The Myth of a Conservative Muslim Majority: How CAIR Plays with the Numbers to Serve Its Narrow Agenda



CAIR’s questionable research methodology holds the key to unraveling the myth of an overwhlemingly conservative American Muslim population.

Rasheed – Right-Minded



Ar-Rashid, oil on canvas, by Hafeez By Pamela Taylor If our minds are all to the Right Are we Right Minded? Or perhaps we should lean to the Left? Is a Muslim to be a Democrat, or a Republican?...

Defenders of the Faith, Destroyers of Life



The gruesome beheading of Paul Johnson marked a new low in Al Qaeda terror tactics and a further descent into barbarism. Yet there are hopeful signs that the spectacle of violence may be alienating more and more people in the Arab world.

Shame on Us All: Killing of Translator Kim Sun-il Is a Tragedy of the Highest Order



The killing of a translator under whatever circumstances is tantamount to burning bridges, and as such is an act of violence of the highest order: it negates not only the life of the victim, but also the possibility of dialogue and reconciliation.

Star Spangled Terrorism: Klan and Al Qaeda Bear a Striking Resemblance



While some of the people that I talk to continue to condemn the actions of Al Qaeda (rightfully so), they seem to suffer from a severe case of amnesia as well. It wasn’t too long ago that the Ku Klux Klan, which is a home grown terrorist organization, conducted themselves in a similar manner.

Norman Finkelstein: 'Opening the Heart to the Suffering of Others'



The fact that he’s “withdrawing from Gaza” is utterly meaningless. The Palestinians will get nothing out of it. Either the jailers will be on the outside or the inside, but it’s going to be a concentration camp.

MWU! Summer Fund-Drive



Salams Dear MWU! Readers and Friends, Yes, it's that time again for our quarterly fund-drive. Why does MWU! need your help?...

Betrayal-2000 and the 2004 Elections: US Muslims Leaders Still Haven’t Learned Their Lesson



Traditional US Muslim leaders still seem to be asleep at the wheel, denying any change in direction and ignoring trends among their rank and file.

Canadian Muslim Leaders Are Misusing Mosques for Partisan Political Agendas



Although this election—the first after 9/11—provides us an opportunity to assert our strength, and send a message of solidarity with people who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with us in our darkest days, the traditional Canadian Muslim leadership has unwisely chosen to use the country’s mosques to serve short-term partisan ends.

The Lies of War: How the Bush Administration’s Deceptions Fuel Conspiracy Theories



For the past three years, President Bush has painted the world in stark black and white tones—you are either with us or with the terrorists, he told the world soon after the September 11th tragedy. Taking him at his word, major international events are the provenance of either “them” or “us,” so people can be excused if they begin drawing conclusions that if facts indicate that certain catastrophic events have not been perpetrated by “the terrorists,” that they then must have been committed by “us.”

A Weekend with the Five-Percenters



He didn’t have to listen to Elijah or Malcolm or anyone anymore so he went the holy heretic way, changing his name to Allah, calling Harlem his Mecca and Brooklyn Medina, still playing craps, preaching on street corners to high-school and junior-high kids, telling fourteen-year olds that as Original Black Asiatic Men they were all Gods because Arm, Leg, Leg, Arm, Head made A.L.L.A.H.

We Should All Weep and Feel Ashamed: Rwanda, Ten Years Later



We had just walked out of the Kigali Memorial Centre, established this year, ten years after the holocaust that had devastated Rwanda, in memory of the 1,000,000 lives lost in 100 days of slaughter. Perhaps it was the last room in the Centre, the Children’s Memorial, that had done it for many of us.

Review: Ten short films about Pakistan



Karachi Kamera short film festival does not promise anything more than an ounce of Pakistan’s soul, but this time it comes without all the other mind numbing chemicals.

Afghan Women’s Struggle Continues: An Interview with RAWA's Sahar Saba



The most important thing is that Afghanistan shouldn’t be forgotten. It is still a tragedy.

Felt Up in Tehran: Sexual Harassment, Modesty and the Politics of Color



This is that nightmare I keep having where something horrible is happening and I need to scream to draw attention to myself but I’ve lost my voice. This is me, awake, being violated. And Gagging.

After Hardship, Comes Ease: A Message from Itrath Syed



The most overwhelming thing about this experience has been the emotional roller coaster aspect of it. I have experienced deep sorrow and powerful joy and courage from the solidarity I have received.

Another Woman Silenced: Vancouver Imam Attacks Muslim Candidate for Canadian Parliament



Instead of an opportunity to address the other Muslims there, Syed sat through a scorching sermon that charged her with “working against the community.”

The Psychology of Palestinian Suicide Bombers and Israeli Paranoia



Post-9/11, Muslim organizations have spent a lot of effort distancing themselves from the image of the Islamic suicide bomber, proclaiming “the true Islam” to be a peaceful and non-violent religion. But is this the best way to talk about terrorism and extremism to non-Muslims?

God’s Command to Angels



Why do they disconnect the worshippers from me? I do not need priests to parse my words for me.

Usama bin Reagan



Communists were bad in those days. But Mujahideen were good. Reagan was not just the president of the United States. He was also the Grand Ghazi, the Head Shaykh, the Murshid Effendi and the Master Mufti of the jihad against the Soviets.

It’s ‘Fanatics Week’ in Malaysia!



Now it appears that ‘fanaticism’ has become a major problem in Malaysia—so dangerous is it that the powers-that-be have seen fit to direct the state-controlled media services to run a week-long series of mini ‘info-teries’ on TV (at prime time no less) to educate and warn the public about the dangers of religious extremism.

“Control Room”: Freedom and Democracy, the Al Jazeera Way



This reluctantly symbiotic relationship—a little-love/little-more-hate kind of thing—between America’s image-makers (both in the media and government) and Al Jazeera is a constant thread running through Noujaim’s brilliant documentary.

The Wahhabi Threat to Islam



It is long past time for Muslims to question the Wahhabi ideology that is pulling the rug out from under Saudi life, for it is that same ideology that has been involved in militant movements throughout the Muslim world for years.

Whose Rights, Anyway? Justice for Mohamed Harkat



Protecting one’s country from terrorism has never been as much of a concern as it is today. Yet in the name of “national security,” the Canadian government has violated fundamental human rights and has gone against its own democratic beliefs.

No Tears for Reagan: Remembering His Venomous Legacy



[African Americans] suffered the wrath of the former president’s racist ideologies, and today we can still see the lingering effects of his five deadly venoms.

Put Your Guns Down for God’s Sake! And Pick Up your Pens... and Guitars



Muslims talk a lot about freedom and liberation. Have they, then, forgotten the libratory potential of the guitar solo? At the risk of being melodramatic, I would argue that the solo, if done with Claptonian precision and passion, frees one’s mind and, more importantly, one’s soul.

Count Me with the Daughters



This is how you save the world; just meeting cool Muslims in a bar and learning that it’s not all hopeless does more for me than a conference of lecture-pushing academics.

Postlude



I am that breeze, escaping, clutched in my brazen grasp, a few strands of precious hair. . .

What’s Right with Islam? Everything!



[Abdul Rauf] puts forward a new vision for Muslims in the west, and has at last furnished them with the intellectual arguments necessary to renounce the either/or thinking that has made it impossible to reconcile the cognitive dissonance of the supposedly divergent credos of Islam and democracy.

Are Australian Institutions Failing Muslims?



In late May 2004 two incidents occurred that could potentially complicate the relationship between Australia’s Muslims and the country’s political institutions.

The Expulsion of Sidney Jones from Indonesia: Another Cover-Up in the ‘War on Terror'?



The news that prominent researcher and whistle-blower Dr. Sidney Jones of the International Crisis Group (ICG) has been served her marching orders from Indonesia should not strike Indonesian-watchers as surprising. For Sidney Jones has unearthed vital pieces of information – more so than any other researcher in the field to date – and her findings have ultimately proven to be embarrassing for the powers-that-be in Jakarta.

Terrorist at the Yoga Studio: A One Act Play



As soon as I read MIT, and neurobiology, I knew it. I know this girl. It gave me the creeps. Aafia Saddiqi from MIT. I know that chick.

Abu Ghraib and the Reverend General of Limbaugh Land: America's Passion Play to Change Muslim Hearts and Minds



Why waste money on glossy magazines in the Arab world that nobody bothers reading anyway, when interrogation methods can be exported to soften up idolatrous pagans in the service of Christ and profit. The Muslim infidel must be made to suffer like Jesus in order to accept Jesus.