In my previous post thinking about a name for our baby, I mentioned a website for Muslim names. Now, what exactly is a Muslim name? Let’s take a look at a few websites listing Muslim names. Most of the names on these sites are Arabic names with some Persian and a few Turkish names as… Continue reading What’s in a Name II
Category: Islam and Other Religions
Miscellaneous
I have read a number of books in the past month or so and owe you guys about five reviews. Hopefully, I’ll get to them in the next couple of weeks. Asad has informed me that he has created a phonetic Urdu keyboard layout for Unipad. He also pointed me to the Yahoo! mailing list… Continue reading Miscellaneous
Secularism, Islamism
It seems I wasn’t exactly clear in my post where I argued that there is lots of diversity among “Islamists.” Ideofact writes about some statements and ideas of al-Ghannouchi which do seem quite bad to me. My point in my previous post was not to defend al-Ghannouchi or Fazlur Rahman or anyone for that matter.… Continue reading Secularism, Islamism
Not Shades of Grey
Muslims Under Progress makes an important point. “Islamists”, we’re told, are out to create ‘barbaric’ and ‘undemocratic’ societies, where ‘human rights’ will be something of a heresy. “Modernists”, on the other hand, are the very people that are needed to free Muslim peoples from the tutelage of a “medieval religion”. Does that sound familiar? What,… Continue reading Not Shades of Grey
Pakistan and Iran are Arab?
There was a really bad article in the New York Times by Leslie Wayne about Arab Americans backing Bush in this election cycle. Leslie Wayne considers Iranians and Pakistanis as Arab too. Who knew? Fortunately, I don’t have to debunk it since Jack Shafer of Slate already has. Juan Cole provides a good summary of… Continue reading Pakistan and Iran are Arab?
Secularism in the Middle East
Talking about the hijab ban in France and plans to allow “painless” female circumcision (also known as female genital mutilation) in Italy, Letter from Gotham writes: Can somebody please tell me what is the difference in principle between outlawing one religious custom and allowing another? I recognize that wearing a scarf does no harm to… Continue reading Secularism in the Middle East
Haj and Eid Mubarak
It is Haj today (it’s the day of Arafat to be more accurate). Congratulations to all the Hajis and especially to Amber’s parents and aunt who are in Saudi Arabia performing the pilgrimage. Tomorrow is Eid ul Azha. Eid Mubarak, everyone.
More Qutb
Bill Allison of Ideofact has been the go-to guy for commentary on Sayyid Qutb for quite some time. I should link to him more often, but all his posts are very thought-provoking and I get lazy in pointing them out. I have an index of his earlier posts on Qutb’s book “Social Justice in Islam”… Continue reading More Qutb
“Moderate Muslim”
Indirectly via Unmedia, I found Daniel Pipes’s definition of a “moderate Muslim.” – Violence : Do you condone or condemn the Palestinians, Chechens, and Kashmiris who give up their lives to kill enemy civilians? Will you condemn by name as terrorist groups such organizations as Abu Sayyaf, Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya, Groupe islamique armee, Hamas, Harakat ul-Mujahidin,… Continue reading “Moderate Muslim”
Happy Eid
Eid Mubarak, everyone.