The most recent issue of Superman, 712, was supposed to have a certain storyline, but it seems at the last minute, DC Comics decided to nix that storyline and instead publish a five-year-old story about Krypto the Super-Dog. These sorts of things happen, but
Comics Alliance opined (with some help from direct sources) that the change was due to DC not wanting to feature a Muslim superhero (the original story had Superman aiding "Sharif", a Muslim superhero.) The theory is, after the brouhahae surrounding
the Muslim Batman and
Superman renouncing his American citizenship, DC is hesitant to add any more fuel to the "DC hates America" fire.
"But," says comic-book muckraker
Rich Johnston, "I have inside DC stories that are telling me the REAL reason the story got nixed." He claims it's not about Muslims, it's about...well, just see for yourself what it's allegedly
really about.
posted by Legomancer
on Jun 23, 2011 -
55 comments
My Student, the 'Terrorist' If this were a movie, the story might end with a triumphal courtroom scene, or an intrepid Washington Post reporter breaking the story. It might have a sentimental ending, with a conservative Muslim family and community locking arms with Christians and Jews and atheists and turning the country back to its commitment to civil rights. The government, shamed, would reform its practices.
But this is not a movie, and inhumane treatment is well protected in post-9/11 America. [more inside]
posted by bardophile
on Apr 7, 2011 -
56 comments
Perhaps you feel like you should, like full-time Fox News analyst Juan Williams, get worried and nervous at the sight of people in Muslim garb, but you aren't sure you can always spot them. Fortunately, a new blog,
Pictures of Muslims Wearing Things, is here to help you out.
posted by Tsuga
on Oct 22, 2010 -
86 comments
This is
an open letter written by Noman Benotman, a former commander in the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) and a former associate of Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri. In al Qaeda strategy meetings in Kandahar in 2000, Benotman warned the al-Qaeda leadership of ‘total failure' to realise their aims and called on bin Laden and al-Zawahiri to abandon violence. Soon after the 9/11 attacks, he distanced himself from al-Qaeda and later resigned from his own jihadist organisation. He has more recently been instrumental in negotiations with Libya's government to free former LIFG leaders, and in persuading these leaders to formally renounce terrorism. He also recently joined the London-based Quilliam Foundation as a Senior Analyst.
posted by bardophile
on Sep 13, 2010 -
22 comments
The Quran says to eat what is good and wholesome (tayyib), and what is halâl. Therefore, if any food is not tayyib, the Qur'ân does not encourage us to eat it.
The world of Muslim vegetarians.
posted by Xurando
on Jun 16, 2010 -
46 comments
Top Imams affiliated with the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada have issued a fatwa calling those terrorists who attack the United States and Canada “evil.” ... Extremists have been told that any attack on the U.S. or on Canada will be construed as an attack on 10 million Muslims who live in these two countries. (via) [more inside]
posted by Joe Beese
on Jan 9, 2010 -
58 comments
What is a Spaniard?: Forcibly Crossing the Cross, the Crescent, and the Star
"The conversions came at the end of one of the most successful Jewish periods in human history... Their success led them to call their land Sepharad, a name from the book of Obadiah that implied that Spanish Jews were the successors to the Jews of Israel. This world ended in 1391."
"At the appointed time, those children who were not presented voluntarily were seized by the officials and forced to the font.... In many cases, parents smothered their offspring in their farewell embrace. In others, they threw them into wells in order to save them from the disgrace of apostasy, and then killed themselves. Sometimes, even old men were dragged to the churches and forcibly baptized by over-zealous fanatics,... In all other cases, the unwilling neophytes, some mere babies, were distributed throughout the country, as far as possible from home, to be brought up in Christian surroundings."
[more inside]
posted by orthogonality
on Dec 18, 2008 -
28 comments
Who are Muslims? Gallup has conducted a poll "in 40 predominantly Muslim nations and among significant Muslim populations in the West. It is the first set of unified and scientifically representative views from 1.3 billion Muslims globally." They'll be parsing and interpreting this data for years, but for the time being, they've offered some of their key results
online and
in print. See also, the
Muslim-West Facts Initiative. (
via)
[more inside]
posted by anotherpanacea
on Jul 28, 2008 -
37 comments
Prospect/Foreign Policy release their list of
the world's top public intellectuals(
full list). Number 1? The Islamic scholar
Fethullah Gulen.The rest of the top 10? The microfinancier Muhammad Yunus, the cleric Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, the writer Orhan Pamuk, the politician Aitzaz Ahsan, the evangelist Amr Khaled, the philosopher Abdolkarim Soroush, the philosopher Tariq Ramadan, the cultural theorist Mahmood Mamdani and activist Shirin Ebadi. Sense a theme? Yes, all Muslims.
This is a striking turnabout from
the 2005 poll topped by Chomsky, Eco and Dawkins.
What happened? Prospect Magazine
explains. The Turkish newspaper Zaman
weighs in. The UK's Independent
is outraged. Fethulah Gulen
defends himself.
posted by vacapinta
on Jul 3, 2008 -
51 comments
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel says in its annual report that Israel has reached "
new heights of racism". Embedded WMV video, article, and, typically for Ha'aretz, some very interesting reader comments.
[more inside]
posted by stammer
on Dec 12, 2007 -
30 comments
Russia's discomfort with its Muslim minority stems from a fear that the higher-than-average fertility of the Muslim population (6-10 children children per woman among Muslims vs 1.5 per woman among non-Muslims) will make the ethnic Russians of eastern-orthodox persuasion a minority within the state. [More Inside]
posted by gregb1007
on Jan 8, 2007 -
43 comments
It's on the Internet, so it must be true. Are hundreds of Muslims in the East Village infuriated by a topless poster of Kate Moss across the street? See what happens when
one blog says so, and various media around the world (
1,
2,
3... you get the idea) take the meme and run with it. Trouble is,
it didn't really happen.
posted by laz-e-boy
on Aug 23, 2006 -
24 comments
Gay and Muslim groups getting together in the UK? plans are
to look at homophobia in the Muslim community and Islamophobia in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. The Muslim Council of Britain is also admitting that
if you have nothing positive to say keep your mouth shut, which is a very good first step. Can two groups often on the receiving end of hatred work together ?
“British Muslims welcome working with everyone including members of the Lesbian and Gay community against a common enemy, fascism.” I don't know if they have the likes of
Michael Savage there (or the many many others), who rail against (and call for the death of) both Muslims and gays on the airwaves daily, but it seems hopeful, no?
posted by amberglow
on Apr 19, 2006 -
29 comments
An Australian Government Member of Parliament (MP) will be
trying to amend a crucial piece of legislation which, if the amendment is successful, will make it far harder (if not impossible) for Australian women to gain access to abortion drug
RU486 because of fears that making it easier for women to access the drug will lead Australia down a path of Islamisation.
"I've actually read in the Daily Telegraph where a certain imam from the Lakemba mosque actually said that Australia is going to be a Muslim nation in 50 years' time. I didn't believe him at the time but when you actually look at the birthrates... we are aborting ourselves almost out of existence." Liberal MP
Danna Vale said today. Has she been
reading Metafilter?
posted by Effigy2000
on Feb 13, 2006 -
106 comments
The Rift: The state of Islamic Alienation in Europe and for that matter any Western nation. Do Muslims get to retain their complete identity, values, and customs unfettered by their residency in the West? I think not. Inversely, if 1-5% of the population in Saudi Arabia was western what could they expect of their adopted (i.e. a choice) Wahhabi nation... Where does this end?
posted by philmas
on Aug 14, 2005 -
34 comments
Rwandans turn toward Islam. A
NY Times story (reg. req.) describes how Islam has become the fastest-growing religion in Rwanda, partly because people are disgusted with the priests and nuns who helped with the killing ten years ago, partly because Muslims saved many people at that time.
Muslim leaders credit the gains to their ability during the 1994 massacres to shield most Muslims, and many other Rwandans, from certain death. "The Muslims handled themselves well in '94, and I wanted to be like them," said Alex Rutiririza, explaining why he converted to Islam last year.
Food for thought for those who think of
Islam as a "
religion of violence."
posted by languagehat
on Apr 7, 2004 -
29 comments
All Hail The Ayatollah Of The 21st Century Ayatollah Ali Sistani of Iraq is the spiritual leader of the Shi'ia Muslims in Iraq and seems to be a force to be reckoned with as his clout grows. He now has a website and questions can be submitted. We particularly like his views on oral sex:
Question: "
I am really sorry that I have to ask this type of Question. But Since I grew up in a western country; I really don't much about our religion. And I can't ask this Question to my parents due to subject matter. Brother my question is, can we have an oral sex before or after the sexual intercourse or can we have oral sex at all? Is it haram? "
Answer: "
Oral sex act is permissible with the consent of both husband and wife provided that no liquid gets into the mouth."
posted by turbanhead
on Feb 3, 2004 -
37 comments
Muslim men have been asked to undergo "Special Registration", a Department of Homeland Security program in its early stages. Men who hail from 25 targeted countries are required to be fingerprinted, photographed, give up credit card and bank account numbers, and are then given a registration number. So far, 46 people have been arrested, but none for terrorist-related activities. Is this an acceptable security precaution or the first sign of
history repeating itself?
posted by ed
on Mar 19, 2003 -
51 comments
Mass arrests of Muslims in LA. The BBC is reporting US immigration officials in Southern California have detained hundreds of Iranians and other Muslim men who turned up to register under residence laws brought in as part of the anti-terror drive.
CNN,
FOX News, and the like have extensive coverage.....sort of.
posted by CrazyJub
on Dec 19, 2002 -
64 comments
Conservatives dispute Bush on Islam Bush critics, we are told, though they support him believe his statements about Islam are basically political and that Islam is not a peace-loving religion. Though I am not sure on this issue, I do not think citing a passage or two in this or that holy scripture is sufficient to apply to any religion, since what it does (or has done) differs often from what it's stated position is. In this article I find myself torn between disliking in general anything that right-wing conservatives utter and also disliking anything that Bush has to say! My shortcoming, no doubt.
posted by Postroad
on Nov 30, 2002 -
43 comments
Stop making excuses for Muslim Extremists Still licking my mefi wounds that I received last week when I posted a NY Times article discussing the recent rise of crime in France, in which the author states that a recent immigrant was murdered solely for his North African heritage, and also reports that the mayor of Paris was also attacked in the same week - yet the author does not bother to mention that the attacker was a Muslim who 'didn't like homosexuals'. Has anyone else noticed how the media is downplaying the role of Muslim extremism since 911 ?
posted by Kaslo
on Oct 29, 2002 -
68 comments