avari | haroon moghul

Is Mu'ammar Qaddafi Darth Vader? How Star Wars Explains the Arab World - At Wesleyan University

This Thursday, April 28th, at 6pm in PAC 002 > Attached to Olin Library on Wesleyan Campus, in Middletown, Connecticut.  Here's a campus map.  Directions.

Main campus address:
Wesleyan University
70 Wyllys Avenue
Middletown, CT  06459

I'm Not Khalid Latif, But I'm on Russia Today

I was interviewed by Russia Today on Pastor Terry Jones' continued, but largely and almost entirely failed, attempts to get himself more attention for his Qur'an-burning stunts.  This interview took place on Russia Today; my title is incorrect -- I'm Executive Director of The Maydan Institute -- but all the same I thought it worth sharing.  Consider how the issue is framed, and how (and why) I've been asked to "decide" between the Qur'an and the Constitution.  (Direct link).

Star Wars, The Jersey Shore, and Qaddafi

Tonight, at Williams College, I'll be giving a lecture titled "Is Mu'ammar Qaddafi Darth Vader? Three Months That Shook This Planet." All six Star Wars movies + The Middle East. With lots of pictures. It's 7pm at Schapiro 129.  Here's more info:

In the last few months, almost everything we thought we knew about the Middle East and the Arab world seems to be proved wrong. Why did people revolt, why are they risking their lives, and what do they want? How can Star Wars help illuminate for us why this uprising is happening? How can we use religion to understand what the democratic Middle East is the future might look like? Join Haroon Moghul in a discussion about the possible post-secular, post-Islamist future.

But that only explains the Arab revolutions in a very cool and accessible way.

Real Q: What caused the revolutions?

True A: Jersey Shore. Read my piece on Religion Dispatches about how and why...

Islam: The American Story | Haroon Moghul | Stony Brook | Wed 4/13

Join me at Stony Brook's Islam Awareness Week for a fascinating lecture about five centuries of Islam, Muslims, America, and the connections that made the world the place we know today.

You'll learn what connects the Taj Mahal, Christopher Columbus, the American flag, African-American Muslims, and immigrant and immigrant-heritage Muslims. You'll learn who the first American Muslims were, who American Muslims are today, and what's so unique about this religious minority.

Islam's not a part of the American story... not because it doesn't belong, or hasn't been part of our history sincethe beginning, but because we don't know the full story.

Where: Student Activities Center (SAC)
             Stony Brook University
             On Long Island (New York)

Directions to the University (SAC) 

When:   Wednesday, April 13 at 7:30 PM.

What else?:  Dinner will be served. 

Fairfield University | 4/11/11 | 5 Things You Wish You Knew About Islam

  

5 Things You Wish You Knew About Islam

Speaker: Haroon Moghul

When: Monday, April 11th, 2011 @ 6:00 pm:
Where: Dolan School of Business Dinning Hall
Fairfield University
1073 North Benson Road
Fairfield, CT

- Driving and other directions

Islamophobia and Ending It: Saturday, April 16, in Queens, NY

Join me for this informative afternoon session taking place at the LaGuardia Airport Marriott Hotel. It's only $15, or you can sign up for all five sessions, featuring a range of amazing speakers, activists, and more, for just $50 [ticket purchases]:

Islamophobia Is and Isn't Racism:
What We Can Do To Change Things

The Maydan Institute

There’s a lot about Islamophobia that we can call racist, but many people who ask hard questions about Islam and Muslims insist they are not racists. How do we make sense of criticism of Islam? What is fair, what is unfair, and how do we present our side of the story?

Join Haroon Moghul, Executive Director of the Maydan Institute, as he explores the fascinating reasons why Islamophobia isn’t racism, why it’s so effective, and how best we can change the conversation for the better. We’re never going to change the way people look at Islam in America unless we first understand why it is so many negative voices on Islam get so much attention.

When: Saturday, April 16. 2pm-3pm.
Where:
 

For driving directions, click here.
To buy your tickets, click here.

Terry Jones Burned a Qur'an, and Haroon Moghul Talked About it on BBC5 Radio

A short five-minute segment from BBC5 Radio; I'm talking about how to understand the recent tragic violence in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan:

Moghul

Islamic Finance Forum at Berkeley - This Saturday, April 9, 2011

I Hate Dictators, But That Doesn't Mean I Support This War

Somewhat misleadingly titled, my latest piece at Religion Dispatches considers Pres. Obama's intervention in Libya, and why I am so uncertain about the wisdom of our military operation. I'm too conflicted, to be honest with you, to come down hard in one way or another, but my concerns weigh heavily on my mind, and I wanted to share them. Here's an excerpt:

While, yes, it is true that consulting with Congress may have caused us to intervene far too late, or not at all, this intervention sets a terrible precedent. The President cannot simply start a war on the grounds that he and his advisers thought that there was a humanitarian crisis, and then only bother to explain it to us shortly before Dancing with the Stars. If the crisis were so grievously serious, he could have laid out his case, told Congress the time to act was now, and trusted in the humanity of his fellow Americans.  

This belief that only he and his circle know what’s right is, at the very least, elitist; it’s not dissimilar from the Republicans’ insistence on prosecuting the war in Iraq even after the 2006 elections, when the American people made it clear that they wanted out. Are the American people really that irrelevant, that you can wait a full week to bother to tell us why you got us into another war before we’re even out of Iraq and Afghanistan? 

Read it in full here.