Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature Hamid Dabashi calls upon the world to recognize US Muslims as an integral part of American culture. In this article, he critiques the polarizing debate between the essentialist discourses that pin Islam as inherently violent religion, and the reactive apologist rhetoric which defends Islam as a faith that…
When Gallup and the Coexist Foundation published their report on “Muslim Americans: a National Portrait”, it appeared that American Muslims are overall ‘happier’ that their British counterparts: 41 per cent of Muslims in America class themselves as ‘thriving’, i.e. enjoying life to the full, while only 7 per cent of British Muslims do so. In…
The Wall Street Journal takes a look at Geert Wilders, controversial Dutch lawmaker and creator of the inflammatory anti-Islam film ‘Fitna.’ It examines the dualistic conceptions of Wilders – as an advocate of free speech and secular values, or an anti-Islam and anti-Muslim provocateur. While Wilders acknowledges that the majority of Muslims in the West…
