White Thread Press will launch their new book, ‘Al-Fiqh Al-Akbar Explained’ , in San Jose on August 17, 2007. The book launch will be held at the South Bay Islamic Association and a special free event has been organized. Titled ‘An Evening of Knowledge’, the event will include short lectures from Shaykh Abdur-Rahman ibn Yusuf, Imam Tahir Anwar and Shaykh Tameem Ahmedi. In addition to the lectures, an autograph session is scheduled. The book will be available for purchase on site, as well as other White Thread Press titles.

For more information about the event, click on the image to download the flyer.

Our beloved Imam Zaid Shakir has provided his testimonial of Shaykh Abdur-Rahman’s work:

“Mufti Abdur-Rahman ibn Yusuf has rendered a valuable service to English speaking Muslims. The depth of his scholarship and the accessibility of his language combine to present the reader with a text that elucidates critical aspects of the orthodox Muslim creed, and sheds light on contentious historical and theological issues.”

‘Imam Abu Hanifa’s Al-Fiqh Al-Akbar Explained’

“Al-Fiqh al-Akbar is one of the earliest texts written on central Islamic theology, and one of the surviving works of Abu Hanifa, the Great Imam of jurisprudence and theology. Studied for centuries in the Muslim world, Al-Fiqh al-Akbar offers a layered understanding of divine oneness (tawhid), the underpinning of Islamic belief. It helps to refine one’s understanding of the Creator, messengers, and divine communication, and enables one, moreover, to gain insight into the realities of this life and the events of the life hereafter.”

Click on the book cover for more details and to purchase the book at a pre-launch special price. Click here to read an excerpt.

Dave Chappelle + Unity Productions + Allah Made Me Funny Comedy = lots of laughs, plenty of entertainment and abundant reminders. After he caused a stir in the entertainment industry by suddenly leaving a $50 million dollar deal, Dave Chappelle has been more vocal about his faith. Now with this recent announcement, his faith should not be an issue of speculation. When we heard from the Allah Made Me Funny camp that Chappelle was on board, we scrambled into “PR” mode. We contacted the AMMF webmaster, posted links on Facebook and sent out emails. This is a continuation…

People in the DC area will be delighted to know that two warm-up sets will be conducted in mid-August 2007. Visit this link for the details: http://www.allahmademefunny.com/pr/dc/

The actual filming for the movie will take place in Anaheim, California in late August 2007. 

Time and Place Date: Saturday, August 25, 2007
Time: 8:00pm - 10:00pm
Venue: Heritage Forum
Address: 201 E. Broadway, Anaheim, CA
Map: http://dwarfurl.com/c3407

The IslamCrunch team (at least half of us) intend to be there and we hope to meet our friends and readers. Here are some side notes behind the monumental press release:

• Seth Fuller = Word of Mouth PR firm for Allah Made Me Funny, other clients include Little Mosque on the Prairie TV show.
• Andrea Kalin = president of SparkMedia, currently working on “Prince Among Slaves“, a biography of Abdul Rahman Ibrahima. Here is a great interview with Andrea conducted by Unity Productions.
• Unity Productions = producer of “Prince Among Slaves”, details here: http://upf.tv/upf06/Projects/PrinceAmongSlaves/tabid/77/Default.aspx
• 3 days before the Anaheim show tune in on August 22 to watch Unity Productions’ “Cities of Light: The Rise and Fall of Islamic Spain” on PBS.

Breaking news! Art Festival, Banquet and Concert in one event! Appearing:

• Dawud Wharnsby Ali
• Kareem Salama
• Zafar Razzaqi
• Project26
• Hassan Ahmed
• DJ Man O Wax
• The Khaled Brothers
• Aman Ali
• and more!

For more details: http://poeticvisiontour.com/

Thanks to Ali from Project26 and Saad from The Ghazali Project for the info. You heard it here first on IslamCrunch!

Our brother and blogging friend, Haseeb Ahmed has posted an article from the Chicago Tribune about IMAN’s biannual event, Takin’ it to the Streets. Haseeb has also posted more info about this fantastic event. A few of us were there in 2005 and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. An event like this should attended by anyone who is interested in the culture of American Muslims. IMAN = Inner-City Muslim Action Network

This weekend in Malaysia a conference titled ‘Islam and the West - Bridging the Gap’ will be conducted. Organized by the Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations, this conference hopes to cover the following objectives:

i) To determine the areas and causes of misunderstanding of Islam by the West;

ii) To bridge the information gap that divides the Muslims and the West; and

iii) To find a common language understood by both sides of the divide.

Invited speakers include: Dr Beate Winkler, Professor Michael Feener, Professor Abdullah Saeed and Professor Sherman Jackson. A public lecture by Dr. Karen Armstrong, author of highly acclaimed History Of God: The 4000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and many more, is also being organized. We are glad to see Professor Abdul Hakim Jackson speaking on the international circuit. Check out his On Faith blog on WashingtonPost.com and the ALIM Institute.

Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar gave an insightful interview regarding the issues involved.

Q: How serious is the divide between Muslims and the West?

A: The gap is between theory and practice. There is a serious intention to create dialogue but that’s at the conceptual level. When it comes to practice on the ground, there are still inherent prejudices and biases.
There is a feeling, whether perceived or real, among Muslims, that they’re being targeted, and that they are not getting balanced treatment.
On the other hand, there is this feeling in the West, as if we (Muslims) are aliens. The West says we must accept universal values, the standard practices, as if there is no standard practice, no universal values among Muslims!
Building blocks (of understanding) need to be built. I’ve attended many, many interfaith and intercivilisational dialogues organised by Asean and bodies in Europe, and I found that at one point, if you said something not acceptable, there was a strong reaction. Now, at least, we can sit down and discuss. There is less tension. But we still have not found an acceptable model.

For more information, click here. Any Malaysian/Singaporean/Indonesian readers out there who will be attending? Please drop us a line and provide your feedback. Terima kasih!