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

My American Son
It was the beginning of the 4th of July weekend, and I decided to take my 4-year old son, Ali, to the Friday prayer at my favorite mosque, Masjid Al-Farah, the Mosque of Happiness, in New York City.

The Prices of Milk and Oil
The fair market value of oil ought to be somewhere between the price of antique mahogany and polished diamonds, I postulated. Hail the mighty cartel!

Looking for “Good” Muslims: Rand Study Recommends New Approach to Dealing with Islam
In March, the California-based Rand Corporation released a report entitled “Civil Democratic Islam” that attempts to present a strategy for US and European policymakers on how to best deal with Islam in the post-9/11 climate.

No Sex Please. We're Muslims.
The guidelines for modesty were published by the All Islamic Modesty Conference of 1979, and they can not be discussed any further.

Apu, Naked Businessmen, and Personal Responsibility
It is not enough to say that the Bush administration is covering up the 9/11 investigation. We must come out and say that the Bushies are covering up for Al Qaida. Aznar was covering up for Al Qaida. Dirty collaborators.

"We Have Too Many Mexicans": An Interview with ISNA's Anti-Alcohol Partner, Howard Lydick
"If we let the entire world move here, our cities will begin looking like New Delhi. We have too many Mexicans coming here. They don't want to be good Americans. They still celebrate Cinco de Mayo instead of the Fourth of July."

Seventy Two Virgins and a Giant Bag of Lard
So what does the ill fated exploding pig have in common with the 72 nubile virgins, you ask? They are clumsy attempts to slap on a religious dimension to a very political conflict

Meet the New Jack Novelists: Review of Madras on Rainy Days
She is the first novelist to write about Indian Muslims who really gets it.

Unveil Your Mind: An Interview with Nawal El Saadawi
God is not a book. God is justice and freedom and love and honesty. That is what my father taught me—to be honest.

Muslims for Bush! Muslim Organizations Officially Undecided, But Muslim Americans Pour Thousands into 2004 Bush Campaign
It is no wonder that these groups are suddenly so timid about their endorsement plans. They don't even seem to agree on whether AMPCC still exists.

Brand Name Hitler
Hitler® is a registered trademark and valuable commercial property. It is owned by a small and predictably murky group of powerful individuals and institutions. There are strict rules about the right and wrong ways of using the Brand Name.

Doctor Hate
The latest tirade by conservative pop psychologist Dr. Laura Schlessinger—her degree is actually in physiology, but who cares about credentials in this era of AWOL-guardsmen-turned-commanders-in-chief--is worthy of mention, if only to illustrate the level of acceptability that this kind of drivel against Muslims/Arabs/South Asians (haters are not big on making fine distinctions between Muslims, Christian Arabs, or Indian Sikhs) garners these days.

Rana's Wedding
Rana’s Wedding is Palestine’s contribution to the art of filmmaking this year. It is every bit a masterpiece as Divine Intervention. Both movies are about a sweet and gentle romance with the cruel and absurd Israeli occupation as the backdrop. Rana’s Wedding lacks the big movie production qualities of its predecessor, but it makes up for it with the sweet lilting pace of an Iranian movie.

Happy Masjid
I feel sad about all the people here who don’t have a decent mosque to call their own. I don’t go to the mosque very often, but it is always my own fault and never the community’s. I want to tell you about the happiest little mosque on God’s green earth.

Peace Process: Palestinians Need Security Too
Palestinians too have a need to security. They too will be giving up or sharing land for peace. This lack of symmetry (explicit concern for Israeli but not Arab security, for example) is designed to ensure a nuclear-armed Israel ends up next to a mandatory unarmed Palestine. Palestine will have no way to prevent a massively armed Israel from bullying its way back to the current situation.

Facing the Facts: Time to Demand Women's Rights
Anti-Muslim bigotry has become acceptable in the mass media. And yes, women are still exploited and discriminated against in the West. But these phenomena do not erase the very real problems that exist in contemporary Muslim societies.

Is That a Fridge Underneath Your Turban? Fighting America While Hooked to a Dialysis Machine
The most powerful army in history is plagued by pesky guerilla attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan. The opposition in each case is led by a man hooked to a dialysis machine.

Why Do Those People in Toledo Hate America So Much? The National Media's Fear of Reporting the Truth
The media blackout of the Tiger Force story is indicative of the state of corporate journalism in this country. The real embarrassing question to the national media here is not just about their lack of coverage; it is why did it take a small newspaper in Toledo to break this story? Where were the legion of New York Times, Washington Post, and TV network reporters?

The Essence of Duplicity: The Reaction to Mahathir's Comments on Jews
Mahathir's speech, taken as a whole, included a plea for tolerance and unity among Muslims, for stepping away from dogmatism and violence—including suicide bombings--and toward a common vision that is worthy of the Prophet Muhammad's message.

Manpads and Wooden Carrots
I am all for banning weapons. Like the time we banned weapons from the Bosnia conflict till all the Muslims were cleansed from the desired areas. Then we brought in the big bombs to punish the bad guys. It was a very complicated war, and ordinary people should not try to understand it, any more than they should try firing missiles at aircraft.

Guns, Drugs and Arabs
The Taliban and Al-Qaida seem to be flourishing everywhere. They are picking out the new carpet for their branch offices in Kirkuk and Faluja. Your job is to explain how this could possibly happen. There are two very important observations you must report back to Kofi. These people probably have some money, and that money must have come from somewhere. There. Can we all go home now and file our expense reports?

Mustard Gas Wall of Shame: Colin Powell Joins MWU! in Opening of Halabja Attraction
Thank you Secretary Powell for visiting the little museum of horrors at Halabja. MuslimWakeUp! is celebrating this occasion by inaugurating the giant “Halabja Mustard Gas Wall of Shame” as the next tourist attraction in this tragic little town. Let’s see what is on the plaque.

Hug Wendy Pearlman
At each signing I speak for about a half hour and then open the floor to questions. It can get pretty heated. Once a group of pro-Israel supporters launched a protest to convince Borders to cancel my reading. They said that I was a terrorist-sympathizer and that the talk would be an “affront to the Jewish community.”

Dreaming in Two Languages: An Interview with Natacha Atlas
She has the most magical voice this side of Umm Kulthum, she’s bringing Arabic music to Europe and North America by creating a synthesis with western beats that still keeps the music real, she belly dances, and she’s politically aware. I’m hooked. And so is Ali, my four-year-old.

Washing Our Dirty Laundry: An Interview with Omid Safi
I get invited much more frequently to talk at synagogues and churches than at mosques. The national Muslim American organizations don’t take full advantage of Muslim academics. Some people on certain issues will show up, but there is a distrust of scholars who have studied Islamic Studies in the west—it’s that whole "Islamization of Knowledge" garbage.

Not Your Father's Peace Rally: 17 Million Smart-assy Marchers Hip Hopping to Funky Beats Can't Be Wrong
We had the world to heal, and a war to stop. My two words of kindness were going to speak of unity and love in the language of some other long forgotten Islamic empire. The loonies had better bring their dancing shoes.

Should Women Wear Bras? (The Search for Progressive Islam in America)
The 19th century had Jamal Al-Din Al-Afghani and Muhammad Abduh. The 20th century gave us Muhammad Iqbal. Now, we have Paul Wolfowitz calling for the reopening of the gates of ijtihad. With friends like him, well you know how the rest goes.

How I Learned to Love Reagan
I hate to admit it, but President George W. Bush has made me love Ronald Reagan. Before the Supreme Court appointed Bush, Jr. as president in a 5-4 vote (but who's counting), I had never appreciated the Republican administrations of the recent past. Now I catch myself waxing nostalgic, longing for those bygone days.

Prince Talal's Gift to CAIR
Maybe we're wrong. Maybe Muslims would have been better served had he spent the cash on a pair of gold doors for his new chopper, like the Sultan of Brunei, or a boob job for his wife. And although hookers and casinos are good projects, we always wanted them to support some cause close to *OUR* heart, rather than some obscure madresa in Nigeria. The money could not have gone to a more worthy cause than CAIR, and it could not have come from a better source than Talal.