Middle East 201

The Qur'an, Part II

Photo via Aziz Poonawalla

Aziz Poonawalla will be joining us on Sunday as we continue our discussion of the Qur'an. Aziz has been writing for Beliefnet at City of Brass for more than a decade.

In his words:

I started City of Brass as a response to 9-11, because as a Muslim and an American, needed an outlet to relieve the tension between these parts of my identity. It was almost a form of therapy. I think I’ve said everything I needed to say about 9-11 in the 15+ years since. I have written about the Qur’an, Ramadan and Ashara, about the moon and the stars, about headscarves and human rights. I debated moonsighting and defended Milad al Nabi and ziyarat. I openly respected Judaism and Christianity as Abrahamic faiths, but was skeptical of Ummah. I talked about the Uyghurs and the Rohingya. I wrote about the war on terrorism and its attendant Islamophobia. I have refuted the libel of Muslims’ silence and pointed out the silence of others. I have tackled illegal NYPD surveillance, asked and answered questions about Park 51, and proved with data how Muslim informants have saved lives. I have critiqued intersectionality and the drone war, and expressed relief at the execution of Awlaki and 5 stages of emotion over the death of Osama. I articulated a Muslim political agenda, discussed whether Islam was a religion of peace or justice, asked how muslims can combat extremism, and proposed an Islamic dojo solution to the unschooled scholar problem. I shared the stage with amazing guest bloggers who kept raising the bar. I even kept a sense of humor. And throughout it all—I always found a way to honor America and honor Islam, and prove that there is no tension between these two great ideals whatsoever, and never was.

This class, again, its open to any subscriber who’s curious about the topic, so long as you’ve done the reading, both for this class and, ideally, this one. (It’s alright if you didn’t come to that one, albeit a shame, because Nervana Mahmoud was a terrific guest.)

Aziz will answer any questions you have about the Qur'an and the Surahs I assigned last time. But he’d like you in particular to read and focus on these Surahs:

• Al-Qari'ah (The Great Calamity).

• Al Fil (The Elephant)

• Al Bayyinah (The Clear Evidence)

He also asked that you read the following very short pieces, which he wrote: