IDEAS

Muslim & Modern

Passionately challenging mainstream views crafted by medieval Islamic jurisprudents

by varjavand
04-Feb-2009 (23 comments)
After the rise of so called Islamic fundamentalism and the perceived threat against the west, Islam has been subject to scrutiny, interpretation, and critical analysis by Muslims as well as non-Muslims in the United States. Countless numbers of books have been published. "The Muslim Next Door" is one of the best. It is a very fascinating book that offers a refreshing departure from the ordinary presentations of Islam by others. It examines a wide variety of issues pivotal to the religion of Islam. The author, Ms. Sumbul Ali-Karamali, a Western educated Muslim woman, offers her own views concerning these pivotal issues, especially those related to Muslim women, their role, and their rights under Islamic law>>>

REVOLUTION

We made a big mistake

Whatever the reason for your arguments, you should do it peacefully

by Azadeh S
04-Feb-2009 (2 comments)
Last night I went to see the movie “Slumdog Millionaire”. It was a good movie, and brought back some bitter-sweet memories. I was visiting India for a few days, in early 1980’s. I found India an interesting country, with ancient culture and history, beautiful natural scenaries, dense population, rich and poor living side by side, and democratic. But, what took most of my attention, coming from Iran after the revolution, was the intense clash between Hindus and Muslims. Every night on TV, I watched burning maabads and musks, put on fire by someone affiliated with the two religious groups>>>

POETRY

تولدم مبارک
by Marjanoo
04-Feb-2009 (4 comments)
روز پونزده آبان ماه هزارو سیصدو هر چی‌ که بود
مثل هر روز دگر برخاستم
ناگهان به یادم آمد که من امروز متولد شده ام
پس شتافتم سوی آینه تا ببینم صورت سی‌ ساله‌ام را
توی آینه محو خود گشتم و گشتم
آینه باز شد من به داخل رفتم آنگاه
سی‌ سال عمر گذشته روبرویم شد نمایان >>>

MUSIC

Take the Last Chance

Video for new song by Peyman Salimi

by Shadi Yousifian & Ardalan Payvar
03-Feb-2009 (11 comments)
...>>>

VIEW

Rehabilitating the Shah

Jottings on Gholam Reza Afkhami's new biography of the Shah

by ganselmi
02-Feb-2009 (41 comments)
A common narrative concerning the Shah and the Pahlavi legacy unites much of Iran’s intelligentsia with liberal-left opinion in the West. According to this narrative, Mohammad Reza Shah’s father, Reza Shah, was an absolutist dictator who attempted to modernize Iran at the point of the gun and an entirely unacceptable pace. Meanwhile, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi is depicted as a corrupt stooge and a “westoxicated” lapdog of American imperialism who, by squashing the authentic democratic urges of his people, ultimately empowered the fundamentalist scourge now raging in his homeland. As the 30th anniversary of the late Shah’s departure from Iran approached, I had the opportunity to read Gholam Reza Afkhami’s magisterial biography of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi>>>

POLITICS

Fooled, several times

I didn’t believe Goli Ameri would sell her soul to the devil

by anahid abbasi
02-Feb-2009 (26 comments)
Like many other Iranian-Americans, I was so proud and happy to see one of our own, Goli Ameri, first run for Congress and then later be appointed to a high-level position in the State Department. But just as the last 8 years have been a lesson in discarding political naiveté, it has also been a rude awakening to see how ruthless and ambitious politicians can be – even if they are Iranian-Americans. The election of Obama is not just a rejection of past policies to me, but also a rejection of ethnic policies: I much rather have a black president that stands for the values that made this country great, than an Iranian-American President that would pursue and defend the ruthless and backward policies of the Bush crowd>>>

SMELL

Too Much of a Good Thing

Sometimes think it would be nice to go back to when the air could only be polluted with natural and “organic” smells

by Ghahremani
02-Feb-2009 (2 comments)
Manufactured smells that permeate in public used to be limited to occasional wafts of smoke, industrial fumes and/or fragrances. That’s changed. Nowadays, if it isn't burning incense, it's aromatic baths, scented candles, air-fresheners and God only knows what else. Even the “new and improved” household cleaners are like a cheap perfume that while failing to mask the stink, they can bring tears to your eyes. While it’s good to be considerate of others, sometimes the attempt to mask a pungent odor can exacerbate the situation. Personally, I’d rather smell tobacco than put up with the stink of a cab driver's extinguished cigarette added to the strong scent of that fake pine tree cutout dangling from his rearview mirror>>>

REVOLUTION

خروج بی هزينه از بن بست؟

تبليغ سکولاريسم فقط و فقط کار خود ما و هر بخش از اپوزيسيونی است که ادعای ساختن ايرانی آزاد و بدور از تبعيض را دارد

by Esmail Nooriala
02-Feb-2009 (4 comments)
هر ساله، به ماه بهمن که می رسيم، بی اختيار، ياد معلم سال آخر مدرسهء ابتدائی ام می افتم که، با گام زدنی همچون انشتين، راهروی بين دو ستون ميز و نيمکت ها را می پيمود و برای ما مسئله می گفت و ما بايد تا آخر ساعت جواب مسئله اش را دو دستی تقديمش می کرديم: «خانه ای داريم که هوس کرده ايم خرابش کنيم و عمارت نوئی را بجايش بر پا کنيم. قيمت مصالح ساختمانی دو هزار تومان است و قيمت کار کارگر روزی 10 تومان. اگر عمليات ساختمانی دو ماه طول بکشد خرج اين کار چقدر خواهد بود؟ و يادتان هم باشد که ماه سی روز دارد!» و فاتحانه می خنديد. و من با خود فکر می کنم که سی سال پيش کدام نابغۀ رياضی می توانست جواب مسئله مشابهی را بدهد که آن روز معلم تاريخ پيش روی ما نهاده بود: «مملکتی داريم که شاهی دارد به نام محمد رضا شاه و نخست وزيری به نام اميرعباس هويدا... >>>

WAR CRIMES

تبعات روانی جنایات جنگی

وقتی انسان گرگ انسان شد دژخیم هم قربانی سبعیت خود خواهد شد

by Ahmad Sadri
02-Feb-2009 (9 comments)
آتش بس شکننده ای بر غزه حاکم است. در صورت پیروزی جناح راست اسرائیل تحت نخست وزیری بنیامین نتنیاهو در انتخابات آینده احتمال تجدید خشونت در غزه نیز افزایش خواهد یافت. با گسترش روز افزون مستوطنات یهودی در کرانه غربی و تکه پاره شدن این منطقه توسط شاهراه ها و راهبندها شاید "راه حل دو کشوری" که متضمن ایجاد دولت مستقل فلسطینی در کنار اسرائیل است و از سوی میانه روان (از مذاکرات اسلو و نقشه راه بوش تا طرح ملک عبدالله و تأیید اخیر پرزیدنت اوباما) پیشنهاد شده است کم کم از دایره امکان خارج شده باشد. جناح راست اسرائیل راه حل را در صلح نمیبیند. آنها رویای دولتی سربازخانه ای مانند اسپارت باستان را در سر میپرورانند: جنگ دائم و پیروزی دائم توسط ملتی جنگجو. برخی از آنها حتی رویای ناممکن تبعید جمعی فلسطینیان یا سایر جنایات جنگی علیه آنان را هم میبینند. >>>

POETRY

کمی خانگی
by Habib Shokati
02-Feb-2009
نیما هنوز تنهاست
نه نور نورانی‌ست
و نه این گنبد خالی
کلید را می‌زنم
چراغ روشن نمی‌شود
این‌جا خانه‌ی من نیست
باید کمی خانگی شوم >>>

FICTION

George Willoughby

I must say being asked out by a sixty-some year old gentleman was not exactly what I had in mind

by Flying Solo
01-Feb-2009 (22 comments)
My friendship with Mr. Willoughby started after the tasting of one of my creations which had proven to be especially scrumptious. This clearly was the cue he required to offer a gracious compliment. After the pleasantries he approached the delicate subject of asking me for a date. “Lady Solo, I was wondering the other day, to myself, whether, by any stroke of luck, you may be interested in an outing of sorts. I say, might I have the pleasure of your company on Sunday next? I should very much like to take you for a drive through the country to a delightful little tea room which my late wife and I used to frequent. It would be awfully good of you to join me.” Well, I was flattered, surprised and pleased at the same time>>>

REVOLUTION

Thirty Years On

Every passing day the young demand more from their leaders

by sadegh
01-Feb-2009 (39 comments)
Thirty years have now passed since the stern, bearded visage of Ayatollah Khomeini graced our television screens decrying the many "ills" of the West and its allies. It was a revolution few, if any, at the time had anticipated, one participants and observers alike still endeavor to properly understand. Khomeini's image, which has since become a kind of shorthand for the West's first encounter with the forces of radical Islam, continues to arouse fear and hostility. But 30 years on, that turbulent time in Iranian history continues to leave Western audiences perplexed, with little comprehension of the forces that incited crowds to chant "Death to America." >>>

VIEW

The day after

After IRI, what can hold Iran together?

by Arash Monzavi-Kia
01-Feb-2009 (18 comments)
Contemporary challenges to the ancient regime came from an understanding of the modern Western ways, and culminated into the Constitutional Revolution (1906), near abolition of monarchy (1925), Tudeh and National-Front movement (1952) and finally the 1979 revolution. After the collapse of IRI, the following forces will try to build cohesive national or regional systems, by recruiting the young masses of society around their ideas and ideals. As currently IRI does not allow free expression of thoughts and flourishing of ideas, upon its collapse; it will again be a mad rush to fill the power vacuum and reach the top.>>>

TEMPORARY

صیغه شدم

از دفتر حاج آقا منصوری که در آمدیم، یکراست رفتیم هتل گچسر در جاده’ چالوس

by Parinaz Samii
01-Feb-2009 (54 comments)
وقتی شبی با مردی آشنا شدم که به شدت برایم جذاب بود، تا صبح کلافه بودم و خوابم نمی برد. وقتی بار دوم در منزل همان دوست دوباره دیدمش و ازش بیشتر خوشم آمد، لابلای حرفها معلوم شد که در حال طلاق از همسرش است. شب خوبی بود، سرهامان گرم شده بود و کمی علف هم کشیدیم. در گوشه ای از اتاق صاحبخانه پیش هم نشسته بودیم. سرش را آورد دم گوشم و گفت: امشب چه خوشگل شدی. برای من تعریف یک مرد غریبه از زیباییم که ممکن است راست باشد و ممکن است دروغ، هرگز راضی کننده نیست. اگر کسی که دوستش بدارم به من بگوید امشب چه خوشگل شدی، چرا، اما نه یک غریبه که بار دومش بود مرا می دید. اما پیغام او جای دیگری در ذهن و در وسط بدنم ثبت شد. او مرا می خواهد.>>>

POETRY

Iranian or Persian
by Anahid Hojjati
01-Feb-2009 (one comment)
When someone asks me about my background
To the curious mind, I don’t say a Persian kind
I am not Persian like a lovely cat or lamb
Neither Persian like summer cucumber or melon
My language is called Persian, rightly
I don’t get upset if it is called Farsi
Persian words do not march aimlessly for me
Instead they are needed to read kadkani and Rumi >>>
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