[This is a roundup of news articles and other materials circulating Islam and reflects a wide variety of opinions and approaches. It does not reflect the views of the Critical Currents in Islam Page or of Jadaliyya. You may send your own recommendations for inclusion in each week`s roundup to cci@jadaliyya.com by Saturday night of every week.]
Hegemony
Do Muslim Women Need Saving? A critical look by Leila Abu-Lughod at the moral crusade that has justified all manner of intervention from the legal to the military, the humanitarian to the sartorial in Muslim societies.
Why the West Fears Islam Jocelyne Cesari looks into the mechanisms of the West`s fear of Islam, and ponders on how the dominant narrative that tends to present Islam as an alien religion can be countered.
Sharia
Syrian Cleric issues fatwa allowing starving Syrians to eat cats and dogs While cats and dogs are normally off limits for practicing Muslims, Hunter Stuart explains how desperate times call for desperate measures.
Sharia: Between the Constitutional and Symbolic Spheres in Egypt Alexis Blouet disects discussions of Egypt`s December 2012 constitutions.
Muslim Minorities
Contextualizing Media Claims in Boston Matthew Kupfer warns against placing Tamerlan and Dzhohar Tsarnaev into the mould of the stereotypical “Islamic fundamentalist bomber.”
In Spain, a tiny group of Sufi Muslims thrives Photos of Spanish Sufi converts.
Growing Faith: Prisons, Hip-Hop and Islam SpearIt explores how prison and hip-hop facilitates the conversion of many American Muslims.
Weddady’s Free Arabs, American Islamic Congress and the pro-Israel funders who helped them rise Max Blumenthal calls into question the legitimacy of the American Islamic Congress as a representative of American Muslims for its relationship to pro-Israeli and neocon funders.
Sectarianism
Shias are more dangerous than naked women: Salafist MPs Al-Nour Party MPs argue that Iranian tourism to Egypt threatens national security and will undermine the country`s “Sunni doctrine”
Political Islam
Morsi and the Muslims Shadi Hamid argues that more than two years into the Arab revolts, Islamists are weighing the virtues of moving more aggressively to implement their agenda versus the benefits of proceeding cautiously in an attempt to placate their critics and opponents.
‘Ultras girls`, the Muslim Brotherhood’s rowdy female fan base Aya Alaa Hosni looks at how som female members of the Muslim Brotherhood have participated massively in protests calling for his reinstatement.
Art and Pop-culture
Justin Bieber... The Islamist Omid Safi`s take on Justin Bieber`s halting of his concert during the call to prayer in Istanbul.
The Five Pillars of i,Slam Muslim youth in Germany keep it clean with "Islamic-style" slam poetry
Piety and Practice
Mecca for the rich: Islam`s holiest site `turning into Vegas` Jerome Taylor reports on how historic and culturally important landmarks are being destroyed to make way for luxury hotels and malls
I do... for now. UK Muslims revive temporary marriages Shabnam Mahmood and Catrin Nye explore the utility and reworking of the practice of temporary marriages in modern society.
Islamic hotel opens on Egyptian Red Sea coast Conscientious consumerism hits the Egyptian tourist market.
The Case for Adoption in Islam Adoption has had a rocky history within the Islamic tradition. Yusra Gomaa encourages a new way forward.
How Muslim Families Use Breastfeeding to Make Adopted Babies Their Own Dr. Modi Batterjee discusses a way in which Muslim communities turn adopted children into kin.
I am a Muslim woman and I chose to have an abortion Drawing from personal experience and religious interpretation, Iman Ahmed tackles a taboo topic within many Muslim communities.