Crusading for Modern Islamic Art

Beyond calligraphy, geometric designs and classic Islamic poetry, there’s Wajahat Ali, who with his new play “The Domestic Crusaders” is rewriting the book on what is modern Islamic art.

BY: Shahed Amanullah – http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Islam/2009/03/Crusading-for-Modern-Islamic-Art.aspx

As majestic as the history of Islamic art is and as celebrated as it is in today’s world, it has never been able to really extract itself from history. While the intricacies of Arabic calligraphy, geometric shapes, and varied architecture of the Muslim world are required subjects in any reputable school of art or architecture, they are taught more as history rather than an art that is living or relevant to the 21st century.

The state of Islamic art today has, with few variations, changed little from the classical art of centuries past. Beyond calligraphic arts, geometric designs, and certain musical forms that have existed in various parts of the Islamic world, there are few expressions of Islamic art today that venture outside these areas.

But is there more to Islamic art than what we have come to expect? A few artists have tried to expand the meaning of Islamic art in today’s world to areas such as music, film, and theater, but with limited success (at least in Muslim circles). Some have abandoned the idea of creating artistic expressions with an Islamic foundation and have resorted to creating secular or modern kind of art that has a few Islamic references.

But one artist, Wajahat Ali, has attempted to create what can loosely be called a Muslim play, although the themes embodied in it can be appreciated universally. Drawing on the tradition of storytelling that has permeated the Muslim world–yet has remained dormant for centuries–Ali’s play “The Domestic Crusaders” attempts to tie together themes of Muslim history and American Muslim culture, as much as such a culture exists today.

“Contemporary Muslim Woman” Series: Dating While Muslim by Zeba Iqbal

GOATMILK continues its original and exclusive month long series entitled “The Contemporary Muslim Woman” featuring diverse Muslim women writers from around the world discussing a gamut of topics in their own unique, honest and eclectic voices.

Zeba Iqbal, author of the now famous “Over 30 and Unmarried” post returns with…

Dating While Muslim

Zeba Iqbal

A provocative title, though I doubt the discussion will be quite as titillating. Before getting into a debate over the title, I’d like to establish some context. Marriage is important in Islam, for men and women. Love and respect are too. To even contemplate loving and respecting someone enough to marry them, one has to meet and speak with the person sufficiently in open, non-judgmental, supportive and protected settings that promote honest and relevant dialogue. That is the premise for ‘dating while Muslim’.

Saudi women to spurn lingerie shops over salesmen

By DONNA ABU-NASR, Associated Press Writer Donna Abu-nasr, Associated Press Writer Wed Mar 25, 7:58 pm ET

AP – A Saudi woman holding a child checks out lingerie at a store in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, March …

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Before her wedding last year, Huda Batterjee went abroad to buy her bridal lingerie — she just couldn’t bear the humiliation of discussing her most intimate apparel with a man. She had little choice: there are almost no saleswomen in Saudi Arabia. Now a group of Saudi women — sick of having to deal with male sales staff when buying bras or panties, not to mention frilly negligees or thongs — have launched a campaign this week to boycott lingerie stores until they employ women.

An Army of Extremists: How some military rabbis are trying to radicalize Israeli soldiers.

Christopher Hitchens, Slate.com:  http://www.slate.com/id/2214440/

Recent reports of atrocities committed by Israeli soldiers in the course of the intervention in Gaza have described the incitement of conscripts and reservists by military rabbis who characterized the battle as a holy war for the expulsion of non-Jews from Jewish land. The secular Israeli academic Dany Zamir, who first brought the testimony of shocked Israeli soldiers to light, has been quoted as if the influence of such extremist clerical teachings was something new. This is not the case.

The GOP’s burgeoning civil war

The GOP’s burgeoning civil war By: James Kirchick March 23, 2009

Watching the various spats among conservatives, it’s difficult to tell whether one is witnessing a series of lively political disagreements or an episode of “Monday Night Raw.” In one corner, there’s former Bush administration speechwriter David Frum versus talk radio king Rush Limbaugh. In another ring, Limbaugh is taking on former House speaker-turned-conservative guru Newt Gingrich. And in the Royal Rumble, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele is battling, well, pretty much everybody in the GOP.