Articles
Scores of articles were authored by the Board Members in the recent past while many are under preparation to be displayed on this website in the future. They aim to clarify the issues American Muslims are facing. They in fact have been incorporated in the MCA’s platform. The Articles given below are roughly in the order of subjects: American Muslims, America, American identity, Humanitarian service, Muslims, Islam, Interfaith, Political, Terrorism Pakistan and West. In the future, the subjects and the authors included will be expanded. Lastly, it needs to be made clear that the views expressed in the articles are the authors’ views and their responsibility. They may or may not be congruent with the official positions of MCA.
Posted by: Dr. Nazir Khaja
Jun 25th, 2010
Posted by: M.Akhtar
Feb 15th, 2010
Clash of Civilizations between the Muslim world and the West, suggesting the two are on a course of mutually assured destruction. The Pundits have long warned of the so-called imagery to reinforce the destruction was taken from crusades. These ’protectors ’would have you believe the Crusades (the source of the Clash) were fundamentally wars between the two religions. This assertion raises a question, however. If the hostility of the crusades came directly from the incompatibility inherent in these religions, how would one explain the present closer relations between Islam, Christianity, and Judaism – whose similarity of missions and commonali
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Posted by: John Esposito
Jan 23rd, 2010
Middle Eastern online
John Esposito,Ph.D; Board Member, MCA
After Jews, Muslims are the most educated religious community in the US. Muslim women (unlike their Jewish counterparts) are as likely as their male counterparts to have a college degree or higher. 40% of women have a college degree as compared to 29% of Americans overall, notes John L. Esposito.
The recent arrest of five young men from Northern Virginia arrested in Pakistan, suspected of terrorist activities, precipitated new, dire warnings. Some charge that there is an emerging pattern which challenges long-held assumptions that European Muslims are more susceptible to radicalization than better-assimilated Muslims in the United States. This charge clearly leads us in the wrong direction
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Posted by: Dr. Aslam Abdullah
Nov 15th, 2009
Posted by: John Esposito
Sep 4th, 2009
John Esposito,Ph.D, Board Member, MCA
If prayer five times a day strikes some as demanding, how about no food, no drink, no smoking, and no sex — from dawn to dusk for a whole month?
Inspiring, awesome, or extreme? In our secular, materialistic world, some see such religious abstinence as extreme or even harmful. Yet we live in a society in which rigorous dieting and exercise for health are multibillion-pound industries.
Similarly, gruelling marathons and triathlons or 12-to-18-hour professional workdays are often lauded and justified with the modern mantra of “No pain, no gainâ€.
For Muslims the month-long daytime fast of Ramadan, which is just beginning, is a special time set aside to remember God through physical and spiritual discipline: abstinen
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Posted by: Dr. Aslam Abdullah
Jul 30th, 2009
Can Muslims be Americans? They ask... By: Dr. Aslam Abdullah
Can Muslim Americans be loyal to America? She asked. The immediate response of the person to whom the question was addressed was a big no. It didn’t surprise many who were present during the conversation as many nodded their heads affirmatively. It was an ordinary discussion in a home setting where friends and relatives had gathered and some of them had raised the issue of loyalty of Muslim Americans. An elected public official from California, who chooses to remain anonymous, was also present at the gathering. She told the audience not to jump to conclusions and that she would present the questions raised at the gathering, to a Muslim who she knew. She forwarded me a list of issues that were brought up at the
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Posted by: Rushdy El-Ghussein
Jul 30th, 2009
Is being a good person the same in every faith? A guiding light Rushdy El-Ghussein, former president of the Islamic Society of Greater Kansas City: In Islam the good is to follow God’s commands as conveyed by his prophets and messengers, to accept and grow from everything that God sends, to establish right dealings among human beings, and to conserve and protect the environments we live in. Although I cannot speak for other faiths, I would consider that other God-revealed religions would agree on this. However, human beings have limited knowledge and experience to understand all issues concerned, so differences in interpretation and opinion develop. It is in the nature of human beings to revolt and doubt everything. Sometimes we heed the advice, and sometimes we ignore it. Our paren
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Posted by: Dr. Nazir Khaja
Jul 30th, 2009
Islam, Muslims, and Reform By Dr. Nazir Khaja Board Member, MCA Chairman, Islamic Information Service, US The Turkish Government has recently launched a reform initiative, which is raising many eyebrows. With the view of modernization of Islam it has embarked upon the task of publishing a document that represents a revolutionary reinterpretation of the religion. A team of theologians from Ankara University has been assigned the task of revising Hadith, the second most important foundational basis of Islam. The Hadiths are a compendium of Prophet Muhammad's directives and sayings, which the Muslims hold to be authoritative in guiding them in their conduct in all matters. Its authority is next to the Qu'ran, which is God's revealed word to the Prophet, yet it also serves as the principal gui
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