Women in Mosques--CAIR Takes Up the Issue

The following came over the wires yesterday. Today, ISNA has announced a parallel initiative:

> In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
>
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
> CAIR TO DISTRIBUTE `WOMEN FRIENDLY MOSQUES' BROCHURE
> Publication designed to educate U.S. Muslim leaders on women's rights
>
> (WASHINGTON, D.C., 6/22/05) - A prominent national Islamic civil
> rights and advocacy group said today it plans to distribute a
> brochure supporting the religious rights of Muslim women to mosques
> throughout the United States.
More at: http://www.cair-net.org/default.asp?Page=articleView&id=37017&theType=NB

Without going into some of the nuances and before we start picking nits, let me see if I can say this right:

This is a good thing to have happened. Kudos to CAIR and the authors of the report for doing this. If results is what one cares about, this a step in the right direction for the community--and I am referring to Muslims in North America in particular and the Ummah in general.

Whatever we say about each other, an opinion leaders (like ISNA, CAIR, et al) has taken what I think can safely be characterized as a progressive step. From where I sit, the Progressive side of the community has played at least the role of a catalyst. Congratulations are in order, I think, to the whole community.

Madrassas in Pakistan and Elsewhere -- Myth and Reality

A New York Times article was making the rounds late last week:

OPINION | June 14, 2005
Op-Ed Contributor: The Madrassa Myth
By PETER BERGEN and SWATI PANDEY
There is little or no evidence that the Muslim religious schools produce terrorists capable of attacking the West.
(The full article might no longer be available online without paying a fee.)

Here's my reaction. To quote the article itself:

"While madrassas are an important issue in education and development in the Muslim world, they are not and should not be considered a threat to the United States."

Translation: To the West, they are just a bugbear and the West should shut up about them. But the issue of how well the institutions that we refer to as "madarassas" today--there was a time when the word was used for a very different type of institution; the Sindh Madarassa, for example--prepare Muslim youth for the 21st Century is an internal issue for the Ummah, one that we MUST analyse and engage with--on our own terms and in our own way; but very urgently.

As a postscript, the #1 Most Emailed Story at the NY Times the same week was another story on Pakistan that promises to be around with us for a while. Here's the list quoted from the same mails that sent the above article:

> 1. Op-Ed Columnist: Raped, Kidnapped and Silenced
> 2. Next Generation of Conservatives (By the Dormful)
> 3. Snake Phobias, Moodiness and a Battle in Psychiatry
> 4. Finding Nirvana on Two Wheels
> 5. Op-Ed Columnist: One Nation, Uninsured

Hijab; Another Minor Rant

I haven't posted anything here in a little while, and thought I would catch up some. The following is actually a little repetitive of other entries on this blog, but I just can not say it enough.

The word hijab, for anyone with any understanding of the "Islamic" meaning of it, refers to a whole scheme of modesty; of modest dress, speech, behaviour and, if I may use a popular concept, attitude. At a lot of times following the activism and rhetoric around the issue, it really becomes difficult to believe that some of the people so passionate about it have this in mind. Very often Muslims themselves act like it is just a synonym for "headscarf" and the whole discussion of proper dress and behaviour for Muslims--which should not just be a matter for the ladies to bear the whole burden of in the first place--boils down to wearing a headscarf; a very particular kind of headscarf.

And that worries me. Very much.

That's where I am coming from.

As we Muslims say, Wallahu Aalam; only a Supreme All-Encompassing Deity can have full, or real, knowledge, the rest of us are just blind folk trying to feel up the Cosmic Elephant.

Sunil Dutt's Faith

The recent death of Bollywood screen icon, politician and activist Sunil Dutt reminded me of an article about his "faith community", a group of people who, though Hindus, were, as we say "Maula kay naam-laiwa"--of those who remember the lord (Ali). Here's a link to the article on a website run by the author (worth exploring in itself):

http://www.islaminterfaith.org/july2002/issue.html

Or here's a better-looking of the same article:

http://www.himalmag.com/2002/may/profile.htm

And here's an article from after his death that talks about Sunil Dutt himself and why his funeral, though not an international affair, was one of those rare occasions when common people, politicians and superstars turn out to put their shoulders together--literally:

http://news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=86382&cat=Entertainment

What is Islam? Episode I

For non-Muslim friends who really want to understand what makes Muslims and Islam tick, here's a really good one; in fact, one I have been strongly recommending that Muslims also sit down and really listen to, as well. There is a lot Hamza Yousuf says/reminds us that we often don't live up--or even remember.

What I am talking about is an interview of Hamza Yusuf Hanson, who one of the most respected (by people like me) Muslim Scholars in North America of ANY background or stripe. The good thing about him is that he is really well-read and -informed about both the Islamic and Western body of knowledge, culture and history and makes it a point to draw parallels and point out similiarities that help in understanding world history as the one whole (mess?) that it is:

http://www.kqed.org/epArchive/R505230900