Montazeri Still Speaks

  Exclusive Interview with Ayatollah Montazeri, 2004

In 2004, Muslim Peace Fellowship produced a special issue of Fellowship magazine, the publication of our ally organization the Fellowship of Reconciliation, devoted to transformative currents in the Muslim world. Among the many important stories in that landmark issue, the interview granted us by Ayatollah Montazeri, whose recent death has reignited the ongoing democratic protest in Iran, was the crown jewel. We are happy to make it available to a wider audience at this time. The arranger and conductor of this interview (and then board member of MPF) was Hossein Alizadeh.

 

 

 

Waj Ali on the Ft. Hood tragedy

After an American soldier’s tragic outburst of violence at Fort Hood, Texas – the army’s largest US post, with some 40,000 troops – dominates the headlines, a fear-mongering hysteria concerning his supposed religious motivations is taking priority over questions regarding his mental health….

Full story at The Guardian.

 

Nonviolence? Islamic nonviolence?

Yes indeed.

Rabia’s lecture at Stony Point Conference Center is now available under the Islamic Nonviolence tab on this site.  Or follow the link below.

An Islamic approach to nonviolence will…differ in important ways from other understandings. Every religious community takes its distinctive quality from the Messenger who founded it. It follows that the community of Muhammad is perfumed with the perfume of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him … click here for the whole lecture 

 

 

Iran and Leftist Confusion

by Reese Erlich – from truthout

When I returned from covering the Iranian elections recently, I was surprised to find my email box filled with progressive authors, academics and bloggers bending themselves into knots about the current crisis in Iran. They cite the long history of US interference in Iran and conclude that the current unrest there must be sponsored or manipulated by the Empire.

    That comes as quite a shock to those risking their lives daily on the streets of major Iranian cities fighting for political, social and economic justice.  …  more.

 

Words of Witness in DC May 16 – be there!

 

Muslim Peace Fellowship  presents an evening
with renowned poet Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore
and world-famous calligrapher Mohamed Zakariya. 
Join us in celebrating the tranquility and wisdom of Islamic spiritual art
as two American masters share their work and inspiration.

 May 16, 2009
6:30  PM
Kay Spiritual Life Center
American University
Washington, DC

Reception and book signing with light refreshments to follow the presentation.
 
For more information contact:
membership@mpfweb.org
703-475-0012

 

The Writing on the Wall

The Open Letter by Farid Esack, below, is presently being written on the Israeli “separation barrier”  devastating the West Bank. When completed the letter will stretch in a single line over  1.6 miles.

My dear Palestinian brothers and sisters, I have come to your land and I have recognized shades of my own. My land was once one where some people imagined that they could build their security on the insecurity of others. They claimed that their lighter skin and European origins gave them the right to dispossess those of a darker skin who lived in the land for thousands of years. I come from a land where a group of people, the Afrikaners, were genuinely hurt by the British. The British despised them and placed many of them into concentration camps. Nearly a sixth of their population perished.

Then the Afrikaners said, ‘Never again!’. And they meant that never again will harm come unto them with no regard to how their own humanity was tied to that of others. In their hurt they developed an understanding of being’s God chosen people destined to inhabit a Promised Land. And thus they occupied the land, other people’s land, and they built their security on the insecurity of black people. Later they united with the children of their former enemies – now called “the English”. The new allies, known simply as ‘whites’, pitted themselves against the blacks who were forced to pay the terrible price of dispossession, exploitation and marginalization as a result of a combination of white racism, Afrikaner fears and ideas of chosenness. And, of course, there was the ancient crime of simple greed.

I come from Apartheid South Africa.

 

Join Us for a Multifaith Peace Picnic in Stony Point, NY April 18

Driving through the Hudson Valley? Muslim Peace Fellowship, together with Olive Branch Peace Partnership and

Samina Faheem Sundas (courtesy FOR)

Hudson Valley FOR,  is pleased to cosponsor a picnic in honor of Samina Fahim Sundas, founder of American Muslim Voice (www.amuslimvoice.org), on Saturday afternoon, April 18, from 1-6 pm.  Our hosts are Rick Ufford-Chase and the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, newly headquartered at Stony Point. Kosher, vegetarian, and Pakistani food will be served at a beautiful retreat center only an hour and a half from Manhattan. Insha’Alllah, glorious sunshine is expected. Make a day trip of it…MPF founder Rabia Harris will be there too!  RSVP rabia@MPFweb.org.

Allison House at Stony Point Conference Center, 17 Crickettown Road, Stony Point, NY 10980.

 

 

 

 

 

 

New approaches for international human rights?

I’m interested in what Anne Applebaum has to say in the Washington Post:

Clinton in China

Clueless in Afghanistan

“…there is a vast middle ground between mouthing empty slogans in high-level negotiations — let alone threatening to invade — and doing nothing whatsoever.  Many nations do overthrow dictatorships and become more democratic, or at least more open, as a result. … Certainly, we can help by directing small, even tiny, amounts of money at the people who promote debate, not armed rebellion, inside repressive countries. One could argue that the pennies we spent funding Radio Free Europe or anti-communist magazines such as the now-defunct Encounter during the Cold War were far more effective than the billions we spent on military equipment. Although the modern equivalent, Radio Free Afghanistan, reaches more listeners in Afghanistan than any other broadcaster, we aren’t increasing its funding; to the contrary, we’ve been slashing its budget in real terms. Nor have we yet found a creative way to promote a real discussion of radical Islam in the moderate Muslim world, as Encounter once promoted a discussion of communism among social democrats. …

How do we help our governments think through genuine alternatives to large-scale violence?

 

Read Waj Ali on the “Bridges” murder

“The brutal beheading of Aasiya Hassan, a Muslim Pakistani-American mother of four, will finally force a community to confront and remedy the overwhelming – but frequently ignored and intentionally hidden – demon of domestic violence that has persecuted its silenced women for far too long. … “

Full story at The Guardian.

The work is before us all. Where do we start?

 

Important New Report on Muslim Peacebuilding from U.S. Institute of Peace

Islamic Peacemaking Since 9/11

by David Smock and Qamar-ul Huda

Summary

Muslims in general and Muslim leaders particularly have often been severely criticized for not more energetically condemning the violent acts of Muslim extremists. Violent extremists are on one edge of the Muslim community. They are counter-balanced by a growing movement of Muslim peacemakers.

Equally as notable as Islamic militancy but less noted are Muslims’ 1) widespread condemnation of terrorism and other violent acts; 2) promotion of interfaith dialogue;

3) education of Muslim youth and reeducation of extremist Muslims; and 4) promotion of peaceful conflict resolution.

http://www.usip.org/pubs/specialreports/sr218.html