Islamic fashion is no oxymoron. As the recent Islamic Fashion Festival (IFF) staged in Manila showed, there’s more to Muslim dressing than the traditional abaya, chador and even burka. The collections of seven designers, including the Philippines’ JC Buendia, Jun Escario and Veejay Floresca, were noteworthy for their wearability, craftsmanship, […]
Too often we see media reports about the violence and intolerance that religious fundamentalism engenders. Religion is used to justify terrorism, to discriminate against those who are different and to resist scientific advancement inherent in our modern lives. Religion can reinforce tribal mentalities. Some identify with their faiths as if […]
Credit: The Horizon via Wasim Sroya of Selvenia: Aakar Patel’s recently published article “The apostates of Pakistan” was penned a couple years ago, but did not see the light of day until now. He states the reason for this delay as reluctance of seemingly liberal Pakistani English language papers to publish […]
Equality is essential, but complicated – that is why some Christians feel that Muslims get an easy ride Simple things can be so difficult. Take equality, for instance. Britain now has an Equality Act, to promote that good thing. But when you start looking at what it means in practice, […]
A few days ago I got to see a sneak preview screening of the movie “Blue Like Jazz,” and I have to say, I’m feeling it. The movie is directed by the amazing Nashville filmmaker and musician Steve Taylor, and based on the New York Times bestselling memoir by Donald Miller. The movie will […]
Fears that a mosque would bring religious extremists, and even ties to terrorism, surfaced Tuesday when leaders of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee arrived at an Eagle Forum meeting meant to rally Brookfield residents against the proposal. After the president and executive director of the society introduced themselves, the meeting at the Brookfield Library turned to […]
Written by Rafiq A. Tschannen When covering News of Palestine and Israel and of the ‘open Western wars’ of Iraq and Afghanistan and the ‘covered Western wars’ of Libya, Syria and Yemen (and so many other locations…) we are sometimes accused of ‘Israel-bashing’ or ‘America-bashing’ and ‘other-nations-bashings’. It is pointed out […]
Source: Huffington Post By Sonny Singh: musician & social justice educator As a brown-skinned Sikh with a turban on my head and a long beard on my chin, I deal […]
Pakteahouse.net By Usman Ahmad: I first wrote this piece in 2010 after the terror attacks on two Ahmadi masjids in Lahore. Today the words seem to read as true as they […]
The DailyTimes: by Usman Ahmad: The day was in the words of Charles Dickens, “…one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold; when […]
Ask President Barack Obama about his religious affiliation, and he’s a Christian. Ask Mississippi or Alabama voters, and you might find a different answer. In the midst of tight GOP primaries in both states, Public Policy Polling (PPP) hasreleased information showing that a majority of likely GOP primary voters in the Deep South do […]
Let us Build Pakistan (LUBP). by Abdul Nishapuri Recently I read two excellent articles on the systematic murder of Shia Muslims in Pakistan, by Marvi Sirmed (in Daily Times, 5 March […]
royalgazette.com: by Sara Westhead Exploring social peace is the focus of a faith-based seminar being held today by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Bermuda, in conjunction with the Anglican Church […]
livemint.com: Aakar Patel I wrote this piece for the two Pakistani newspapers where I write columns, but they did not publish it. These papers are quite liberal, and their editors open-minded. […]
Washington Post: By Lisa Miller The battle of the sexes, waged this election season with fulsome fury in the public space, is being fought in a much more painful, private sphere […]
(Reuters) – Banks are foreclosing on America’s churches in record numbers as lenders increasingly lose patience with religious facilities that have defaulted on their mortgages, according to new data. The […]
NEWARK, N.J. (RNS) As friction over the New York Police Department’s spying on New Jersey Muslims continues to grow, the state’s top FBI officer said the uproar is damaging his agency’s ability to gather important counterterrorism intelligence. “What we have now is (Muslim communities) … that they’re not sure they […]
By Ayesha Mattu and Nura Maznavi Source: The Huffington Post Everyone has an opinion about Muslim women, even those — especially those — who have never met one. As Muslim women born and raised in America, we are tired of hearing everyone — politicians, pundits, men and women of other faiths (or […]
In the wake of the Quran-burning by American troops at the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, protests continued to escalate, and the death toll mounted. In the process, three U.S. blind spots became obvious. One is that of the U.S. media, whose coverage simply underscores – and amplifies – the […]
Probably the most boring question you can ask about religion is whether or not the whole thing is ‘true’. Unfortunately, recent public discussions on religion have focused obsessively on precisely this issue, with a hardcore group of fanatical believers pitting themselves against an equally small band of fanatical atheists. I […]