Be Who You Are: An Interview with the Banned Tariq Ramadan



We have to start with a principle—whoever, woman or man, says, I am a Muslim, and feels that he or she is a Muslim is a Muslim and should be considered as such. We have to stop judging each other.

How Not to Fight Muslim Anti-Semitism: The Revocation of Tariq Ramadan's Visa Fuels Bigotry



Reading the news in my morning paper that Tariq Ramadan had been suddenly banned from American soil by the Department of Homeland Security only days before he was to begin his much anticipated teaching position at the University of Notre Dame, I found myself imagining conspiracy theories worthy of the "X Files."

This Is What Democracy Looks Like: Joining a Quarter of a Million Marchers in New York to Welcome the Republicans



I was among the quarter of a million people marching in New York City on the eve of the Republican Convention, the largest demonstration at a political convention in the history of the United States.

WakeUp America: The UFPJ March in Pictures



By Ahmed Nassef Today's United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) March in New York City stretched for dozens of city blocks and joined hundreds of thousands of Americans who came together to protest the Bush Administration's policies. Browse through...

Clash of Fundamentalisms



When I was asked to review two movies, one about "Muslim fundamentalism" and one about the Gujarat massacre in India, I thought it would be great – two movies with lots of similarities. I was wrong.

Eyes



Eye contact is a strange phenomenon, handled differently in different cultures and potentially carrying all kinds of contradictory implications.

In Spite of Restrictions: The Women of Iran



Persheng Sadegh-Vaziri’s film "Women Like Us" provides an insight into the lives of ordinary Iranian women.

The 9/11 Commission Report: Generally Fair and Balanced



The Report's value lies in its summation and accumulation of a large body of facts in one place and will remain a useful reference tool for all who are engaged in the new enterprise of global counter-terrorism.

Is Ralph Nader Anti-Semitic? The ADL Wants You to Think So



On Thursday August 20th the Washington Post reported that the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has branded Ralph Nader a "bigot", which is a furtive way of saying they think the independent candidate for president is a vile anti-Semite.

Why They Hate Us: The Failed Ideology of the Clash Thesis



Instantly, instinctively, and unrelentingly, the American establishment has framed the attacks of September 11, 2001, in the language of a clash of civilizations. The Islamic terrorists attacked America because they hate our highest values, our freedoms, our way of life, our civilization.

Writing and Dancing



Like any other art, calligraphy is not just about mastering a technique, it requires soul: you have to ‘feel’ the words as you write them. You must aspire to reach the truth in the streaming movement of lines that transcend the physical world and arrive at tawheed, Divine Unity. Becoming One with the Word. Your rivers of ink must find their way to the Ocean. A form of worship; a spiritual dance of the qalaam. In pursuit of understanding truth through beauty.

Bad Hair Days



For the past fifteen years, since I converted to Islam, the one question I have gotten most often is, “You mean you don’t cover your hair?”

Muslim Men Beating Women: Help Re-Open Baitul Salaam



As a result of the lack of support from the Muslim community, and even threats and harassment from a group of Muslim men, Baitul Salaam has temporarily shut down their shelter program.

Madonna and the Mullah vs. Madame Rose: On Art, Sex, and Love



Stringent laws and traditions evolved to remedy what the Madonnas and Mullahs of our time have done, albeit in profoundly different ways, in reinforcing what should have long become the archaic notion that the human body is divorced from its mind and soul, and that its physical impulses have a mind of their own independent of its soul that must be set on either a carnal or cardinal course.

A Paranoid Muslim's Terror Alert System



I ran into Sanjay here. Sanjay wants to know if I feel in danger because, well, peace is a radical idea. I feel fairly safe. I do not really think about it a lot.

Muslim Organizations to Endorse Bush After Debates, New Group Predicts



I think there is a very good chance that Muslim groups will endorse President Bush. Remember, four years ago, it wasn’t until the debate that the Muslim groups endorsed Bush. You’ll see the same thing happen again. Just wait for the debates.

Changing My Curriculum



One of the first things that most children learn in school is that most formal education is a fraud. What children are learning (and not learning) everywhere is a big scandal. Yet the curriculum wars are not about improving schools all over the world. They are about forcing one party’s myths as the official dogma

How George W. Bush Changed America



Really what has September 11th changed? To my mind nothing much has changed except America.