Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow

Talal Asad on Suicide Bombing

Read the Savage Minds post and follow links.

Technorati Tags: terror[ism][ists]

Newsweek and Islam

Newsweek has a special issue on Islam in America. Here's the primary link.

Also of note is week-long blog of Muslims speaking out here. The mission statement is interesting because it claims it wants to give voice to the Muslim American community.

Keep going back and reading. Seems like a good project.

Technorati Tags: Islam in America

Islam Unites UK

In hatred. Not so bad really. Just the usual amount of misinformation to make us sound more violent than the average religious group. I can see CNN's treatment of this now "Violent Center Funded by London, Jihad U."

Technorati Tags: UK

Brother Ali

Read an article about a new rapper Brother Ali. Tunes sounded slick, but his name caught my attention. Was he Muslim? Was he Muslim-chic (yes, it exists in hip-hop and in dress)? Did some b/g, and he is Muslim. Tunes are slick.

Technorati Tags: hip-hop, Islam in the US

Islam, business, Aga Khan

I am a Nizari Ismaili, and hold that the Aga Khan is the direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) through his daughter Fatima (PBUH) and his cousin/son-in-law Ali (PBUH).

The New York Times ran a decent story yesterday on the Aga Khan and his humanitarian efforts. I don't call it philanthropy, because according to the Imam:

I am fascinated and somewhat frustrated when representatives of the western world -- especially the western media -- try to describe the work of our Aga Khan Development Network in fields like education, health, the economy, media, and the building of social infrastructure.

Reflecting a certain historical tendency of the West to separate the secular from the religious, they often describe it either as philanthropy or entrepreneurship. What is not understood is that this work is for us a part of our institutional responsibility -- it flows from the mandate of the office of Imam to improve the quality of worldly life for the concerned communities.

It's also nice to see another understanding of Islam being forward, instead of the usual violent imagery.

Technorati Tags: Aga Khan, Ismailis