Islam in America
When Orthodoxy Is Good for You: Making Sense of the “Hajj Effect”
Headlines about Islam usually write themselves: A Muslim blowing up innocent people is dog-bites-man. A Muslim acting thoughtful or funny or anything besides angry is man-bites-dog. The obvious headline from a recent academic study, “Estimating the Impact of the Hajj: Religion and Tolerance in Islam’s Global Gathering,” fell into the latter category: Three economists [...]
10Jun2008 | Andrea Useem | 7 comments | ContinuedEmergent Islam? Surfing toward an Ultra-modern American Faith Life
Sometimes while doing research for a writing project, I will end up spending several hours or an entire afternoon or evening clicking from one website to the next, engrossed in the world of online content. My writing project these days is about how religious congregations use Web 2.0 technologies — research that will culminate this [...]
22May2008 | Andrea Useem | 10 comments | ContinuedThe Optimistic Muslim: David Liepert and the “Faith of Life” Network
Over the last several months, I’ve corresponded with David Liepert, a Calgary anesthesiologist and father of four. His new book, Me and You: Beyond Belief, Toether: A Path to Peace All Our Faiths Can Share, tells the story of his conversion from Christianity to Islam, and all the insight he gained along the way. He [...]
2May2008 | Andrea Useem | 5 comments | ContinuedWhen a Woman Runs for President — in Afghanistan
I’ve just finished watching FrontRunner, the new documentary from New View Films about Massouda Jalal, the only female candidate in Afghanistan’s 2004 elections. It’s hard, of course, to think about a woman running for president without immediately making comparisons to the current presidential race in the U.S. - it’s like a cartoon that needs a [...]
9Apr2008 | Andrea Useem | 3 comments | ContinuedShould Obama Make a Religion Speech?
That was the question this morning at a panel on Islam and U.S. Politics on Capitol Hill.
Have the “accusations” that Obama is a Muslim reached such a pitch that Obama should seize the moment and deliver a historic speech, ala his March 18 address on race? (Background: One-in-ten Americans think Obama is a Muslim.) The [...]
American Muslims are so American they are…boring?
At last September’s Religion Newswriters Association pow-wow in San Antonio, veteran religion reporter (and bead-blogger) Kimberly Winston pulled me aside to tell me about Melody Moezzi, the young author of the Dec. 2007 book, War on Error: Real Stories of American Muslims. “You have to meet her,” said Kimberly, who profiled Moezzi and her book [...]
24Mar2008 | Andrea Useem | 6 comments | ContinuedFor the terrorist ‘cheering section,’ it’s about ‘policy not principles:’ Q+A with Dalia Mogahed
If you have grown weary of punditry or sweeping op-ed comments about the state of the Muslim world, you may share my feeling that poll data feels like a breath of fresh air in the public conversation about Islam. What do Muslims around the world think about pressing issues like terrorism, U.S. foreign policy and [...]
4Mar2008 | Andrea Useem | 3 comments | ContinuedThe “Crisis” of Covering Islam in America: Q+A with Terry Mattingly
If there’s one religion blog that sets the standard when it comes to high quality coverage of religion-in-the-media, it’s GetReligion.org, a multi-contributor blog founded by veteran religion reporter Terry Mattingly (or, as he’s known online, tmatt.) The blog has a very specific angle: taking a critical look at how religion is, or isn’t, covered in [...]
28Jan2008 | Andrea Useem | 5 comments | ContinuedA Gripping Tale of the Iranian Revolution (without the cartoons)
Don’t let the headline mislead you: I’m thrilled that Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, the graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi, is coming to a movie theater near me, hopefully this weekend. Indeed, I spent the last several months loaning out copies of Persepolis: it is a funny, sad, perfectly rendered child’s-eye view on what [...]
24Jan2008 | Andrea Useem | 3 comments | ContinuedNative Deen Responds: “Our Audience is Global”
Earlier this week, I reviewed the latest album of Muslim hip-hop trio Native Deen, Not Afraid to Stand Alone.
Displaying a great deal of patience and civility, the band and its manager, David Hawa, agreed to answer some of my criticisms in an e-mail interview: Abdul-Malik Ahmad responded on behalf of the group. Ahmad, in [...]