World Organization for Resource Development & Education
In fifteen centuries, Islam has never sanctioned any form of family violence. How then did this scourge become widespread in the Muslim community? As in other religions, Islamic law forbids such practices has been systematically decontextualized by patriarchal scholars whose dogma dismisses the socially inclusive, inalienable rights bestowed upon women by Islam.
September 1, 2011
By Specialists Waleed Ziad and Mehreen Farooq
In southern Punjab, a fierce battle rages for the future of Islam. For the first time in this region’s history, its 700-year-old blue tiled Sufi shrines are being challenged and overshadowed by hundreds of new mosques and madrassas espousing jihadi ideologies.
August 11, 2011 | Keynote Address By Specialist Ziad Alahdad
The fast in Ramadan consists of abstinence from eating or drinking from dawn to dusk and, more importantly, abiding by certain principles of purity. Imam Johari in a recent article in the Washington Post wrote: “Iftar, the breaking of the fast, is like having Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner every night for 30 days.” – a fitting tribute to the very strong tradition of hospitality which, Emre Bey, you alluded to earlier…
By Specialist Mohamed Nassir
Islam is a faith that is embraced by more than a billion people, but for some a more political set of Islamic ideas has gained ground in Muslim communities around the world. This particular set of ideas is termed as political Islam. The growth of political Islam is one of the most important ideological events of the last century. Political Islam is a relatively new phenomenon that developed in the last two centuries of Islam’s 1400 year history.
May 2011
The sixth edition of “Our WORDE,” the newsletter, includes information about our latest activities and commentary on Pakistan, Osama bin Laden, counter-radicalization strategies, and the Arab Spring.
April 2011 | By Dr. Hedieh Mirahmadi and Specialist Mehreen Farooq
To some Americans Islam has a “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” split personality disorder. On one hand they see law-abiding Muslim citizens proclaim Islam as a religion of peace, while on the other hand they see Islam represented by suicide bombers who chant “Death to America.” The question of which category the majority of Muslims fall into has generated tensions between Muslims and non-Muslims around the world.
May 3, 2011 | By Dr. Hedieh Mirahmadi and Specialist Mehreen Farooq
Osama bin Laden, 54, unofficial poster-child for the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and radical Islamist movements around the world died Sunday May 1, 2011. He will be remembered as a leader of anti-Americanism, a formidable mastermind of terrorist plots, and an unmistakable symbol of intolerance, hatred, and violence. From a young age, he dedicated his life to tarnishing the image of peaceful, law-abiding Muslims across the world and promoting radical, anti-social interpretations of Islam. He lived by the sword and died by the sword.
March 10, 2011 | By Dr. Hedieh Mirahmadi
It won’t be on the official agenda. It might not even be asked out loud. But it may be the most important question during a congressional hearing Thursday on homegrown Islamic terrorists.
How should America talk about Muslim Americans?
Even in the tense months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, public discussions of Islamic extremists were usually accompanied by a careful disclaimer that a peaceful religion had been hijacked.
Islamic Extremism: A Viable Threat to U.S. National Security
January 7, 1999 | Presentation by Specialist Shaykh Hisham Kabbani
US Department of State
Excerpt: What is the definition of extremism? We can see in all of history: even when the first settlers came to the United States they were from different countries; Spain, England, France, European Countries. They were fighting on this land and fighting with the Indians. Do we call this extremism? A fight for a better living, which you understand you are doing not for a religious motive, is not extremism. Extremism in Islam, or in religion, is when you use religion to label intolerance, to turn from religion and take ideas that you can extract for yourself, or deduce for yourself, and use to make a militant movement and disturb the peace in your country or around the world. That is called “extremism,” and “Islamic Extremism.” But a movement for better living, that is not extremism.