9/11

9/11, Politics

Muslims Wearing Things, and also taking stands

Earlier this month, Juan Williams, a high-ranking News Analyst, made some off-the-cuff comments on “The O’Reilly Factor” that cost him his job at NPR. He explained to Bill O’Reilly that he was no bigot, adding the qualification: “But when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous.” Perhaps it is Williams’ track record as a renowned historian of the Civil Rights movement that made his unsavory comments all the more unpalatable.

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9/11, Politics

Facing and fighting discrimination

The controversy over Park51 has reached a fever pitch. Opinions and concerns from around the country have been expressed, with many falsehoods and stereotypes being propagated along the way. We feel that the voices of Muslim women are lacking in this debate, especially the voices of Muslim women who go to Park51, and as such, we have chosen to express our views on the matter.

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9/11, Politics

On 9/11, Listening to Muslim womens’ voices

Much has been said about Imam Abdul Rauf, the Imam behind the proposed Park 51 Islamic Cultural Center in New York City, which would stand a few blocks from the site of the 9/11 attacks nine years ago today. In the intense controversy surrounding the construction of the community center, he has been called a “radical,” despite ample evidence of his longtime efforts to do interfaith work and bridge misunderstandings between Muslims and other communities.

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9/11, Books, Culture

The focal point of cross-cultural dialogue

In the years since 9/11, Muslim men and women have responded to nativist hate mongering by working within the American legal framework. Muslim women have made the hijab a civil rights issue; similarly, the fight for the human rights of detainees has been going strong for some time. An additional response – one that is more nuanced to the gendered aspects of the problem – is to use gender and Muslim notions of femininity and masculinity as the focal point of cross-cultural dialogue.

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