Crossing the Crescent

Good news for those interested in my extensive 35-minute phone interview with gay Muslim filmmaker Parvez Sharma, whose recent work, “A Jihad for Love,” is still screening across the world: the bimonthly print magazine Colorlines has agreed to run a 1200-word excerpt for its February/March edition.

Once that comes out, I’ll post the full interview transcript online.

→ Read More: Sharma Interview Coming In February

The presidential candidates don’t argue over whether it is right to bomb Muslim countries, but rather over whether they’ve chosen the right Muslim country to bomb. A special interest group commanded by Israeli ex-officials unloaded 28 million copies of an anti-Muslim hate film in swing states to titillate idle exurban imaginations. The hammer of the “war on terror” is wielded → Read More: “You have to be part of a renaissance…”

Much ink—likely too much—has been spilled on the subject of Sherry Jones’ debut novel, The Jewel of Medina, which was dropped by Random House but recently picked up by a British-based publisher.

The controversy stems from Jones’ decision to fictionalize the account of Aisha’s relationship with Prophet Muhammad and to describe, in fleeting but clearly sexual language, the marriage’s consummation.

→ Read More: The Jewel of Mecca

As you’ve already heard (or have gotten tired of hearing), Eid, the culmination of the Muslim month of fasting, is a time of joy, laughs, celebration, sweets, and family gatherings.

But for myself – and, I suspect, some other American Muslims, none of the above apply.

I fondly remember a couple of Eids in Pakistan: an → Read More: Eid Mubarak?