Cordoba Initiative (CI) aims to achieve a tipping point in Muslim-West relations within the next decade, steering the world back to the course of mutual recognition and respect and away from heightened tensions.
By Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf
On Faith at washingtonpost.com
February 23, 2010
A report issued Tuesday by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs urges the U.S. government to take religious issues into consideration and to engage religious organizations in forming foreign policy.
Such a report is long overdue. Its recommendations go to the heart of what we at the Cordoba Initiative have been advocating for years.
By Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf The Star Online (Malaysia)
January 13, 2010
If a Muslim proselytized outside St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, he might find a cold welcome. He would be legally within his rights. But he would be socially provocative.
The same can be said for the Malay language–edition of the Catholic monthly, The Herald, which decided to use the word "Allah" in reference to the Christian God.
For decades U.S. administrations have scrupulously separated church and state. As a result, the power of religion as a partner in shaping domestic and foreign policy was lost. Yet religious organizations and the government can cooperate to achieve shared domestic and foreign policy goals without impinging on America's fundamental belief that the state should not endorse any one religion.
I am sitting in a non-descript classroom one evening in the historical city of Isfahan, Iran. A group of 12 women from various social classes and religious backgrounds gather to take beginners’ English some out of necessity, others for pleasure ...
IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, House of Commons Leader Jack Straw requested that Muslim women interested in having a public dialogue should remove the niqab — the veil that covers a woman’s entire face — which, in his opinion, was a clear indication of ...
A REVIEW IN The Economist praises Oxford University Press’s latest English translation of the Holy Qur’an by Muhammed Abdel Haleem for managing “to transform the complex grammar and structure of the holy book into a form of modern English which ...
CAIRO — Muslim and Sikh groups in Britain are fighting a ban imposed by the boxing panel on players growing beards, a decision they dismiss as disrespectful to the sensitivities of religious minorities. "We have beards so we can't fight, that's not ...
Yesterday, just a week after the 60th anniversary celebrations of the People's Republic, China kicked off its first World Media Summit. It shows how far China has come—and how far it has to go. First, understand the problem. We all know China is a ...
Virigna author John Kiser and
new Algerian Ambassador to the U.S. Abdallah Baali will be visiting Elkader, Iowa on the 11th and 12th of May, 2009. They will be touring the community and the school and will take part in various events including a welcome reception at the Elkader Public Library as well as an awards program at Central High School, Elkader, Iowa. Kiser has recently written "Commander of the Faithful …The Life and Times of Emir Abdelkader" and has been featured on various media including Iowa Public Radio, The Washington Post and The New York Times to name a few. To find out more on Kiser's radio interview and his upcoming events, click here.
There have been recent developments in the three-week intensive SIIRL summer program at Yale University. SIIRL stands for Summer Institute on Islam, Intercultural Relations and Leadership. Developments include a new co-sponsorship with Yale Center for Faith and Culture's Reconciliation Program, new course and faculty descriptions on its website as well as a new Practitioner's Track. Priority will be given to appilcations received by April 15th, 2009. Find out more here.
Dialogue Cafe is an endeavour that connects people globally through technology to discuss and solve complex global issues. 'Dialogue Cafés around the world will be linked by high definition screens so that ordinary people from different cultures can meet, talk and innovate together.' Find out more here.
The Council on Foreign Relations recently launched a new webpage initiative, titled “Religion and Foreign Policy Initiative.” Acknowledging the important role that religion has in much of today’s world, this new initiative will feature stories, reports and essays on religion and foreign policy, serving as a resource for and from religious and congressional leaders, scholars and thinkers.
The 38th annual conference of the Association of Muslim Social Scientisits of North Amercica (AMSS), co-sponsored with the University of Viriginia, is calling for papers on 'Islamic Traditions and Comparative Modernities.' This year's theme 'encourages a re-examination of some perennial challenges between Islamic doctrine and practice, between text and culture, between the individual and society and between theology and human history.' Abstracts are due by May 15, 2009 and the final paper is due on September 1, 2009. Be sure to check out the AMSS website for more information.
In a comment in The Star, a Malaysian publication, Imam Feisal comments on the sentencing of part-time model Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarnor, 32, to a RM5,000 fine and six lashes of the rotan for drinking beer. He suggests that Malaysian Syariah authorities should reconsider the law on consuming alcohol, which is described in the Quran in the mildest language of prohibition. Read the full story here.
In an interview with Rasha Elass, Imam Feisal discusses the Shariah Index, which seeks to address the relationship between religion and politics. The project, in the works since 2006 and announced by Imam Feisal on the final day of the Women's Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality conference in Malaysia (July 2009), will rate majority Muslim nations on how closely they adhere to the principles of Islam. Read the full story here.
The Council on Foreign Relations recently launched a new webpage initiative, titled “Religion and Foreign Policy Initiative.” Acknowledging the important role that religion has in much of today’s world, this new initiative will feature stories, reports and essays on religion and foreign policy, serving as a resource for and from religious and congressional leaders, scholars and thinkers.
