By Mas'ood Cajee - Alt Muslim - U.S.A.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Top ten good news stories of 2007: though clouds gather, we must search for silver linings. They are always present and apparent to the optimist and the wisdom-seeker, as surely as springtime buds emerging from winter’s cold bareness
1. A common word: Muslims reach out to Christians
In a dramatic and groundbreaking display of inter-religious solidarity, 138 of the world's most senior Muslim leaders, from Sokoto sultan Ababakar to Bosnian mufti Zukoulic, wrote to their Christian counterparts proposing a solid base upon which the two global faiths can cooperate in creating peace and understanding in the world in October 2007.
The basis of the letter: the shared belief of both Muslims and Christians in the principles of love of one God and love of the neighbor.
Participants hoped that the recognition of this common ground will provide the followers of both faiths a shared understanding that will serve to diffuse tensions around the world.
With over a half of the world's population consisting of Muslims and Christians, the letter's authors believe that meaningful world peace can only come from peace and justice between these two faiths. As such, it represents a truly authoritative call for tolerance, understanding and moderation from some of the world's most influential Islamic leaders and thinkers.
In bringing together Muslims from around the world, and from both the Sunni and Shi'a, Salafi and Sufi traditions, it also marks an historic achievement in terms of Islamic unity.
The request for further meetings was accepted by Pope Benedict in November and a subsequent message of greetings was sent in time for the Christmas (and Eid) holidays.
2. Celebrating the year of Mevlana
Happy 800 Birthday,Rumi! UNESCO, the United Nations agency for educational and cultural collaboration, designated 2007 as the Year of Mevlana, in honor of the 800th anniversary of the birth of Mevlana Jallaluddin Rumi, the 13th century spiritual master, poet and mystic.
Readings, performances, and lectures were held around the world, from California to Amsterdam. In recent times, Rumi has been America’s best-selling poet.
3. In Pakistan, lawyers emerge as a country’s conscience
4. A journalist exposes the underbelly of a dictatorship
5. In London, a concert for peace in Darfur
6. The pioneering Amman Message is declared
An initiative of the King of Jordan, the Amman message is a consensus document that has sought to tackle the theological basis of religious extremism in the Muslim world.
Over 500 of the most senior Islamic scholars from around the world, representing all the major branches and schools of Islamic thought, have endorsed the Amman Message and its Three Points, which clarify, among other things, who is a Muslim and who has the right to issue fatwas (legal rulings).
British Muslim writer Yahya Birt says that the Amman Message can “form the basis of global Muslim unity, the grounds for the advancement of peaceful Muslim relations, and an endorsement of the means by which religious scholarship moderates extremism in matters of religious interpretation.”
7. Funny Muslims: Groundbreaking sitcoms air on TV
In North America, two mainstream television sitcoms with positive characters and themes are promising to humanize Muslims on the small screen.
“Little Mosque on the Prairie” follows a Canadian Muslim congregation in small-town Saskatchewan, while “Aliens in America” has Raja Musharraf, a Muslim exchange student from Pakistan, breaking bread with his American host family and making a splash at his Wisconsin high school.
“Little Mosque on the Prairie,” a play on the hit 1970s show “Little House on the Prairie," debuted in January 2007 on Canadian television to a record-breaking two million viewers. Networks in Israel, France and Turkey have already signed up to air the sitcom.
Episodes of “Aliens in America”, which has aired on America's CW network since September 2007, have included Raja convincing a class flirt to dress modestly and refusing (as a convenience store clerk) to sell beer to underage drinkers.
“Aliens” is the first mainstream comedy aimed at an American teen market that directly confronts issues around the phenomenon of Islam in America.”
"Little Mosque" creator Zarqa Nawaz, a mother-of-four from Regina, Saskatchewan, cut her teeth directing documentaries and short films and has just completed work on the second season of her hit show. Her success is inspiring scores of other Muslim filmmakers to follow in her footsteps.
8. India takes a step toward addressing disparities
At 150 million plus, India has the world’s second largest Muslim community after Indonesia. However, Indian Muslims suffer from high levels of poverty and low levels of opportunity.
After years of neglect, the Indian government finally took the modest but important action of studying the scope of problems that India’s Muslims face.
What the government panel known as the Sachar Committee found was not pretty, but the mere fact that an official baseline has been established is cause for hope.
9. The brewing revolution in Muslim music
10. A nascent movement for deaf Muslims
Deaf Muslims, like deaf people everywhere, face many barriers to education and participation. As awareness spreads about those challenges, a growing number of initiatives are beginning to address the needs of the hearing-challenged within the Muslim world.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
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Saturday, December 29, 2007
2007: Year in Review
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Top ten good news stories of 2007: though clouds gather, we must search for silver linings. They are always present and apparent to the optimist and the wisdom-seeker, as surely as springtime buds emerging from winter’s cold bareness
1. A common word: Muslims reach out to Christians
In a dramatic and groundbreaking display of inter-religious solidarity, 138 of the world's most senior Muslim leaders, from Sokoto sultan Ababakar to Bosnian mufti Zukoulic, wrote to their Christian counterparts proposing a solid base upon which the two global faiths can cooperate in creating peace and understanding in the world in October 2007.
The basis of the letter: the shared belief of both Muslims and Christians in the principles of love of one God and love of the neighbor.
Participants hoped that the recognition of this common ground will provide the followers of both faiths a shared understanding that will serve to diffuse tensions around the world.
With over a half of the world's population consisting of Muslims and Christians, the letter's authors believe that meaningful world peace can only come from peace and justice between these two faiths. As such, it represents a truly authoritative call for tolerance, understanding and moderation from some of the world's most influential Islamic leaders and thinkers.
In bringing together Muslims from around the world, and from both the Sunni and Shi'a, Salafi and Sufi traditions, it also marks an historic achievement in terms of Islamic unity.
The request for further meetings was accepted by Pope Benedict in November and a subsequent message of greetings was sent in time for the Christmas (and Eid) holidays.
2. Celebrating the year of Mevlana
Happy 800 Birthday,Rumi! UNESCO, the United Nations agency for educational and cultural collaboration, designated 2007 as the Year of Mevlana, in honor of the 800th anniversary of the birth of Mevlana Jallaluddin Rumi, the 13th century spiritual master, poet and mystic.
Readings, performances, and lectures were held around the world, from California to Amsterdam. In recent times, Rumi has been America’s best-selling poet.
3. In Pakistan, lawyers emerge as a country’s conscience
4. A journalist exposes the underbelly of a dictatorship
5. In London, a concert for peace in Darfur
6. The pioneering Amman Message is declared
An initiative of the King of Jordan, the Amman message is a consensus document that has sought to tackle the theological basis of religious extremism in the Muslim world.
Over 500 of the most senior Islamic scholars from around the world, representing all the major branches and schools of Islamic thought, have endorsed the Amman Message and its Three Points, which clarify, among other things, who is a Muslim and who has the right to issue fatwas (legal rulings).
British Muslim writer Yahya Birt says that the Amman Message can “form the basis of global Muslim unity, the grounds for the advancement of peaceful Muslim relations, and an endorsement of the means by which religious scholarship moderates extremism in matters of religious interpretation.”
7. Funny Muslims: Groundbreaking sitcoms air on TV
In North America, two mainstream television sitcoms with positive characters and themes are promising to humanize Muslims on the small screen.
“Little Mosque on the Prairie” follows a Canadian Muslim congregation in small-town Saskatchewan, while “Aliens in America” has Raja Musharraf, a Muslim exchange student from Pakistan, breaking bread with his American host family and making a splash at his Wisconsin high school.
“Little Mosque on the Prairie,” a play on the hit 1970s show “Little House on the Prairie," debuted in January 2007 on Canadian television to a record-breaking two million viewers. Networks in Israel, France and Turkey have already signed up to air the sitcom.
Episodes of “Aliens in America”, which has aired on America's CW network since September 2007, have included Raja convincing a class flirt to dress modestly and refusing (as a convenience store clerk) to sell beer to underage drinkers.
“Aliens” is the first mainstream comedy aimed at an American teen market that directly confronts issues around the phenomenon of Islam in America.”
"Little Mosque" creator Zarqa Nawaz, a mother-of-four from Regina, Saskatchewan, cut her teeth directing documentaries and short films and has just completed work on the second season of her hit show. Her success is inspiring scores of other Muslim filmmakers to follow in her footsteps.
8. India takes a step toward addressing disparities
At 150 million plus, India has the world’s second largest Muslim community after Indonesia. However, Indian Muslims suffer from high levels of poverty and low levels of opportunity.
After years of neglect, the Indian government finally took the modest but important action of studying the scope of problems that India’s Muslims face.
What the government panel known as the Sachar Committee found was not pretty, but the mere fact that an official baseline has been established is cause for hope.
9. The brewing revolution in Muslim music
10. A nascent movement for deaf Muslims
Deaf Muslims, like deaf people everywhere, face many barriers to education and participation. As awareness spreads about those challenges, a growing number of initiatives are beginning to address the needs of the hearing-challenged within the Muslim world.
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society
By Mas'ood Cajee - Alt Muslim - U.S.A.Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Top ten good news stories of 2007: though clouds gather, we must search for silver linings. They are always present and apparent to the optimist and the wisdom-seeker, as surely as springtime buds emerging from winter’s cold bareness
1. A common word: Muslims reach out to Christians
In a dramatic and groundbreaking display of inter-religious solidarity, 138 of the world's most senior Muslim leaders, from Sokoto sultan Ababakar to Bosnian mufti Zukoulic, wrote to their Christian counterparts proposing a solid base upon which the two global faiths can cooperate in creating peace and understanding in the world in October 2007.
The basis of the letter: the shared belief of both Muslims and Christians in the principles of love of one God and love of the neighbor.
Participants hoped that the recognition of this common ground will provide the followers of both faiths a shared understanding that will serve to diffuse tensions around the world.
With over a half of the world's population consisting of Muslims and Christians, the letter's authors believe that meaningful world peace can only come from peace and justice between these two faiths. As such, it represents a truly authoritative call for tolerance, understanding and moderation from some of the world's most influential Islamic leaders and thinkers.
In bringing together Muslims from around the world, and from both the Sunni and Shi'a, Salafi and Sufi traditions, it also marks an historic achievement in terms of Islamic unity.
The request for further meetings was accepted by Pope Benedict in November and a subsequent message of greetings was sent in time for the Christmas (and Eid) holidays.
2. Celebrating the year of Mevlana
Happy 800 Birthday,Rumi! UNESCO, the United Nations agency for educational and cultural collaboration, designated 2007 as the Year of Mevlana, in honor of the 800th anniversary of the birth of Mevlana Jallaluddin Rumi, the 13th century spiritual master, poet and mystic.
Readings, performances, and lectures were held around the world, from California to Amsterdam. In recent times, Rumi has been America’s best-selling poet.
3. In Pakistan, lawyers emerge as a country’s conscience
4. A journalist exposes the underbelly of a dictatorship
5. In London, a concert for peace in Darfur
6. The pioneering Amman Message is declared
An initiative of the King of Jordan, the Amman message is a consensus document that has sought to tackle the theological basis of religious extremism in the Muslim world.
Over 500 of the most senior Islamic scholars from around the world, representing all the major branches and schools of Islamic thought, have endorsed the Amman Message and its Three Points, which clarify, among other things, who is a Muslim and who has the right to issue fatwas (legal rulings).
British Muslim writer Yahya Birt says that the Amman Message can “form the basis of global Muslim unity, the grounds for the advancement of peaceful Muslim relations, and an endorsement of the means by which religious scholarship moderates extremism in matters of religious interpretation.”
7. Funny Muslims: Groundbreaking sitcoms air on TV
In North America, two mainstream television sitcoms with positive characters and themes are promising to humanize Muslims on the small screen.
“Little Mosque on the Prairie” follows a Canadian Muslim congregation in small-town Saskatchewan, while “Aliens in America” has Raja Musharraf, a Muslim exchange student from Pakistan, breaking bread with his American host family and making a splash at his Wisconsin high school.
“Little Mosque on the Prairie,” a play on the hit 1970s show “Little House on the Prairie," debuted in January 2007 on Canadian television to a record-breaking two million viewers. Networks in Israel, France and Turkey have already signed up to air the sitcom.
Episodes of “Aliens in America”, which has aired on America's CW network since September 2007, have included Raja convincing a class flirt to dress modestly and refusing (as a convenience store clerk) to sell beer to underage drinkers.
“Aliens” is the first mainstream comedy aimed at an American teen market that directly confronts issues around the phenomenon of Islam in America.”
"Little Mosque" creator Zarqa Nawaz, a mother-of-four from Regina, Saskatchewan, cut her teeth directing documentaries and short films and has just completed work on the second season of her hit show. Her success is inspiring scores of other Muslim filmmakers to follow in her footsteps.
8. India takes a step toward addressing disparities
At 150 million plus, India has the world’s second largest Muslim community after Indonesia. However, Indian Muslims suffer from high levels of poverty and low levels of opportunity.
After years of neglect, the Indian government finally took the modest but important action of studying the scope of problems that India’s Muslims face.
What the government panel known as the Sachar Committee found was not pretty, but the mere fact that an official baseline has been established is cause for hope.
9. The brewing revolution in Muslim music
10. A nascent movement for deaf Muslims
Deaf Muslims, like deaf people everywhere, face many barriers to education and participation. As awareness spreads about those challenges, a growing number of initiatives are beginning to address the needs of the hearing-challenged within the Muslim world.
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