Category Archives: Islam in the World

In Memory of Mohamed Arkoun

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Few of Arkoun's Books are available in translation, but this is on Amazon.

Mohamed Arkoun, a great philosopher and scholar, particularly on the role of Islam in the development of Maghrebi society and on the relationship of Islam and the West, died Tuesday September 14 in Paris and was buried the following Friday, September 17 in Achouhada cemetery in Casablanca. He was 82 years old. In Robert Altman’s cinema adaptation of Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion, the angel of death whispers to a woman weeping over the discovery that a loved one has died peacefully, “The death of an old man is not a tragedy.”

That struck me as fundamentally true. But I thought to myself that it doesn’t make it less painful to those close to him. And while it may not be a tragedy, it is certainly still a loss, especially when the man is a figure of the stature of Mohamed Arkoun. I remember reading his writing when researching my dissertation, and it returned to my mind in the weeks and months after 9-11. It comes to mind again now, as we see nasty rhetoric against heating up again in this country.
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American Muslims Still Victims of 9-11

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Media Matter for America reports:

On what is rapidly becoming a regular feature, Fox & Friends this morning continued their incessant attack on Islam. Co-host Alisyn Camerota this morning hosted anti-Islam blogger and founder of the ironically named Americans Against Hate organization Joe Kaufman to attack Muslim Family Day at Six Flags Great Adventure. Camerota called it “insensitive” that they would host the event on September 12, “just hours after the anniversary of the September 11th attacks,” and added “but what’s even more controversial are the allegations that the Muslim group organizing the event could have been involved in financing the September 11 terror attacks.” Kaufman went further, employing what is becoming a familiar phrase among anti-Muslim bloggers: “The fact that they’re having it on September 12th, I believe they are actually spitting in the face of Americans.”

This kind of criticism is disgusting!  The event is being held on September 12 because that is the first weekend after Ramadan ends.  The event celebrates the Eid el-Fitr or festival of the end of Ramadan, the most holy month in the Islamic calendar.  The Muslim group organizing the even is the Islamic Circle of North America, established in 1968,

as a response to the growing need for a supportive Muslim community in North America. The organization initially focused on educating its growing membership about Islam, the goal being to adhere to Islamic values amongst a religiously diverse community.

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New York City, Murfreesboro, Tennessee and Islamophobia

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This is the United States of America! Most of us realize that what makes our country great is not our military or economic power, but what we stand for, the principles laid out in our Declaration of Independence and made law in our Constitution. One of our most sacred principles, one which drew many of our ancestors to this place, is freedom of religion. And yet lately one group finds itself under attack purely because of their religion. It started with the argument over the so called Ground Zero Mosque, and the rhetoric over that has stoked the flames of something more dangerous, as exhibited by this story of an attack on the construction site of a mosque in the Nashville suburb of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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Academic Freedom Media Review, June 12-18

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scholarsatrisk.nyuAcademic Freedom Media Review
June 12 – 18, 2010
Compiled by Scholars at Risk

Students Gain After Strike in Puerto Rico
Damien Cave, The New York Times, 6/17

Irvine Responds to Heckling Incident
Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed, 6/15

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Academic Freedom Media Review, May 29 – June 4

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May 29 – June 4, 2010
Compiled by Scholars at Risk

Public conversation on universities is welcome
W. Salters Sterling, The Irish Times, 6/3

Catholic University of Ukraine and the Security Service of Ukraine
Philip J. Crowley, Press Release Bureau of Public Affairs, 6/2

Union challenges new visa system
The UK Press Association, 6/1

Jefferson v. Cuccinelli: Does the constitution really protect a right to “academic freedom”?
Dahlia Lithwick and Richard Schragger, Slate Magazine, 6/1

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Global Connections and Exchange Program Combines Technology and In-Person Exchanges

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Midlothian High School Exchange

Midlothian High School students planted trees in honor of their guests. | photo courtesy of Jamie Schlais Barnes

Here’s an interesting item from Midlothian Exchange, a local paper in Midlothian, in Chesterfield County, Virginia and a part of the Richmond Metropolitan Area.

Two weeks ago, three men walked into Midlothian High School looking for a better understanding of American culture. Ten days later, they left having changed their own perceptions of U.S. citizens and their students’ perceptions of Arabic culture. Their challenge and that of the students at Midlothian High School is to continue spreading what they learned.

Abdulwahab Albaadani, a teacher at Ibn Majed in Sanaa, Yemen, Amine Slimani, a teacher from the Secondary School of Nedroma in Nedroma, Algeria and his pupil, Mohamed Belmeliami, traveled to the U.S. as a culmination of nearly a year’s worth of video conferencing, cultural lessons, and web logging with social studies classes at Midlothian High School…

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Academic Freedom Media Review

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March 19-26, 2010
Compiled by Scholars at Risk

‘Wide-ranging’ inquiry urged on higher education future
BBC News, 3/26

China bans poet from traveling to US conference
Associated Press, 3/25

Principles of scientific advice
Hannah Devlin, The Times Online, 3/24

2 Formerly Excluded Scholars Coming to U.S.
Inside Higher Ed, 3/24

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Scholars at Risk Academic Freedom Media Review

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Academic Freedom Media Review
January 16 – 22, 2010
Compiled by Scholars at Risk

Controversial Visa Bans Lifted
Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed, 1/21

Free speech within reason
Constantine Sandis, The Times Higher Eductaion, 1/21

Scheme aims to help rebuild Iraqi academy through UK partnerships
John Morgan, The Times Higher Education, 1/21
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US Lifts Bans on Two Controversial Scholars

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Tariq Ramadan

There’s been a major development in a story I’ve commented on many times in this blog and its predecessor, the refusal of entry to Tariq Ramadan, one of Europe’s leading scholars on Islam, and particularly it’s evolution due to the influence of Muslims in the West.

Six years after using the Patriot Act to revoke the visa of a prominent Muslim academic, the United States State Department reversed itself and said Wednesday that it would no longer bar the scholar from entering the United States.

The decision came in the form of an order signed by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.  —January 20, 2010, The New York Times

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Scholars at Risk Academic Freedom Review

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January 8 – 15, 2010
Compiled by Scholars at Risk

(Expand the post for clickable links)

Iran arrests father of U.S. think tank scholar
Laura Rozen, Politico, 1/14

When Tenure Means Nothing
Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed, 1/14

Academy’s freedoms threatened as libel law lands scholars in dock
Zoe Corbyn, Times Higher Education, 1/14

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