Night Walks

Muslim Reformer Shireen Qudosi speaks with Democratic activist and female imam Rabi'a Keeble on Ilhan Omar's latest Muslim Caucus Day controversy. Why did Ilhan Omar deflect from answering a straightforward question on a human rights issues in her district?

Support my work: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme2/shireenqudosi

2 minutes: The "magical" appeal of Ilhan Omar
4:40 minutes: Somali support for FGM
5:40 minutes: Ilhan Omar's "disgusting" response to a Muslim question on FGM during Muslim Caucus Day
10 minutes: Is Ilhan Omar deflecting because she had FGM done to her?
14 minutes: Ayaan Hirsi Ali vs. Ilhan Omar
14:40 minutes: Trump vs. Ilhan Omar
16:10 minutes: Is Omar influenced by the Hamza Yusuf?
18:05 minutes: Why Rabi'a and I get attacked by the Somali community
28:34 minutes: Fresh thoughts on Islamophobia
29:30 minutes: Why activists in Africa are doing a better job of ending FGM
30:20 minutes: Why Muslim scholars can't the cure for FGM
Closing: Regressive community pressure kills genuine reform initiatives against FGM.

Reference Links:
http://www.startribune.com/minnesota-bill-against-female-mutilation-raises-opposition/423070383/?refresh=true

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCcd-HaIWd4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob3Wf0PKtBM

Qudosi's Articles on FGM:
FGM Silences A Woman's Most Primal Voice
Zuhdi Jasser and Shireen Qudosi discuss FGM
In the Era of #MeToo, FGM Must be Seen as Sexual Violence
Why Freedom of Religion is an Illegitimate Defense of FGM
After Detroit, American Muslims Target Female Genital Mutilation

Support my work: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme2/shireenqudosi

About Rabi'a Keeble:

For over 20 years, Rab’ia Keeble (RK) has personally seen issues affecting the Muslim community/women up close, including victims of FGM and forced marriage. This in part initiated her activism work including opening a woman’s mosque, one that openly spoke out against FGM and anti-Semitism.

Rabi'a started the Qal'bu Maryam Women's Mosque in Berkeley, a registered non-profit (not yet a 501c3), that meets every Friday. Attendance at the mosque ranges from 5-15 women. Other motivations for opening the mosque grew out of frustration with pro-segregation attitudes by mosque leaders that also denied Muslim women equal access to the facility and events, thereby also lessening the impact of their voice.

Rabi'a has also tried to reach out and speak with the imam in Virginia who advocated for FGM. Requests to speak were not returned. I recommended RK consider producing an open letter video in order to still be heard and possibly reach a wider audience. In other words, don’t accept a denied request; instead, reach for a bigger platform.
FGM has become one of the most important topics right now for RK as a Muslim woman. She is a Democratic delegate for her district in California, where one of the perks is access to speak w/ assembly leaders (Rob Bonta) who asks for legislation ideas. Rabi'a wrote the Muslim Woman's Bill of Rights, which includes the right to refuse FGM, the right to make decisions about her own body. It is in Sacramento now at the state capital, and Rabi'a is hoping to represent it if it is put into legislation. She has told Bonta that they need to include in this bill stipulated in high schools, mosques, city hall, and via literature, television, etc.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.eradarkheart.com/subscribe

How activists and leaders extend the shelf life of terror attacks. A conversation on the Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka on April 21, 2019.

For more, visit https://www.patreon.com/ShireenQudosi

Follow me on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/shireenqudosi

To offer a gift to make more of these conversations possible: https://www.paypal.me/ShireenQudosi

About Me:

I'm a writer and speaker exploring faith, identity and belonging in an evolving world. My work has been published with The Federalist, The Hill, On Being, Women in the World, The Middle East Forum, and more. A keynote writing includes a two-hour exclusive interview with imam Abu Taubah (audio below), who was linked to Orlando Shooter Omar Mateen. It was a vivid portrait on the complexities of interlocking identities in the war against extremism. In 2016, I testified before the House Homeland Security Committee Hearing on radical Islam, offering a testimony that tied the current crisis to Islam’s origin story and painting Islam as a code that can be reworked. In the years since, I've been working on human rights issues from anti-FGM campaigns to preventing violent extremism across a broad spectrum of ideologies. I'm currently writing my first book, Islam's Origin Story.

"People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction, and anyone who insists on remaining in a state of innocence long after that innocence is dead turns himself into a monster." - James Baldwin

Conversation with Shireen Qudosi, David Slater and Adam Ahmed.

David Slater is a journalist for Pontiac Tribune and The Fifth Column. He frequently writes about security issues and the police state.

Adam Ahmed is a blogger and Muslim subculture analyst.

Shireen Qudosi is a writer exploring themes of faith, identity, and belonging.

Reference Links:

https://www.academia.edu/7487749/Religion_as_Phantasmagoria_Islam_in_The_End_of_Faith


https://beautifulrising.org/tool/the-ngo-ization-of-resistance

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/iran-frightens-me-harper-says-1.1141390



http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-closes-embassy-in-iran-expels-iranian-Diplomats-1.1166509

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.eradarkheart.com/subscribe

Muslim subculture analyst Adam Ahmed and I talk about how Muslims went from being a "minority" pre 9/11 to being "outsiders" seventeen years later. We have a candid conversation on what subtle racism and bigotry looks like, and what to look out for.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.eradarkheart.com/subscribe

In the article published with The Nation, we learn that boys are often kidnapped from families too poor to do anything about it. They’re traded, sold and used as sex slaves. And as these boys grow into men, they’re at the fringe of society, with no education or training to fall back on. No family to go home to in a culture where shame and honor are in many ways the primary religion.

"If we're there to tackle extremism, well raping a child is pretty extreme."

"What do you do when local authorities become the predators?"

"It becomes this huge political game where even our commanders, whether they wanted to do something about it or not, were unable to due to the politics. We have the issue of insider attacks and going out to kill one of these pedophiles from the local police units would have caused ripples in the alliance and possible lead to retaliatory attacks on US servicemembers. It's a fine line that lower level commanders had to walk; do the truly right thing, or try to bring home as many of their men alive as possible. There were a few times where I was standing face to face with someone who I was certain was guilty, but I was unable to do anything about it, and it hurts me to this day."

Resources:
http://nation.com.pk/international/26-Jun-2017/stolen-boys-life-after-sexual-slavery-in-afghanistan

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/08/20/army-kicking-out-decorated-green-beret-who-stood-up-for-afghan-rape-victim.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/21/world/asia/us-soldiers-told-to-ignore-afghan-allies-abuse-of-boys.html

Documentary: Dancing Boys of Afghanistan.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.eradarkheart.com/subscribe

I sit down with 17-year-old Zeeshan, a politically independent high school senior who didn't understand premise behind the Women's March -- all while his sister, a fierce feminist took to the March in full force.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.eradarkheart.com/subscribe

"Ideas don't have to be respected. Ideology doesn't have to be respected. Religion doesn't have to be respected. I respect people"

"The point of being politically correct is to tell the truth, not to be an a*****e."

"We're all Americans. We all want the same thing, but through different methods."

"A lot of people don't know how to argue. A lot of people don't know how to talk to people in general."

"You think you know people, until you challenge what they believe in."

Plus, what advice does a young Ex-Muslims offer others looking to leave religion.

Read more:
India's Ex-Muslims by Tufail Ahmad
http://www.firstpost.com/long-reads/indias-ex-muslims-3274246.html

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.eradarkheart.com/subscribe

Shireen Qudosi chats with LUBPak Editor Ali Abbas Taj on the most recent abduction and persecution of four Pakistani activists and bloggers.

Follow Shireen on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShireenQudosi
Follow Ali on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AliAbbasTaj

Check out Ali Abbas' Book: https://www.amazon.com/Faith-Based-Violence-Deobandi-Militancy-Pakistan/dp/1349949655

-------

About Between Two Muslims

Between Two Muslims is a project by Muslim Reformer Shireen Qudosi, created in the interest of hosting meaningful and intimate dialogues on Islam in the 21st century.

-------

About Shireen Qudosi

Shireen Qudosi is an American writer and strategist. She specializes in analyzing the leadership and ideology of transnational and U.S. based Muslim organizations. She was named one of the top ten North American Muslim Reformers in 2011. She is also a Senior Contributor at CounterJihad.com.

Her writing has been featured in The Federalist, The Middle East Forum, The Times of Israel, The Clarion Project, and Fox News. She’s appeared on Fox Business’ Varney and Company to discuss free speech violations against Muslim Reformers and critical thinkers, and has been interviewed by The Hill, BBC World, and The Times of India as a Muslim Reformer.

Her keynote writings also include an in-depth assessment on the War on Terror through the lens of WWII and a two-hour exclusive interview with radical Imam Abu Taubah, who was linked to Orlando Shooter Omar Mateen. In 2016, testified before the House Homeland Security Committee Hearing on radical Islam, offering a powerful testimony that tied the current crisis to Islam's origin story.

For over a decade, Shireen has furthered the cause of progressive Islam both through her blog, The Qudosi Chronicles and by working with a diverse network of activists within the global Muslim community.

Shireen’s experience has given her insight in forecasting where the conversation among the world’s leading secular and religious Islamic leaders is heading. As a former refugee raised across three continents, Shireen has a unique perspective of the issues facing the U.S. and global Muslim community.

Shireen’s family was smuggled out of Afghanistan in the 1970s due to political turmoil involving King Zahir Shah and the subsequent Soviet coup in 1978. In Pakistan, they faced cultural complications before traveling to first to Iran, then seeking asylum in Germany in 1985, and finally settling in California in 1988. Because of the challenges she faced growing up, Shireen has a heightened understanding of the issues facing Europe and grasps American frustrations with immigration and assimilation of refugees from the combined regional conflicts.

Shireen recognizes that Islam is at a crossroads and that the crisis within the global Muslim community requires unwavering focus, not only on the kinetic war but on the deeper conflict within both the ideology and theology of radical Islam.

Previously, Shireen’s career spanned across education and marketing. She’s worked as teacher, developing new education models and she founded and led Qudosi Creative Partners where she has pushed new leadership paradigms through targeted messaging in the areas of education and behavioral health.

Shireen is an advisor for Women’s Voices Now and is on the board of The La Habra Boxing Foundation. Shireen attended the University of California, Irvine, graduating with a B.A. in English and a B.A. in Political Science. She also attended California Western School of Law before leaving to build a foundation for her work as a Muslim Reformer. She is an ongoing student and researcher of theology and Islamic philosophy, studying independently and alongside one of the top North American sheikhs trained in both the traditional and academic tradition.

For more, visit http://muslimreformers.com

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.eradarkheart.com/subscribe