Tuesday, February 20, 2007
  Another effort to thwart radicalism
Eteraz.org Launches Anti-Fundamentalist Fundraiser

NEW YORK, NY 02/18/2007—In an effort to counter the influence of radical Islamic doctrine in the US & UK, Muslim activist organization and think tank Eteraz.org has launched a fundraiser to provide modernist translations of the Quran to Western mosques, Muslim chaplaincies, and student associations.

"Today, the translation of the Quran most commonly found in Muslim institutions in the US is 'The Noble Quran', a Saudi-sponsored text that interprets the Quran according to a very conservative doctrine. That's problematic," says Eteraz.org founder Ali Eteraz. "We want to provide Muslims with a more modernist translation so that people can make up their own minds about controversial verses. The Saudi interpretation shouldn't be the only interpretation available to modern Muslims. That interpretation inserts hateful references to Jews and Christians and does nothing to clarify Quranic verses regarding women's rights."

With this fundraising effort, Eteraz.org hopes to raise $30,000 to donate 1,000 copies of the Muhammad Asad translation of the Quran to US mosques and Islamic education programs free of charge. The translation typically retails for $55, making it prohibitively expensive for many institutions.

"The Muhammad Asad translation is considered the most authoritative English translation to date," says Eteraz. "It interprets the Quran based on primary sources and a thorough knowledge of classical Arabic, instead of the agenda of a certain sect."

While CAIR (the Council for American Islamic Relations) has been providing copies of the Asad translation of the Quran to non-Muslims at no charge for some time, this is the first effort to make it freely available to Muslims themselves who are the engine of Islamic Thought.

"The Saudi interpretation of the Quran is really the only interpretation a Muslim can get for free in the US," claims Eteraz, "This means that Islamic education programs stressed for resources have no choice but to promote the state doctrine of Saudi Arabia. We'd like to change that."

To donate, visit http://www.eteraz.org/
 
Comments:
Salaam

CAIR sends free Qurans to to anyone who requests one, including Muslims. Many Muslims have received free Qurans through our "Explore the Quran" initiative. SEE: www.cair.com/explorethequran

Ibrahim Hooper
 
Thanks, Ibrahim, I will order one :)

You can also read four English translations of the Qur'an online at this website:

http://www.searchtruth.com/list.php

Ya Haqq!
 
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Progressive Muslim, feminist, mom, writer, mystic, lover of the universe and Doug Schmidt, cellist, theologian and imam.


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Cane River
An interesting exploration of the gradual whiting of a family through slavery to modern days.

To see an archive of all the books I've read (well the ones I've read and review since I started the blog) with comments, please click here

Causes Worth Supporting

This is just a short list -- a few of my favorites.

English Language Islamic Fiction. We need more of it. Lots more.
Pay a Teacher's Salary in Afghanistan. The Hunger site actually has a lot of worthwhile programs. You can find them all here .
Muslims for Progressive Values. My organization. We can always use donations, of time or money!
Human Rights Campaign for the glbt community
National Religious Campaign Against Torture
The ACLU I'm a card carrying member. Hope you'll become one too.
MoveOn.org. The organization that has done the most, as far as I can tell, to pull the countries progressive side together.
Network of Spiritual Progressives. Working to reclaim religion and morality for the religious left.

Blogs Worth Reading

Wanda Campbell also known as Nochipa A very gifted poet and a gentle, compassionate soul. Nochipa and I are on the same page on sooooo many things
Writeous Sister Aminah Hernandez, she's got some excellent latino pieces and always has good writing info on her blog.
Sister Scorpion aka Leila Montour - Leila is a fount of energy, quirky humor, and bad attitude. She's also a talented poet.
Muhajabah Very interesting commentary here. I don't always agree with her, but her pieces are always thought-provoking.
Georgie Dowdell Georgie is a great writer and a good friend.
Louise Marley Another great writer. I think Louise is one of the best sf writers exploring faith themes.
Ink in My Coffee Devon Ellington (who has numerous aliases) who is also the editor of Circadian Poems. A truly inspiring woman with a seemingly endless supply of energy.
Ethnically Incorrect With a name like that, isn't a given I'm going to enjoy this writer?
Freedom from the Mundane Colin Galbraith, another excellent writer, from Scotland.
The Scruffy Dog Review This is a new e-zine with an ecclectic mix of fiction, poetry, and non-fic, some really enjoyable pieces here.
Ramblings of a Suburban Soccer Mom Lara, another gentle soul, very thoughtful.
Circadian Poems A journal of poetry, new stuff up all the time.
Ye Olde Inkwell Michelle writes romance and is one of my writing buddies.
Muhammad Michael Knight The original punk Muslim writer. Like him or love him, Mike is always coming up with the unexpected.

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