Blog Recommendation: Arabic Literature (in English)

I was going to draw readers' attention to this blog entry about Arabic children's literature from Lebanon, and then I realized that the entire blog Arabic Literature (in English) is worth following!

Irtiqa: A Science and Religion Blog

It's appropriate with the goals of this blog to point out new media which are important for North American Muslims. Hampshire College Professor Salman Hameed writes Irtiqa: A Science and Religion Blog.

To-Read: Islam and America: Building a Future without Prejudice by Anouar Majid

I've reviewed two books by Anouar Majid, and I look forward to reading his latest release, Islam and America: Building a Future Without Prejudice. He did an interview earlier this month about the book and other topics.

Review: Pale Blue Dot by Carl Sagan

I've previously reviewed a Carl Sagan book, and I've discussed several books related to science. Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space is a short introduction to the mission and perspective of The Planetary Society (Twitter).

It's important for those pretending to speak for Muslims to realize how many inherited ideas descendants of Enlightenment civilizations have discarded in the last two hundred years. I believe much religious discourse (Friday khutba, pamphlets, halaqat, satellite TV shows) is more concerned with entertaining the audience than exploring, imparting and promoting truth. Participants in this discourse usually don't know much about science or intellectual history in post-Enlightenment societies, and the audiences are of course a mixed group in this regard. Since audiences bore quickly with topics such as sincere worship, good character, and solidarity with the poor and oppressed, the only preachers who can maintain their interest (and support) are the ones who can continuously produce new messages, stories, insights, etc. Of course, these inevitably stray into pseudo-science, pseudo-sociology and pseudo-psychology.

To Read: Timbuctoo by Tahir Shah

Timbuctoo by Tahir Shah (Twitter)



The Los Angeles Review of Books published a review. H/t to Dr. Jalees Rehman.

Review: Hiroshima by John Hersey

John Hersey's first version of Hiroshima was published in 1946. This edition included updates on the six survivors he had originally profiled and was published in 1985. It is available through Georgia PINES-participating libraries.

 
Regular readers of this blog know that I am completely appalled by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and I see no purpose for any nation or group, particularly one claiming to follow Islam, to possess such weapons.

Perhaps the only thing more depressing than the desperate testimonials of these six survivors is how the author interspersed, as the years went by in the lives of the survivors, landmarks in the spread and development of the world's nuclear arsenal, such as the development of the hydrogen bomb and Indian proliferation. Some survivors tried to educate the world on Hiroshima's lesson, namely that humans must end war. Sadly, the world has so far refused to listen.

Review: Actual Innocence by Barry Scheck, Peter Neufeld & Jim Dwyer

Actual Innocence by Barry Scheck, Peter Neufeld & Jim Dwyer, founders of the Innocence Project (Twitter).

Young Adult novels feature Muslim female protagonists

Muslima Media Watch published Rebels By Accident: Telling Muslim Girls’ Stories in Young Adult Fiction. It highlights a recent trend in Young Adult novels to portray Muslim girls neither "as nameless victims nor some veiled, orientalist fantasy in need of saving."

To-Read: Commentary on the Eleventh Contentions by Abdal Hakim Murad

h/t E-baad-e-News

Perceptions of Islam in the Christendoms by Nasir Khan

Perceptions of Islam in The Christendoms: A Historical Survey by Nasir Khan is available as a free download. The Mustaqim blog reviewed it. If you'd like a printed, bound volume, look for it in one of these libraries or buy it.

Reviving the Islamic Spirit Talks are Now Online

You can now listen to Reviving the Islamic Spirit talks online. The first one I listened to was The American Muslim Experience: From Identity to Community by Professor Sherman Jackson.

 

Review: Ibn al-Haytham: First Scientist by Bradley Steffens

Dr. Husain Nagamia, Chairman of The International Institute of Islamic Medicine (IIIM), wrote a review of Bradley Steffens's book Ibn Al-Haytham: First Scientist. You can order the book from IIIM.

iPad App - Muhammad Asad's Translation and Explanation of the Quran

Mohammad Asad's The Road to Mecca is a good read, and many friends recommend his translation and explanation of Quran. It is now available as an iPad application, and it is free during the last 10 days of Ramadan this year.

To Read: Torture and Impunity: The U.S. Doctrine of Coercive Interrogation by Alfred W. McCoy

Torture and Impunity: The U.S. Doctrine of Coercive Interrogation by Alfred W. McCoy. Alfred McCoy is a professor of history at University of Wisconsin - Madison. His History Department web page includes his CV and current courses. Professor McCoy writes regularly for TomDispatch. I heard about this book from an August 14, 2012 posting there, via Professor Juan Cole on Twitter.

Cruel and Unusual Punishment (Torture) is the New Normal in America (McCoy) tinyurl.com/8gdm266
— Juan Cole (@jricole) August 15, 2012

Documentary: These Birds Walk - A Portrait of Poverty Relief in Pakistan

Promo from the movie website:

In Karachi, Pak­istan, a run­away boy’s life hangs on one crit­i­cal ques­tion: where is home? The streets, an orphan­age, or with the fam­ily he fled in the first place? Simul­ta­ne­ously heart-wrenching and life-affirming, THESE BIRDS WALK doc­u­ments the strug­gles of these way­ward street chil­dren and the samar­i­tans look­ing out for them in this ethe­real and inspi­ra­tional story of resilience.

You can read a review at PBS.org.

The movie also has a Facebook Page and a Twitter account.

Watch the movie on iTunes or Google Play.

You can follow the director Omar Mul­lick on Twit­ter and check out his website. You can follow the other director Bas­sam Tariq on Twitter and check out his website.

Also, check out my review of Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo. It's about poverty in Mumbai, India.

"Xenophobic racists ... [have] compiled a MUST READ list."

Updated September 2, 2017 - Interview with Dr. Curtis Acosta, an early plaintiff in the lawsuit which ended in the overturning of this ban.

Look, the xenophobic racists over at Arizona has compiled a banned books MUST READ list. Take this time to read these books. There’s a reason they’re banning them. They’re trying to erase our culture. [Archived web page of original source: AZEthnicStudies.com]

The only book I've read off of this list is Bless Me Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya. It was excellent.



Updated July 24, 2016. Hear Tony Diaz (@LibreTraficante) & Roque Planas (@RoqPlanas) & Jose Gonzales, a teacher from Tuscon, talk about this issue.

Updated July 4, 2021: I've also read and reviewed Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea.

Updated July 4, 2021: Texas: Hold my karkadeh! 

Texas museum cancels book event examining slavery’s role in Battle of the Alamo | The Texas Tribune https://t.co/7AAAaIjUk8

— Edward T. O'Donnell, Historian-at-Large (@InThePastLane) July 3, 2021

Review: After Zionism: One State for Israel and Palestine by Antony Loewenstein and Ahmed Moor

Journalists Antony Loewenstein and Ahmed Moore [sic] have succeeded in putting together an impressive collection of essays in their new book After Zionism: One State for Israel and Palestine.

Read more at Palestine News Network. I have not read the book. You can follow Antony Loewenstein and Ahmed Moor on Twitter.

To-Read: The Terror Factory: Inside the FBI's Manufactured War on Terrorism by Trevor Aaronson

The Terror Factory: Inside the FBI's Manufactured War on Terrorism by Trevor Aaronson (Twitter). Mr. Aaronson has also created a Facebook page.

I first heard about Trevor Aaronson in This American Life's Episode 471 The Convert.

Updated February 21, 2013: I read it and reviewed it.

Review: Palestine in Israeli School Books

Asa Winstanley (Twitter) reviewed Palestine in Israeli School Books: Ideology and Propaganda in Education by Nurit Peled-Elhanan for Electronic Intifada. I have not read this book.

Review: Tales from the Land of the Sufis by Mojdeh Bayat and Mohammad Ali Jamnia

Tales from the Land of the Sufis by Mojdeh Bayat and Mohammad Ali Jamnia. Boston, Massachusetts, Shambhala Publications; 1994. 179 pp, paperback.