(f)Re(e)Thinking Islam

Nice interview with Jonas Y. Atlas about his journey through Islam and the insights it brought him.

For three years J.Y. Atlas had openhearted conversations with influential Muslim scholars and artists. From Jakarta to New York and from London to Lahore, this Christian theologian met with imams and Sufis, academics and feminists, punkers and poets.

A must read by Michael Muhammad Knight on the whole 'radicalisation debate'.

A conversation about ‪Islam‬ and ‪‎terrorists‬, Western ‪responsibility‬ and the violent world we live in.

ISIS our daughter - being critical about any form of suppression. Being critical about the shadows within any society.

Shariah Law is often misunderstood by Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Scholar of Shariah Dr. Jasser Auda tackles the concept.

"The ethical person continues to do what is determined to be good because of the good itself. The results are not only unforeseeable they no longer become the immediate goal. In a world that is bigger than our little corner we must continue to commit to moral actions because we elevate ourselves above the disdain for others and instead participate in the goodness that we would like to see in the world. In other words, we are not THE solution; we are part of both the problem and its solution. Take heart."

Great organisation!

"That is why We decreed for the children of Israel that whosoever kills a human being, except (as punishment) for murder or for spreading life threatening chaos on earth, it is as if killing the entire human race; and whosoever saves a life, saves the entire human race. Our apostles brought clear proofs to them; but even after that most of them committed excesses in the land." (Quran, 5:32)

Raghib al-Asfahani's (502 AH) interesting expositions of Qur'an verse 5:8 - Be martyrs for human rights, not for religion.

"Rather than a caliphate presided over by arbitrarily appointed caliphs, subjected to a rigid interpretation of Shariah law, millions of Arabs strive simply for peace, stability, dignity, prosperity and democracy. "

A conversation with Indonesian activist and scholar Musdah Mulia about the spiritual backbone of human rights which can be found within Islam.

A conversation on the place of Jesus in Islam, the pitfalls of interreligious dialogue and the need for interfaith humbleness.

Imam Feisal getting the order straight.

The fontman of the Malinese band Tamikrest on the struggle of the Tuaregs, the trouble with the islamists and the strength of his sisters.

“You must understand the difference between Islam and Arabism-Something which is difficult for African people to understand. The Arab did to Islam what the European did to Christianity, he subtracted the spirituality, and made it a political instrument to conquer the African. But when it comes to the African, he accepted the spiritual aspect of it, and forget the political.” (Dr. John Henrik Clarke.)