Just got back from the Islamic Circle of North America conference in Hartford. CAIR speaker Ahmed Rehab advocates for Muslims to get out there and make blogs in order to combat Islamophobia. He's right on. There are 7 million muslims in this country. Making our humanity accessible will be the best tonic to counter misinformation in the broader American community that reduces us to cardboard cutouts. And much as the clerics would prefer we put on a show of walking perfectly in the steps of the Prophet, it's much more humanizing to show our struggles, our day-to-day jihad, and to discuss the moments that we fall down in the path too.
I would add one important recommendation to what Rehab said: You need to get out there and participate in blogs in order for them to be alive. A static blog that just sits there and never develops a conversation among diverse posters seems boring, irrelevant, unworthy of being read. I've been a "blogger" for going on five years in the Progressive political blogosphere, and I've never had my own blog, at least not about politics. Yet I've been a polemicist and an advocate, and I've spent more than my fair share of time wrestling right-wing trolls. You too can be a polemicist, an advocate, a poet or a sex therapist--and a proud muslim too!
(Speaking of static blogs, ProgressiveIslam.org could really improve itself by increasing the frequency with which its owner(s) post new entries on the front page. I mean, why should anybody stop by to read or participate in this blog when it seems like nothing ever changes. Why don't you put the reader blogs thread on the front page instead? That would be more interesting.)
As wonderful as that all sounds, of course when I went downstairs I found a bunch of vendors selling books recommending Muslims be separate and apart from the kafirs: don't interact, don't make friendships, etc. Talk about mixed messages.
Quite so. And I get the hint about more stuff on the front page. What would you like to read about?
ICNA is weird.
I had a weird experience with them. Most seem too segregationist in my opinion.
Salaams,
More expressions, examples and articulations of progressive Islam. More advancement of "the liberal tendency," that vital corrective to all that ails Islam right now. More resistance to stale, conservative error, the strident shirks.
Obviously, not everyone is going to agree on what constitutes progressive Islam, but it's important to vett our ideas and have the discussions.
Also, the beauty of the Internet is that it is viral. The prolific use of links is helpful in not having to reinvent the wheel. I was an aggregator of links for a website for a season or two (links, reframing and commentary for the audience) and that is a useful and productive venue.
When I love your work, I'll let you know. When I don't, we'll have to wrestle about it ;-).
Right now, I (mostly) love your work. It is just needed in greater frequency.
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