Islam on NPR

In addition to Islamic lectures and Qur’an, NPR podcasts always have a place on my ipod.  Every once in awhile, a good islam related story will come up and I’ll say, ooo, I gotta blog this.  Alas, in one ear, out the other, and it’s soon forgotten.

 Well, not today.  Here’s a list of all the NPR pieces that I’ve been meaning to put up, but haven’t, and some that I came across while looking through the NPR website.  One of the reasons I *heart* NPR is that it provides a wider range of stories and news coverage than the television media does, and the pieces they do are well researched and in depth.   I’m only putting up the more “story” like pieces, as opposed to ones covering breaking news.

Recommended:

• Muslim Holiday Eid Keeps Texas Butcher Busy - about a non muslim butcher who provides halal meat.
• Learning to Endure the Hajj - american muslims practice before making the hajj
• The Partisans of Ali - history of the shia in politics and faith
• Iraqi Radical Cleric Al-Sadr Studies for Ayatollah - looks like he’s following my study plan - books and cds. 
• Comedy Troupe Mines the Humor in Islam - the Allah Made me Funny brothers
• Plan Would Replace Cairo’s Calls to Prayer
• Zarqa Nawaz on ‘Little Mosque’
• Ellison to Take Oath on Thomas Jefferson’s Quran

To listen to:

• Did ‘Siege of Mecca’ Give Birth to Al-Qaida?
• Yaroslav Trofimov on the Siege of Mecca
• Clerics’ Letter: Signatories Show Global ‘Handshake’
• Imam’s ‘American Crescent’ Sheds Light on Muslim Culture
• A Biographical View of the Koran
• American Muslim Family Chooses Polygamy
• Two Mosques, Two Different Reactions in Germany
• Young Imam Serves as Islam’s Face to Community
• Sept. 11 Message Challenges Young Imam
• A Day in the Life of a Tireless Imam
• Muslim Leader Tells Personal Story of Religious Conversion
• Evangelicals, Muslims Have Milestone Meeting
• Walking the Faith Line with Eboo Patel
• Mosques Reflect on Padilla’s Islamic Education
• Asra Nomani, ‘Standing Alone’ with Muslim Women
• Prospect of Devout Muslim President Divides Turkey
• Documentary Examines Muslim Brotherhood

From Minnesota Public Radio (one of the awesomest local public radio stations in the country, and one of the few things that makes Minnesota livable)

• Muslim women confront clash of cultures 
• Breaking the Ice: Muslims and the Media 
• Islam and the West
• Celebrating Ramadan in Minnesota
  

Hot Dang!

So, I was surfing the itunes store last night looking for the Asma’u Allah (which isn’t there btw).  However, I did happen upon something a billion times better - theonlyword.   How did I not know about this before now?  It’s an mp3/notes combo of the quran for your ipod - now I can listen to AND read the Qur’an right on my ipod.  SubhanAllah, may Allah (swt) bless the creative people behind this FREE program.

On my iPod - pre ramadan edition

Ramadan Resolutions // With Imam Suhaib Webb & Special Guests Chacha Saab & Imam Patrick Robertson - Ramadan Resolutions // With Imam Suhaib Webb & Special Guests Chacha Saab & Imam Patrick Robertson

Ramadan Preparation // with Imam Zaid Shakir - Ramadan Preparation // with Imam Zaid Shakir

Ramadan: A Time for Change // With Imam Suhaib Webb

Are You Ready For The Month Of Ramadan? // With Imam Suhaib Webb

Qur’an with English translation - can’t find the specific one I have - the english recitations here are kind of hockey sounding. The one I have is more conversational in tone.

Takbir! - Takbir!

Tajweed podcasts

This tajweed podcast looks interesting, and hopefully, promising. I did tell the husband recently that I’d like to learn at least the basics of tajweed, so inshaAllah with his help and with this podcast, I’ll be on my way.

From his blog, here’s some info about the creator of the podcast:

khaled Bouchafaa
has been teaching Quran and Tajweed for the last 20 years in various Islamic colleges and masjids. He has been authorised by the Qurra to teach this sacred knowledge of tajweed and Quran. He began his studies of Qiraat in Algeria (from Sheikh Sharati rhm who was the student of the famous Sheikh Abdul-Aziz abul Uyun as Sud and from Sheikh Ahmed Ma’but who was the student of Bakri at Tarabishi) and acquired further knowledge from eminent Scholars of Qiraat in Damascus (Sheikh Abu Sulayman az Zabibi, Sheikh Abdur Razaq al Halabi and the Imam of Jamia al Qitat Sheikh Abu Usamah Basha). In addition, he has studied with Egyptian qarris (Sheikh Hassan Marzug al Jizzi). Sheikh Khaled recites Quran with riwayat Hafs by the Shatibiyah tariq and riwayat Warsh by the Al-Azraq tariq. Currently, he is a teacher of Quran in the largest Islamic School of Australia, is a volunteer Imam and provides tajweed lessons in English and Arabic in his local area.

These are some other tajweed related sites I’m planning on looking into when I have more time:

• About Tajweed
• Tajweed.com

most wonderful time of the year!

*skips along singing* …it’s the most wonderful time of the year…it’s the hap -happiest season of all…with those holiday greetings and gay happy meetings…when friends come to call It’s the hap - happiest season of all!

Yup, the most wonderful time of year is coming in 2 months, and I’ve already got the fever. No, not santa claus time, silly, it’s Ramadan, baby, yeah! Gotta get my goals sorted out and my stuff in order so I can make the best of the month inshaAllah.

Before Ramadan:

1. Pray all 5 fard with at least 5 minutes of dua and dhikr after.

2. Read through the Qur’an. I have an excellent arabic/english quran podcast on my ipod. The translation is the saheeh international version, which just so happens to be the same translation as my little travel zippy quran (which they apparently don’t sell anymore, much to my dismay after I’ve recommended it to several people who’ve been unable to find it). So, I can sit on the bus, listen to the arabic, and then read along with the english translation. inshaAllah my goal is to get through the end of the podcast, which is now at surah 66.

During Ramadan:

1. Pray witr every day.

2. Pray at least one taraweeh at the masjid a week. This is something I loved to do in college, but have slacked on since graduating and getting married. The husband holds the opinion that praying taraweeh at home is better than at the masjid, so he hasn’t been too enthusiastic about going. But, inshaAllah this year I’m going to make the effort to go, even if it is on my own.

3. Go to the iftar potlucks. So far, I’ve only been a moocher at the community iftars, coming on Saturday and Sunday when people volunteer to make food. But inshaAllah this year I’m going to go to the potlucks that are on Friday night. I’ve been cooking more, and I think I have a few recipes that will satisfy the diverse community at the masjid.

4. Read the entire Qur’an in arabic and english. Since my ability to read the arabic script still sucks, I will rely on my most excellent Muhammad Asad translation, that has the arabic script, roman transliteration, english translation and extensive footnotes. I figure I’ll pick out a recitation I really like, recite along with it for a page (using the transliteration), then go back, read the english translation and go over the footnotes. I figure this will take up a huge chunk of time, so I’ll have to set aside blocks and commit to it. Unfortunately, the book is too large to take on the bus, but maybe I can find just a smaller transliteration, and do the arabic listening/reciting quietly on my hour long commutes to and from work.

I’ve always had reading the entire quran as a goal, but after an initial burst of energy, I peter off. Anyone want to be my quran reading buddy? We can hold each other accountable. Since my available time varies day to day, I thought rather than say a juz a day, the goal could be 7 juz in a week, so that it would be possible to catch up/work ahead on the weekends when there is more time available.

*note, all pictures in this post are from deviantart. Click on the pics to find more from these talented artists*

More for my ipod

Svend at Akram’s Razor posted a link to the MAS Mediacast site. It looks like they have dozens of excellent lectures just waiting to be downloaded to my ipod. This should be a welcome change to my steady diet of NPR I’ve been on for weeks.

Tariq Ramadan is a genius

Seriously. When the man talks, he just makes sense.

Is Islam in Need of Reformation? a lecture by Dr Tariq Ramadan

I’m also reading his book “In the Footsteps of the Prophet,” which is excellent as well. I will put up a review when I’m done, I promise.

However, I am stuck midway through “Western Muslims and the Future of Islam.” It’s a little to academic-y for me at the moment. I think my brain has gone on strike after being in school for, oh 21 years straight. It’s unfortunate, because this book is chock full of ideas that every muslim interested at all in the western portion of the ummah should know and be able to discuss.

Podcasting

I was gifted with a beautiful iPod nano in honor of the completion of my paralegal certification, forthcoming in 2 weeks. This has opened up a whole new segment of the online ummah to me - podcasting. In addition to traditional islamic downloads like the Qur’an and lectures in mp3 format, several ingenius brothers and sisters have created excellent weekly/occasional audio files available for download on a variety of subjects. I’ve stuffed my 2 gig beauty full to the gills, and still have more lectures and quran waiting in iTunes.

Currently on my iPod:

The Qur’an - I’ve got probably 15 full recitations of the Qur’an by different people on cd. Choosing at random, I’ve uploaded Zaki Daghistani. I think I may upload Abdul Baset next, but I’m not sure.

Qur’an Weekly Podcast - A portion of the Qur’an made available each week for download, with arabic and english recitations. Perfect for the non arabic speaking muslim on the go.

Mecca One Radio - recordings of an excellent muslim radio show out in California. Their website has the programs available to listen to online.

Somewhat on a tangent, they used to sell awesome iPod parody shirts. I never got a chance to order one. *sigh* One of their designs is at the beginning of this post. Scroll through the gallery at deenport for a thumbnails of 2 others.

AlHambra Productions - from the folks at Zaytuna Institute. These guys always have something brilliant to say subhanAllah.

Radical Middle Way - Search for it on iTunes. If youre not lucky enough to live in England so that you can hear these amazing talks in person, they’re also available on their website.

Waiting to go on my iPod:

ADAMS Qurtaba Institute
Ihsan
altMuslim

Any suggestions for other good islam related podcasts? Since I’ve gotten my iPod, my commute to work (one hour each way) and and my workday have seemed much more fruitful. Stressed? Plug in the headphones and there’s the quran, at my fingertips.