False Sense of Maturity

The United States tends to be an Islamophobic place these days, but that wasn’t always the case. Some surprising aspects of American culture have been influenced by Arab or Muslim customs, as Al’ America, a new book by Jonathan Curiel, chronicles:

Al’ America offers a quirky tour of sites, sounds and personalities that are quintessentially American and also reveal fascinating vestiges of Islamic and Arab influence. Musical stops include the Surf Sound of 1960s southern California, the Mississippi Delta blues and the startlingly spiritual confines of Elvis Presley’s Graceland. The King, it turns out, kept a copy of Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet on his bedroom nightstand.

One of Curiel’s most colorful excursions takes him to the fez-festooned conclaves where Shriners still greet each other by declaring, “salaam aleikum” (peace be upon you). At their apogee in the 1920s, when they had 500,000 members, the Shriners paraded through downtown Washington, D.C., were publicly hailed by presidents and drew a welcome committee of Marine Corps musicians dressed in Arab garb. Washington merchants even dressed up their storefronts as ersatz mosques. Those were different times.

Another entertaining digression takes readers to mid-19th-century Bridgeport, Conn., where circus impresario P.T. Barnum built a mansion in quasi-Islamic style and called it Iranistan. The grand house, with its pseudo-minarets, is long gone. But Iranistan Avenue survives, now pronounced “Arn-i-stan,” Curiel reports with the light, bemused tone that makes the book a pleasurable read.

So if Elvis were alive today, he would be accused by Christian fundamentalists as being a Muslim.

Among the Muslim countries, Morocco has less extremists than most, but they’re still not above banning magazines that offend them:

The Moroccan government has banned an issue of the French magazine L’Express International, claiming it insults Islam in articles exploring the relationship between that religion and Christianity.

Information Minister Khalid Naciri said Sunday that he had no choice but to ban the current issue because of the offensive nature of the articles it contained. The minister said the kingdom’s press code allows the government to shut down or ban any publication deemed to offend Islam or the king.

It seems like a risky proposition, but a Mohammad movie is in the works:

A movie drama about the life of the Prophet Mohammad is to go into production soon, and will be only the second English-language film of its kind ever made, its producers said on Monday.

“The Messenger of Peace” will be a remake of Moustapha Akkad’s “The Message,” a 1977 Hollywood classic starring Anthony Quinn which is often applauded by Muslims as an example of how commercial Western cinema can respect Islam.

Everywhere I look this week, I keep seeing stories about the Muslim head scarf, and this story is no exception. In Turkey, it appears that wearing the head scarf is a national form of teen rebellion:

So at 16, she did something none of her friends had done: She put on an Islamic head scarf.

In most Muslim countries, that would be a nonevent. In Turkey, it was a rebellion. Turkey has built its modern identity on secularism. Women on billboards do not wear scarves. The scarves are banned in schools and universities. So Ms. Yilmaz dropped out of school. Her parents were angry. Her classmates stopped calling her.

Like many young people at a time of religious revival across the Muslim world, Ms. Yilmaz, now 21, is more observant than her parents. Her mother wears a scarf, but cannot read the Koran in Arabic. They do not pray five times a day. The habits were typical for their generation — Turks who moved from the countryside during industrialization.

Yesterday, the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed got underway. Mohammed is probably known for the above photo as much as he is for being the September 11th mastermind. He has decided to serve as his own attorney, and I think he made some surprisingly good points considering he’s probably insane:

Glaring at Judge Ralph Kohlmann from beneath bushy eyebrows and a black turban, Mohammed pressed the Marine colonel to explain how he could provide a fair trial as a member of the U.S. Armed Forces that are at war with al-Qaida.

“How can you, as an officer of the U.S. Marine Corps, stand over me in judgment?” Mohammed, who is acting as his own lawyer, asked in English. “How can you be unbiased, given your position?”

I guess Saudi Arabians have very diverse tastes in TV. Evidently, they have shows that do more than depict Jews as monkey-men; they also have Oprah (read the post below to see what I mean):

When “The Oprah Winfrey Show” was first broadcast in Saudi Arabia in November 2004 on a Dubai-based satellite channel, it became an immediate sensation among young Saudi women. Within months, it had become the highest-rated English-language program among women 25 and younger, an age group that makes up about a third of Saudi Arabia’s population.

In a country where the sexes are rigorously separated, where topics like sex and race are rarely discussed openly and where a strict code of public morality is enforced by religious police called hai’a, Ms. Winfrey provides many young Saudi women with new ways of thinking about the way local taboos affect their lives — as well as about a variety of issues including childhood sexual abuse and coping with marital strife — without striking them, or Saudi Arabia’s ruling authorities, as subversive.

Debate between Islam critic Ayaan Hirsi Ali and moderate Muslim Tariq Ramadan.

Since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s secular regime, Iraq has become a very dangerous place for homosexuals. The morality policy, composed of Islamic hard-liners, are literally hunting and killing any gays they can find. The London based organization Iraq LGBT estimates that over 430 gay men have been killed in Iraq since 2003.

It’s unlikely that gays will be safe in Iraq any time soon, as much of Iraqi culture see nothing wrong with killing them. In fact, homosexuality has an entirely different definition there than it does in Western countries:

Persecution of gays will stop only if Iraqis can abandon centuries-old prejudices. They would have to acknowledge that human rights don’t cover only the humans they like. Insisting that gays are just a few undesirable perverts who “should be killed”–as one Iraqi who works in journalism put it–encourages an atmosphere of impunity no matter the offense. Killing gays becomes “honorable.” And raping them is OK because it isn’t considered a homosexual act–only being penetrated or providing oral sex is.

That’s some interesting logic. An Iraqi man can rape another man and then kill him, but that doesn’t make him gay or a criminal.

Even though it just started, I hope everyone is having a remarkable Ramadan so far. I always like to spend some time during Ramadan to reflect and be thankful that I’m not Muslim. If I were Muslim, I would have to spend the entire month fasting during daylight hours, which doesn’t make it sound like one of the more festive holidays. But I’ll give credit where it’s due, and admit that Muslims show great discipline this time of year.

This Ramadan promises to be one of the most confusing ones for people in some areas of the Middle East, because there are all sorts of time zone changes:

The start of the holy month of Ramadan . . . is causing clock confusion in the Middle East. Egypt and the Palestinians are falling back an hour far earlier than usual, trying to reduce daylight hours for Muslims fasting until sunset in sweltering summer temperatures.

Politics is also adding a twist. The Palestinian militant group Hamas is ending daylight-saving time at midnight Thursday in the Gaza Strip, which it controls — while the West Bank, run by the rival Fatah faction, is waiting until midnight Sunday.

This is just goofy:

Every single man knows: Walking a dog in the park is a sure babe magnet. Saudi Arabia’s Islamic religious police, in their zeal to keep the sexes apart, want to make sure the technique doesn’t catch on here.

The solution: Ban selling dogs and cats as pets, as well as walking them in public.

The prohibition went into effect Wednesday in the capital, Riyadh, and authorities in the city say they will strictly enforce it — unlike previous bans in the cities of Mecca and Jiddah, which have been ignored and failed to stop pet sales.

Last month, the Dutch government decided it was necessary to arrest a Dutch cartoonist for drawing offensive pictures of Muslims and other minorities:

“I never expected the Spanish Inquisition,” recalls the cartoonist, who goes by the nom de plume Gregorius Nekschot, quoting the British comedy team Monty Python. A fan of ribald gags, he’s a caustic foe of religion, particularly Islam. The Quran, crucifixion, sexual organs and goats are among his favorite motifs.

Mr. Nekschot, whose cartoons had appeared mainly on his own Web site, spent the night in a jail cell. Police grabbed his computer, a hard drive and sketch pads. He’s been summoned for further questioning later this month by prosecutors. He hasn’t been charged with a crime, but the prosecutor’s office says he’s been under investigation for three years on suspicion that he violated a Dutch law that forbids discrimination on the basis of race, religion or sexual orientation.

Almost inconceivably, this Scottish public service advertisement is causing a religious controversy:

A postcard featuring a cute puppy sitting in a policeman’s hat advertising a Scottish police force’s new telephone number has sparked outrage from Muslims.

Tayside Police’s new non-emergency phone number has prompted complaints from members of the Islamic community.