City of Brass

Al-Fateha

Aziz Poonawalla — Thu, 14 Dec 2017 16:22:24 +0000

I started City of Brass in March 2002 at Blogspot, and moved to Beliefnet in August 2008. Over a thousand posts and a million page views later, it is time to end this chapter and start a new one.

However, I am not technically going anywhere - Read the full post here »

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Arbaeen Diary, 1439

Aziz Poonawalla — Mon, 30 Oct 2017 13:34:24 +0000

My friend Taha Raja just finished Arbaeen, a 53-mile walk on foot from Najaf to Karbala in Iraq, a pilgrimage for remembrance of Imam Husain's sacrifice for Islam and humanity. Inshallah I will someday soon take part, but in the meantime, I was privileged to share in...

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Arbaeen, Day 3

Aziz Poonawalla — Mon, 30 Oct 2017 04:42:28 +0000

This is a guest post by Taha M. Raja. Third in a series; See Arbaeen Day 2 for the previous entry.

Post 1278. close to the right turn to go to the city center of Kerbala. Resting with a Iranian Tea which is a light blend of black tea and water with lots of sugar. Very refreshing. People watching....couples holding hands walking, families with kids, young parents...

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Arbaeen Day 2

Aziz Poonawalla — Sun, 29 Oct 2017 05:55:16 +0000

This is a guest post by Taha M. Raja. Second in a series; See Arbaeen Day 1 for the previous entry.

Post 580. It 5:30am and we resumed our walk to Kerbala. Breakfast on the road. Samoon (Iraqi fresh bread) with lentil soup a tradition for millennia of the Bedouins. Hit Iraqi black tea with a layer of sugar on a shot glass. Batteries recharged and ready to go for...

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Arbaeen Day 1

Aziz Poonawalla — Sat, 28 Oct 2017 14:27:42 +0000

This is a guest post by Taha M. Raja.

Post 53. Today I started my journey on Arbaeen, a 53 mile walk from the city of Najaf to Kerbala. An annual event that marks one of the largest human gatherings in the world. I am at the 1/3 mark and I have experienced the best of the human spirit. The selfless giving camaraderie and the connection to the human experience, as the rich and the poor, the young and the old march for this destination. Along the way...

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Milking Weinstein

Aziz Poonawalla — Tue, 24 Oct 2017 16:02:03 +0000

Call it the Weinstein Effect: other serial abusers are being systematically outed, not by single accusers by by legions of women speaking out in solidarity. This is why the #MeToo campaign exists, to provide collective voice and solidarity to women who are victims of sexual abuse but fear the consequences of speaking out alone. I truly believe that this is an inflection point in our culture.

Unfortunately,...

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Congratulations to Koonj

Aziz Poonawalla — Fri, 20 Oct 2017 21:29:08 +0000

Shabana Mir's blog is (at least) a decade old! Congratulations, Shabana - Koonj (The Crane) is one of the pioneers of the Islamsphere, and earned a runner-up Brass Crescent Award as far back as 2006.

Shabana is just as relevant as ever though. Her...

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Karachi

Aziz Poonawalla — Wed, 11 Oct 2017 14:37:50 +0000

Traveling to Karachi from the US is not easy. But traveling back is even worse.

I returned a couple weeks ago from my trip and have been coping with the usual jet lag and GI/respiratory baggage that comes from an extended trip to the far side. The pace of events during Ashara itself was too hectic for me to have any time to post while I was there, but now that I am back and mostly recovered, I can retrospectively write about the experience. And in retrospect, Karachi deserves a spotlight...

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Headed to Karachi for Ashara

Aziz Poonawalla — Tue, 19 Sep 2017 13:44:30 +0000

Every year, I travel to attend the Ashara Mubaraka majlis (gathering), with the spiritual leader of my community, the Dawoodi Bohra Muslims. Last year, I...

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16 after 9-11

Aziz Poonawalla — Mon, 11 Sep 2017 13:48:14 +0000

I don't write about 9-11 every year, because on the 12th anniversary I looked back at over a decade of writing about it and realized I had nothing much left to say.

On the 13th anniversary, I said, and I still believe, that:

The simple truth is that our response to 9-11 – the Afghan...

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