Quick Update

I've been away from the blog for a while due to a pulled shoulder and neck muscle that's keeping computer time outside of day-job duties (and that's all computer) to a minimum. While it's not severe, its not getting any better with long hours at the computer, so I'm trying to rest it as much as possible.

I am following with great interest and concern the recent developments at Islam Online; see the original alt.muslim article , and the recent follow-up here . There are developments indicating Islam Online staff may start their own site, we'll see how that shakes out.

More on this as I'm able.

Yasmeen Najmi: A Wall in the Heart

I've begun a recent collaboration with poetess Yasmeen Najmi, and I like where its going. Fitting for some of the interfaith and dialogue issues i touch on in this blog is a recent reading of a poem she wrote as a letter from Salah-al-Din (Saladin) to Simon Wiesenthal re: building the Simon Wiesenthal Center for Dignity and Tolerance on top of the Mamilla Cemetery, a 1000-year-old Muslim burial ground in Jerusalem.

If you watch the clip on youtube rather than the embed below, you 'll see the full text of the poem in the notes.