What drew me to Islam, Islamic Society, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic Society

What drew me to Islam

By Diana Doss

Growing up in a “Middle Eastern” family gives me a slight advantage as a new Muslim.

The phrases commonly used by Muslims such as “in sha’Allah” or “alhumdulillah” were already a part of my everyday vocabulary, and I easily blend into any group of Arab Muslims.

The only thing that gives me away is my name and perhaps the fact that I excitedly pick up books having anything to do with Islam.

The transition from Christianity to Islam was relatively easy for me in terms of adopting Islamic values and adapting to Muslim culture, but the road to get here was difficult and lonely at times.

I was born in an Egyptian Christian household. My mother was raised in the Coptic Church, and my dad was Catholic.

I went to Christian school from kindergarten through high school, and was always finding myself in between Catholic, non-denominational and Coptic churches.

My parents wanted me to find a balance, or rather, a niche, within what seemed like contradicting versions of Christianity.

By my last year of high school, I felt disconnected from common themes within Christianity and after years of Bible classes, the confusion surrounding certain doctrines only increased, and so did the inability of religious leaders to explain them to me.

http://newageislam.com/what-drew-me-to-islam/islamic-society/d/2193

Reformist Voices of Islam—Mediating Islam and Modernity, Ijtihad, Rethinking Islam, NewAgeIslam.com

Ijtihad, Rethinking Islam

Reformist Voices of Islam—Mediating Islam and Modernity

‘Reformist Islam’, today an oft-heard slogan, is notoriously difficult to define, for it can mean different things to different people. Recent years have witnessed the sudden burgeoning of volumes on the subject, but this book is not just a repetition of what has already been written before. Ambitiously global in its scope, it brings together writings by well-known Islamic scholars and activists, each of who provides a broad survey of ‘reformist’ Muslim voices in the part of the world that they are most familiar with—Shireen Hunter, editor of this book, on Iran, the noted Egyptian scholar Hasan Hanafi on North Africa, Riffat Hasan on South Asia, Martin van Bruinessen on Indonesia, Farish Noor on Malaysia, Recep Senturk on Turkey, Farhad Khosrokhavar on Europe, and Tamara Sonn on the United States.

These writers deal with a number of other contemporary Muslim scholars and scholar-activists, outlining their own and varied approaches to the question of reform in Islamic thought. These are simply too numerous to name, leave alone discuss, here, but they all share certain common methodologies and, to an extent, goals.

Firstly, these scholars all insist that what they are engaged in reforming is not Islam itself, but, rather, certain aspects of commonly-held human understandings of Islam. They see their task as seeking to revive what they regard as more authentic understandings on these issues.

Secondly, they are profoundly dissatisfied with the approach of the traditionalist ulema, wedded to the doctrine of taqlid or imitation of jurisprudential precedent, of the ulema allied with state authorities (who generally do their bidding) and of radical Islamists.

http://newageislam.com/reformist-voices-of-islammediating-islam-and-modernity/ijtihad,-rethinking-islam/d/2196

Muslim Brotherhood on Violence in Islam, Shariat, Nuclear weapons and Egyptian, Arab politics,

Radical Islamism and Jihad

Muslim Brotherhood on Violence in Islam, Shariat, Nuclear weapons and Egyptian, Arab politics

By Maisara Masrey

Sept 15, 2009

Ikhwanweb interviews Prof. Mohamed Habib, Deputy Chairman of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Ikhwanweb: Will the Brotherhood's assuming of power lead to instability in the region?

Habib: Firstly: At this time I believe if elections are held I can say that Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood will not get more than 30% if the elections are judged to be free, fair and transparent. The reasons are evident because of complications.

Secondly: The movement is counting on the Egyptian public and we cannot compete for power at the moment. However, the Brotherhood can compete for power only when the positive values dominate the negative; with regards to the Egyptian people. The interest of the general public must be seen as more significant than the private and personal interests. Respecting the free will of the public along with the willingness to giving and sacrificing time, effort and money will result in the changing political and legal climate allowing for the free formation of political parties.

Thirdly: Intervention by the force of public opinion, are the Egyptians only hope and the only chance of establishing democracy in which the people have the ability to impose their own free will and choose their governors, legislators and the program that carries and reflects their hopes; this can successfully be done by revealing their dreams and their aspirations through the ballot box. The rulers should be held accountable for the misconduct and punished if they have violated the law, neglected their duties or deviated from the program in which they have vowed to accomplish.

http://newageislam.com/muslim-brotherhood-on-violence-in-islam,-shariat,-nuclear-weapons-and-egyptian,-arab-politics/radical-islamism-and-jihad/d/1781

MODERATE ISLAM TAKES TO THE AIRWAVES, Islamic World News, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic World News

MODERATE ISLAM TAKES TO THE AIRWAVES

[Cairo, Egypt] The man on the television appears enraged, talking fast, yelling and demanding Muslims to follow the “right path of faith.” Not too far, at a nearby table, two young Egyptian girls, shrouded in their colorful hijabs – headscarves - watch the white clad sheikh speak. They turn to each other and their glances say it all: this is not what they are looking for in Islamic television.

The café, with its Islamic preachers blaring on most Fridays and often at other times during the week, have become more commonplace in an Egypt growing progressively more conservative by the day, but there are many who are fighting against this current, especially young veiled women.

Heba is a 22-year-old recent college graduate who studied media. She has worn the veil since she was 18-years-old, but these diatribes of elderly preachers is too much, she says, highlighting the growing gulf that exists in Egypt.

“I just don’t like how angry they sound and how judgmental they have become,” she told The Media Line, asking the waiter to change the channel. Her friend Sara nodded in agreement.

Both are part of the growing trend among 20-something Egyptian women looking for a more restrained approach to Islamic television.

The recent launch of Islamonline’s television channel Ana TV, is just such an option, and both Heba and Sara are excited.

http://newageislam.com/moderate-islam-takes-to-the-airwaves/islamic-world-news/d/1814