avari | haroon moghul

Learn About Islam for Free: This January, I'm Teaching At All Souls

For the third year in a row, I'll be returning to the warm and welcoming community of Manhattan's All Souls Church.  I'll be offering a course titled, "Is Islam A Religion?: Making Sense of 1400 Years."  

The classes are free and open to the public, and will take place in Reidy Friendship Hall, in the basement of All Souls Church every Sunday morning from January 8-29th, 2012.

When: Sunday, January 8, 15, 22, 29.  Classes run from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Where: Reidy Friendship Hall (basement level), All Souls Church. Located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan on 1175 Lexington Avenue (79th Street).  It's Sunday, so parking is free on most area streets.  The 6 train stops at 77th street, and it's just a couple of blocks up Lexington from there.  Nice and easy.

Who: Everyone and anyone who's interested, regardless of faith or background, age or profession.  In the last two year's courses, we've had an incredible range of folks.

Below is an outline of the course by week.  I'll be preparing some simple materials for students to use during the course, but you don't need a background in Islam to attend and benefit.

Countering Extremism in Pakistan?

The topic on al Jazeera's The Stream yesterday was extremism in Pakistan.  I was on for the show, alongside a representative of Khudi, a "counter-extremism social movement promoting a democratic culture in Pakistan."

Here's how I framed the conversation: Is the solution to Pakistan's woes found in a different kind of Islam, or is radicalism itself symptomatic of deeper problems?  To what extent can a think tank with roots in the West solve Pakistan's problems?  

Check it out; the version below is the extended version, including content that didn't appear in the broadcast version.  It was a great conversation--I only wish we had more time to really get into some thick topics.  

Pakistan rarely gets the attention it deserves, so I'm glad al Jazeera devoted a whole show to where Pakistan is going and what role Pakistanis might play in that.

What Should a Muslim Make of Christopher Hitchens?

I'm sure you'll be reading many obituaries of this "astounding intellect," and so on and so forth.  He was a smart man, insofar as he had a facility with words, a fluency with language, and a vivacious personality that could communicate what he knew.  But he was also something and someone else, which should not be forgotten: In claiming to love humanity, and hating religion, in fact he hated the most consistent expression of human aspirations across history, which is an awkward definition of love.

I penned a review of his pathetic tome on religion, God is not Great, and the warmongering religiosity it aligned itself with, an illustration of how evil is done in religion's name, though never one Hitchens could admit to.  I trust, however, he was smart enough to know that.

Islamists Beat Liberals. Markets Beat Islamists. Welcome to 21st Century Democracy

I have a short piece, written on the road, reflecting on what we know about Egypt's elections so far:

The source of much of the Arab world’s recent unrest lies in income inequality, injustice, authoritarianism, and economic stagnation. No country in the world, the United States included, can now pursue domestic policy independent of international financial markets. How much more so the Arab world—considering how much poorer and less developed it is? And in that case, what difference does it make what government you have? Left or right, the market seems always to win.

A Muslim Walks Into A Subway and Talks... Tahrir?

Sometimes, a few hours in your life scream out for some kind of reflection:

I have put the fear of God and math into every Subway franchise within a ten-minute drive of me, all of which dread the day when I walk in and announce, I'd like to redeem my tens of thousands of points, and force them out of business. I am their Lehman Brothers. But of course I wouldn't do that, because then where would I eat? (Surprisingly, that logic also captures the bond market and the Eurozone crisis.)

It gets weirder when I end up having a conversation with another customer about occupy Wall Street, the Egyptian Revolution, and American manufactures. Check it out at religion dispatches.