I love Islam and cream soda

By now, everyone has heard the story regarding Carmelo Anthony and his on-court (and after-court) NBA beef with Kevin Garnet and in the context of my own experience, I've been moved to jot on it. In the Arab/Islamic culture there is a concept called "ghairah" that, among other meanings, translates to "dignity" or "righteous jealousy" - this masculine idea is attached generally to one's spouse(s).  Hence, a part of manhood is then defined via the facets of wives.  Not wholly an Arabic idea, this concept is seen in the Hebrew commandment prohibiting the coveting of another's wife. KG referring to Melo's wife Lala as tasting like Honey Nut Cheerios is pretty much agreed upon as a real class-less and disrespectful jab. Not less than saying something about someone's mama - while they are actually present. There are things you don't do unless you want someone to fight you - what KG said was one of those things. I did find it a bit ...

This is the second time this year wherein my shoulders have been weighted with planet-sized fitnah. The greatest type a man can bear. It is related from Usama ibn Zayd that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "I have not left after me a trial more harmful to men than women."  My marriage is is on the rocks - as in a body that has fallen off a cliff, dashed below. And I deal with the seismic shocks of raw and recent tumultuous events that have turned my life, once again, upside down - alone and picking up pieces in a whirlwind and my private pain being the fodder for a sad and searing public and wanton demonstration by the one who has my heart... I am supposed to be strong - an adopted castaway, a thug, gang member, stick up kid, who found God in the belly of the beast-and purpose- on a solo journey to redemption. But along the way, I gave myself away - unvoluntarily, mind you - and it seems that has exacted a price that I don't have the ca...

Medusa is often mis-archetyped - especially in the feminist sense. She is cast as a misappropriated symbol of feminine power, because of the story that she became "ugly" as a consequence of being a rape victim - her punishment unjust at the hands of a jealous Athena. And so it goes, she is the vengeance against men. The problem is, the rape story is apocryphal - told by Ovid, while her actual story predates him. And then there is the irony that she - the symbol of woman-defeating-man - was unjustly created/punished...by another woman. Why am I writing this? I can relate. I see women revelling in the Medusa myth - the misappropriated one.  Casting men as stony things, monsters, to be moved through and destroyed, only to then point the finger of blame at them for their victimization. It is further ironic that the original story has it that Medusa turned anyone who looked at her to stone - not merely men. It is too ironic that women who fix Medusa to their personage like...

As a Muslim speaker and lecturer, I constantly engage in or observe conversations that inevitably center around contributions of Muslims to societies at large. As a weird hobby I flit through various social media forums that have islamophobic leanings and invariably they are rife with criticisms of Islam and Muslims that note the absence of any scientific or influential contributions by Muslims – a claim supported by the notion that Muslims world-wide are too busy with trying to convert or kill their non-Muslim counterparts to be bothered with education or any interest in making the world a better place. It goes without saying (or does it?) that nothing could be further from the truth. 

Written By Taj Ashaheed Much of what characterizes the issue of the “Park51” community center or the commonly referred "Ground Zero Mosque" is misunderstood or unexamined context. From the start of the controversy, it was clear as the community center was generalized in the media as a mosque and touted as being built at Ground Zero (as opposed to its actual location) that opponents of the center and the media itself were complicit in crafting a position that was both narrow in mind and critical thought. Indeed the current controversy of Park51 is an excellent study of where we as a national community can find some true insight and even understanding if looked at it from a wider scope. Opponents of the community center rally around the presumption that Park51 and its attached mosque is an affront to the victims of September 11th; however, this generalization is troublesome as it ignores the fact that among the families of the victims are those who are Muslim. Indeed, it i...

Posted: 09/02/2010 01:00:00 AM MDT As Muslims near the end of Ramadan, I among many find this annual practice of fasting a refuge. Since last Ramadan, the Colorado community has been marked with media notoriety linked to terrorist activity. In February, Denver resident Najibullah Zazi pleaded guilty in a suicide bomb plot. In March, Jamie Paulin-Ramirez, from Leadville, was arrested in connection with a plot to murder an anti-Muhammad cartoonist in Sweden. Faisal Shahzad, the Times Square bomber, brought a spotlight to Colorado in May because his wife had been living in Aurora. And then there is Anwar al-Awlaki, put on the U.S. government hit list in May, who also spent time in Colorado. Local controversies are coupled with newer national issues, such as the emotional debate swirling around the proposed Muslim community center near ground zero and the proposed Koran-burning event planned for Gainesville, Fla., headed up by a church group there. Despite these media storms, Muslims find ...

When Barack started his campaign, I had the pleasure of managing the operations of a good portion of his market research. He took on a great and experienced team of strategist including colleagues and friends Joel Benenson and Carl Rossow. We were optomistic (we ran Clinton in 06) but cautious, but as time went on we saw the chance for history upon history. For me the inauguration is just a culmination of not only hopes of my parents and ancestors but an unlimited future for my own child, and for this nation if it dares to reach beyond it's comfort zone. I am proud to be part of history, glad to have been cocky late '07 when I told everyone Barack would be Pres, and am glad to be alive at the same time that many of my people are who struggled for civil rights in the 60's, and struggeled with oppression in the 50's and above. I am glad to try to explain to my daughter who has no idea that about bus boycotts and lunch-ins, or names like Till, Evers, Lowry, Washington, Dub...