Islamic Culture *Art: The Intersection of Islam, America and Identity <http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1466>*
Having never lived outside Karachi until she moved to New York, Ms. Ahmed Shikoh did not anticipate the mixture of awe and estrangement that she felt. “Here I was looking at a huge new city and wondering: ‘How do I fit in? How do I make this my home and my territory?’ ” she said. Artistically she turned to her Statue of Liberty and Urdu subway map paintings. Socially she started visiting a mosque. “I guess being a minority, everybody starts to look for people of your own kind,” she said. “I had never been to a mosque in Pakistan. The mosque as community centre, I just discovered here. So I made a few Muslim friends, and it opened my eyes. There were women who were progressive, modern, fashionable and wearing the head scarf.” Over the next few years Ms. Ahmed Shikoh wrestled with herself about covering her hair, wondering, “Why not just wear modest clothes?” Her husband — who after 20 years here is relaxed and Americanized in manner — stayed out of the decision-making process. Her mother, tired of hearing her argue with herself, said: “O.K., what are you waiting for? They won’t throw you a party to start wearing one.” And then Ms. Ahmed Shikoh decided that God was asking her to do it as an act of faith. “I had the freedom in this country to make that choice,” she said. “Here people just let you live your life.” Ms. Ahmed Shikoh started keeping what she thought of as a hijab diary. Daily she would make a painting or collage that incorporated the template of a head scarf, sometimes quite playfully, as in the hijab with the built-in iPod or the one made of Play-Doh featuring Dora the Explorer. -- *Deborah Sontag, *New York Times More..<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1466> *Save history from terrorists <http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1482>* What is lost in terrorist attacks is much more than life. Driven by single-minded hatred towards all things they either don't know of, understand, or those that don't fit into the Pashto-centric world view, terrorists have destroyed chunks of history and today are dangerously threatening more. After the Taliban destroyed the Bamiyan Buddhas in central Afghanistan because boss Mullah Omar had decreed all depiction in stone or paper of human and animal forms un-Islamic, the phrase archaeological terrorism was coined by scholars who had watched the carnage unfold. The world watched with horror as the Taliban destroyed ancient sculptures in Afghanistan. The response was a helpless, collective gasp as explosives, tanks and anti-aircraft weapons blew apart two colossal images of the Buddha in Bamiyan, 230 km from the Afghan capital Kabul. Today, the same danger looms over Pakistan, which contains sites from the Indus Valley civilisation. -- *Ranjan Roy* 1 Comments More...<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1482> War on Terror * Obama’s bulldozer risks turning the Taliban into Pakistan’s Khmer Rouge <http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1481>* Unless the U.S. President can break his hard-line posture, the wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan could prove his Vietnam. -- *Pankaj Mishra* More...<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1481> Islam and Politics *High drama in Iran: Allegation Of Rigging And A Campaign Of Resistance <http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1480>* The high drama of the last few days has shown Iran's democracy in a fresh light. The scale of the public anger and refusal to accept what was believed to be a doctored result appears to have surprised the authorities. But so far at least, the demonstrations have been aimed at persuading those in final authority rather than challenging their hold on power. Comparisons have been made between the current show of public disaffection and the massive manifestations that paved the way for the return on Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979. But on present reckoning, such comparisons are far-fetched. What has been seen is a demand for the system to work in a fair manner, not a demand for its replacement. The situation is still working itself out and any conclusions about where it could lead would be premature. The international reaction has been restrained, for on all sides people are waiting to see what eventually happens. The fact that the result has not been annulled gives an advantage to the incumbent President but it is to be seen how far he must bend to accommodate the determined opposition to his rule. -- *Salman Haidar*, India's former Foreign Secretary More...<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1480> Islam and Politics *Time for a people’s coup against Pak Army <http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1479>* President Asif Ali Zardari must remove all the stops in repealing the dictatorial aspects of the 17th Amendment (the Amendment allows the President of Pakistan to stay on as the Chief of Army Staff); and implement the Charter of Democracy immediately. Only this will block the way for future Army interventions: is it too much to say that the political forces must come together at the earliest to deflate the hot-air balloons even now being floated by some of the tight buddies of the establishment who are advocating an early return to Army rule because of the most outlandish conspiracies that only they can see? -- *Kamran Shafi, Dawn, Karachi* More..<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1479> -- Syed.Asadullah --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Asalam o Alaikum, You Are Receiving This Message, Because You Are A Member Of FOCUS ON ISLAM, A Google Group [..:: The Best Group For Nice Islamic Mails ::..] \/<<<<>>>>\/<<<<>>>>\/<<<<>>>>\/<<<<>>>>\/<<<<>>>>\/<<<<>>>>\/<>\/ You can Post Your Comments and Suggestions to Me [Moderator of this Group] on this email address: [email protected] To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.google.com/group/focusonislam/ To post messages/mails to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] Please forward our Mails to Your friends, and convence them to join our Group. 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