The Muslim Journeys project presents to the American public resources representing diverse perspectives on the people, places, histories, beliefs, practices, and cultures of Muslims in the United States and around the world. The project is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities program of the U.S. government.

Elements of the project include:

The Bridging Cultures Bookshelf:

• Muslim Journeys collection
• Distribution, free of charge, of the complete Muslim Journeys Bookshelf to 953 libraries nationwide
• Distribution, free of charge, of the complete Muslim Journeys Bookshelf to 36 state humanities councils
• Library programs for the public in every state, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands
• The Muslim Journeys website

The cornerstone of the project is the Bridging Cultures Bookshelf: Muslim Journeys, a carefully curated collection of resources recommended and reviewed by distinguished scholars in the fields of anthropology, world history, religious studies, interfaith dialogue, the history of art and architecture, and world literature, as well as interdisciplinary fields such as Middle East studies, Southeast Asian studies, African studies, and Islamic studies. Six public libraries hosted focus groups to review many of the titles, and all titles were reviewed by librarians and other humanities practitioners with extensive programming experience.   »»» Muslim Journeys

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Organized attacks on Muslims which began almost two years ago continue unabated while the government remains indifferent, impatient Muslims thinking of turning to streets to highlight their grievance and Muslims worldwide closely monitoring developments here.

Growing feeling within the Muslim community is that though these attacks look isolated, but they are well organized and coordinated with ulterior motive. The deliberate employment of Buddhist monks in the forefront in these attacks is dangerous as, at some point that some Muslims may be provoked to react and trigger a calamity leading to unpredictable consequences.

However the country which has just emerged after a thirty year ethnic war cannot afford another catastrophe. Muslims suspect that this is what the racist provocateurs wanted, to implement their design to attack, loot, plunder and kill Muslims least bothered about the impact on the country.   »»» Sailan Muslim

The attacks by Sinhalese radicals is surprising since they had the support of the Muslim community during the long struggle against the Tamils.

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From working-class neighbourhoods of French towns and cities to the villages of Algeria and Morocco, a strange kind of reverse migration is under way – of the dead.

Every year thousands of bodies are being repatriated from France to the Maghreb, as Muslim families return their loved ones to the soil of their original home. It is a costly and complicated business, involving flights, consular administrators and specialist funeral providers. It also prompts the question: why not get buried in France?

After all, France is the country where these families are now destined to live. Would it not be a sign of successful integration if France were also where they chose to rest when they died?

The answer to that question has to do with the complexities of national identity in a world of mass migration.

But also with France’s own obsession with secular “republican” values, and its reluctance to give ground – literally – on matters of faith.

According to Abdallah Hadid, there are two main reasons for sending the bodies of loved ones back to the Maghreb.
Muslim tombstone in a row of crosses French authorities frown upon separate Muslim burial areas

The first is the pull of the heart – memories, loyalties, a wistful longing for the “old country”.

The second is a more practical consideration: the absence of Muslim cemeteries in France.

France calls itself “laic” (secular). For 100 years there has been a strict separation of religion and state.

This means that when it comes to burial places, town councils – which administer the country’s cemeteries – refuse any special provision for faiths.

For years, French Muslims have been clamouring for designated areas in municipal graveyards – what they call “carrés confessionnels”. In these, Muslim tombs would be directed towards Mecca as required by religion.

But they are blocked by an institutional reluctance on the part of the French authorities.

In practice, more and more Muslim areas are being created in cemeteries, simply because Muslim graves are being put next to each other. But they are tolerated rather than authorised. There is certainly no official policy to create them.

Another problem for Muslims is that space in French cemeteries is normally provisional. Families take out a lease for 30 or 50 years, after which the bodies are disinterred to be reburied in a common grave.

But this offends many Muslims, who believe bodies in the ground should not be touched. They are reluctant to burden future generations with the cost of renewing the lease of a French grave, so prefer to have their bodies repatriated.

“There are now six million Muslims in France. They pay taxes, they vote, they take part in local government. Why should they not have a say in how their dead are buried?” says Dalil Boubakeur, who as Rector of the Grand Mosque in Paris is the nearest there is to a leader of French Islam.   »»» BBC News

Islamic law dictates that the funeral or Janazah should take place as soon as possible after death, with the following steps:

Bathing the dead body;

Placing the corpse in a white cotton or linen cloth shroud;

Funeral prayer;

Burial of the dead body in a grave (cremation is forbidden);

Positioning the body so the head faces Mecca.

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A British-Ukrainian suspect is being looked at for both the murder of an elderly Muslim man and several bombings outside mosques in London.

Terrorism against Muslims by people of European Christian heritage is almost never called ‘terrorism’ in the press, but this case clearly fits any reasonable definition of the phenomenon.

Likewise there is never any collective guilt involved in such crimes; “Christians” are not tasked with “controlling” the violent impulses of their young men and not depicted as agonizing over how they managed to produce bombers despite the peaceful character of their religious precepts.   »»» Informed Comment

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French President Francois Hollande pressed Myanmar’s president on Wednesday to investigate violence against the country’s Muslim minority in depth, and said a pledge to release political prisoners must be followed by action.

Hollande met briefly with Thein Sein in Paris two days after the former military leader visited his British counterpart in London as part of a tour aimed at securing Western aid to help Myanmar emerge from decades of dictatorship.

The Socialist president greeted Thein Sein coolly and skipped a habitual exchange with journalists after their encounter, issuing a statement instead as rights groups elsewhere in Paris protested against attacks on Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims.

“The President of the Republic underscored the necessity of seeing that all prisoners of conscience are released without condition, and that recent intercommunal violence is fully investigated,” the statement said.

Hollande welcomed the opening of Myanmar’s political process to opposition parties and Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, and said France was willing to provide aid to develop healthcare and education.

However, he echoed calls by U.S. President Barack Obama – whom Thein Sein met earlier this year – and British Prime Minister David Cameron to press ahead with democratic reforms and efforts to resolve decades of inter-ethnic fighting.

On Sunday, Thein Sein said he had disbanded a security force accused of rights violations against Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State in the west of Myanmar, scene of deadly violence between Muslims and majority Buddhists in the past year.   »»» Reuters

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In the early hours of 8 July, 51 Muslim Brotherhood supporters camped outside the Republican Guard club in Cairo were killed by security forces. Egypt’s military claimed the protesters had attempted to break into the compound with the aid of armed motorcyclists.

After examining video evidence and speaking to witnesses, medics and protesters, the Guardian finds a different story

At 3.17am on Monday 8 July, Dr Yehia Moussa prepared to kneel outside the Republican Guard club in east Cairo for dawn prayers. For a few more hours, Moussa would remain the official spokesman for the Egyptian health ministry. But he was at the club that day in a personal capacity. Along with about 2,000 Muslim Brotherhood supporters, Moussa had camped outside the gated compound in protest at the removal of President Mohamed Morsi, who they then believed was imprisoned inside.

Like everyone else, Moussa knelt with his back to the barbed-wire fence protecting the entrance to the club. A few feet away were Reda Mohamedi, an education lecturer at al-Azhar University, and beyond him Dr Yasser Taha, an Azhar biochemistry professor. All three were friends from university days, and had shared a tent that night.

Within the hour, Taha would be dead with a bullet in his neck and Mohamedi would be unconscious, a bullet through his thigh. Moussa would have gunshot wounds in both legs and have most of his right index finger missing.

All three were victims of Egypt’s bloodiest state-led massacre since the fall of Hosni Mubarak, in which, according to official figures, at least 51 people were killed by security forces and at least 435 injured. Two policemen and one soldier were also killed.

The military has said the assault on the protesters was provoked by a terrorist attack. At about 4am, the army says, 15 armed motorcyclists approached the Republican Guard club’s compound. The army said the motorcyclists fired shots, that people attempted to break into the compound, and that the soldiers then had no choice but to defend their property.

But a week-long investigation – including interviews with 31 witnesses, local people and medics, as well as video analysis – found no evidence of the motorcyclist attack and points to a very different narrative, in which the security forces launched a co-ordinated assault on a group of largely peaceful and unarmed civilians.   »»» The Guardian (U.K.)

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Two men have been arrested under the Terrorism Act in connection with explosions near two mosques.

A “loud bang” was heard near the Aisha Mosque, in Rutter Street, Walsall on 21 June while a second explosion happened near Kanzul Iman Masjid mosque in Tipton on Friday.

A 25-year-old and 22-year-old, both Eastern European, are being questioned.

The pair were arrested on suspicion of being involved in the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism.   »»» BBC News

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Health officials in Saudi Arabia have asked pilgrims visiting its holy sites to wear masks in crowded places to stop the spread of the MERS coronavirus.

A list of requirements issued by the health ministry also tells elderly people or those with chronic diseases to postpone their pilgrimage.

Thirty-eight people have died from the virus in Saudi Arabia.

Millions of Muslims from around the world are expected to take part in the Hajj this October.

Once a year, pilgrims make the journey to Mecca in Saudi Arabia and pray together before the Kaaba.

Muslims also travel to the site at other times, as well as visiting the Masjid Al-Nabawi, or Mosque of the Prophet, in Medina.

Health officials urged people taking part to maintain personal hygiene standards, use a tissue when sneezing and coughing, and have the necessary vaccinations.

The MERS (Middle East respiratory-syndrome) coronavirus emerged in the Arabian peninsula in September 2012 and is part of a large family of viruses, which includes the common cold and Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome).   »»» BBC News

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Father Mina Cheroubim had just left his church to go to the market when he was ambushed by masked gunmen. They opened fire, cutting him down in the street; he was already dead by the time he was taken to hospital.

The Coptic Orthodox priest was well-known and liked in El Arish, a small town in northern Sinai. The local Christians and Muslims say they are convinced that the killers were outsiders who had gone in to create division and spread terror in the community.

There have been reports of a series of sectarian attacks in recent days; many Christians believe they have become targets as Egypt has seen an unleashing of rage following the deposition and detention of President Mohamed Morsi by the army.

The Muslim Brotherhood has accused the Coptic hierarchy of being part of a conspiracy to remove their man from power. One of the movement’s leaders lashed out at Pope Tawadros II at a rally, accusing him of violating his predecessors’ policy of non-interference in politics. The head of the church had blessed the move against Mr Morsi and was in attendance when General Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, the army chief, announced the suspension of the constitution.   »»» The Independent

When the U.S. invaded Iraq, Iraqi Christians become a target too. The Christian minority easily becomes a scapegoat when there is social unrest. The Qur’an gives Christians and Jews living in Muslim lands a special, protected status. However, when people are enraged, they do not always follow God’s commandments, especially when, since in this case, the new Coptic Pope has renounced his predecessors written “entente cordiale” with the Muslim Brotherhood and brome a vocal opponent of President Morsi. People who are leaders of vulnerable minorities should always ask whether their statements will be used to justify attacks against their innocent followers.

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In the midst of a worldwide economic recession, the impatient youth of Egypt could give only one year to the man they democratically elected for a full term. They demonstrated and gave the army the pretext it needed to take power.

There is no doubt that Morsi was not the ideal president but a regime based on a coup d’état by the army does not bode well for the people of Egypt. By the way, this is the same army that held power and was reviled repeatedly by the same demonstrators during the year immediately following Mubarak’s fall and preceding Morsi’s election.

The people and leaders of virtue gave their bay’ah (oath of allegiance) to Morsi to be their leader, and now they have betrayed him by interrupting his term of office.

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) used very strong words to insist on the necessity of supporting the legitimate leader so long as that leader’s actions are not contrary to Allah’s law:

“Whoever gives his oath of allegiance to a leader and gives him his hand and his heart, let him obey him as much as he can. If another one comes and disputes with him (for leadership), kill the second one.” (Narrated by Muslim, 1844)

In this case, there was no pretender; the people simply betrayed the leader to whom they had sworn allegiance and let the army take over.

The demonstrators and the army (not the Muslim Brotherhood government) are the real extremists and they may have sealed their own fate by their intemperate actions this week.   »»» Informed Comment

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