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 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.
Today's New York Times features Imam Feisal leading Muslims in Friday prayers in a space just blocks from Ground Zero--a space uninhabited since 9/11. The Cordoba Initiative is leading efforts to renovate this sacred space, building "an Islamic center near the city's most hallowed piece of land that would stand as one of ground zero’s more unexpected and striking neighbors."
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 ...
... nation, the climate before the 1979 Islamic Revolution was one of simmering anger and discontent against the regime of Shah Reza Pahlavi, who was viewed by Iranians as a pawn of the ... looking for the opportunity to exchange numbers, glances ...
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 ...
All that could be seen of Maryan Shalaby was her face, wrapped in a yellow headscarf and peeking above the lectern, as the 11-year-old from O'Hara led 250 Jews, Christians and Muslims in a prayer for peace inside St. Paul Catholic Cathedral in ...
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.
