Islam, Brussels and Tolerance

By Rose Kelleher

BELGIUM. “At sunset, when my kids said to me ‘ I want to eat this and that’ I said ‘No. We are going to have soup.” Nadia Hachim is tired. But that’s okay. It’s all in the name of God. The past month she has been fasting, reflecting and avoiding excesses, particularly culinary ones. Since August 11, Brussels Muslims have put down their forks during the daylight hours, and lived a simpler and more careful existence.

*Ramadan was celebrated almost three weeks ago. The following story shows how it went down in Belgium.

If Zlatan is not Swedish, what am I?

By Marina Ferhatovic

OPINION. Today is one of the most exciting days in Swedish politics: we are going to polls to elect our new (or the same) government. But the biggest buzz has not been about which party or which block will collect the most votes, but whether Sweden Democrats (SD), an extreme right-wing party with controversial views on immigration, will make it to the national parliament*. Surprisingly, I have recently discovered that I might have a lot in common with one of their key representatives.

*Sweden Democrats secured 5,7 percent of the vote and 20 of the seats in the Parliament.

Ground Zero Mosque: Test of tolerance towards Islam?

Protest against Ground Zero mosque project @Aylin Yazan

By Aylin Yazan

New York. In the last months the discussion around Islam in the U.S. has become more heated as never before. The main reason for the new controversy is the now famous planned Islamic center, close to once World Trade Center in New York, which was hit in 2001 by the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001 and is now known under the name of Ground Zero.

Video: Zalabia in The Making

watch how they make Zalabia @soumia

By Soumia Alloui

Algeria. EMAJ Magazine visits the city of Boufariq in Algeria trying to unveil the secret of the delicious Zalabia .. Watch the video by clicking on this post.

Ramadan: To fast or not to fast

@hubpages.com

By Elif Kayi

Opinion. In the past week weeks EMAJ Magazine has tried to present various aspects of Ramadan: Personal experiences, economic and social trends, cultural specificities. EMAJ published i.e. the testimony of a young Egyptian who declared being revolted by the “consumption excesses” during the period of Ramadan nowadays. We also read about the difficulties for Muslims in Western countries to observe the fasting and find halal products.

Ramadan in USA: “Now I Know how it feels to be a minority”

Halal food restaurant @Hanan Solayman

By Hanan Solayman

“Now I know how it feels like to be a minority”, I thought to myself in the very first days of Ramadan. I was spending Muslims’ holiest month fasting when people are eating and I’ve been eating when everybody else is done.

Algerians can’t give up “El Zalabia” during Ramadan

El Zalabia: An Algerian passion, @picasaweb license

By Soumia Alloui

Algeria. If you visit the city of Boufariq (40 Km western of Algiers the capital) and you do see long queues of fasting Algerians stand under the sun rays waiting for their turn to buy something made in secret,don’t be surprised! .. They want their share of “El Zalabia”.

“Of Men and Gods”: The last years of the Monks of Tibhirine

The Monks of Tibhirine @mondial-infos.fr

By Elif Kayi

Cinema. In the night between March 26th and 27th 1996 an armed group kidnapped seven French Cistercian monks living in the monastery of Tibhirine, in the mountains of the Algerian Atlas. Two months later, after unsuccessful negotiations with the French government, the GIA (Armed Islamic Group) announced through a Moroccan radio station the murder of the monks. Their heads were found on May 30th close to the city of Medea. But their bodies remained missing.