i'm still busy...

but I finally have regular internet access at home and should be able to blog more often than I have been.

two more blogs to plug

After taking a little more time to dive back into the blogosphere (i.e. after checking out The Manrilla Blog) I "discovered" two blogs I wanted to give a shout-out to over here. The first is Black American Muslim Political Scientists authored by Charles Hassan Ali. I would especially want to point to the article I Am Not Alone which candidly looks at some of the racial issues touched on in/by african & caribbean muslim marriage event.

The second blog is On Faith: Sherman Jackson where Prof. Jackson himself (the author of Islam and the Blackamerican: Looking toward the Third Resurrection) shares his own personal thoughts on a number of religious questions.

early impressions of miami

Some brief thoughts and comments I felt like sharing:

1. A few weeks ago I went to jummah at a new masjid (new to me anyway) in a new city. It was the second time in my life that I've been to a jummah service where the khateeb didn't utter a lick of English. (The other time I was in Chicago and went to one of the more prominent Islamic centers, not realizing that the congregation there took the "hardline" position that the khutbah had to be in Arabic. Although as a concession they did have a nice informational talk which explained the content of the "khutbah"... in Urdu.)

Some time later I went back to that masjid (not for jummah) and had a really positive experience. The people were friendly and the group was pretty traditional, focused on spirituality. I'm feeling much better about the prospect of finding a good community.

2. The month of Ramadan is coming this week. Wow. I don't feel ready.

3. On a totally different note, I'm not sure if Miami is more racist than any other city, but I have definitely been hearing more N-bombs; at poetry spots, as an insult, in casual conversation, being sung along to a hip-hop beat, etc. What is really surprising is not just hearing it in a song, but the fact that on multiple occasions I would see folks sing along pretty shamelessly. Once or twice I even heard a DJ turn off the music precisely so that the crowd would shout out an n-bomb-containing chorus as a group.

4. On another totally different note, I've also seen a lot more (Christian) fishes on the backs of cars in Miami. The fish is a really interesting symbol, but I think the meaning is actually cheapened by having it appear in a widespread fashion on cars. Back in the days when Christianity was a persecuted faith, the fish was used by Christians to secretly identify one another. When meeting for the first time, one Christian could innocently trace out an arc in the ground with their foot. And if he or she understood the message, a second Christian could complete the fish by drawing a second arc.

Back when I was a post-Christian-not-quite-Muslim and I would occasionally write out my thoughts on religion, I used the fish symbol as part of my personal system of abbreviations. {fish symbol}-ianity would refer to my concept of the authentic religion of Jesus which emphasized the spiritual and ethical principals of the Sermon on the Mount while {cross symbol}-ianity would refer to the death-based Pauline religion which came afterwards. (This isn't completely different from the distinction between prophetic and Constantinian Christianity which has appeared in previous posts). I plan to say more about {fish symbol}-ianity in a later post (when I have more time) but for now I'll say that I find it incredibly ironic that an ancient symbol which is thoroughly grounded in Christianity's origins as a secretive and persecuted faith should appear openly and ubiquitously in modern times.

And finally...
5. It is interesting and weird and funny being in a Latino-majority city. But I often wonder about how uncomfortable it must be for non-Latinos. What if due to an odd sequence of geopolitical events some major American city suddenly experienced a large increase in the number of people of Chinese descent to the point that Chinese and Chinese-Americans basically established a sort of hegemonic control of the city in the same way that ("white") Cubans run Miami? I'm not sure how "at home" I would feel in such a situation. Just something to consider.

richards' racist rant (epilogue)
islam and the passion (for social justice)

shades of mexican

Also thanks to George Kelly for the heads-up about: Shades of Mexican by Gregory Rodriguez of the LA Times. It is a slightly cynical opinion piece about the ways in which racial classification can change according to the interests of a given community.

black, but comely

Al-Ahram: Black, but comely by Gamal Nkrumah eulogizes the black Arab singer Tarfa Abdel-Kheir Adam, or Itab (her stage name).

"i am both muslim and christian" (part two)

Thanks to Tariq over at Reaktori for the update to "i am both muslim and christian". The Rev. Dr. Ann Holmes Redding, the Episcopal Church’s ‘Muslim-Anglican’ priest has been banned from exercising her ministry for one year and has been asked to reflect on her vocation.

Muslim-Anglican priest is banned in Seattle

box-checking blues

Odd moment: I had to go get fingerprinted recently (background check for a new job) and as part of the process I had to fill out a form with all sorts of identifying information. The most bizzare aspect of the form was how the racial categories were set up. On the plus side, the racial question was prefaced with the rather enlightening comment that "Hispanic is not a race". But then the authors of the form contradicted themselves by listing "Caucasian/Latino" as a race! There were also spots for white, black, indian/native american and Asian/ Pacific Islander. I'm not sure where to begin in terms of spelling out how illogical that is. I ended up checking "black" but if I had put more thought into it I would have also crossed out "Caucasian"and then also checked the Latino category.

nigger-reecan blues by willie perdomo
racial jujitsu or the more things change...
Latino
how race is lived
are desis white?

baraka eulogizes sundiata

On Seeingblack.com, from one poet to another, here is Amiri Baraka's eulogy of fallen wordsmith, Sekou Sundiata.

tapping the third root

Sorry I've been dormant for so long. I started a new job and have limited internet access during my "downtimes". Even now, I just have time to share a couple of things. By way of long time Grenada supporter, George Kelly, I found the article: tapping the ‘third root’: mexico’s african history about black Mexicans from the blactivegan blog.

african & caribbean muslim marriage event

Since only a minority of hits to Planet Grenada are coming from the UK, I'm thinking of the following as a springboard for discussion as well as a simple announcement:

Islamic Circles Presents

AFRICAN & CARIBBEAN MUSLIM MARRIAGE EVENT

Date: Saturday 18th August 2007
Time: 1pm - 4pm
Venue: Room 405, 4th Floor,

Birkbeck College, University of London,
Malet Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1E 7HX

DEADLINE FOR BOOKING: WEDNESDAY 15TH AUGUST 2007

Light refreshments will be provided.

Registration will be at 1pm

and latecomers will be penalised.

Prior registration is necessary and please book online at our website http://www.muslimmarriageevents.org/.

This event is for sincere and serious people only,

not time wasters and people with bad manners.

To book or for more information

please contact: Tel: 07956 983 609
E-mail: marriage@islamiccircles.org
Website: http://www.muslimmarriageevents.org/

The most interersting and controversial aspect to the announcement was the brief paragraph explaining the reason for the event:

Because of the unfortunate 'racism' amongst certain Muslim communities, and the constant rejection and time wasting, a special marriage event especially geared towards to Muslims of African and Carribean origin has been organised. People of all statuses are welcome. Non African and Carribean are also welcome if they 'really serious' and open to marrying them.

So especially as an Afro-Caribbean Muslim myself, I wonder why there would be a special reluctance to marriage with Afro-Caribbean Muslims on the part of "certain Muslim communities"? Also, does this reluctance constitute racism? In the long run, will Afro-Caribbean Muslims in the UK self-segregate (due to external influences) and form a distinct group? Would this be a positive development or a negative one?\

Discuss.

what happens in the kitchen, stays in the kitchen...

I'm currently in an extremely carnivorous (not vegetarian-friendly) city and I think it will be much harder to eat halal. Up until now, I've been able to avoid meat almost completely and would only eat meat if it was zabiha and a Muslim friend was specifically inviting me to a homemade meal. (I wouldn't go out of my way to eat meat). But now it seems like being vegetarian would mean eating salad all the time so I think I'm going to supplement my diet with seafood. I'm basically Hanafi so I'm still thinking about how shellfish is going to fit into all that.

Another consideration is if I go out to eat, even if I order the veggie burger or the grilled fish, I don't really know what else was cooked in the same wok or grill. In my previous location I knew how the food was being prepared so that was only an occasional passing thought, but now I'm eating out all the time so it is more of an ongoing concern. At the moment I'm thinking "what happens in the kitchen, stays in the kitchen" (or else I'll be left with eating salad all the time). Hopefully I'll be able to transition to a situation where I'm doing almost all my own cooking eventually.

a joyful work

A friend recently shared this poem of Hafiz with me, so I'm going to share it with you. And hopefully my new job will turn out to be a "joyful work" and not the alternative.

Last night
God posted on the tavern wall
A hard decree for all of love's inmates
Which read:
If your heart cannot find a joyful work
The jaws of this world
Will probably grab hold of your
Sweet ass

plaza granada

For various reasons I'm having less time to write these days. I'm thinking of moving to a new location. I still have to think a lot more about what I want in a neighborhood but one area I'm looking at is near an old shopping center called Plaza Granada. Hmmmm..... Maybe I'll have to change the name of the blog...

pain and suffering in theology

I think our understanding of unfairness in the world is mostly relative and based on our imagination which is based on our experiences. Even if the world were objectively better we would just adjust our expectations for happiness and fulfillment upwards and still suffer accordingly. If the average lifespan could be increased to 1000 years, then when someone dies at 316 folks would still say: "What a shame, she was cut down so young. She had so much of her life ahead of her". If no one ever got diseases like cancer or multiple sclerosis or Huntington's then atheists would use paper cuts to question the mercy of God.

I also think it works in reverse. If one of those bug species, where the female eats the male after sex, evolved into intelligent and sensitive creatures with technology and civilization but the same basic means of reproduction, they wouldn't necessarily be more likely to doubt God's mercy. They would probably just accept that violence was a part of their life cycle and move on. (Consider how, even for us human beings, in certain parts of the world family life is marked by violent rituals and customs, often with religious sanction).

Discuss.

nur az zaman (light of the age)

I wouldn't necessarily insist on all the theological claims below, but I'm glad to support the discussion of such an important Muslim scholar. The following is from Yusuf Yearwood:

Nur az Zaman

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nurazaman/

This yahoo group is dedicated to An-Nur a Zaman (the Light of the age) Shehu Uthman Dan Fodio and the true flag bearers of the Shehu's minhaj (methodology) The Jama'ah of Shehu Uthman Dan Fodio in America. It is mentioned by the great wali (friend) of Allah Shaykh Mukhtar al Kunti "The perfected friends of Allah in this age are three. One is an Arab who resides beyond Syria. His light is the light of La illaha ill Allah. The other is a Fulani in the land of the blacks, Uthman Dan Fodio. His light is the light of the seal of the Messenger of Allah, which was on his left shoulder. As for the last one his light is the light of the heart of the Messenger of Allah" Based on this and many other statments, there is consensus that the great mujadid (renewer) of the 12th Islamic century was Shaykh Uthman dan Fodio.

The Jama'ah of Shehu Uthman dan Fodio in America is directly connected to the broader community of Shehu Uthman through our Sultan, Al Haj AbuBakr ibn Muhammad At-Tahiru (residing in Mayurno, Sudan)the 16th caliph and direct descendent of Shehu Uthman dan Fodio. We are dedicated to reviving the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (sawws) by following the traditions of those great scholars who came before us and by adhering to the minhaj (methodology) of Shehu Uthman Dan Fodio and his community until the advent of Al-Mahdi(Peace be upon him).

This yahoo group is open to all Muslims.

my native costume

I'm a big Martin Espada fan but I especially like this poem because I actually have worn that outfit on multiple occasions in different combinations, so in some sense, it really is my "native costume". I guess that either means that 1) Martin Espada and I share a similar poetic sensibility growing out of our condition as educated Latinos struggling to navigate the cultural contradictions which are implicit in living and working in Anglo environments or 2) I still need help dressing myself.

My Native Costume

When you come to visit,
said a teacher
from the suburban school,
don’t forget to wear
your native costume.

But I’m a lawyer,
I said.
My native costume
is a pinstriped suit.

You know, the teacher said,
a Puerto Rican costume.

Like a guayabera?
The shirt? I said.
But it’s February.

The children want to see
a native costume,
the teacher said.

So I went
to the suburban school,
embroidered guayabera
short sleeved shirt
over a turtleneck,
and said, Look kids,
cultural adaptation.

you say you want a revolution...

I have no big plans for the fourth. I'm about to grab some lunch. Hopefully I'll be able to make more progress with cleaning out my room. If I have time, I'll pick through Zinn's A People's History of the United States and reread what it has to say about the American Revolution.

see also:
"when in the course of human events..."

i and i and thou

So from time to time I tend to ride on strange trains of thought. A while ago I wrote a post called the tao passes the turing test which tried to give an alternative way to think about God's existence (or more specifically, God's intelligence). Then I started to wonder if one could make use of Martin Buber's distinction between I-It relationships (objective, detached) and I-Thou relationships (loving, unconditional) to make a similar point. It isn't really surprising that Buber says it is possible to have I-It relationships with other people because it is all-too-easy to find examples of alienated, dehumanizing relationships. The funny thing is that Buber says it is possible to have I-Thou relationships with trees...

which for me evokes some lines from the Spearhead song, "Of Course you can"

In school they tried to tell me
that a rock is not alive
but I have seen a volcano growin' up and die
In school they tried to tell me
that a tree it couldn't feel
but I have felt a tree and it was bleeding for real
In school they tried to tell
me animals couldn't talk
but they can understand it when a dog starts to bark
in school they tried to tell me
man doesn't have a soul
"whet happened to his" I say "cause mine is
still whole!"

But if I-Thou relationships are possible with trees, then perhaps with "the Tao" as well? In other words, the question of God's personhood may have more to do with our subjective perspective than God's objective ontology. So if a hardcore skeptic has trouble accepting a theistic personal God, perhaps another kind of spiritual path would start with belief in a not-necessarily-personal Ultimate Realty (the Tao, Higher Power, Nature) but would then still find meaningful ways to relate to this Reality as an intelligent (in the sense of Turing) Thou (in the sense of Buber). Just a thought.

But that's all background. Actually the thought which most directly inspired this post was the question of whether anyone out in the blogosphere had ever compared Buber's terminology with the Rastafarian use of the phrase "I and I". And a couple of Google searches later I came across Caribbean blogger and published author, Geoffrey Philp and his fascinating post on Reggae, Rastafari and Aesthetics.

And more recently I was reading in Sadiq Alam's post Language of the Sufis how within Islam, mystics have also used pronouns in unconventional ways in order to transmit a higher level of truth. In fact, one could probably draw other analogies between the relationship between Rastafarianism and Christianity and the relationship between certain Sufi orders and Islam. But that will have to wait for another day.

turtle island muslims

Turtle Island is a Native American term for North America and Turtle Island Muslims is a website dedicated to the thoughts and experiences and Native American Muslims. Two pieces which I would recommend are Goodness Outside of Muslim Cultures? by Umm Zaid and Burying 'Digging for the Red Roots'. Both really challenge Muslims to deepen our understanding of Native cultures and their relationship to the Muslim community. In order for Muslim dawa-workers to avoid the mistakes of Christian missionaries, it is essential to think about the issues raised here.

moors gate - bab el magharbeh

Moors Gate is a remarkably well-done Moorish Science website. "New Age-y" at times, but nevertheless with interesting articles.

Grenada's past:
moors, snakes and st. patrick