the screenplay (at least an early version of it). I was hoping to find a script of The Prophecy as well, but no luck for the moment.

"i don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees"

nabbed from Left Side of the Dial

Thousands drowned in the murky brew that was soon contaminated by sewage and industrial waste. Thousands more who survived the flood later perished from dehydration and disease as they waited to be rescued. It took two months to pump the city dry, and by then the Big Easy was buried under a blanket of putrid sediment, a million people were homeless, and 50,000 were dead. It was the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States.

When did this calamity happen? It hasn't—yet. But the doomsday scenario is not far-fetched. The Federal Emergency Management Agency lists a hurricane strike on New Orleans as one of the most dire threats to the nation, up there with a large earthquake in California or a terrorist attack on New York City. Even the Red Cross no longer opens hurricane shelters in the city, claiming the risk to its workers is too great.

National Geographic, October 2004

the power of live television...

wow... i just happened to be flipping channels last night and caught Kanye West's speech during the Hurricane Katrina benefit on television. Not the most eloquent but his heart was in the right place. I wonder what the teleprompter wanted him to say... I also hope that instead of stopping with off the cuff comments on a national "open mike", someone like him pushes the music industry to be more conscious in general.

Transcript of remarks
More on Davey D's hip-hop site

the manrilla blog

I've already borrowed material from this blog before, but I just now put him on my blogroll and also wanted to introduce y'all to how cool his blog is with the following two entries:
Why are we Muslim?
The Changing Mood of Islam in America

news from izzy mo

A couple of Katrina entries from Izzy Mo's Blog (the author is a Muslim woman from New Orleans who managed to get away to Atlanta)
U.S. MUSLIMS DESIGNATE FRIDAY AS 'HURRICANE RELIEF DAY'
How You Can Help
Hurricane Katrina

more on miss katrina

Negrophile on Hurricane Katrina:
"What I wouldn't pay to hear a Fox anchor ask, 'Say, Bob, why are these African-Americans so poor to begin with?'"

finders keepers, loo... looters are black.

Note, the "subtle" difference in how the two actions are described.


A young man walks through chest deep flood water after looting a grocery store in New Orleans on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005. Flood waters continue to rise in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina did extensive damage when it made landfall on Monday. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)



Two residents wade through chest-deep water after finding bread and soda from a local grocery store after Hurricane Katrina came through the area in New Orleans, Louisiana.(AFP/Getty Images/Chris Graythen)

from Daily Kos

happy blog day

.... wow, it's 11:57pm on World Blog Day. The idea is for there to be more cross-pollination in the blogosphere by getting participating bloggers to recommend 5 other 'unknown' blogs to their readers, especially ones which are very different from their own in terms of culture, perspective etc.

I found about this a little too late to participate but it turns out at least two blogs picked Planet Grenada to be one of their 5. One is islamicate (which has actually been on my blogroll for a while now). And the other is my kid's dad by Stuart Berman. I feel honored to be named by both.

Even though I am finding out about this a little late, World Blog Day still seems like a really good idea. I am definitely tempted to come up with a list of 5 or 10 blogs and have my own personal Planet-Grenada-Give-Shout-outs-to-Blogs-Very-Different-from-Mine-but-Which-I-Think-Are-Still-Really-Cool-Anyway-Day. Maybe in a week or two.

if i was president...

...I'd get elected on Friday
...assassinated on Saturday
...and buried on Sunday.


Here is a recording of Wyclef Jean on the Chapelle Show doing the song "If I was President" from the Christians for Dean website. The movie might have some problems but the Mp3 version should be complete. And here are the lyrics (at least one version of them)

negrophobia, hope and gasoline

Interesting day:
Today I went to perform poetry with a buddy of mine at an event for Black incoming students at a nearby University. The performance itself went ok, we were well received. Afterwards a professor approached us for possibly coming to a class of his to talk about hip-hop. (He mentioned the possibility of $$$ compensation which was kinda nice)

Unfortunately on my way there I ran out of gas. (Alhamdulillah it happened close to a rest stop) But this white guy who I never met before saw me having car trouble and actually drove me the rest of the way to my friend's house so I could make it to the performance. Wow, my sense of hope and trust in my fellow man gets a great big boost.

After the performance, and some pizza, my friend and I get a little gallon container of gasoline so I could drive my car to the next gas station. My friend and I go back to that wonderful rest stop which increased my faith in humanity. But after putting the gas in my car and making sure that it would start, an older women with a major case of negrophobia pulls out of the spot next to mine and ends up bumping into my buddy's car while it was standing in the middle of the parking lot. I say she had negrophobia because when my man approached her car to exchange information she absolutely refused to roll down the window or get out of the car until the police came. Apparently based on what she told the police, she must have thought that me and my buddy were going to carjack her or something. She even told the police that my car had "appeared out of nowhere" (even though it had been unmoved and gasless for nearly four hours). Fortunately we had enough evidence to back up our story (my car engine wasn't hot under the hood, we had the receipt for the gas container, the positioning of the cars, etc.). The cop concluded that the incident was the woman's fault but didn't give her a ticket. I think he basically realized she was being paranoid and told us as much after she left.


Negrophobia is something which I think I understand but it is not a condition for which I have a great deal of sympathy. I figure I'm doing my part against negrophobia by going around and NOT mugging and raping folks. But maybe I should do more? Maybe negrophobes need their own telethon? I can just picture it now. Martha Stewart and Wayne Brady could co-host: With performances by Cuba Gooding Jr., Bill Cosby, Levar Burton (He hasn't been Kunta-Kente in a long time), Gary Coleman, Emmanuel Lewis, and Hootie (yeah, I know its not really his name but it is fun to say "Hootie")

But seriously, what is the cure to negrophobia?

the name guadalupe

More on La Virgen De Guadalupe from La Voz de Aztlan:

As the Moslems swept through Spain in the 8th century, a great religious treasure was buried for safe-keeping in the earth, in the Estremadura Mountains. It was a much venerated statue of Our Lady holding the Divine Child Jesus that was a gift of Pope Gregory the Great to Bishop Leander of Seville. After the overthrow of the Moorish occupation, the image was uncovered in the year 1326, subsequent to a vision of Our Lady to a humble shepherd by the name of Gil. Our Lady's very special statue was enshrined in a nearby Franciscan Monastery next to the "Wolf River."

The Moslems, during their Spanish occupation, had actually named the river. The Islamic term for Wolf River is "Guadalupe" (Guada = River; Lupe = Wolf). Hence, the famous Catholic image in Spain has been known, since the 14th century, by the Islamic name of "Our Lady of Guadalupe."

But it appears as if that etymology is probably mistaken. A more probable version (Which also makes a nicer story) is:

Guadalupe. A river in the Spanish region of Extremadura was named by the Moors in Arabic wad(i)-al-hub 'river of love', due to the reputedly aphrodisiac qualities of its water. This river gave its name to the original sanctuary of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe which contains a portrait of the Madonna as a woman with dark, Spanish features, nicknamed La Morenita 'the little Moorish woman', the patron saint of the Spanish world. The Spanish town of Guadalupe in Cáceres province is still a centre of pilgrimage.

source

more thoughts from the guadalupe candle

Finding the Virgen de Guadalupe candle also reminded me of how sainthood exists within Islam as well. And traditional Islam has always recognized the closeness (wilaya) which some individuals have to Allah, and has also recognized the merit of seeking intercession (tawassul [1] [2]) through a righteous intermediary. Moreover, even in Islam, Mary herself is seen as the holiest woman who ever was. Some even consider her to be a prophet (because the Annunciation was arguably an example of revelation from Gabriel, not unlike the prophet Muhamad [saaws]). In fact, except for the "mother of God" line, the Hail Mary prayer is pretty much (Islamically) orthodox. Alot more could be said on the subject of Mary in Islam, especially in ways which resonate with Planet Grenada (Fatima is one obvious example which comes to mind.). I'll proabably write up certain ideas in the blog in the future as they become clearer.

joan of rice

Image from Project for the OLD American Century

islam in mexico - the spanish conquest

Someone in my building recently threw out one of those big tall candles to La Virgen de Guadalupe (this one happened to be "rose"-scented) and it got me thinking about certain issues and looking up stuff online (which is how I discovered alot of the recent articles I just posted).

One more such interesting article is a piece on the Spanish Conquest from the website of the Muslim Center De Mexico in Morelos which talks about La Virgen and other religious issues in Mexico.

once upon a time in andalusia

A nostalgic look back to Islamic Spain by Dr. Abdellatif Charafi

muslims in the caribbean before columbus

Muslims in the Caribbean Before Columbus by Abdullah Hakim Quick The title of this informative and rich article says it all. Check it out.

jamaica - the muslim legacy

Jamaica - The Muslim Legacy by Sultana Afroz

The spirit of jihad in Jamaica and the West Indies entered a new phase of peaceful consolidation following the jihad of 1831-32; that of replacing slavery by indentureship (1838).

About 16 percent of the 37,000 indentured Indian immigrants who arrived between 1845 and 1917 were Muslims. Despite their small number and the adverse environment, they established Islamic institutions. The inner struggle for self-purification replaced the defensive jihad of the Maroons and the Muslim African slaves. This revitalized Islam in Jamaica. India had been ruled by Muslims from the early 13th century. The Moghuls (1526-1858) enriched India by building a great empire that still is a source of pride in modern India.


Slavery had lost its importance by the 1830s. India and China were prominent in Britain's commerce ad trade, making enormous contributions to its industrialization and economy.

After losing the North American colonies, Britain sought to make India a classical-style colony. The British exchequer knew of the East's immense wealth, as the East India Company's trade in silk, muslin, cotton and piece goods had generated great wealth for Britain since the late seventeenth century.

India was the home of cloth manufacturing and the greatest and almost sole supplier of cotton goods, precious stones, drugs, and other valuable products. Evidence suggests that "all the gold and silver of the universe found a thousand and one channels for entering into India, but there was not a single outlet for the precious metals to go out of the country."

The empire's opulence and religious harmony gave way to violence and plunder as Britain, following its victory at the Battle of Plassey (1857), pursued a divide-and-rule policy. Evidence suggests that probably between Waterloo (1815) and Plassey a sum of £1 billion was transferred from India to British banks. Between 1833-47, another £315 million flowed into the British economy.

But Britain was not content. To meet its labour needs in the British West Indies, Britain exported about 500,000 East Indians to the Caribbean (1838-1917).

Out of 80,000 Muslims, about 6,000 came to Jamaica during the indentureship period. Their small numbers and challenges of plantation life (starvation, un-Islamic diet, deplorable living conditions in barracks shared by 25-50 adults of different origin, ages, sex, religion, kinship, and 9-hour work days) strengthened their spiritual struggle.

Many came from such predominantly Muslim cities as Lucknow, Allahabad, Ghazipur, Gorakpur, and Shahabad, all of which had witnessed the zenith of Islamic culture and social life. These Muslims ensured the preservation of Islamic identity through community solidarity, adherence to Islamic culture and values, and Islamic education.

This unity manifested itself in the establishment of 2 masjids, which institutionalized Islam in Jamaica.

Muhammad Khan, who came to Jamaica in 1915 at the age of 15, built Masjid Ar-Rahman in Spanish Town in 1957, while Westmoreland's Masjid Hussein was built by Muhammad Golaub, who immigrated with his father at the age of 7.

This masjid was named in honor of its first imam, Tofazzal Hussein. The two masjids became the community's spiritual centers, and united the Muslims by teaching them about Islam and its practices. They functioned like the Holy Mosque in Makkah in worship, and like the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah in terms of the community's spiritual, educational, social, and political life. The indentured Muslims laid the foundation of the 8 other masjids established in Jamaica since the 1960s, with the advent of an African Muslim community that now forms the largest Muslim ethnic group.

With the Indian indentured Muslims, and then with others from the Subcontinent, came the rich Moghul culture's culinary arts, fashion, lifestyle, and aesthetic arts. Gastronomy and exotic delicacies and entertainment dishes have been appreciated at state functions, special ceremonies, and restaurants bearing such Moghul names as The Taj Mahal and Akbar.

Since the 1960s, the variety of Moghlai dishes has increased by new immigrants from the Subcontinent. These Moghul-inspired delicacies are cherished in Jamaica, and more particularly in Trinidad and Guyana.

source

christopher columbus: the facts vs. the myth

The title of this speaks for itself:
Christopher Columbus: The Facts vs. the Myth by O. Altalib looks at the "discovery" from the perspective of at least one Muslim.

spain's islamic past

This is a very brief piece called Spain's Islamic Past by Gerald Butt which uses the Alhambra in Spain as the principal signpost for the Islamic contribution in Spanish history.

remembering (and forgetting) african muslims in the americas

Remembering (and forgetting) African Muslims in the Americas by J A Progler is an interesting discussion of the ways in which Islam was still manifested in the lives of Muslim slaves brought to the Americas. Starting with the Amistad Rebellion and the events of Alex Haley's Roots, this article also mentions that Makandal, a national hero who led a slave revolt in Haiti and was thought of as a "conjurer" was probably Muslim.

islam and columbus' america

I recently found another website with a series of articles on Islamic Spain. One is Islam and Columbus' America: Lessons We Can Learn from the Fall of Islamic Spain by T.B. Irving a Muslim scholar who also produced an "American" English translation of the Quran.

in da club...

Just a quick question I felt like putting out there:
Which is weirder, seeing a Muslim in a nightclub, or seeing a handicapped person in a nightclub?

mind reading puzzle

Ok, this is off the beaten path for Planet Grenada but it really weirded me out until I understood it. I figured some of you might get a kick out of it.

The Flash Mind Reader

islam and the cultural imperative

Here is an interesting paper from the Nawawi Foundation called Islam and the Cultural Imperative by Dr. Umar Faruq Abd-Allah

(description from Nawai Foundation website)
This article addresses the fundamental need for American Muslims - among the most promising, wealthiest and educated Muslim minorities in history - to consciously establish a new, unique cultural identity. To lay down roots and survive, Islam must reflect the good in America’s diverse races and ethnicities. Historically, Islamic jurists have upheld the Prophet’s legal precedent for respecting non-Arabs’ ethnic and cultural differences as long as they did not contravene his teaching. Islam’s spread and triumphant past reflects this glorious global culture. Like a crystal clear river, Islam and sacred law are pure but colorless, until they reflect the Chinese, African, & other bedrock over which they flow.

olé to allah

At Hispanicmuslims.com there are several dozen articles about Latino/Hispanic Muslims written from different perspectives But one piece I wanted to highlight is the following about "modern-day Moors" in New York:

Olé to Allah: New York's Latino Muslims
by Hisham Aidi
November 11, 1999

On a recent crisp Friday afternoon in El Barrio, the Puerto Rican heart of East Harlem, Ramon Omar Abduraheem Ocasio, Imam of the Alianza Islamica, delivered a khutba (sermon) in Spanish, English and Arabic on fatherhood and responsibility to a motley congregation of Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Panamanians, Spaniards, and African Americans. Although it might seem surprising to find a Muslim mosque thriving in such a traditionally Catholic community, organizations like Alianza Islamica represent the ongoing growth of Islam among Latinos in North and South America (pictured).

Founded in 1975 by a group of Puerto Rican converts, the Alianza Islamica (Islamic Alliance) was the United States' first Latino Muslim association. Before its current location at 106th Street and Lexington, the Alianza coordinated its social programs and grassroots initiatives from different bases in East Harlem. The Alianza was founded by men who came of age during the 1960s and were involved in anti-war protests, civil rights protests, and Puerto Rican nationalist movements. Amin, the caretaker of the masjid (mosque), removes his skullcap to show his scarred scalp -- "all from police batons," he chuckles.

The Alianza's social and political engagement resembles the activism of African American Muslim groups. In the Barrio, Latino Muslims have been at the forefront of battles against gang activity, drug dealing and prostitution. The Alianza has confronted gangs and drug posses, trained young men in martial arts as community law enforcers, brokered truces between rival gangs, and mentored jailed members of the Latin Kings, a local Puerto Rican gang. The Alianza's director, Hajj Yahya Figueroa, speaks about Islam and spiritual health at prisons, explains the difference between "el Islam" and "el Farrakhanismo" at rallies, gives "sensitivity talks" to police officers, and has even addressed the United Nations.

And in addition to community work, the Alianza also holds cultural programs, celebrations and weddings which are a fascinating display of the rich syncretism of "Latino Islam," featuring congregational prayers in Arabic, sermons in Spanish and English, traditional Puerto Rican pork dishes served with lamb instead, Spanish poetry slams, and conga jam sessions.

A growing number of Latinos have embraced Islam during the past two decades. In the U.S. alone, Latino mosques now exist in Los Angeles, New York, Newark, and Chicago, and the community is estimated to be 40,000-strong. The appearance of Latino Muslims is due in part to the growing Latino presence in U.S. inner cities and their subsequent exposure to African American Muslims. On an ideological level, Latino Muslims have been profoundly influenced by their African American counterparts, adopting similar ideas of spiritual self-discovery and emancipation in their approach to Islamic theology.

Like many African American Muslims, Latino Muslims celebrate a glorious past rooted in Africa -- their rhetoric often romanticizes Islamic Spain, the civilization established by the Moors, the Muslims from northern Africa who dominated Spain from the 8th to the 15th century.

Like most Latino Muslims in the U.S., Imam Ocasio acknowledges the influence of African American Muslims, but also points to important differences. "Yes," he smiles, agreeing that black American Muslims have had a significant impact on Latino converts, but unlike our African American brothers, we do not change our last name upon conversion. "Latino Muslims don't have to," he proudly explains, "because many Spanish last names -- like 'Medina' -- are actually Muslim."

Members of the Alianza Islamica share a view of Latin American and Spanish history that is increasingly aired by a younger generation of intellectuals who question the "Westernness" of Western culture. Latino Muslims like Imam Ocasio reject the idea that their culture came wholly from Europe, and instead trace their cultural ancestry to northern Africa. "Most of the people who came to Latin America and the Spanish Caribbean were from southern Spain, Andalusia," Ocasio explains. "They were Moriscos, Moors forcefully converted to Christianity. The leaders, army generals, curas [priests] were white men from northern Spain... sangre azul [blue bloods] as they were called. The southerners, who did the menial jobs, slaves, artisans, foot soldiers, were of mixed Arab and African descent. They were stripped of their religion and culture, brought to the so-called New World where they were enslaved with African slaves. But the Moriscos never lost their culture."

According to Ocasio, there are many Islamic and Moorish elements in Latin culture; he says that the Spanish "ojala" is derived from the Arabic "insha'allah" (both expressions mean God willing), while the Spanish exclamation "olé" comes from "Allah." Some scholars seem to agree. "In a sense, no single word could be said to encapsulate as such Spanish history as that three-letter word 'Olé,' " one historian wrote recently. "'Olé' is the Spanish adaptation of 'Allah', the Arabic word for God. So when Spaniards say 'Olé' at a bullfight, they are saying Praise 'Allah'." Ocasio also sees Islamic influences in Spanish and Latin American architecture. "[Just look at the] fountains, tiles, arches," he says. "You want proof that many artisans and workers were secretly Muslim? There are churches and cathedrals in Latin America which were built facing Mecca."

The debate over the Moorish influence in Spanish culture dates back to the early 20th century. While at that time many scholars refused to acknowledge Spain's Muslim and African past, or saw it as a negative influence if they admitted it at all, a few sought to celebrate that heritage. The poet Manuel Machado proudly declared himself a member of the "Moorish race, a race from the land of the sun," and the celebrated Spanish writer Federico Garcia Lorca confessed his "feeling for those who are persecuted...the Negro...the Morisco." But it was much more common for Spanish intellectuals to dispute the extent of the Moorish influences and to look on that past with hostility.

Now, younger critics are questioning and challenging the origins of Spanish literary and philosophical traditions that have previously been held to be quintessentially and inviolably "Western." Many scholars have identified African and Islamic influences in Spanish literature, music and thought, and have even traced those influences to the New World, particularly the Spanish Caribbean. The work of scholars like Lucia Lopez-Baralt, a professor of literature at the University of Puerto Rico, and the Cuban historian Maria-Rosa Menocal, would seem to support the contention of Latino Muslims like Imam Ocasio, that the Spanish Caribbean owes a tremendous cultural debt to the Moors.

Many even claim that the first non-Indian language to ever be spoken in the New World was Arabic -- Columbus set sail for the Americas, the story goes, with a crew of Moriscos and a Jewish translator, Luis de Torres, who spoke Arabic; upon landing in La Hispa?ola (now the Dominican Republic), de Torres is said to have addressed the local Indian chief in the language of the Koran: "Asalam Aleykum." With such history to refer to, for Ocasio and members of the Alianza Islamica, converting to Islam is like reclaiming a lost Muslim and African heritage.

The Alianza's banner, hanging proudly in front of the organization's two-story converted townhouse, unabashedly celebrates this revisionist view of Latino history: against a red, white and blue backdrop stands a sword-wielding Moor, flanked by a Taino Indian (one of the indigenous inhabitants of Puerto Rico) and a black African. The Spanish Conquistador -- "who raped and pillaged" -- is simply left out.

Cultural pride, alienation, and the Barrio's wretched social and economic situation, have at least partly influenced the Latino Muslims' rejection of Christianity, which many regard as the faith of a guilty and uncaring establishment.

But in rejecting Catholicism, many Latino Muslims have alienated friends and family. Khadija, who "reverted" to Islam 26 years ago, says her family was opposed to her becoming a Muslim. "My father used to pull the veil off my head," she recalls. "My mother used to cook with pork tallow. It was war." One evangelical group on 107th Street, a block from the Alianza, was also aggressively opposed to the Muslims' activities, but most Barrio residents now view the Alianza with curiosity and respect because of its community service work. As part of an AIDS outreach program, the Alianza gave lectures on HIV infection and drug abuse, helped the sick get treatment, and gave free iftar meals (festive gatherings at which Muslims break their day-long fast) during the holy month of Ramadan. "We were called the AIDS group," remembers Mohamed Mendez, the Alianza's Education Officer.

Although the local Latino community has been largely supportive of the Alianza, some non-Latino Muslims have not. Mendez says many Arab and Pakistani Muslims seem critical of the Latinos' efforts to adopt Islam. Immigrant Muslims sometimes attend djumma (Friday) prayers at the Alianza, but they often criticize the group's command of Arabic and their understanding of Islam; one Pakistani Muslim even said that Puerto Ricans are "too promiscuous" to be "good" Muslims. And in fact, the Alianza is actually being ousted from its current location by an immigrant Muslim landlord.

Despite the hostility of some Asian and Middle Eastern Muslims, the Alianza's director, Hajj Yahya Figueroa, is undaunted, and hopes to establish a dawah (proselytizing) center in the South Bronx. "In Harlem, about three people take the shahada [convert to Islam] each month," he says. We could get a bigger following in the Bronx."

Wherever the Alianza ends up, it will probably continue to grow and thrive, and will certainly continue to celebrate the Spanish Caribbean's Muslim African roots. "We are reclaiming our history after a 500 year hiatus," Imam Ocasio proclaimed at a recent Alianza event. The Catholics never successfully stripped the Moors of their identity. "We are the cultural descendents of the Moors."

Massive Anti-War Event Sept. 24 in Washington DC

Two groups: United For Peace and Justice and A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism) are both planning events in D.C. for the weekend of September 24.The primary purpose of the gatherings is to speak out on the war in Iraq, but larger issues are also being invoked.

Past Planet Grenada entry on the event

a turning point

United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) is coordinating a three-day antiwar mobilization on September 24–26 in Washington, D.C. Here is a brief interview between mobilizing coordinator L.A. Kauffman and In These Times about preparations for the event.

pat robertson is evil: reason #873

Pat Robertson calls for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (on video)

From the August 22 broadcast of The 700 Club:

ROBERTSON: There was a popular coup that overthrew him [Chavez]. And what did the United States State Department do about it? Virtually nothing. And as a result, within about 48 hours that coup was broken; Chavez was back in power, but we had a chance to move in. He has destroyed the Venezuelan economy, and he's going to make that a launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism all over the continent.

You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war. And I don't think any oil shipments will stop. But this man is a terrific danger and the United ... This is in our sphere of influence, so we can't let this happen. We have the Monroe Doctrine, we have other doctrines that we have announced. And without question, this is a dangerous enemy to our south, controlling a huge pool of oil, that could hurt us very badly. We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability. We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with.

(courtesy of the left side of the dial)

no place for me

A Washington Post piece called No Place for Me about the disconnect between Black males and the Black Church.

new spirit in the mosque

Here is a nice brief story on inclusion and diversity at the Mission Viejo Masjid in Southern California titled Islam: A New Welcoming Spirit in the Mosque.

Although I wonder how "new" the spirit is. Most mosques I've been to are pretty much integrated. Congregations in downtown areas or near college campuses tend to have a balanced mix between African-American, Arab and Desi members. Neighborhood congregations reflect the population of the neighborhood.

On the other hand, I grew up going to a Hispanic church which is currently right across the alley from a white church of the same denomination!

Unfortunately, most of the major denominations still practice segregation in local churches, hospitals, schools, and other church institutions. It is appalling that the most segregated hour of Christian America is eleven o'clock on Sunday morning, the same hour when many are standing to sing: "In Christ There Is No East Nor West."

~Martin Luther King, Jr., Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story, 1958 (source)

That's not to say that things are perfect in the mosque. Sometimes interactions across ethnic lines don't go much deeper than a salaam and a smile. But (unlike many churches) at least people are worshiping together, and praying in the same line. And then their kids are playing together, and going to the same Islamic schools and programs. And pretty soon... that's how you get the kind of interactions mentioned in the Newsweek piece. It is interesting to think about what the future will hold in terms of Muslims and race-relations in the US.

(courtesy of negrophile)

tariq ali

Tariq Ali was mentioned in the last entry as a member of Telesur's board. In spite of his name he's actually not Muslim, but comes from a secular post-colonial perspective. So basically, he wants the US to stay out of brown folk's business, but once the US stays out, he still wouldn't want the religious forces to take over. Interesting guy. I saw him give a speech on the US occupation of Iraq when his book "Clash of Fundamentalisms" came out. When I have more time, I plan on reading more of his stuff.

Tariq Ali's entry on Wikipedia
Tariq Ali's page on ZNET
Tariq Ali's page from the New Left Review

telesur - "latin america's al-jazeera"

The new Pan-Latin American tv Channel Telesur began broadcasting recently to bring news from a Latin American perspective. It is backed by the governments of Venezuela, Argentina, Cuba and Uruguay who say they want it to promote Latin American integration. The driving force has been Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, whose government has contributed 70 percent of Telesur's financing and owns 51 percent of the channel. The channel's board members include a group of international supporters including the actor Danny Glover, the writer Tariq Ali and Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Perez Esquivel.

The "Latin American 'Al-Jazeera'" is already ruffling feathers. Before the new channel even started broadcasting, the US House of Representatives passed an amendment to call for the US government to broadcast its own channel in the region to counter Telesur's influence.

That's sort of a disturbing thought. The image just flashed in my mind of a more tan version of Tom Cruise, only with a Latin accent saying "I want the truth!" while a US congressman with an uncanny resemblance to Jack Nicholson replies "You can't handle the truth!".

Telesur's Website
BBC News story about Telesur
Democracy Now! story about Telesur (includes excerpt from interview with Telesur's president)

that old-time religion... not!

A recent Guardian piece written by Karen Armstrong called Unholy Strictures makes the interesting observation that fundamentalism is actually a new thing(bida) in the history of Christianiity and Islam. Even though fundamentalists often claim to follow the "Old Time Religion", it would be more accurate to see them as being part of a recent reaction to the influence of modern science.

Before the modern period, Jews, Christians and Muslims all relished highly allegorical interpretations of scripture. The word of God was infinite and could not be tied down to a single interpretation. Preoccupation with literal truth is a product of the scientific revolution, when reason achieved such spectacular results that mythology was no longer regarded as a valid path to knowledge.

We tend now to read our scriptures for accurate information, so that the Bible, for example, becomes a holy encyclopaedia, in which the faithful look up facts about God. Many assume that if the scriptures are not historically and scientifically correct, they cannot be true at all. But this was not how scripture was originally conceived. All the verses of the Qur'an, for example, are called "parables" (ayat); its images of paradise, hell and the last judgment are also ayat, pointers to transcendent realities that we can only glimpse through signs and symbols.

We distort our scriptures if we read them in an exclusively literal sense.

According to Armstrong, one difference which contributes to the growth of fundamentalism is the fact that, in the past, the scriptures were primarily performed orally and taught in context, in the presence of a teacher. But now, with widespread literacy, it is easier for individuals to (mis)read the texts, out of context, selectively for themselves.

I don't want to sound like an Amish caveman or anything, but it is important to realize that every example of "progress" in history, every step forward, typically comes with a price. In the West, some good things came out of the Reformation but it also led to a certain amount of chaos and violence as well. And in the case of Islam, it is traditional Islam (Ahl al Sunnah wal Jamaat) the classical understandings which have been dominant for most of Islamic history, which are for the most part more tolerant and peaceful than the modern "reform" movements which tend to carry the label "Fundamentalist" who are involved in much of the violence giving Islam a bad name.

(ps. i found the Armstrong story from anarchoakbar)

making face, making soul

In the course of looking for more information about Gloria Anzaldua and Borderlands online I found the following website about Chicana feminism. Making Face, Making Soul is actually the name of a book which Gloria Anzaldua edited and contains an interesting and inspiring collection of texts about feminism and women of color.

The WEBSITE Making Face, Making Soul is here and has a pretty interesting bunch of links on a similar set of topics.

immortal technique: volume 2

So I finally got Immortal Technique's Revolution, Volume 2. It's a pretty good follow-up to Volume 1. I wasn't disappointed. I bought it at a local store which is something like a cross between a lefty book store and a head shop. They also happened to have a good selection of music including "underground" and political hip-hop

Here is a brief interview with Immortal Technique from Playahata.com

And here are some previous Planet Grenada entires about the man:
[1], [2], [3]

black muslims in the uk

Given the recent piece on Afro-Caribbean people in the UK, I thought it would be good to recap some older entries on the subject. The Forbidden Dialogues is a book which I blogged about early on. And I later included an excerpt from that same book in an entry titled laughing lions.

race, islam and terrorism

Most African-Caribbean men who become Muslims do so because it gives their lives hope and meaning

Robert Beckford
Tuesday August 16, 2005
The Guardian

I met a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo at a university function at the end of the summer term. A well-educated academic, he had escaped the civil war engulfing his country. In the middle of our conversation on the state of Africa, he reminded me that there were "many well-educated white males engaged in acts of terror" in his country.

He was not referring to suicide bombers but to middle-class corporate executives who fund warlords and low-rank politicians in exchange for access to diamonds and other precious minerals. Their act of terror was to be party to the ethnic cleansing, rape, child abduction and murder conducted by the renegades they financed. Conscious of the dangers of stereotyping, I replied: "Surely not all white males involved in business in Africa are bad? I'm certain many get involved in business with the best of intentions but are seduced by the lure of profits."

Introducing the subject of "race" into the analysis of any area of social conflict can enlighten or obscure the real causes of distress. And this perilous pathway has been followed in some of the news coverage of young black men and domestic terrorism.
The Jamaican origins of Jermaine Lindsay, one of the July 7 suicide bombers, has prompted some to ask why a disproportionate number of black males are attracted to extremism. Lindsay, 19, had spent the vast proportion of his life in England, which made tenuous the tabloid obsession with his place of birth. Intriguingly there was less of a clamour over the ethnicity of Richard Reid, the notorious "shoe bomber", who had a white mother and a black father. In the case of David Copeland, the white, racist, homophobic nail-bomber, there was no analysis of a potential relationship between ethnicity, extremism and terror.

Black men converting to Islam should be placed within the religious context of their communities, where religion still matters. African-Caribbean men and women continue to turn out in large numbers for religious activities. But Islam is able to do what the black church cannot - attract black men.

I have spent most of my working life in conversation with African-Caribbean converts to Islam. Two relationships stand out. I have an ongoing dialogue with an artist who converted in the mid-90s. His journey began when he listened to tapes of African-American Muslim preachers while at graduate school in America. The tapes made a clearcut link between a commitment to Allah and black liberation from poverty, drugs, gangs and meaninglessness. His first visit to a predominantly African-American mosque was life-changing. Hundreds of smartly dressed black men full of self-belief, black pride, purpose and respect immediately became role models.

This is still the case today. Many black men, including Reid and Lindsay, were impressed by Islam's African-centred preaching and positive association with blackness. After all, one of the most powerful icons of the 20th century, Malcolm X, made the journey from Christianity to Islam in search of black redemption. My artist friend says mainstream Islam provides him with a social awareness and commitment to justice that is mostly ignored in black churches.

I have a nephew who recently converted while serving a prison sentence. Spending an inordinate amount of time alone in his cell, he took to reading the Bible and the Qur'an to pass the time. Intrigued by the notion that Islam was the last testament, God's final revelation, he pursued his interest by attending lessons with the imam assigned to the prison chaplaincy. Convinced, he became a devotee.

It was clear to me that the daily regime of Islam provided him with the tools for personal discipline and an interest in intellectual thought. He gained qualifications while inside and, most importantly, became completely dissociated from criminal activity. Having left prison, he continues to live devoutly, and is employed in a management position.

Most African-Caribbean men converting to Islam do so because it is a religion with a capacity to give their lives hope and meaning. This is not a new idea. As long ago as 1888, the Caribbean educator Edward Wilmot Blyden argued that Islam was more respectful of black culture and easier to translate into Caribbean culture than Christianity.

There will always be a few captivated by extremist versions of Islam that exploit the continued disaffection and marginalisation of working-class black youth. After all, with as little potential for social mobility as their migrant grandparents, it is difficult to sell them the New Labour dream of living in a meritocratic "stakeholder" society.

As is the case with the white middle-class corporate executives who see no ethical boundaries preventing them from working for exploitative multinationals in Africa, which displace and destroy the lives of tens of thousands, there will always be a small number of impressionable converts, from the poorest communities, who are lured on to the paths of unrighteousness.

Robert Beckford is a lecturer in African diasporan religions and cultures at the University of Birmingham

Source

boondocks tv show

Exclusive interview with Aaron McGruder about the upcoming Boondocks television show from C.H.U.D. (Cinematic Happenings Under Development)

aaron mcgruder

Here is an old post 9/11 interview with Boondock's creator Aaron McGruder from the Refuse and Resist site.

boondocks: livejournal

Here is a livejournal which echoes some recent Boondocks strips.