GUEST POST BY KILE JONES My last couple posts dealt with debunking stupid memes that tried to show the Qur’an is hate-speech towards non-believers and daily inspiration for ISIS. I also wrote a piece on how progressive Muslims and atheists can work together. Now it’s time to clean house and address a very real problem in atheist circles: the use of simplistic and naive caricatures of Islam. This is not just about people like Ayaan Hirsi Ali calling Islam... Read more
“Isis has nothing to do with Islam!” has become the standard response by well-meaning Muslims to jihadist attacks. As a Muslim myself, I find it grotesque to observe the impunity with which jihadists murder innocent civilians, chanting the name of God who, in the Quran, likens Himself to a womb: “The Most Merciful and Compassionate”. Of course, like any Muslim, my first instinct is to deny that such savages can, and should, have anything to do with Islam – the... Read more
Have you ever wondered whether you would incur “Allah’s wrath” if you wished Merry Christmas to your Christian friends, or celebrated Christmas? As it turns out, chances are that if you’ve been raised in a conservative household, this has kept you occupied! To be honest, it seems awfully absurd to me—this idea that celebrating Christmas has theological implications and consequences. But as Facebook reminds me, this wasn’t always the case. A few years ago, I shared the following quote by Zakir... Read more
Guest Post by Junaid Jahangir “One of the most successful ways of controlling a population, says Dr Samar Habib, “is to convince them that they have neither the authority or the knowledge or the skill to be able to interpret scripture themselves. And you then create a monopoly of knowledge that resides in a particular religious leader.” Conservative Muslim groups prop up celebrity preachers with puritan indoctrination and foreign funding. For them, Islam is less about exploring spirituality and more about identity... Read more
Tragedy stuck Paris a few days ago. ISIS wreaked havoc, murdering 129 innocent civilians and injuring many more. It is a time of mourning, so I am not particularly satisfied to divert our attention from that. But, to be sure, I write this piece not to win a theological debate. Rather, I write because I fear anti-Muslim bigotry rising in the West after this attack. This is not the time for knee-jerk reactions. Yes, we have to encounter the threat... Read more
When it comes to the hijab, everybody seems to be obsessed with it. More than an article of modesty, it serves as a symbol of oppression to some and a symbol of liberation to others. But, more peculiarly, the hijab is often used as a benchmark by conservative Muslims to judge the morality of a Muslim woman and her “Muslimness”. Indeed, judging by the Islamic discourse that concerns Muslim women, one would assume that the primary religious duty of Muslim women is... Read more
GUEST POST BY KILE JONES Can progressive Muslims and atheists actually find ways to work together? Some of my atheist comrades may disagree with me, but I think so. Of course we may diverge on whether a God exists, or if there is an afterlife, but when it comes to this world and the problems humans face, our tribes have much we agree on. And our agreements are not petty or tangential. They are sources of energy that can be... Read more
GUEST POST BY MANDI NARR I’m writing this now, in the month of Ramadan because I feel it is an appropriate time to bring this up. I feel the true spirit of giving is lost among Muslims. We have reduced charity to a mere point-earning system, where in we are rewarded in coin values of Mercy, Forgiveness and Blessings. The more good we do, the more coins we stash so we can buy things in heaven. A lavish house within... Read more
What this project is: This Ramadan, rekindle your spirituality and relationship with God by reading the Quran in a language you understand! To facilitate those who find reading the Quran for the first time daunting, we, at Quranalyze It, will be posting short chapter summaries to get you acquainted with the basic theme and content of a particular chapter. It is important to note, however, that these summaries are no substitute to reading the Quran, and should be used as... Read more
What this project is: This Ramadan, rekindle your spirituality and relationship with God by reading the Quran in a language you understand! To facilitate those who find reading the Quran for the first time daunting, we, at Quranalyze It, will be posting short chapter summaries to get you acquainted with the basic theme and content of a particular chapter. It is important to note, however, that these summaries are no substitute to reading the Quran, and should be used as... Read more
Quranalyze It
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