Religious beliefs in US: Understanding or Ignorance?

A new Pew survey has revealed some interesting statistics about religion in America: the majority of religious Americans believe that there is more than one way to attain salvation and more than one way to interpret religious teachings.

This article in the Boston Globe suggests that this is a sign of understanding and acceptance in the US, while this article in the SF Chronicle suggests it may be more an issue of ignorance.

Although the Boston Globe's argument has some merit (and is certainly more positive), I agree with SF Chronicle's take on this one:

Some believe the survey's findings illuminate superficiality in American faith practice.

"Religion in America is 3,000 miles wide, but it's only 3 inches deep," said Professor D. Michael Lindsay, a sociologist and religion demographer at Rice University. "The issue is not that Americans don't believe in anything. It's that they believe in practically everything. It's possible for Americans to hold together contradictory beliefs at the same time."

The survey found that there are Catholics who meditate, while Lindsay said other surveys have found Protestants who pray to the Virgin Mary.

Interesting statistics:

70% of those claiming religious affiliations believe multiple religions can lead a person to salvation, while 68 percent say there is more than one way to interpret the teachings of their religion.

58% of Catholics believe society should accept homosexuality, a view that is greatly at odds with U.S. Catholic bishops, including those in the Bay Area.

21% of self-defined atheists believe in God - leading scholars to think that these atheists see how they identify themselves as a position against organized religion, not divinity.

Muslims get a mention here:

On gay rights, Buddhists, Jews, Catholics and mainline Protestants are the most likely to say homosexuality should be accepted, while Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Muslims and evangelical Protestants are the most likely to say homosexuality should be discouraged. Overall, 50 percent of Americans said homosexuality should be accepted by society, while 40 percent said it should be discouraged.

If this study underscores anything to American Muslims, I think it is the importance of having solid knowledge of the basic beliefs of our faith in order to save ourselves from getting lost in the "hodge podge".

Learning to Fly

I got this as part of a forward (apologies for the absence of a source):

So That You Can Fly!
By Alia Adil and Umm Isam

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day, a small opening appeared- he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours, as it struggled to force its body through the little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could go no farther. Then the man decided to help the butterfly.

He took a pair of scissors and snipped the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. However, something was strange. The butterfly had a swollen body and shrivelled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly, expecting the wings to enlarge and expand at any moment to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened. In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and deformed wings. It was never able to fly.

What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restriction cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the small opening of the cocoon are Allah's (SWT) way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings, so that it would be ready for flight, once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon. Sometimes, struggles are exactly what we need in our life.

If Allah (SWT) allowed us to go through all our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as we could. Not only that-we would never be able to fly.

Historical Cairo

The amount of history and culture in Egypt is unbelievable - from pharonic mummies to othoman mosques. It is definately worth a visit; and make sure to get on some guided tours to get the most of your trip and soak in all the history.

The photos below are from some of the sites we visited. The architecture is absolutely stunning. Not only are the designs and materials used breathtakingly beautiful, the buildings are designed to meet their function perfectly. There are study areas in mosques designed to be cool and well lit even during the hottest summer day, and the buildings are designed to echo sound so that the athan can be heard beautifully from any corner without any amplification. Click here for some background on each of the historical masajid.

Masjid Amr ibn al As (the conquerer of Egypt)- the first mosque in Egypt built in 642 CE. The above photo is for the wudu` area in the middle of the mosque. Before restoration, this area was reserved for Zakat collection.

These pillars, as well as many others throughout old Cairo, are from Roman and Bizantianne ruins which existed in Egypt before Amr ibn al-As's army conquered the province.

Masjid Mohammad Ali in the Citadel - photo taken from the newly opened Azhar park (not affiliated to Al-Azhar but in a neighbouring area). The mosque's design is similar to that of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. It is gorgeous from the inside as well as the outside.

Masjid and madrassah as-Sultan Hassan, 1356 CE. This is the second oldest school for Islamic studies after al-Azhar

The door says "Maliki school". There are three other classrooms with the name of the three other Imams of the major Islamic schools of thought. Students of this school would study all the four school of fiqh before graduating.

The lanterns in the mosque are around 700 years old and still in good condition. This one has the verse from Surah an-Noor inscribed on it.

Masjid ar-Rifai finished early last century. This mosque has inside it the graves of the royal family. It is right next to masjid as-Sultan Hassan, and was designed to reflect similar architecture.

In the area called "Old Cairo" are several historical churches and a Jewish temple. Unfortunately, no pictures are allowed in most of them. The photo below is a figure showing the areas Mary and prophet Issa, peace be upon them, are believed to have visited during their trip to Egypt. The churches and temple were built during the Islamic era (Amr ibn al-As donated land areas to priests for religious buildings), since religious minorities were discriminated against during Roman and Bizantine times.

Inside the "Hanging Church" - named due to the fact that it was constructed over the Roman wall protecting Cairo.

Masjid Al-Ghouri

The mosque from the inside. This gem is tucked away in a busy area next to al-Azhar and is still packed with worshippers during prayers (as are many of the other historic mosques).

I was surprised to see a shape resembling the star of david in many mosques.

Next to the mosque is a small rennovated building used for cultural shows such as the Whirling Dervish. The show is free but you have to arrive early to find a seat. It was interesting but more cultural than spiritual.

This is just a glimpse of historical Cairo; there is so much more to see, hear, smell and experience.

99 New Superheroes

By Faiza Saleh Ambah
Washington Post
Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Kuwait City - Naif al-Mutawa was in a London taxi with his sister when she asked when he'd go back to writing children's books. Mr. Mutawa, a Kuwaiti psychologist with two doctorates and an MBA from Columbia University, said the question sparked a chain of thoughts:

To go back to writing after all that education, it would have to be something big, something with the potential of Pokémon, the Japanese cartoon that was briefly banned by Saudi religious authorities.

God would have been disappointed by that, he thought; God has 99 attributes, or names, including tolerance. "And then the idea formed in my mind," Mutawa said. "Heroes with the 99 attributes."

He mixed his deep religious faith, business acumen, and firsthand experience with other cultures to create The 99, a comic-book series about superheroes imbued with the 99 attributes of God. Those traits represent one of Islam's most recognizable concepts.

Mutawa's superheroes are modern, secular and spiritual, moving seamlessly between East and West. They come from 99 countries and are split between males and females. They include Darr the Afflicter, an American paraplegic who manipulates nerve endings to transmit or prevent pain. Noora the Light – a university student from the United Arab Emirates – shows people the light and dark inside themselves. They distribute aid to starving Afghan villagers and battle elephant poachers in Africa.

In November 2006, Mutawa's first comic book hit the newsstands.

Continue article here.

Here is the 99 hero website.

Muslims Barred From Picture at Obama Event

Obama wants to give Apartheid Israel more missiles. He wants Apartheid Israel to reign over an un-divided Jerusalem. Those however, are his policies abroad. He's so much better on the home front:

Two Muslim women at Barack Obama's rally in Detroit on Monday were barred from sitting behind the podium by campaign volunteers seeking to prevent the women's headscarves from appearing in photographs or on television with the candidate.

The campaign has apologized to the women, both Obama supporters who said they felt betrayed by their treatment at the rally.

"This is of course not the policy of the campaign. It is offensive and counter to Obama's commitment to bring Americans together and simply not the kind of campaign we run," said Obama spokesman Bill Burton. "We sincerely apologize for the behavior of these volunteers."
...
In Detroit on Monday, the two different Obama volunteers — in separate incidents — made it clear that headscarves wouldn't be in the picture. The volunteers gave different explanations for excluding the hijabs, one bluntly political and the other less clear.
...
The men said the volunteer, a twenty-something African-American woman in a green shirt, asked if their friends looked and were dressed like the young men, who were all light-skinned and wearing suits. Miller said yes, but mentioned that one of their friends was wearing a headscarf with her suit.

The volunteer "explained to me that because of the political climate and what's going on in the world and what's going on with Muslim Americans, it's not good for [Aref] to be seen on TV or associated with Obama," said Koussan, who is a law student at Wayne State University.
...
When they said they were with Abdelfadeel, the volunteer told them their friend would have to take the headscarf off or stay out of the special section, Marino said. They declined the seats.

After recovering from the shock of the incident, Abdelfadeel went to look for the volunteer and confronted her minutes later, she said in an e-mail interview with Politico.

"We're not letting anyone with anything on their heads like baseball [caps] or scarves sit behind the stage," she paraphrased the volunteer as saying, an account Marino confirmed. "It has nothing to do with your religion!"

In most work and school settings, religious dress — such as Jewish yarmulkes, Sikh turbans, Muslim hijabs — is permitted where secular clothing like baseball caps is not.

"The scarf is not just something she can take off — it's part of her identity," said Marino.

Photographs of the event also show men with hats in the section behind Obama and former Vice President Al Gore, though not directly behind the candidate.

Source: Politico

OK. Alright. You say it was just a volunteer making a mistake? Rather, it was two volunteers. And doesn't the "oh my staffer/volunteer made a mistake" line sound familiar? Yes! That's the same cop out Barbara Boxer used last year to justify Islamophobic actions on her end.

I want to understand. I really do. Somebody please explain to me why we are even bothering with these particular politicians? For intelligent and informed activists, isn't this becoming an issue of self respect?

Update (06/19/2008): Obama Apologizes to Muslim Women for Treatment at Rally

The New Rise of Hate Groups and Racism in the U.S.

Again, the intellectual white elite, preaching to the angry uneducated poor whites about the dangers of the invading hordes. One need only look back at European history to see how successful these wonderful elitist have been. When the time came that they had ruined what they had, they set out to dominate the rest of the world…continue to do so. Going off of what the man on the video says about whites eventually becoming a ‘minority,’ even if and when whites become a ‘minority,’ the system will still benefit them because it is a system that is systematically/institutionally setup for them to benefit. Furthermore, as issues like immigration and the nomination of Barack Obama grab the headlines, there is a much more disturbing side to the debate: The new rise of hate groups and "racist intellectuals" who find crafty ways to promote fascist ideas. As one of my favorite hip hop artist Jihad once rapped: “it don’t matter what skin tone our president is, cuz he’ll always be a puppet…”

Qur'anic Word of the Day

Want to understand the meaning of the Qur'an but don't seem to have time? Well, here's a new and convenient option: learn it one word at a time.

Word on the street is that there are less than 3,000 unique words in the Qur'an. This means that if we learn one a day, before we know it we can start understanding the words of the Qur'an while it is recited or while we pray. Learning one word a day, also ensures that we don't forget what we learn.

A popular listserv, "Qur'anic Word of The Day," sends one word every weekday right to your inbox. Currently, the list sends out words in order from the 30th juz (chapter) of the Qur'an, so we can learn the words in the surahs most of us know best and recite in prayer. There is also a review section for past words, and an online flashcard web site where you can study the words from the 30th juz.

The owner of this group will soon be printing flashcards of all of the words in the 30th chapter to facilitate studying. They will be available in sha' Allah soon, but a local donor has agreed to subsidize some of the costs (making them cheaper to buy!) if the membership of the list increases. So if you join, you will start gaining valuable knowledge immediately and also help a mass effort to get our community more acquainted with the meaning of the Qur'an!

Join now and be on your way to learning the meaning of the Qur'an, one word at a time!

To join, visit Yahoo! Groups or email QWOTD-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Desert Heat - UAE Hip Hop

Desert Heat is the first Emirati group to officially launch into the Hip Hop music scene - have you checked out their stuff yet? Their music merges western drums with Middle Eastern instrumentation and lyrics, and most importantly, it contains no profanity or explicit lyrics - so mum's won't mind you blasting it round your bedrooms.

More here

Jewish Women of Hijab

I was walking down 13th Avenue in Brooklyn’s Hasidic neighborhood of Boro Park a few weeks ago, and I saw a woman walking down the street decked out in a hijab and an abaya.

My first thought was that she was an observant Muslim woman — there is no shortage of hijabi women in Brooklyn — but her Hasidic female walking companion and her shopping bags made me realize she was Jewish. My realization of her Jewishness was followed soon by a sense of anxiety.

“Please tell me this woman is Persian, please let this woman be Persian”, I muttered under my breath as the woman approached. Many Iranian Jews in America continue to wear the clothing of their homeland, with some older Jewish women retaining the chadors they had worn in Iran. As she approached, I could tell by her accent — the woman was Hasidic and she was apparently a follower of the hijab and abaya-advocating movement of ultra-Orthodox women taking hold in Israel.

...

“Muslim women are imitating Jews to try to gain God’s favour with modesty. The truth is that the women of Israel are lessening in God’s eyes because the Arabs are more modest in dress."

Continue here

Yemen child bride Nujood Ali gets divorce

The 10-year-old was married off to a man in his 30s who abused her. She made her way to a courthouse, found a lawyer and broke free.

By Borzou Daragahi, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
June 11, 2008

SANA, YEMEN -- The little girl was waist-high, so small that the lawyers, clerks and judges hurrying through the courthouse almost missed her.

As lunchtime arrived and the crowds of noisy men and women cleared away, a curious judge asked her what she was doing sitting alone on a bench.

"I came to get a divorce," 10-year-old Nujood Ali told the jurist.

Her impoverished parents had married her off to a man more than three times her age, who beat her and forced her to have sex, she explained. When she told her father and mother that she wanted out of the marriage, they refused to help. So an aunt provided her with bus money to travel to court and seek a divorce.

Full story here