30 Mosques profiles Masjid Muhammad in DC

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Back when I lived in Washington, D.C., I'd pray at the Islamic Center of Washington, and sometimes at the Indonesian embassy, where I learned the phrase "dalam bulan suci Ramadhan". But one mosque I'd never even heard about until a few days ago is Masjid Muhammad, the subject of an interesting profile on the 30 Mosques/30 States blog. It sounds like this mosque is a lot better integrated into the general Washington, D.C. community than the Islamic Center is. On the other hand, its congregation also faces more of the social problems that plague some parts of the city. It makes you think.

Anyhow, this is one mosque I'd love to visit on my next trip to D.C., in sha' Allah.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali asks European Parliament for protection

The ex-Muslim and critic of Islam, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, formerly a Dutch MP and currently working for the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., has asked the European Parliament to create a fund for the physical defence of people threatened by extremists. Ms Ali received a death threat in 2004 from the murderer of filmmaker Theo Van Gogh. The issue of her protection has arisen now because the Dutch government is no longer to willing to pay to protect her since she lives in the US. Ms Ali herself cannot afford to pay for bodyguards (BBC).

American students meet Muslims worldwide

Four students at Washington, D.C.'s American University, among them three non-Muslims and one Muslim, have accompanied Prof. Akbar Ahmed on an "anthropological excursion" around nine countries with large Muslim populations, from Egypt to Indonesia.

Ahmed (a former Pakistani diplomat) and the students met Muslim students, preachers and political activists, some of them with anti-Western views. They were surprised to find even the Muslims opposed to Western policies to be warm and welcoming on a personal level, and open to discussion and debate. For their part, many of the Muslims they met were astounded at the visitors' descriptions of the freedom of worship Muslims enjoy in the United States (Christian Science Monitor).

Of course, this tour was not entirely unique: a substantial number of American students go on study abroad programmes in Muslim countries; other young Americans work as interns with local NGOs with these countries, or serve with organisations such as the Peace Corps. However, this "excursion" was rather unique in its scope: nine countries visited, a large number of Muslims encountered, a large number of meaningful conversations and exchanges entered into.

I hope more such exchanges take place, in both directions. Muslim students would also have a great deal to learn from touring Western countries and having discussions of this sort with Western students, as well as political and civil society leaders.

American Jews and the Israeli lobby

The Israeli lobby in Washington, D.C., in some ways headed by the American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), is an immensely powerful group of organisations that seek to align US policy on the Middle East with the views of right-wing Israeli groups such as the Likud Party. At the same time, American Jews are, on average, very liberal -- far more liberal than the average American. How do you square the values exhibited by American Jews with the attitudes of the Israeli lobby?

It would seem that the lobby, in fact, represents a small minority of American Jews, mostly from older generations, who are passionately committed to right-wing views on Israel and Palestine. The majority of American Jews don't seem to be very interested in the subject at all. Nevertheless, some liberal American Jewish groups, such as Americans for Peace Now, are trying to voice alternative opinions on Capitol Hill.

This article suggests that US policy on the Middle East will only change when the dominance of AIPAC is broken by a leftist or centrist American Jewish lobby, possibly financed by the anti-Republican billionaire and Holocaust survivor George Soros (Salon.com).