brazilian slave results as a form of jihad

The title of The Islamic Slave Revolts of Bahia, Brazil: A Continuity of the 19th Century Jihaad Movements of Western Sudan by Abu Alfa Muhammad Shareef bin Farid is pretty self-explanatory. The link is to a 73-page book on the subject.

the postcolonial condition of muslim states

A brief observation of the condition of the Muslim world by Abdullahi An-Naim

dr. jackson issues a challenge

Dr. Sherman Jackson, Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at University of Michigan and author of several pioneering books, including “Islam and the Problem of Black Suffering,” has issued a challenge for supporters of IMAN (the Inner-City Muslim Action Network based in Chicago) in these final days of Ramadan. In a generous commitment, Dr. Jackson has agreed to match, dollar for dollar, all donations received online until the end of our Heal the ‘Hood campaign. Read more about the challenge here.

"refudiating" islamophobia: park 51 / cordoba house / the (not-really-at)-ground zero mosque

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Municipal Land-Use Hearing Update
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Obviously by now, much ink has already been spilled over the whole controversy about the so-called Ground Zero Mosque. But perhaps someone out there might benefit from a round-up of some of the articles and a summary of some talking points.

1. First, it isn't at Ground Zero. The proposed location is several blocks away in what used to be a Burlington Coat factory. You can't see it from Ground Zero and Ground Zero can't be seen from the proposed location.

2. It isn't a mosque. It is a cultural center. The plans include a swimming pool, a basketball court, an auditorium, a performing arts center, a fitness center, a bookstore, a food court and even a culinary school, along with space to pray.

3. Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf isn't a radical. He is an mainstream Muslim with an extensive amount of experience in interfaith activities and has written several books on the compatibility of Islam and the West in a pluralistic democratic context.

4. If Ground Zero is to be considered "hallowed ground" what's up with the two strip clubs within three blocks of the site?

5. If this is really about respect for 9/11 victims what about the national opposition to all the other mosques in the US?

6. There already is mosque in the area which operates without causing a problem.

7. That part of the city has had historical Muslim-American presence even before the Towers went up.

One of the first Arab-American enclaves in New York City was located on Washington St. in lower Manhattan - the very area in which the World Trade Center was later built. Founded by Arabic-speaking Christians and Muslims from Ottoman Syria in the 1880s, it was called Little Syria.

[...]

The African Burial Ground, discovered in 1991, is six blocks away from the proposed Muslim community center. Scholars continue to debate the religious identity of the hundreds buried there, but the fact that some of the dead wore shrouds and were interred with strings of blue beads, frequently used as Islamic talismans, suggests Muslim were among the enslaved people who helped build Manhattan into a bustling city.

8. I'm sure that some of the outrage is heartfelt and sincere. But a large portion of it is artificial and stoked by Pamela Geller. The local NYC Community Board voted overwhelmingly to support the project.

Details on the Above:
HuffPost: "Ground Zero" Mosque: AP Fact Check
HuffPost: Park 51: The Ground Zero Mosque Is Not a Mosque
Daily Beast: My Meetings With the Man Behind the Mosque
NYT: For Imam in Muslim Center Furor, a Hard Balancing Act
NYT: Vote Endorses Muslim Center Near Ground Zero
NY Daily Post: Islam has long history downtown: Why the 'Ground Zero mosque' belongs in lower Manhattan
WSJ: For Strippers Near Ground Zero, It’s Business as Usual Amid Mosque Uproar
HuffPost: Just How Far Is the "Ground Zero Mosque" From Ground Zero?
HuffPost: Quietly, Another Mosque Operates In Shadow Of Ground Zero
HuffPost: Pamela Geller, 'Queen Of Muslim Bashers,' At Center Of N.Y. 'Mosque' Debate

More General Thoughts:
Daily Beast: The Mosque Litmus Test
HuffPost: Ground Zero Mosque: American Intolerance on Full Display for Muslim World
Juan Cole: Palin on the Ground Zero Mosque vs. the Founding Fathers

Wikipedia: Park 51
Wikipedia: Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf

Park 51 Website

why they want obama to be a foreign-born muslim

An excerpt from FogCityJournal.com: Why Republicans Need Obama to be a Foreign-Born Muslim By Rachel Kiernan

What needs to be addressed is why so many in this country want to believe that Obama is a Muslim, even when they criticized Obama for following a “radical” black Christian leader. This is true in spite of the fact that Obama was raised by his Christian mother and grandparents, having barely known his father. It speaks of the very essence by those who fear an America which no longer looks like they. This manufactured phobia of all things Muslim and of all things non-white (think “white slavery” and the anti-Hispanic establishment) is a response by those who feel that they have lost control over their own lives and power to those who traditionally have been the most disenfranchised and powerless.

This goes beyond those who wish that Obama was a Muslim and a foreigner. This is a manufactured crisis by those who wish to divide the country into two camps by whipping up hysteria against Muslims, blacks, Hispanics and anyone who does not look and pray as they.

more than one way to break a fast

Your lips are dark, my love,
and fleshy, like a date
And night is honeyslow
in coming, long to wait

I have fasted, darling,
daylong all Ramadan
but your mouth -- so sweet,
so near -- the hours long!

Grant but one taste -- one kiss!
You know what good reward
feeders of fasters gain
from our clement Lord

See how the fruits are ripe
and ready, O servant of God
Kiss me -- it's time, it's time!
And let us earn reward

By Mohja Kahf

more on the ex-muslim industry

In the current political and cultural climate it has become lucrative for many individuals from Muslim backgrounds (and the corresponding cache, authenticity and authority which comes with that) to become critics of Islam and the Muslim world. Recently some of my fellow bloggers have commented on some recent events regarding the ex-Muslim industry.

Marc Manley over at the Manrilla blog, in his entry "Oh, if only I were Dust!" shares a clip of an interview of Ayaan Hirsi Ali by Tavis Smiley. In a refreshing change of pace, Tavis refused to endorse Ali's generalizations about Islam and counter-balanced her comments with violence carried by Christians in the West. To watch or read the transcript for the entire interview, click here.

The blog Islamicate also had a recent post simply titled: the ex-Muslim industry

Finally, following up on a post of mine, also entitled the ex-Muslim industry which focused on Ergun Caner, then Dean of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary; Son of a Turkish father and Swedish mother, he converted to Christianity as a teenager and became a minister. But after 9/11 he rose to prominence by exaggerating the Muslim aspects of his biography. After a number of both Muslim and Christian bloggers were able to detail inconsistencies in his biography and the story was picked up by the mainstream press, Liberty University was moved to formally investigate the matter and the results were announced this Friday. Basically he lost his position as Dean but he will still be a Professor in the Fall.

I wonder if the fallout from this will affect his brother Emir Caner? Emir is currently President of Truett-McConnell (a Baptist school). I've seen clips of Emir and Ergun appearing together and telling a shared story backing one another up. But as the younger brother it is possible that he was less willing/able to embellish (he was definitely born and raised in Ohio so it was harder to talk about being raised in Turkey).

See also:
the trouble with irshad manji for a take on someone who taps into the same ex-muslim industry money while still asserting a muslim identity.

on critical self-definition

Washington Post
Guest Voices: On Faith
By Su'ad Abdul Khabeer
Department of Anthropology,
Princeton University

Critical Self-Definition is the most significant challenge facing American Muslim communities today. This challenge is the product of an all too popular conversation on "Muslim pathologies" i.e. a "culture of terrorism" created by institutions and individuals who benefit materially from demonizing Muslims. Unfortunately, under the pressure of this pervasive discourse many American Muslims have let this external narrative determine how they see themselves and what their communities' priorities should be.

Thus, the challenge before us is to reclaim our sense of who we are from those who believe the benefits of being American belong to only a chosen few. When Muslims engage in Critical Self-Definition we act in the world according to our own terms, rather than compelled by external threats of violence and marginality. What are these terms?

They are principles and values rooted in the Islamic intellectual tradition and the lessons we learn from the everyday work of being Muslim. Yet this process of definition on our own terms must be critical. It demands that we are serious about what it means to do the messy and difficult work of introspection. This means that Muslim communities must be open about our shortcomings, bound not by a fear of "airing dirty laundry" but by a deep commitment to eradicate social ills in our communities such as racism, misogyny, and elitism.

It also demands that rather than accept the "culture of terror" wholesale, we must critically examine the claims being made against us and stay alert to the way this narrative reinforces structural inequalities which bar not only American Muslims, but other historically excluded communities of Americans from engagement in all sectors our society. This type of consciousness allows Muslim communities, even while under the harsh glare of the spotlight, to resume the work of being human because at its root Critical Self-Definition is the refusal to relinquish our humanity.

This refusal to be anything less than fully human means the challenge of Critical Self-Definition is productive and as a result becomes one of American Muslim communities' greatest opportunities. Being fully human creates the possibility for creation and innovation, the room to take risks, to stumble and to try again, to work with passion and conviction toward the ultimate goal of humans everywhere: true emancipation.

Su'ad Abdul Khabeer is a PhD candidate in the Department of Anthropology at Princeton University.

the 99 revisited / the liberators

Lately I've been thinking again about graphic novels in general and some Muslim characters in particular.

On the one hand, there is the comic book The 99 which I've blogged on before. The premise is that there are 99 mystical gemstones scattered around which endow the person who possesses it with a power or ability related to one of the traditional 99 names of Allah. The comic book has existed for a while but apparently they are in the process of upgrading from a comic book series to an animated format:


The 99 Homepage

Planet Grenada's past
the 99
female, muslim and mutant
pride of baghdad

On the other hand, in the Ultimate Marvel universe there is the character of Colonel Abdul al-Rahman (a kind "Muslim" version of Captain America) of the Liberators (who are a Third World, morally ambiguous version of the Avengers/Ultimates). Abdul al-Rahman is an Azerbaijani youth from Iran who is moved to volunteer for a super-soldier program when Captain America and the Ultimates participate in a U.S. invasion of the Middle East. There is no indication that the character is religious but is arguably "Muslim" in a political sense.

The Liberators have a short career in the Ultimate Universe (They just appear in the Ultimates trade paperback "Grand Theft America". And while some of their members were inspired by pre-existing characters from the standard Marvel universe, Colonel Abdul Al-Rahman was not. But it would be interesting to see if his character would be developed further in the standard continuity.

mevlevis in miami

I finally went to my first local Mevlevi gathering. So far I think that it will be good for me on multiple levels. One of the many interesting things about the group is that most of the participants are Latino and almost everyone is Spanish-speaking. I grew up going to a Spanish/English bilingual church and it was interesting to "be religious/spiritual" in Spanish again. It was sort of a spiritual homecoming of sorts.

mccain camp silences muslim organizer or "with friends like these..."

CNN host Rick Sanchez said he was "mystified" by a last minute decision by the McCain campaign to pull a Muslim grassroots organizer from appearing on his show.

The aide, Daniel Zubairi, had been scheduled to appear on Sanchez's mid-day program after he was caught on video talking down an anti-Muslim protester outside a McCain rally in Woodbridge, Virginia. But, even after telling the network that an interview was "good to go," the McCain shop pulled Zubairi at the last minute, leaving Sanchez in limbo on live TV.

"Wouldn't you think they would have wanted him to come on?" the CNN host would later tell the Huffington Post.

CNN Host "Mystified" By McCain Camp Silencing Muslim Organizer

marlon unas esguerra

I've previously mentioned Anida Yeou Esguerra on Planet Grenada (see the day after and anida esguerra. And also check out atomicshotgun.com). Here is a spoken word piece, "Morning Papers" from Marlon Unas Esguerra on Def Poetry Jam. I don't know about specific theologies but it is my understanding that both identify as Asian American and Muslim spoken word artists.



e-poets: Marlon Esguerra
www.yellowfist.com

muslims against shariah?

I found out about Muslims Against Shariah through some comments on my post: mccain's spiritual advisor hates muslims and islam

Oddly enough, even though the group claims to be run by Muslims, their membership also includes a few prominent Jewish Neo-con bloggers. Their manifesto suggests that the Quran has suffered from textual corruption and asserts that certain passages and entire surahs should be removed from the Quran. Their manifesto also defends the Bible and justifies the Crusades! I think that the group is basically a textbook example of how when some people say "moderate Muslims" they really mean "assimilationist non-Muslim". I normally don't "use" verses of the Quran this way but the group certainly makes me think of the ayat: "And the Jews will not be pleased with you, nor the Christians until you follow their religion" (2:120) Accepting their manifesto would certainly put one outside the pale of Islam under most typical definitions. Personally I think the goal of striving to improve and reform Muslim religious institutions is praiseworthy but I think it has to be carried out in ways which are much more respectful of basic Islamic principles.

Ali Eteraz: Misguided Muslim Reformists
The Freethinker: (Non-)Muslims Against Sharia
Madhab al-Irfy: Muslims Against Sharia – Satire or neo-Con crap-artistry?
FrontPage: Muslims Against Shariah
StormWarning’s Counterterrorism: Muslims Against Sharia (?)

see also:
examples of bad attempts to reform Islam
the trouble with irshad manji
"they plan and allah plans..."
willie lynch: the next chapter

examples of better attempts to reform Muslim societies:
deobandi scholars say terrorism is anti-islam
nommo
two by eteraz
progressive islam?

muslim convert seeks a seat in congress

Washington Times: Islam convert seeks a seat in Congress

By Ken Kusmer
February 16, 2008

NDIANAPOLIS -- A convert to Islam stands an election victory away from becoming the second Muslim elected to Congress and a role model for a faith community seeking to make its mark in national politics.

Political newcomer Andre Carson is the Democratic nominee in a March 11 special election to succeed his late grandmother, Julia Carson, representing Indiana's 7th District. She died in December of lung cancer, and her grandson is seeking to fill out the rest of her sixth term, which expires at year's end.

If Andre Carson wins the Democratic-leaning Indianapolis district over a freshman Republican lawmaker and a longshot Libertarian candidate, he would join Rep. Keith Ellison, Minnesota Democrat, as the only Muslims elected to Congress.

Mr. Carson, 33, said he doesn't believe his religious identity hurts him politically even while American Muslims struggle to gain acceptance. Polling last summer by the Pew Research Center and Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found 29 percent of Americans held unfavorable views of Muslim Americans, a higher percentage than shortly after September 11, 2001.

"I think it's more of an advantage," Mr. Carson said. "It's a platform to address ignorance. It's a platform to really show that this campaign is about inclusion of all races and religions."

However, Mr. Carson said his faith doesn't drive his stands on issues, other than instilling the values that have shaped his life and led him to public service. He said his decision-making is based on his constituents' needs.

"For me, the religion piece, it informs me. You need to respect people" regardless of their race, religion or gender, said Mr. Carson, who is black. "That is the foundation I go by."

Mr. Carson's grandmother raised him in a Baptist church and enrolled him at an inner-city Catholic school, where he entertained the idea of becoming a priest. As he grew older, he became interested in Islam, reading the poetry of the Sufi mystic Rumi and "The Autobiography of Malcolm X."

He converted to Islam more than a decade ago and began attending prayers at Nur-Allah Islamic Center, a predominantly African-American Sunni mosque.

"For me, what appealed to me about Islam was the universal aspect of Islam," he said. "All faiths teach universality. But with Islam, I saw it regularly in the [mosques], the praying, the different races."

After Julia Carson died Dec. 15, Louis Farrakhan delivered a eulogy at her funeral, leading some local political bloggers to question Andre Carson's ties to the controversial Nation of Islam leader.

He said the ties barely exist: His mosque is not affiliated with the Nation of Islam. He said he approves of some of the group's work, including fighting drug use in Indianapolis.

Unlike many U.S. Muslims, Mr. Carson said his faith rarely has become an issue for others in his civic life or law enforcement career that included a stint with an anti-terrorism unit of the Indiana Department of Homeland Security.

Mr. Carson and Mr. Ellison spoke by telephone recently, and the Minnesota congressman who took office 13 months ago said he advised Mr. Carson to emphasize broad concerns such as the economy, the war in Iraq and global warming.

"These things don't have any particular religion or color or race," Mr. Ellison said.

Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Los Angeles-based Muslim Public Affairs Council, said both men built their political base by gaining the confidence of Democratic leaders, not by running on their religion.

However, he said they need to demonstrate their faith to Muslim youth and show that civic engagement among Muslims is healthy.

"It counters any sense of isolation or alienation," Mr. Al-Marayati said.

Corey Saylor, legislative director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Mr. Ellison's 2006 election marked a breakthrough for U.S. Muslims seeking national office.

"Post-9/11, there was a sense in the community that it would be hard for a Muslim to get elected," Mr. Saylor said.

He predicted immigrant Muslims will join black Americans like Mr. Ellison and Mr. Carson on the national political scene. Sons and daughters of Muslims who arrived in the United States from Asia and Africa are energized politically and working on campaigns, he said.

"We see people starting to build up the civic resume that will get them elected to public office," Mr. Saylor said. "Give them five or 10 years."

Even if Mr. Carson wins the special election next month and serves the remainder of his grandmother's term, he almost immediately will face a challenge to hold the seat. The May 6 Democratic primary for the seat's next full term has attracted several candidates.

more from zaid shakir

Imam Zaid Shakir, the orthodox Muslim leader who is often called the "new" Malcolm X has some rather timely articles which came out recently on the New Islamic Directions website.

In Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Barack Obama, and the Fate of America Zaid Shakir reflects on a theme which has frequently appeared here on Planet Grenada; the idea that especially towards the end of his life Martin Luther King Jr. was a much more radical critic of American society and government then is suggested by his sanitized publically-approved image. Imam Zaid goes on to suggest that even today, America is not yet ready to tolerate the "real" King's message, and certainly would not elect him president were he alive today.

Herein lays Dr. King’s legacy, an uncompromising struggle against the “giant triplets of racism, materialism and militarism.” That aspect of his work and teachings is unmentioned in the mainstream media. Instead his baritone refraining of “I have a dream” fills the airwaves. After his death, the struggle against those evil “triplets” was not allowed to exist as his enduring legacy. Instead, that legacy has been whitewashed, sanitized and rendered “acceptable” for white middle class sensitivities.

What does all of this have to do with Obama? Obama is a viable African American candidate because he has steadfastly refused to deal with the issues Dr. King was dealing with at the end of his life, even though they are just as relevant today as they were forty years ago. That refusal has seen him distance himself from his activist pastor, Minister Jeremiah Wright. It has seen him avoid any public identification with Rev. Jesse Jackson, a fellow Chicagoan, or similar leaders who are identified with African American civil rights advocacy, and it has seen him ignore issues of relevance to African Americans and the urban and rural poor today.

That he has taken such positions is not an indictment against Obama. It is an indictment against American society which has deemed that an open advocate for such issues is unfit to lead this nation.

In his second article Reflections on Black History Month Zaid Shakir looks at the current situation of Muslims in the United States and suggests that American Muslims (especially African-American Muslims) rather than looking towards violent Third World liberation struggles should look back to the example of enslaved African Muslims in the Americas as role models in the struggles.

The question for us is, “How can we best address the oppressive mechanisms facing us, and those facing our co-religionists in so many redoubts scattered around the globe?” In answering this question, we can gain valuable insight from the lives and struggles of our African Muslim forebears. Superior erudition was the key to the liberation of Job Ben Solomon. Herein is a sign for us. As American Muslims we have been blessed to reside in the most intellectually dynamic society in history. Also, the primal command in our religion is to read. We should enthusiastically pursue the mandate created by these twin facts and push ourselves to become the most educated community on Earth –in religious and worldly knowledge. In so doing, the miracles which were so clearly manifested in the life of Job Ben Solomon will surely bless our lives.

grenada-esque politics

After coming back from a shaykh-imposed blogging break, Ali Eteraz shares some of his thoughts on Obama and American-Muslims and Why Muslims shouldn't Support Ron Paul.

On NPR, Earl Ofari Hutchison, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Farai Chideya and Rober Lovato consider the question: Is there really a Black/Latino divide? (Ans: Not really)

On his own blog, Robert Lovato starts to unpack some of the complexities of the Latino population and the shortcomings of non-Latino pundits talking about the same in Everyone’s an Expert on the Latino Vote, Except Latinos.

And finally, on Indypendent, Al Giordano's article Divide and Conquer: Clintons Exploit Black-Latino Tensions.

good for the scalp, good for the soul

I found this article over at Tariq Nelson's blog, but I learned about this barbershop years ago hanging out with some Muslim friends in Chicago. This kind of story is definitely a nice change of pace.

to be a minority within a minority

I just found the post To be a minority within a minority: dark-skinned Latinos and Muslim Hispanics over at The Latin Americanist blog. The post basically links to two other news articles without much comment, one on Black Latinos, another on Hispanic Muslims.

In terms of intentions, I think the folks at Latin Americanist were just trying to inform readers about non-stereotypical segments of the Latino population. And I've certainly posted links to similar articles before on Planet Grenada.

At the same time, especially after having given myself a chance to think about these issues through this very blog, I would have to say I find this whole "minority within a minority" concept really disempowering. (It reminds me of how Piri Thomas is always saying that no one should be called a minority because "minority" means "less than".) Instead of allowing myself to be marginalized several times over, belonging to multiple communities should be a source of strength. Between Blacks, Latinos and Muslims that adds up to about three billion people I should feel some concrete solidarity and identification with based on language, creed or ancestry. And all those connections should help contribute to "an emerging global anti-hegemonic culture" instead of setting up barriers where people feel unique and isolated. Just a thought.

See also:
a recent interview with suheir hammad
latinas choosing islam over catholicism
do platanos go wit' collard greens?

because allah ta'ala made me both...

I really like this poem:

Because Allah ta'ala made me both...
Hejab on my head
With a machete dangling from my neck
I'm not a terrorist
Just a bonafide Boricua with coquis on my mind
I love the flares of salsa skirts
With claves and congas singing to my heart's content
While I prostrate on the sands of Rincon
Awaiting the whales to make their presence
Borinquen is my paradise
Allah is my creator
Yes—I can inhabit both spaces
And when bachata comes on the radio
I move three steps lift
Three steps lift
And when the azhan is called
"Allahu Akbar" and "Bismillah" run out of my mouth
Give me some piraguas with a side of dates
A little of sunlight with a dash of breeze
As the scarves surrounding me beckon to worship
I can dance merengue in the privacy of my room
As mis hermanas talk about who is cuter in the group
Because—we are Boricuas loving our land
We are boricuas dancing our traditional beats
We are boricuas wearing our big fluffy skirts
We are boricuas eating our arroz con habichuelas
We don't have to occupy one of your little boxes
Entrenching our identities into something you can label
We don't have to deny our abuelitas and our salsa beats
So I can't eat pernil anymore.
It's okay—pork has never been my thing any ways
But I can still enjoy las playas as I wet my feet on
Caribbean oceans
Because I am more
More than your dichotomies
More than your ideologies
I am not just a Boricua
Or someone who worships Allah
So if you need a label to satisfy your curiosity
I'll give you one now
With Qur'an in hand
Y bandera in the other
I am beyond your words
Because I am a MusliRican

Also, say hello to A Puerto Rican girl's journey to Islam. (which is where I found this poem). Definitely "Grenada-esque".

poeta guerrera

I just found this myspace page for Melinda Gonzalez, a Muslim Nuyorican spoken word artist who goes by Poeta Guerrera (Warrior Poet Woman). She put recordings of several of her pieces on her page and they are worth checking out.

You also might want to look at Poet1Warrior's page on YouTube where Melinda has shares more of her thoughts on Islam. I'm not trying to set her up as some kind of scholar (in one clip she says she's only been Muslim for two months.) But I'm just glad to see more Latino Muslims confidently express themselves... and her excitement for the deen is a bit contagious.