avari | haroon moghul

Politics and New Media at Berkeley: Islam, the Internet and Futures

On Thursday, October 15th, I was privileged to take part in a conference at the University of California-Berkeley, on Islam and New Media.  For those of you who are so interested, the full conference is embedded below.  The full length of the program is about 2:22 (that's hours); my formal segment is at 1:10:30 (watch someone get up and leave right before my bit), and then of course I am taking part in the Q&A section (1:52:00).  Brilliant Muslim playwright and generally very cool guy, Wajahat Ali, moderates.  My topic was a set of reflections based on my recent experiences with and involvement with the Islamic Center at NYU, and especially our khutbah podcasts.

My hope was to not define trends, but to suggest directions in which Muslim discourses are moving (among others, of course.)  I am so happy to have had the chance of being on this panel: Every speaker brought a very different perspective to the discussion, and helped to produce a fantastic discussion.  Not to mention how pleased I am that so many areas of the Muslim world were represented, including Malaysia and Indonesia, which explicably and inexcusably are oft ommitted.

Yes, I am wearing a pink shirt.

Jon Stewart, the Daily Show and Palestine

Featuring the first heckler in the Daily Show's 11 years, and yet, what a response offered by Mr. Barghouti.  They are getting a lot of flak for this (I've linked through Mondoweiss b/c Adam Horowitz was there, and offers a really inspiring overview of how the show went down, and how the crowd, as a whole, reacted.  In the first minutes of clip one, watch Jon Stewart, my hero, get p.o.'d at Joe Wilson, Jr.)

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Exclusive - Anna Baltzer & Mustafa Barghouti Extended Interview Pt. 1
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Exclusive - Anna Baltzer & Mustafa Barghouti Extended Interview Pt. 2
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

Rachel Maddow on the Muslim Mafia Mess

Muslims Invented Pasta. Take That, Silvio Berlusconi!

It's true.  An Italian lady said it in Italian, in a book now available in English, detailing the delicious history of Italian pastas, which has been for centuries a staple of the region's diet (anyone want to buy me the book?):

she notes in her encyclopedia, dried pasta made with durum wheat was found in Italy starting around A.D. 800. It was spread by the Muslim conquerors of Sicily, and by the 12th century the maritime republics of Genoa and Pisa marketed dried pasta. “Documents exist to prove this, should there be anyone left — and it appears that there is — who still believes that Marco Polo introduced noodles into Italy in 1296 on his return to Venice from China,” she writes.

Of course, thanks to a lecture years back by Richard Bulliett, I already knew this.  But it's nice to see it appear in the paper of record, thereby making it the truth for certain coastal stretches of the U.S.

Now all we need to find out is pizza is Islamic in its roots.  Then, Hizb at-Tahrir will find its universal Islamic state nutrition.  Where are Robert Ney and Walter B. Jones when you need them? 

Counting Muslims: The Pew Forum on the 2009 Ummah

An excerpt from the demographic study (.pdf) (weighted map) (weather):

...finds that there are 1.57 billion Muslims of all ages living in the world today, representing 23% of an estimated 2009 world population of 6.8 billion.

While Muslims are found on all five inhabited continents, more than 60% of the global Muslim population is in Asia and about 20% is in the Middle East and North Africa. However, the Middle East-North Africa region has the highest percentage of Muslim-majority countries. Indeed, more than half of the 20 countries and territories¹ in that region have populations that are approximately 95% Muslim or greater.

More than 300 million Muslims, or one-fifth of the world's Muslim population, live in countries where Islam is not the majority religion. These minority Muslim populations are often quite large. India, for example, has the third-largest population of Muslims worldwide. China has more Muslims than Syria, while Russia is home to more Muslims than Jordan and Libya combined.

Of the total Muslim population, 10-13% are Shia Muslims and 87-90% are Sunni Muslims. Most Shias (between 68% and 80%) live in just four countries: Iran, Pakistan, India and Iraq.

  

Brass Crescent Awards: Nominations Underway

I'm so behind.  I'm sorry.

It's time again for that fantastic opportunity to highlight the best of the Ummah's blogs.  Get more information, and nominate away. 

Muslims Drive Differently

As this map shows, overwhelmingly the world's countries and peoples drive on the right-hand side of the road.  However, the Muslim population of the world differs: Probably half of the Muslim world drives on the left-hand side of the world (Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, and then smaller populations in places like Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique.)  This map also indicates that far too many Muslims are Republican.

Okay, give me a break.  It's not even 7:30 a.m., and this is what has to pass for today's post.

Come by the Islamic Center at NYU tonight.  We're having an alumni-sponsored iftar, with kabab king food, milk and cookies for dessert, and special presentations, including one by our own American Muslim superstar, Wajahat Ali.  He'll be talking about "Domestic Crusaders"; speaking of which: which day are you going?  I'm thinking of late September/early October, but I really need to buy tickets.  The Islamic Center at NYU is organizing trips on Thursday, September 24th and Thursday, October 1st.  Come through.

Some People's Heads Look the Same, But Are Empty

So from time to time, I follow up on the comments to my Caldwell review.  Some are quite thought-provoking; several, however, are posted by obvious frothing-at-the-mouth types.  One such comment (#14) closes on what I thought was a hilarious qualification: "Muslims have shown there is no more intolerant belief than Islam, except perhaps Liberalism."

At first glance, it's just absurd.  Then you realize that apparently Muslims have shown liberalism to be the most intolerant belief.  Which is dandy.

Ramadan Mubarak.

America's Priorities in the Future of US-Muslim Relations

Some months back, the Abu-Dhabi based Tabah Foundation published my summary and critical analysis of the Changing Course Report, which is a project involving major world leaders, intellects and personalities, discussing potential strategies for Obama in engaging the Muslim world.  (You can find the Changing Course Report here, in .pdf format [175 pp]: It is quite long, for which reason I suggest reading my summary.)  My analytic brief is now up at the Tabah website, in .pdf form, in English and Arabic.  (Introduction page here.)

Purple Reign: Lakers History, Sick Championship Footage and Wack English