Imam Zaid Shakir says in the following piece, "Whatever we do, as Muslims in the West, we may be approaching the day when we will have to "go it alone." If our coreligionists in the East cannot respect the fact that we are trying to accomplish things here in the West, and that their oftentimes ill-considered actions undermine that work in many instances, then it will be hard for us to consider them allies. How can one be an ally when he fails to consult you concerning actions whose negative consequences you will suffer? No one from the Muslim east consults us before launching these campaigns. No one seeks to find out as to how their actions are going to affect our lives and families. The confused incompetence of the Muslim countries around the issue of moon-sighting, a situation that has painful consequences for Muslims here in America is bad enough, the added pressure generated by these reoccurring crises is becoming unbearable for many." 

Clash of the Uncivilized: Insights on the Cartoon Controversy

As the crisis that has emerged in the aftermath of the publication of the infamous cartoons that claim to depict the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of God upon him, escalates, we would do well by stepping back and attempting to analyze the situation as dispassionately as possible. By doing so, as Muslims, we can hopefully formulate a more productive and meaningful response, and avoid being exploited by either side in the ongoing conflict. Saying this, I do not mean to imply that Muslims are not justifiably angry over the caricatures. However, I would agree with those who argue that responses that involve wild outbreaks of frenzied violence are inappropriate, and they only affirm what the cartoonist is trying to imply. Namely, that Islam is a religion that encourages obscurantist violence and terrorism.

No. 2 in PI.org's series on Female Authority in Islam leading up to the anniversary of the March 18th, 2005 mixed-gender prayer in NYC led by Amina Wadud.

In this essay first published in The Scruffy Dog Review, Pamela Taylor makes the case against quietism in working for women-led mixed gender prayer.  Ilan and I agree.  There are things worth lying down in the road for.  There are things worth "civil disobedience."  Overcoming unquestioned male authority in Islam is one of them.  Apologists for male authority in Islam typically say, and I kid you not, that the woman's place in Islam is "separate but equal."  Many of us Muslims would like to make it clear that we're done with the Jim Crow apologetics.  Be led by a woman in prayer.  --Laury Silvers

I have come to believe that it is not enough to speak up for what is right; one must also take action, even if that action is uncomfortable, or may have negative ramifications to your personal life. This summer, I was invited by the United Muslim Association of Toronto and the Muslim Canadian Congress to be the first woman to deliver the weekly sermon and lead the congregation in the Friday prayers in a mosque in some 1400 years. Other mixed-gender prayers have happened in recent months, but this was the first time a congregation stepped forward and said, "We want this to happen here, in our mosque." The previous prayers had to be held in churches, backyards, university classrooms.

First in our series is Nakia Jackson's Eid khutba. 

Jackson led a mixed-gender congregation in the Eid prayer on January 10, 2006 in Cambridge, Mass. Jackson is "a muscian, educator, and trouble-maker living in a suburb of Boston." 

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuhu.  Bismillah Ar-Rahman Ar-Rahim. As-salatu wa salamu ala Nabiyyina Muhammadin wa ala alihi wa sahibihi wa sallim.  Ashhadu an la ilaha illa Allahu wa la sharika lahu, wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluhu.

Peace, mercy and the blessings of Allah be upon you. In the name of Allah, the most gracious, the most merciful. Peace and blessings be on Muhammad, his family and companions. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah; He has no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is Her servant and messenger.

Au’dhu billahi mina-shaitan ir-rajim, Bismillah Ar-Rahman Ar-Rahim.

The story of Qismet is an antidote to fairy tales such as "Sleeping Beauty" in which only the marriageable suitor can give a young woman life.  In older versions of "Sleeping Beauty," Beauty lies limp and voluptuous in a death-like sleep as her prospective suitors rape her in turn.  Only the rape of the properly marriageable suitor can fill her with life.  The image of the passive feminine being given life by the active masculine is common enough across cultures.  I'd like to make some bitterly humorous, yet somehow appropriate, wild thematic associations.  Beauty's story reminds me of needlessly sexist interpretations of the Qur'anic tablet and pen in which the woman is a pure, feminine, receptive tablet waiting for the man's masculine pen of life to write on her.  How much that is like Rolf's words to Liesel in their romantic duet from "The Sound of Music":  "You wait little girl on an empty stage for fate to turn a light on.  Your life little girl is an empty page that men will want to write on."  "To write on....." Liesl repeats dreamily.  If we have learned anything from "The Sound of Music," shouldn't we understand danger of this sort of romanticism since Rolf turns out to be a Nazi?  --Laury Silvers

Qismet's childhood was spent on the beach. Every afternoon a herd of the village's children descended upon the soft white beach with their buckets, buried each other in the sand, ran in and out of the water like lemmings, and built sandcastles with high walls and fat towers. They carved pillars mimicking the marble pillars of the Greeks; made defensive moats around their fortresses; and the more architectural ones fortified the structures with large stones and plastic. Once the castles would be complete each group of children would remain within the territorial limits of the castle, protectively encircling their structure, jealously guarding from the vandalism of the other groups. Sometimes competing factions launched harmless objects at each other's castle but usually the fortifications were enough to withstand the attack. At any given afternoon more than eight or ten groups of children dotted the beach with various children rummaging over, inside and around each castle. Each afternoon a community of castles arose only to be washed out by the high-tide that struck after sunset.