To be honest, I've had similar feelings on many of the issues and people there.

Discussion has taken a backseat to blind agenda-pushing, and nobody, NOBODY is willing to listen. The Randall character is particularly odious. A spammer in disguise who hijacks every discussion he touches. 

They’ve slowed down because Ahmed had personal matters to take care of and Jawad was gone for ages helping the relief effort in Pakistan. I understand there is one person managing the site at the moment. It takes more than one person to run a website, even one that is as self-managing as this one. It also takes a lot of effort to keep people from fighting in the comments section. Maybe we should send them Bonkers?

The content of each site reflects its own concerns and attitudes.

I’d rather see them turn around and be inspiring once more.

I first read MWU when Omid Safi asked me to join the Board of the PMU and was like, “Hey, what’s all this progressive Islam stuff about?” It was alive and gorgeous and turned on a light for me.

I remember you there Omar. You were a major Troll! I was scared when you first started posting here. I had no idea what would happen. Like you said, your faith matured with them. Man, you chose a lovely, gracious, bright, committed Muslima over a scarf. I’d say MWU has been a success. Horrible to think how many men have not made the right choice like you did.

If MWU is dead, Long Live MWU!

I don’t care for Jawad.

No offense but he got on my bad side when he popped out of the blue and said that Progressives should not be involved in Dawah. When he said “Salafis kill people” here this Shia Persian got offended by that simplistic statement. I discovered MWU! back in 2005 I believe, I was so excited by it, but what I see is nothing but hot air and no actual action.

I was like what the . . . ! Seriously, I have told Nakia this, Progressives need to work on becoming mainstream, attracting natural allies in the Muslim ummah, there are plenty of self-questioning and reflective Muslims out there who do not buy into this or that easily, but who feel alienated from “self-proclaimed Muslim” spokesmen like Ibby Hooper from CAIR.

Oh, you who managed to keep a blank name in your comment ;-), thanks for the kind words. Indeed, I was a troll at the time, and I have learned alot about being honest about myself and with myself. So, I dropped the rest of the Islamism I still had even back in 2003. I had a lot of questions and I’m glad I was able to find answers to many of them and that people were willing to mostly go along and answer them when capable. I don’t usually just buy into any ideology without fully understanding it and how it works, so maybe it was a worth it. Anyway, who are you? Were you one of the people who played a part in my moderation?

- A Salafi in worship, a Sufi in society, a Secularist in government.

I feel sad that MWU does seem to have lost much of its edge, but I don’t think that selling out is the answer. I believe that there is a small, but definite spot for highly principled weirdoes in the Muslim community, and that shall be my role. I won’t trade my principles for popularity, with those more conservative or less reflective. If that forever places me outside the mainstream, then I shall do so happily. In the meantime, I think it’s crucial for progressives to continue to express ourselves, and band together when we can. We may sing an unusual tune, but it’s one that needs to be heard, so sing it loud, sing it clear, for the whole round world to hear.

Sorry Omar it was me, Laury. Forgot to log in.

Y’all were trolls. Damn, it is like the recovering MWU troll lounge over here!

I never troll myself, never…..

They’ll rev back up and we’ll all give to the cause.

Laury, I’m a troll?

Define to me what a troll is?

When I think of troll, I think of annoying pest, is that me?!

:o)

Laury – I love your spirit, the gardener who always has
the generosity to revive and wish others well and revel
in the variety. That is so inspiring during these loud times
when there is so much and such wanton destruction.

peace,
Ginan

Yo, Omar et al.

Correction to the MWU forum being undermoderated – in fact,
there are almost as many moderators as there are active
participants these days. Unfortunately, the moderation
team does not always work together as a team, and tends to be overruled by a certain person, who has somewhat extreme
political views. As a person with mod powers that
is partially my fault as well, that I didn’t put enough effort into trying to change things there.

but honestly, i signed onto the forums a year and a half ago. at that time, i found it refreshing for the first time in my life to talk about doubts and issues i’d had privately but never felt comfortable bringing up in front of muslims i knew irl. but lately, i find myself shyer and shyer about saying what i really think, posting only when directly addressed, find myself self-censoring more and more. and in fact, there are people on those boards lately who have done more to turn me off islam and muslims than a decade of quiet agnosticism. so definately, the atmosphere has changed.

The front page at MWU has become somewhat hit and miss.
The latest thing out there is quite nice, though not related to Islam.

Since people are talking about me, I thought I would post my side of the story. First you might want to look at the posting at MWU that set off OmarG’s obituary.
Here is my comment at MWU

also read his response, then three comments after that I respond to his comment. He resorts to telling me “f*** you.” I know that some of you think that is cool to say, but often it is a sign that you have nothing intelligent to say.

Natalia comments on this website about me “Discussion has taken a backseat to blind agenda-pushing, and nobody, NOBODY is willing to listen. The Randall character is particularly odious. A spammer in disguise who hijacks every discussion he touches. “

Natalia (as Stella) has an endless number of criticisms about Muslims on the MWU website. I have no problem with that; but when I criticize the United States or any other industrialized country, she gets offended or upset. Stella does not like to think about the fact that the comfortable life she lives in the United States is partly due to the selling of weapons (making billions of dollars) to developing countries that help fuel and perpetuate the violence in those countries. In addition the United States as well as other industrialized countries change regimes and prop up brutal dictatorships that allows Western countries to exploit their natural resources.

Free speech is nice, but you have your pedastal at the now-defunct MWU. If you continue with trying to ruin this, I’ll tell you to F off again and then some. Get lost.

- A Salafi in worship, a Sufi in society, a Secularist in government.

OmarG,

Remember your adab brother. :o)

Randall is a leftist par excellence.

I lost hope with MWU when instead of posting a condemnation, or at least concern, over the Danish cartoon incident, it chose to lecture Muslims.

I find no interest in progressives of mwu or pmuna kind anymore. I don’t need apologetic clueless to talk for me or my children.

I find more interest in the progressives of al-mawrid (http://www.al-mawrid.org/System/default.aspx) kind who have the intellectual depth to engage with the Qur’an and a host of Muslim sciences, and moral courage to stand up against the Mullah Mafia.

A MWU! Reunion?

:o)

Concerning the cartoon debate, I was not offended by their publication personally. The cartoons were meant to be provocative, but that's true of satirical cartoons in general.

After looking at them, I found them mildly offensive.

To me, Islam does have a tarnished image in the West, and often times the autobiographical details of the Prophet are attacked by vicious Islamophobes. But one should not over-react, one should take this as an opportunity to correct misperceptions.

Omar, perhaps Bob Dylan might provide the answer to the issues you’re having:

“Standin’ on the gallows with my head in the noose,
Any minute now I’m expectin’ all hell to break loose.

People are crazy and times are strange, I’m locked in tight,
I’m outta range.

I used to care, but things have changed.”

I remember discovering MWU! – it was a great place, once. But it was undermined by its anti-ism. There is plenty you can say about Salafabism – as anyone who recalls my ‘Salafabi Soup’ will recall. But criticising Salafabism is not the same attacking Salafabis. In the end, I found the attitudes about conservative and traditional Muslims expressed by MWU’s core activitists no less dogmatic and reactionary than many of the ideologues they opposed.

Wasalaam

TMA

Yakoub,

But you still love posting your academic papers on there from time to time.

Unlike some of the “other core activists” you never really revealed your true yourself, I prefer people on forums to inform us a little about themselves.

I never was anti-Salafi, if you notice from my recent posts, I’m equally reactionary towards the “reformist” faction.

Dude, I just read your smackdown with Randall, and I have to have say Omar, you were being a real pussy.

I love pootang…

- A Salafi in worship, a Sufi in society, a Secularist in government.

What is pootang?

Something he and Randall apparently need more of! Anyway, Gustavo, its slang for what he called me…

- A Salafi in worship, a Sufi in society, a Secularist in government.

What did he call you?

OmarG, you have a way of pissing off people here.:o)

He called me a pussy, which I find difficult to see as an insult since witnesses can testify how much I adore it (whoa there!). Anyway, I don’t write so everyone under the sun will feel good; that’s Hesham Hassaballah’s job which is why I like reading him. I’ll call things the way I see it perhaps only in a way that a marine can do quite well with in these over-PC’ed days…

- A Salafi in worship, a Sufi in society, a Secularist in government.

OmarG you’re a delight to read, I love your writing style, it’s so straight forward and blunt.

Dude if you arent a pussy, why’re you still complaining about something which happened months ago?

Why are you still upset about a thread that ended two weeks ago? What’s your interest in the issue unless you’re one of the nutballs I was complaining about, “Lal Beg”, lol… and why does your woman-hating self still think there’s something bad about pussy??

- A Salafi in worship, a Sufi in society, a Secularist in government.