Zero tolerance for Muslim participation in politics? - The very people who fight to push Muslims out of the public square are also the ones clamoring for our communities to get out in the streets and prove our loyalty to the US. If only they could see the contradiction for themselves.  (August 6, 2008)
Geeking out at SXSW Interactive - There is no better place to mingle with other geeks than at South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive, one of the largest Internet-focused conferences in the country, where we presented a panel discussion on "Online Extremism - And The Muslims Who Fight It" (March 20, 2008)
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altmuslim review 029 - A vibrant Muslim media could have an opportunity to restore balance to the Muslim public image - if it can get on its feet. In this episode, we explore the state of the Muslim media. Also, an interview with the creator of "Muslim Cafe", Navid Akhtar. (July 5, 2008)
altmuslim review 028 - Where in the world is altmuslim? This month, we report on the halal industry from the World Halal Forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and from Milan, Italy where we speak to Italian Muslims about the challenges they face. (May 20, 2008)
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Recent and upcoming talks and offsite articles by altmuslim contributors
Shahed will be participating in a panel discussion, Sourcing Islam, at the Religion Newswriters Association conference in Washington, DC (September 20, 2008)
Shahed will be participating in the Progressive Revival group blog at BeliefNet (July 29, 2008)
Shahed will be speaking about the role of the Web in promoting Muslim civic engagement at the ISNA South Central Zone Conference in Houston, Texas (July 5, 2008)
Shahed will give a presentation, Shaping the Public Debate About Muslims, at the Center for American Studies in Rome, Italy (May 12, 2008)
Zahed will be a guest on BBC Radio 4's " Sunday" programme speaking about religious podcasting (May 4, 2008)
Rafia and Shahed will be guests on South Africa's Channel Islam, speaking about interpreting Islam in the modern world (March 28 & April 4, 2008)
Shahed will be speaking at the CAMP International Leadership Summit in Princeton, NJ (March 29, 2008)
Shahed will be a guest on Radio Tahrir, airing on WBAI 99.5 FM in New York, speaking about the Muslim block vote (April 1, 2008)
Shahed will be appearing on The Agenda with Steve Paikin for a recap of altmuslim's SXSW panel "Online Extremism" (March 26, 2008)
altmuslim is hosting a panel discussion at 2008 SXSW Interactive, "Online Extremism (And The Muslims Who Fight It)" (March 9, 2008)
Count blessings, then tally taxes - Hesham Hassaballa, Chicago Tribune (February 24, 2008)
'Busharraf' gets the people's message - Irfan Yusuf, New Zealand Herald (February 22, 2008)
Shahed will be participating in the US-Islamic World Forum in Doha, Qatar (February 17-19, 2008)
Sharia an unlikely threat - Irfan Yusuf, stuff.co.nz (February 13, 2008)
Converts' dangerous pull towards extremism - Irfan Yusuf, Sydney Morning Herald (February 7, 2008)
Safiyyah will be appearing on The Agenda with Steve Paikin for a debate on "Today's Young Muslim Women" (February 1, 2008)
Sidelining the loud-mouthed cultural warriors - Irfan Yusuf, Canberra Times (January 10, 2008)
Safiyyah will be guest writing at the TVO website offering commentary on the two-part TV series Britz (February 2008)
Fault lines of a nation - Irfan Yusuf, The Age (December 31, 2007)
Is there room at the inn for a Muslim holiday in America? - Shahed Amanullah, Chicago Tribune (December 23, 2007)
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Media appearances and analysis featuring altmuslim editors
Self censoring Muslims - "But Amanullah says he never wanted the book pulled. 'I'm upset the book wasn't published,' he said, 'not because I agree or disagree with the book.' For him, 'I don't want to be in the position where we are stifling speech. Preemptive censorship is not in our interest. That's worse than even censorship. We're not going to silence our way out of problems.'" (August 12, 2008)
You still can’t write about Muhammad - "But Ms. Spellberg wasn't a fan of Ms. Jones's book. On April 30, Shahed Amanullah, a guest lecturer in Ms. Spellberg's classes and the editor of a popular Muslim Web site, got a frantic call from her. "She was upset," Mr. Amanullah recalls. He says Ms. Spellberg told him the novel "made fun of Muslims and their history," and asked him to warn Muslims." (August 5, 2008)
Why the silence? - "Both reactionary religion and militant secularism are on the rise, with both displaying a rigid certainty and a desire for power that will do nothing to benefit society. In this context, it is vital that people with open-minded faith speak up and demonstrate alternatives. [altmuslim.com has] set many good examples in this regard." (January 8, 2008)
Does the US tolerate anti-Muslim speech? - "You see more hostility towards Muslims now than you did the year after 9/11," says Shahed Amanullah, editor of a Muslim web-zine, AltMuslim.com. He and other observers point to America's failure to capture Osama bin Laden, the continuing difficulties in Iraq and Afghanistan, and news of terrorist plots overseas as reasons why many Americans feel hostile towards Muslims. (December 7, 2007)
In the great Berkeley free speech tradition - [Amanullah] claims no personal agenda other than concerned dad. “I want my children to grow up in a country where they, as Muslims, feel valued,” he says, “and where their religion doesn’t contradict their nationality.” (November 9, 2007)
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Better days
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Detainee Aafia Siddiqui
It’s women and children now
By Marryam Haleem, August 17, 2008
It may be all quiet on the Western front, but apparently it's not that relevant. Recently, two ghost detainees, who disappeared in Pakistan in March 2003, conveniently reappeared last month in Afghanistan where they were promptly arrested by American officials. The first detainee, Aafia Siddiqui, is a 36-year-old Pakistani national and MIT PhD graduate, now being held in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York. The second is her 12-year-old American son - her eldest child - still being held in Afghanistan. Her two younger children (also American citizens) also disappeared with her in 2003, but their whereabouts are still unknown. The youngest was only 6-months at the time. Elaine Sharp, Aafia's lawyer, interviewed her last week and says it is certain that she was held in Bagram Airbase, Afghanistan. They had to talk through the food slot at the bottom of Aafia's cell door for the entire 3 hour session. ( 1 comment) | |
Activist Mazen Asbahi Cowards and patriots By A. Arain, August 13, 2008 |
 | | Today we must ask ourselves whether America is safer because the Wall Street Journal outed and exposed to the world an honest patriot volunteering for a cause he believes in and partaking of democracy which is his right as a concerned citizen. ( 13 comments) |
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Tyson Foods controversy The death of good intentions By Junaid Afeef, August 11, 2008 |
 | | The decision by Tyson Foods and its unions to replace Labor Day with Eid-ul-Fitr in its holiday schedule - pitting Islam against America - was doomed from the start. As a result, the perception of coercing Islam on society will continue. ( 2 comments) |
Perspectives Free speech is a two-way street By Shahed Amanullah, August 7, 2008 |
 | | Some of the more abrasive encounters between Muslims and others have not centered around politics or foreign policy, but in the arena of free expression. It doesn't have to be this way. ( 31 comments) |
Perspectives Going in circles By Mustafa Qadri, August 5, 2008 |
 | | There is literally a whole world of ideas and perspectives out there. Most are not related to Islam. We should be mindful of them, even if we decide to reject any literal truth other perspectives might offer. ( 1 comment) |
US Foreign Policy Time for US-Iran détente By Muqtedar Khan, July 29, 2008 |
 | | A gesture of friendship from Bush, a surprise visit to Tehran by Rice, or a gift of six passenger aircrafts, should be enough to send Ahmedinajad packing in the elections due in 2009. ( 8 comments) |
Social Networking Dialogue for the masses By Jude Townend, July 27, 2008 |
 | | Web 2.0 technologies are being incorporated into promising interfaith initiatives that can help overcome misunderstandings between Muslims and those of other faiths. ( 1 comment) |
Religion and the state Burqa and citizenship By Rafia Zakaria, July 22, 2008 |
 | | To first exclude a minority through racism and xenophobia and then turn around and castigate those same immigrants for the "failure to assimilate" seems like a redundant and malicious policy ( 32 comments) |
Gujarat Minister Narendra Modi Hitler’s avatar tries again By Muqtedar Khan, July 16, 2008 |
 | | Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister of Gujarat in India, is once again seeking a US visa to visit some of his supporters. As before, those who recall his complicity in the 2002 Gujarat riots will endeavour to keep him out. ( 7 comments) |
Iran tensions Negotiation, not strikes By Lisa Schirch and Lynn Kunkle, July 10, 2008 |
 | | Direct, open-ended, comprehensive, and bilateral talks with Iran still promise the best payoff for US interests in regional stability, secure oil resources and the promotion of democracy. ( 1 comment) |
Nation building The White House’s burden By Hazem Ibrahim, July 8, 2008 |
 | | Today, calls ring far and wide to democratize, liberalize, and civilize Muslims. The "White Man's Burden" has become the "White House's Burden." ( 2 comments) |
Islamophobia We shall overcome By Faheem Shuaibe, July 5, 2008 |
 | | Highlighting the unique African American Muslim experience should lead the western world to ask, "If this is what Islam can produce, even from a people whose culture was so utterly decimated, then what in Islam do we really have to fear?" ( 10 comments) |
"Yalla Italia" magazine Nothing with a big meaning By Martino Pillitteri, June 24, 2008 |
 | | Yalla Italia is a publication about nothing with a big meaning: being a normal Italian Muslim in Europe. Through it, young second generation Italian Muslims communicate their identity through a sense of humour and pride. ( 2 comments) |
International Diplomacy Global peacemaking without the US By Muqtedar Khan, June 22, 2008 |
 | | For six decades, the US has been the primary mover behind the emerging global order, as well as its main underwriter. But if the US turned its back to the global order and refused to sustain it, or lost the capacity to do so, would it collapse? ( 4 comments) |
Free speech Something better By Hesham Hassaballa, June 20, 2008 |
 | | There will always be those who attack and smear Islam with lies, falsehoods, half-truths, and generalizations. All we have to do is respond with facts, not bombs, Molotov cocktails, burned embassies, burned flags, death fatwas, or even lawsuits. ( 25 comments) |
Segregation and Religion Women only? By Andrea Useem, June 18, 2008 |
 | | The decision by Harvard University to allow women-only gym hours for Muslim women may not be as simple, altruistic, or Islamic as you think. A host of troubling scenarios now made possible should give us pause. ( 3 comments) |
Terror prosecutions Sami Al-Arian’s Catch-22 By John Halliwell, June 17, 2008 |
 | | Sami Al-Arian has two choices: either testify, face perjury charges, and spend perhaps 10 years in jail, or refuse to testify, be found in criminal contempt, and spend at least five years in jail. Not even the military brass of Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 could have come up with this. ( 3 comments) |
Guantanamo Detentions In Guantanamo rulings, profile is everything By Aziz Huq, June 13, 2008 |
 | | The contrast between the two Supreme Court Guantanamo rulings issued yesterday is striking. In the case that is in the public eye, the Court steps up to the plate. But in the low-profile case, the Court doesn’t risk confronting the executive. ( No comments) |
Civic participation Who speaks for European Muslims? By H. A. Hellyer, June 9, 2008 |
 | | There is no single “face” to Islam in any European country, but a mosaic of “faces”. That makes government policy work in terms of engagement very difficult. ( 2 comments) |
Violence against women This cruel sickness By Saraji Umm Zaid, June 2, 2008 |
 | | A man who kills a woman over an abaya, or over her speaking to a non-Muslim occupying soldier is not doing God's work. He does not have the sanction and approval of God. ( 14 comments) |
Race and Religion Don’t forget African-American Muslims By Aminah Beverly McCloud, May 29, 2008 |
 | | Racism and a prioritisation of the immigrant voice over that of the indigenous has thus far prevented the recognition of African-American Muslims as prime candidates for intercultural communication. ( 6 comments) |
Apostasy Obama’s lost religion By H. A. Hellyer, May 25, 2008 |
 | | US presidential candidate Barack Obama would have to have embraced the religion of Islam himself in order to be considered a Muslim. He did not, and thus the notion of his alleged apostasy falls. ( 4 comments) |
Women's rights The perpetual minors By Rafia Zakaria, May 23, 2008 |
 | | The Saudi veil of piety hides behind it a monarchical state with little respect for the dignity and equality of all human beings so firmly advocated by Islam.
( 11 comments) |
Lebanon conflict Dark clouds and silver linings By Abbas Barzegar, May 21, 2008 |
 | | In Lebanon, 21st century global political challenges will not be resolved by 19th century war tactics. Instead, pragmatism, prudence and self-restraint will offer the way out. ( 1 comment) |
Guantanamo Detentions Winning few friends in the Muslim world By Irfan Yusuf, May 18, 2008 |
 | | The mistreatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay continues to be a powerful recruiting argument used by anti-Western and anti-democratic forces in the Muslim world. ( 7 comments) |
Interfaith dialogue The imam and the rabbi By Muqtedar Khan, May 9, 2008 |
 | | In one evening, we did not solve the great problems that plague US-Islamic or Jewish-Muslim relations. But Jews and Muslims who were there went home a bit more hopeful. ( 3 comments) |
Importing imams Home-grown imams fight home-grown extremism By Aftab Ahmad Malik, April 29, 2008 |
 | | While the overwhelming majority of Muslims in Britain are of Pakistani origin, few actually look to Pakistan for religious guidance. Even the youth living in Pakistan don't relate to what is being preached there. ( 1 comment) |
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Radovan Karadžić arrest Not justice, but politics By Sara Haji, July 24, 2008 |
 | | Rather than being an attempt to bring about justice, the arrest of war criminal Radovan Karadžić is more likely part of a gambit for EU membership for Serbia ( 22 comments) |
Islam in Indonesia Religion like breath By Mujtaba Hamdi, July 2, 2008 |
 | | Indonesia's religiosity is trending towards something narrow and shallow, advocating that everything should be clearly delineated as Islamic or not. As a result, anything without clear distinction is considered deviant. ( 4 comments) |
Keffiyehs Hot couture By Sara Haji, June 4, 2008 |
 | | The pulling of a Dunkin' Donuts ad because its star wore a keffiyeh-like scarf speaks both of latent prejudice and of the extraordinary symbolism a piece of cloth can manifest. ( 15 comments) |
Language and extremism You say jihadi, I say extremist By Zahed Amanullah, May 5, 2008 |
 | | The struggle against extremism has turned into a larger struggle over the use of Islamic terminology. It's a struggle the pragmatists among mainstream Muslims and Western governments are winning. ( 5 comments) |
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Activist Shirin Ebadi “The people of Iran have chosen the path of reform” By Wajahat Ali and Omid Safi, July 13, 2008 |
 | | Human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi speaks to Wajahat Ali and Omid Safi about her native Iran, the looming threat of war, and the aspirations of the Iranian people. ( No comments) |
Author Chris Hedges “The new atheists are secular fundamentalists” By Wajahat Ali, June 29, 2008 |
 | | Author Chris Hedges has an issue with the "new athiests," namely that they're no better than those they profess to oppose, the Christian fundamentalists. Muslims and other religious minorities are often stuck in the middle. ( 6 comments) |
Professor Noam Chomsky “(Our) international affairs are like the Mafia” By Wajahat Ali, June 16, 2008 |
 | | Wajahat Ali interviews influential intellectual Noam Chomsky about how Iraq is different from Vietnam, America as an "outlaw state," and the consent that is still being manufactured in today's media. ( 2 comments) |
Professor Seyyed Hossain Nasr Islam’s spiritual science By Wajahat Ali, June 11, 2008 |
 | | We speak with Professor Seyyed Hossain Nasr about Rumi’s spiritual influence on the modern world, the role of Sufism in Islamic history and tradition, and the critique of Sufism as an antiquated model of esotericism.
( 3 comments) |
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Book "Still Moments" Moments of clarity By Irfan Yusuf, April 16, 2008 |
 | | Still Moments, a short memoir by Dr. Zighen Aym, thoughtfully explores the contrasts and commonalities between experiences in his native Algeria and his adopted America. ( No comments) |
Movie "Stop Loss" Men do cry By Wajahat Ali, March 30, 2008 |
 | | Movies like "Stop-Loss," although not perfect by any means, can at least show a society that indeed boys - and even men - do cry, especially those serving our nation in Iraq. ( 2 comments) |
Movie "Rendition" Nothing ordinary about “Rendition” By Hesham Hassaballa, October 24, 2007 |
 | | A new movie about the controversial practice of "extraordinary rendition" may be more educational than entertaining, but that doesn't make it any less important ( 5 comments) |
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Muslims in Texas
Divine submissions
By Bassam Tariq, September 18, 2007
Muslims in Texas have found their place in this rugged and independent state, and can be found in nearly every corner of Texas' expanse. ( 1 comment)
Hajj 2007 Lost in prostration By Zahed Amanullah, July 29, 2007 |
 | | In 2007, the hajj experience was transformed by tragedy and globalization. Will today's Mecca preserve the spiritual experience of years past? ( 1 comment) |
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Busharraf:
“Diplomatic sources in Washington described [George W.] Bush as [Pervez] Musharraf’s “last holdout” in the US capital. Others in the Bush administration — including Vice-President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice — had long given up on Mr Musharraf. But Mr Bush remained faithful to the person he considered a close ally and [...] ( More here...)
The US needs a “hypocrisy audit”, says the editor-in-chief of Foreign Policy.
The image below is FP’s Failed States Index: ( More here...)
FaithWorld has some detailed posts on the Common World conference held at Yale earlier this summer. ( More here...)
Trouble in paradise: Hundreds of thousands of people have been taking to the streets of Kashmir’s state capital to demand independence from India.
Meanwhile, Hindu protesters have been arrested by police in the Jammu region, following the state government’s decision not to grant a small piece of land to a trust running a Hindu shrine. ( More here...)
Another apostasy killing in Saudi Arabia. The girl was murdered by her father for converting to Christianity. The father worked for the Orwellian-named Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.
via John Burgess, who notes that the case is provoking debate within Saudi society. Though the death is a total tragedy, maybe the girl [...] ( More here...)
Brave Warriors Of Afghanistan Update: The Taliban have killed three foreign female aid workers and their Afghan driver.
Meanwhile, here’s an update on human rights news from the Afghan front line: Four civilians were killed in a rocket attack by British troops in Afghanistan. ( More here...)
regarding the forced ritual flogging of young boys -
the issue really serves to highlight the necessity of governmental oversight of religious practice. Not to define what religious practices are “correct” or not, but rather to simply be blind to religion when evaluating issues against the law. The question of whether self-flagellation is an authentic [...] ( More here...)
Richard Dawkins told a session of the Edinburgh International Book Festival that Europe was a “haven of civilisation” trapped between the Islamic world and the US.
Sticking with the evolutionary biologist, Razib has a Sokal-esque dig at his philosophical enemies, following news that Dawkins criticised Muslim parents for “importing” creationism into British classrooms. (Read the interview [...] ( More here...)
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