Identity: Diaspora

Muslim Engagement at the Community Level in UK

From the archive (2011): an East London lament about declining community influence — and the plain answer: influence is organised, not lamented into existence.

Identity: Diaspora

The Question of Islam and Democracy

Dr. Mohamed Elmasry's Arab Spring-era essay on Islam and democracy — reread in 2026, when the question has become whether communities can build the institutions democracy requires.

Institutions: International Order

The Myth of Moderation

The Washington Post published a poll-induced barely comprehensible laundry list of what a ‘moderate’ Muslim should be [http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2011/02/will_the_real_moderate_muslims_please_stand_up.html] .  Let us pick it apart one by one.  With apologies to the author of the said

Theology: Jurisprudence

The Shariah Threat to America

From the archive (2011): the ‘Shariah threat’ panic dissected — a manufactured-panic playbook since reused, and the institutional defence that transfers.

Knowledge: Scholarship

Arabia Rising

A lot has been written on the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, and now Libya and Bahrain seem to be going the same way. Here at Muslim Identity, we support and promote self-determination with means and goals that are geared to the 21st century and not copied over from the

Identity: Islamophobia

Muddled Cameron Swerves Hard Right

From the archive (2011): Cameron’s ‘muscular liberalism’ — values rhetoric as exclusion, answered since less by argument than by civic capability.

Theology: Jurisprudence

Murderer or Hero?

From the archive (2011): Pakistan divided over a celebrated killing — a fracture only trusted courts, schools, and scholarship can repair.

Theology: Eschatology

The Arrivals - Documentary or Entertainment?

From the archive (2011): ‘The Arrivals’ dissected — source criticism taught from within the community, a skill now survival-grade.

Archive: Palestine

Top 10 Events of the Decade Affecting Muslim Identity

From the archive (2011): the decade’s top events for Muslim identity — almost all things done to Muslims; the next list must be things Muslims built.

Self-Reliance: Technology

Cyber War: Big Brother Lashing Out

From the archive (2010): on cyber operations and official duplicity, written when the vocabulary was new — the case for technical literacy and owned infrastructure.

Self-Reliance: Economics

Conspiracy Theory vs Academic Naiveté

From the archive (2010): between conspiracy theory and academic naivety — follow the money, with evidence; structured scepticism as a teachable skill.

Knowledge: Science

Three un-Connected Thoughts

From the archive (2009): three unconnected thoughts — the public notebook genre, where fragments grew into this site’s later theses.

Self-Reliance: Economics

Business Risk: Risk Hedging, De-regulation and Segmentation

From the archive (2009): the crisis and healthcare read through one mechanism — who carries risk. Risk allocation is institutional design.

Institutions: Governance

Obama, and the Beginning of the End of Racism

The article version of this post was published by Chowk [http://www.chowk.com/articles/age-of-obama-beginning-of-the-end-of-racism-akber-choudhry.htm] . Almost a year after Obama’s historic election, the strange wave of euphoria that swept around the world is finally morphing into some long-awaited rational discourse. What was it at the time? What

Self-Reliance: Technology

Government-wide Licenses: a Good Idea?

From the archive (2009): one vendor for a whole government — a procurement question that is now the AI question for whole societies.

Knowledge: Scholarship

New York Times Article - a Few Truths

From the archive (2009): close-reading the Times on Oman — finding the load-bearing sentence in friendly coverage.

Institutions: Civil Society

The Gulf Arabs' Quixotic Pursuit of Knowledge

Sometimes, I end up asking young Arab workers to gain more training and experience, and apply their mind to an issue and develop critical judgment, instead of simply following instructions. To most young Arabs, knowledge is the piece of paper they get from a college or the instructions they get

Archive: Palestine

Gaza 2009 - end of neo-conservatism?

From the archive (2009): Juan Cole on Gaza and the end of neoconservatism — a verdict read in real time, preserved as part of the era’s record.

Self-Reliance: Economics

US Stimulus Bill - a clear shift

From the archive (2009): the stimulus read as experiment, not allegiance — hypothesis, scale, result; the habit of mind is the asset.

Archive: Pakistan

Pakistan, welcome to Hyderabad

From the archive (2008): ‘Pakistan, welcome to Hyderabad’ — ordinary goodwill at a cricket ground, and the institutions needed to make it outlast a news cycle.

Identity: Diaspora

The Brutal Killing of Aqsa Parvez

From the archive (2007): on the killing of Aqsa Parvez — precision about the crime, honesty about the community questions, both at once.

Archive: Palestine

Update on 'The Israel Lobby'

From the archive (2007): Freedom’s Watch and organised influence in the open — a study in machinery: funding, organisation, discipline. Influence is institutional.

Institutions: Civil Society

Convicting Padilla: Bad News for All Americans

From the archive (2007): the Padilla conviction read as a due-process problem for all Americans — defending institutional principle when it was least popular.

Knowledge: Scholarship

'This One Is So Hot': The Censorship of Walt and Mearsheimer

At QeRN, we have been following this story for some time now. As their book is about to be published, we take a look at the latest twist in their saga. The following is a piece by the blogger 'Gary' and a reproduction of a letter by Walt

Archive: Iraq

A Shocking End to an Independent Press

From the archive (2007): the Moyers indictment of pre-war journalism — institutional failure inside the press, and the case for owning media capability.