Last July, I wrote about President Nicholas Sarkozy’s comments on the burqa. Since then, a number of steps have been taken towards a partial ban on the burqa that included setting up a panel to discuss the issue as well as a national debate on French identity.

Over the last six months, the panel has been studying the burqa in France and a few weeks ago released its recommendations to prohibit women who wear the burqa from using any public services like schools, hospitals, and public transportation. The panel determined that the burqa is not compatible with the ideals of secularism and French values. Moreover, proponents of a ban assert that the burqa oppresses women and represents a growing faction of radical Muslims.  Opponents of the ban argue that it strips Muslim women of the personal liberties they are guaranteed in France and will in fact lead to further isolating these women. Continue reading →

On Tuesday night, I attended Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s talk “Refuse to be Silenced: Feminism Today” as part of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Distinguished Lecture Series. This series aims to generate constructive dialogue around controversial issues. I was hesitant to go to the lecture because I was aware of her story and her attitudes towards Islam; however, I decided to go and listen to hear what she has to say.

Ali is a Somali and Dutch writer, politician, and critic of Islam. She was born to a Muslim family in Somalia and in the early part of her life was a practicing Muslim. In 1992, she arrived in the Netherlands and was granted political asylum. She has written that the reason for her fleeing to the Netherlands was a forced marriage. However, it came to light in 2006 that she had given false information on her asylum application, so the exact events that led to her arrival in the Netherlands are unclear. She was voted into the Dutch parliament in 2003 and later resigned as a result of the asylum controversy. In 2002, Ali left Islam and became an atheist. Continue reading →

Even though two thirds of Americans (63%) admit that they have little or no knowledge about Islam, according to a recent Gallup poll, almost half of Americans acknowledge some level of prejudice against Islam (53%) and Muslims (43%). Furthermore, “personal affiliation with a Muslim may help to soften extreme prejudice, but is not enough to eliminate it.”

Comparing what Americans believe Muslims think to what Muslims actually think, the study finds a big gap between the two. For example, only 16% of Americans agree that “most Muslims around the world believe that women and men should have equal rights,” while in reality, majorities of people in more than 35 Muslim countries surveyed by Gallup support gender equality. The support is above 73% even in conservative Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Sudan, and Egypt. Continue reading →

UW students Dalia Saleh and Akbar Yakub (credit: Mary Langenfeld)

This is a guest post by Clare Milliken, a UW-Madison undergraduate majoring in journalism. She recently published a story about the Muslim student community on campus in the Isthmus newspaper.

Working as a reporter opens your eyes to the world, allowing you an intimate look into others’ lives, cultures, and experiences. Never have I appreciated this ability as much as I did writing on UW’s Muslim community.

I began my research on a December Thursday at the Muslim Students Association meeting at Memorial Union. I tried, as much as possible, to immerse myself in Muslim students’ lives, from musical tastes to prayer practices. After 20 interviews, secondary research, and my first Friday service at a local mosque, I began writing the piece in the hopes of granting other people this “reporter’s window.” Continue reading →

Last Thursday, Trijicon, a Michigan based company announced that it would stop inscribing Biblical references on gun sights for the military. This came after many groups, including the Interfaith Alliance and the Council on American-Islamic Relations, condemned the practice. These inscriptions gained attention after ABC News aired a story about the weapons, referred to by some as “Jesus guns,” with references to New Testament passages.

The obvious discomfort with this practice stems from the military’s policy against proselytizing and also from the reaction by people in predominantly Muslim countries to the idea that a gun used against them had Biblical references. In addition, there is the fact that Muslims in the US military, as well as Iraqi and Afghan soldiers who are being trained by the US, may end up using these weapons. Continue reading →

In last week’s post about Muslim-Christian tensions in Egypt, I highlighted that I am troubled by the way that two connected faiths that call for tolerance are often manipulated for specific purposes. As a follow up to that post, I wanted to write about the violence last week between Christians and Muslims in Jos, which stands on the dividing line between predominantly Muslim northern Nigeria and predominantly Christian southern Nigeria. This is another unfortunate example in which religion is  manipulated and used to cover other longstanding problems between groups, rather than addressing those problems directly, problems which many times result from poverty, oppression by both groups, and unemployment.

The violence in Jos began on Sunday, January 17th, and has resulted in the deaths of hundreds. There are varying reports on what triggered the current wave of violence. The New York Times reports it began when Muslim youth attacked a church; The Christian Science Monitor says that it broke out after Christians protested the building of a mosque and Muslim protesters attacked a church; and Human Rights Watch indicates that some leaders say the violence resulted from a disagreement over the rebuilding of a Muslim home in a Christian neighborhood that was destroyed in 2008. Whatever the exact cause of this latest violence, it is important to note that unfortunately this is not the first time that this level of violence has occurred. There were violent riots in 2001 and 2008. Continue reading →

This is part 5 of our series, Media and Islam. Previous parts explained why we started the series and examined Al Jazeera, Global Voices and CNN.

Having lived through the atrocities of the Nazi era, Germany is very sensitive to issues of tolerance. Perhaps that is why it has put more effort into integrating its four million Muslims, or 5% of the population, into society than many European countries. For instance, German public schools now teach Islam along with other religions. A recent study found that many German Muslims are more German than expected, doing quintessentially German things such as joining soccer clubs or senior citizens’ groups. For many non-Muslim Germans, as talk show host Michel Friedmann remarked, “most of those five percent are honest, bourgeois, boring and sweet — just like their German Christian neighbors.”

A great example of Germany’s effort to promote dialogue with the Muslims is Qantara.de, an Internet portal designed “to discuss controversial issues openly and to highlight common ground between cultures.” Qantara means “bridge” in Arabic. Published in Arabic, English, German, Turkish, and Indonesian, the portal is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and is jointly run by Deutsche Welle, Germany’s public broadcasting service, the Goethe Institute, the Federal Agency for Civic Education, and the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations. Continue reading →

A mosque and a church in Egypt

While Egypt is a Muslim majority country, it has a significant Christian minority, about 10% of the population. Although relations between the groups have fluctuated over time, recent trends have unfortunately been towards increased tension. With the recent shootings on January 6th, the Coptic Christmas Eve, outside a church in southern Egypt, many are worried about an increase in violence. What is ironic and sad about the situation is that many Muslim and Christians have friends from both religions and share many common cultural traditions. Moreover, both faiths call on their believers to demonstrate tolerance and kindness towards others. Continue reading →

al-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham, father of the modern scientific method and the first to give an accurate account of optics

A few months ago, I wrote a post about the contributions of scientists during the Islamic empire and how they have often been glossed over. Next Thursday, January 28th, the next Inside Islam radio show will take up the topic of Islam and Science. Professor George Saliba from Columbia and Professor Jim Al-Khalili from the University of Surrey will  join host Jean Feraca to explore the contributions of scientists from that period, the reasons for the decline, and the role of science in the modern Muslim world.

Among the important questions for the discussion will be: What were the scientific contributions of the Islamic empire to modern science? Why are these contributions forgotten in narratives about the rise of modern science? Why was there a “decline” after such a glorious past? And what kind of scientific developments are occurring now in the Muslim world to regain the spirit of scientific inquiry that once defined the empire?

These are not the only questions for this discussion, and we welcome your input into the show. Please share your comments and questions below or on the air.

This is the fourth part of our series, Media and Islam. Previous parts explained why we started the series and examined Al Jazeera and Global Voices.

“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own fact,” said US Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. News media’s job is to give the public both facts and opinions, but labeling each clearly so as not to confuse or mislead. Facts should carry more weight in media coverage and be the basis of opinions voiced in media.

Using this criterion to assess the coverage of Islam and the Muslim world by the three major US cable news networks, I find that CNN outperforms Fox News and MSNBC even though it lost 30% of its viewers in 2009 while Fox News gained 7% and MSNBC fell 12%.

First, CNN is more committed to news gathering. Unlike generating opinions, gathering facts requires having reporters on the ground knocking on doors, talking to locals, and sifting through documents. Statistics show that CNN has more correspondents in more Muslim countries than what Fox News and MSNBC have combined. The financial commitment by CNN is also the biggest among the three, with Fox News spending the least on newsgathering. Continue reading →

Even though the prevailing image in mainstream media is often that it is a religion of violence, many forget that since its inception Islam called for a system of social justice and responsibility for others. From early on in his life, the Prophet Muhammad was concerned about the state of the less fortunate. In Muhammad’s time, Qurayshi society, which once took care of its members, not only neglected the less fortunate, but did not even provide basic protection in a world that depended on tribal protection. Among the central principles reiterated time and again in the Qur’an is the responsibility to help the other.

Muslims are never to become complacent or assume that hardship can never affect them. In fact, a great responsibility is placed on a Muslim to work for social justice and to be at the forefront of alleviating social ills like poverty. This is one of the core messages of Islam that are too often neglected by many, including Muslims.

I feel it is important to reiterate this point in light of the earthquake in Haiti. Continue reading →

Allah

An uproar is occurring in a perhaps unexpected place. This past week Malaysia witnessed rising tensions as several churches have been vandalized. These tensions are the result of a court ruling in which a government ban on the use of Allah by Christians was overturned. Proponents of the ban argue that the term Allah should be reserved only for Muslims because they believe that Christians are using the term to get converts and that its use by other faith communities will end up confusing Muslims. The violence that has resulted, in my view, is problematic and sad. Continue reading →

A few months ago, I wrote a post about flying while Muslim and the case of the six imams who were removed from their flight because they prayed before boarding. Now this story has even more relevance since the Christmas day attempted bombing by Umar Farooq Abdulmutallab. Continue reading →

The Fort Hood shooting in November and the arrest of five Virginia young men in Pakistan in December have shocked many Americans in a different way than 9/11 did. The terrorists in the 2001 attack were Islamic extremists from abroad, but the suspects in the two recent cases are American Muslims raised and educated here in the States. Even though it’s not clear whether the Fort Hood suspect was motivated mainly by his religious belief, the case with the five Virginia Muslims is definitely clear: despite their middle-class upbringing and higher education, they are still susceptible to twisted logic of extremism and the recruitment effort by terrorist organizations. Why?

To find out how American Muslims and their communities are wrestling with the question, I talked to Farha Tahir, a graduate student at the Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who has been actively involved in the national American Muslim community since high school. She was a recipient of the Gamaliel Chair in Peace and Justice in 2003 for her interfaith work. Continue reading →

In this year’s Foreign Policy’s Top 100 Global Thinkers, Tariq Ramadan came in at number 49 for “dedicating his life to proving that Europe and Islam are not incompatible”–no small task in the world today. Ramadan is considered by many to be a very controversial intellectual. For some, he is too liberal and westernized while for others he is too radical and aims to Islamicize Europe. In his latest book What I Believe, Ramadan lays out his worldview and why it is often misunderstood.

From early on, Ramadan has had to contend with what some see as a problematic family lineage. He is the grandson of Hassan Al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Ramadan notes that this connection only began to be emphasized when he started to engage the question of Islam’s role in the West. Continue reading →

Even though 98% of its population practices Islam, the Western African country of Niger is a secular state, protected by laws mostly inherited from the French. In recent years, the government has adopted some woman-friendly policies but rejected a few as well. What’s behind those rejections? What role does Islam play in the politics of women’s rights laws? Alice Kang, a PhD candidate in the UW-Madison Department of Political Science and a former SKJ Fellow through Global Studies, spent a year in Niger to look for answers. She sat down with Inside Islam to share her findings.

Continue reading →

Ground Zero in New York

An Islamic center near Ground Zero? That’s what Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf is hoping for.  Al Farah Mosque on West Broadway has already bought the building at 45 Park Place that used to be the Burlington Coat Factory. The significance of this building goes beyond the fact that it is close to Ground Zero: on September 11th, a piece of one of the two planes went through the roof of the store. The staff were in the basement.

For years the owner of the building was unable to sell it. But this past July, the Cordoba Initiative, an interfaith group founded by Imam Feisal, was one of the investors that finally bought the building. Imam Feisal’s vision for the space is to build a cultural center that would build bridges between the Muslim community and other faith communities. For Imam Feisal, the proximity of the building to ground zero and the fact that a piece of the wreckage fell in that space is a central reason why this building was choosen. A place of prayer and interfaith dialogue, Imam Feisal asserts, will send a different message than that of the extremists.

Continue reading →

Two weeks ago, I went to a sociology class to give a presentation on Islam. I have gone to this same class for at least the last four years. The experience is always interesting and challenging. Over the years, I have found that many of the questions remain the same, but become more nuanced, although sometimes the questions are new and force me to stop and think. In this post, I wanted to talk about the experience and the questions that students often ask about Islam. Continue reading →

A year ago we wrote a post about the seemingly unstoppable growth of Islamic finance while Western bankers and investors were entangled in the worst financial mess since the Great Depression. But the recent debt crisis in Dubai has caused many people to wonder whether the phenomenal growth in Islamic finance is a “mirage in the desert” after all. For me, the trouble in Dubai is another example of challenges faced by any socially responsible investment, Islamic or not. Continue reading →

This is a guest post by Dominique Haller, a producer for the Here on Earth show at Wisconsin Public Radio. She is from Switzerland.

The vote banning the construction of minarets in Switzerland leaves that country with many questions. How did it come to this vote? What does the Swiss political system have to do with it? Why did no one – not the politicians, not the polls, not the media – foresee this result? And what are people in Switzerland really expressing with their vote? Continue reading →