All posts by tabsir

Will Obama’s words matter to the Muslim world?

Obama Administration, Turkey


President Obama speaking in Turkey, photograph by Charles Dharapak/AP

by Munir Jiwa, San Francisco Chronicle, Tuesday, April 7, 2009

President Obama has been roundly criticized for his approach thus far to the Muslim world, so it will be interesting to see how the Muslim world receives the words he delivered in Turkey on Monday.

Some critics see Obama’s promise to open a dialogue with the Muslim world as being soft on terrorism. Others wonder why the president would waste time on words, when, they say, now is the time for policies. Others (including Alaa Al Aswany, an Egyptian whose op-ed, “Why the Muslim World Can’t Hear Obama,” was published in February in the New York Times) point to the disappointment felt by Egyptians and others in the Muslim world that President Obama did not take a stand against Israel’s war on Gaza. The criticisms are variations on a theme: Actions speak louder than words.

Many are asking: Will his words matter? And, how might the world benefit now from his words to the Muslim world?

The operative word is “now.” Actions may speak louder than words, but proverbial wisdom also has it that you can’t get there from here. In this case, we can’t get to effective action without words. Continue reading Will Obama’s words matter to the Muslim world? →

Repairing American public diplomacy

Iraq War, Journalism and Media, Obama Administration, Qatar

Repairing American public diplomacy

by William Rugh, Arab Media and Society, Winter, 2009

It is widely believed among academics who study the subject, and among former practitioners, that public diplomacy has not achieved its full potential,[1] and we are hopeful that the Obama Administration will now solve some of its problems. This essay focuses on the most important challenges, which in many ways concern broadcasting to the Arab world.

Public diplomacy is of course not a panacea. America’s foreign policy decisions such as the Iraq war, or its policies at home such as the Patriot Act and Guantanamo detentions, have been strongly criticized abroad, undermining our international reputation and respect. Public diplomacy by itself cannot eliminate all criticism of our policies. It can only help to mitigate objections by explaining the U.S. government’s reasons for these policies, and by reminding foreign audiences of the aspects of America they still admire, in its society, culture and political system.

It is also true that the election of Barack Obama, which has generated a generally positive reaction around the world, will not by itself burnish America’s tarnished image abroad. His new policies may help, but misunderstandings of the United States will continue, out of ignorance or deliberate distortion. Public diplomacy programs can help present an accurate picture of America to foreign audiences, a task more important than ever in this age of 24/7 information proliferation.

What are the systemic problems hindering U.S. public diplomacy and how can the Obama Administration fix them? Continue reading Repairing American public diplomacy →

Hajj on Second Life

Anthropology/Sociology, CyberOrient, Islamic Rituals


Aerial View of the Masjid Al-Haram, Second Life

Hajj on Second Life

by Krystina Derrickson, excerpt from Second Life and The Sacred: Islamic Space in a Virtual World, Digital Islam, 2008. For the full article, click here.

Mecca is the holiest site in the Muslim world, the literal nexus of the Islamic universe, the direction towards which Muslims worldwide pray and are buried facing, and the figurative, spiritual, and philosophical nexus, flattening history, faith, practice, and praxis[41]. It is the home of the Ka’baa, a large cubical structure believed to have been built by Ibrahim and Isma’il. The Hajj is the pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of the Islamic faith, required at least once by all able-bodied Muslims undertaken during the month long Hajj period.

The Hajj sim is sponsored by IslamOnline.net (IOL), a popular and comprehensive Islamic website run by Egyptian Islamic scholar Yusuf Al-Qaradawi which offers a multitude of services, from e-fatwas, halal business directories, news, and multimedia to matrimonial services and a “cyber-counselor”.[42] Continue reading Hajj on Second Life →

Reforming Islamic family law

Development, Gender and Sexuality, Islamic Law, Morocco, Saudi Arabia

Reforming Islamic family law within the religious framework: the « best practices » strategy
by Khalid Chraibi

Many people in the Muslim world believe, wrongly, that shari’ah is a compilation of legal rules which are uniformly applied in all Muslim countries. But, the facts are otherwise: these rules vary significantly from one country to another, as well as over time. As a result, the status of women in Muslim countries, which is ruled by shari’ah, differs in many ways from one country to another. On any given issue, some national “personal status codes” grant more rights to women or better protect their interests than other codes.

According to feminine NGOs working in the field of Muslim women’s rights, if Governments accepted to apply the more favourable rules on any Islamic family law issue (designated as the “best practices”), this would contribute significantly to the reform of family law “within the religious framework”, bringing it closer to contemporary international standards. Continue reading Reforming Islamic family law →

Sufi Soul

Film and Video, Islam: Introduction, Morocco, Music and Dance, Pakistan, Sufism, Syria, Teaching Resources, Turkey, YouTube Watch

Cyberspace is increasingly crowded with videos, the virtual youtubization of the internet. This is especially the case for documentaries. Youtube has a wide range of videos on Islam, from professional films to homemade khutbas and television reruns. The diversity of Muslim practice is available, as is the worse Islamophobia, with just a click of the mouse and a wifi point. This ease of access is also convenient for professors, who can often find relevant video excerpts to power point into their lectures. Of the numerous videos out there, here is one well worth watching: Sufi Soul – The Mystic Music of Islam, a 50-minute film directed by Simon Broughton for Channel 4 in the U.K. To watch it, click here.

Here is a brief description of the film: Continue reading Sufi Soul →

Jihad for Jesus

Humor and Satire, Islam and Christianity, Terrorism Issue

Forget “Jews for Jesus.” Bill Maher missed the t-shirt gospel in his Religulous. If the War on Terror is the message; a t-shirt may be the best medium. Just check out the one-size-does-not-fit-all humor at smarttorso.com.

The site even comes with a disclaimer:

This site is not suggesting that the Global War on Terror is a front for spreading western Christianity to Afghanistan, Iraq, and the rest of the middle east.

That sure would be sweet, though.

(Reminder to our heroes overseas: any SmartTorso order shipping to an APO or FPO address will automatically recieve $5 off. Thanks for your service. Just don’t wear this shirt in formation, unless you have enormous balls and can get away with it.)

New Age Islam in the Digital Age

CyberOrient, Islam in Europe, Journalism and Media, Pakistan

A LONG STRUGGLE AHEAD: Sultan Shahin set up a website that has taken on the religious right head-on.

Praveen Swami, The Hindu, March 24, 2009

Back in the summer of 1999, Sultan Shahin found himself being hectored by an earnest young man outside London’s Finsbury Park mosque.

“You Indian Muslims are cowards,” Shahin was told “but soon you will have just two choices: either to become a true Muslim like us, or to perish.”

For Shahin, the experience was transformative. “It became clear to me that the Islam that I believe in was under serious threat,” he says, “and that I would have to do something if the religion I loved was not to be demeaned by the evil that was being spoken in its name.”

Last year, Shahin set up a website that has taken on the religious right head-on. Though run on a shoestring budget and without the help of full-time staff, New Age Islam (http://www.newageislam.com/) is visited by hundreds of readers every day. Its electronic newsletter has over 29,000 subscribers.

New Age Islam provides its audience to a wide range of original theological and political writing that does not figure in the mainstream media. In recent weeks, New Age Islam has seen debates on Niyaz Fatehpuri, a twentieth-century literary figure with unconventional ideas on the concept of divine revelation, as well as the neo-conservative televangelist Zakir Naik. Continue reading New Age Islam in the Digital Age →

‘Hello America, I’m a British Muslim’

Islam in America, Islam in Europe

‘Hello America, I’m a British Muslim’

by Imran Ahmed, BBC News, March 25, 2009

When British businessman Imran Ahmed was made redundant in January, instead of hitting the Job Centre he decided to arrange a one-man speaking tour of the United States to spread his message of peace and Muslim moderateness.

“Do you think the American drone raids in Afghanistan, in which women and children are killed, are actually obstructing the movement for an Islamic reformation?”

“What can be done about the alienation of young Muslim men in the UK?”

“Did you learn English in England?”

I’ve had an interesting range of questions at my speaking events in the US, but thankfully there have been some laughs with the audience too.

But first things first: what am I doing with a rented hybrid car on a 12,000-mile, 40-city speaking tour of America? Continue reading ‘Hello America, I’m a British Muslim’ →