Writing on Islam
I came to Islam as an adult, after a long search. What follows is what I have understood since — and some of what I am still working out.
Starting points
Islam is a 3 Dimensional Religion Where belief, practice and inner life meet, and why missing one of them distorts the other two. The Qur’an What it is and how it is read. What are Hadith? The reports, their chains, and how authenticity is weighed. What is Sunnah? Practice, as distinct from text.Contested ground
Four words that get used as accusations more often than they get explained. Published on Fireline Press, where the argument belongs.
The Islam Hustle You are not wrong to be angry. You are angry at the wrong people. Following the money behind the outrage. Taqiyya What the word actually means, and what it has been made to mean. Shariah A body of law, a method of reasoning, and a word that stopped meaning either. Jihad The struggle, its conditions, and the people on both sides who benefit from misreading it. Aisha The sources, the disagreements between them, and what the evidence will and will not carry.Looking inward
The Myth of Wahhabism How a modern movement came to present itself as the original one. Islamic Art and Photography The image in Islamic tradition, and the much later argument that there should not be one. Muslim Informants What a community does to the person who reports a crime, and what that reveals about the community.A record of the work
The Man They Kept Sending A decade in Houston, 1997–2006. The police academy course, the media desk, and the work around them. Another life, kept on the record.
Creator of the Signal Monolith.
Written before you. Meant for you.