As most “Star Wars” fans know, director George Lucas took spiritual
elements, which are common in most major world religions to create his
epic saga of good vs. evil. As a Muslim, I always thought of the
“Jedi” as what a true follower of Islam should be like. Never mind the
fact Jedi masters with their North African style cloaks and scruffy
beards look like Sufi Sheikhs, but they way they are taught to respect
a greater power, fight for the defense of the innocent and honor a code
of morals and ethics in order to bring about peace and
The measuring stick by which an MC’s skills are determined truly depends on who’s holding it. These days, the depth of one’s talent is overlooked to estimate the weight of platinum one wears around his neck. A synthetic persona, often manufactured by marketing experts, now outweighs the authentic performer that once hypnotized devout hip hop congregates. The MC of yesteryear was a product of his environment and a genius of the incredibly complex world around him. This individual was organically bound to a skill set of lyricism, originality, finesse, wit, tempo, stage presence and the capacity to grandstand impromptu if
“There are two types of Muslims in Cambodia,” said Sary Abdulah,
president of the Islamic National Movement for Democracy of Cambodia.
The two groups include: Sunni Muslims, and Fojihed Muslims, who follow
an ancient Cham interpretation of the religion.
As we celebrated the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on a
national holiday dedicated to his honor, many people point to the
surging presidential candidacy of Barack Obama as evidence of how far
this country has come in terms of race relations since the days of the
Civil Rights struggle led by Dr. King. Many see Obama’s campaign as the
fulfillment of Dr. King’s dream. As they would point out, here is a man
who is being judged based on the content of his character, and not on
the color of his skin. Could anything be more representative
Confucius famously said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with
a single step. The first step taken by Greg Mortenson in his life’s
sojourn was a failed attempt at climbing the world’s second highest
peak, K-2, in Pakistan’s Karakoram Northern range in 1993.