Entries Tagged 'Muslims and Islam' ↓

City officials warn people to sacrifice in approved areas and take care while transporting and restraining animals, but there are three stories that always make the news during Eid ul-Adha:

People sacrificing in public places (non-gory picture) because they didn’t want to wait in line.
“Amateur butchers” injuring themselves (1413 people last year).
Escaped bulls running for their […]

Tomorrow is the beginning of Eid ul-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice, commemorating Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son.  As many of you know, the holiday is celebrated by sacrificing an animal, commonly a sheep or ram and sometimes something larger like a bull.  The butchered meat is then divvied up with one-third given to […]

I’ll let Slate.com set up this great piece in the New York Times about fatwas in Egypt:
The NYT goes up top with a news feature on the role of the fatwa in Egyptian daily life. Thousands of fatwas—edicts that provide guidelines for daily life in Muslim communities—are issued every month by Quran scholars, some of […]

Within the last two days I have seen three pieces about wearing the veil, and they’re all worth checking out.
The most interesting read is a first-person account by Megan K. Stack, an LA Times reporter who covered stories in Saudi Arabia.  Did you know that the Starbucks in Riyadh has a separate entrance and seating […]

…but I didn’t recognize him.  Very embarrassing.
(Check out PBS’s biography of Wallace Muhammed if you aren’t very familiar with him or need a refresher.)
I was at the Center for Islamic Studies about to have some sermons scanned when a professor I met last summer came up to me and said, “Hey Jim, what’s up?”  Next […]

Are you sick of haiku?  Was a measly $10 iTunes gift certificate not worth your time?  Well, if you’re Muslim, you’re now invited to submit a sermon to the first ever Malcolm X sermon competition, hosted by Muslims for Progressive Values.  First place gets you $1,000.
As many of you know, my research is on Islamic […]

Although I write a fair bit about Muslims and Islam on this blog, I haven’t said anything yet about the controversy surrounding Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress.  Basically, some conservatives are bent out of shape because Ellison wants to use a Koran instead of a Bible during his swearing-in ceremony.  Right-wingers have […]