So, this is it

I will be posting exclusively at Eteraz: States of Islam from now on.

It is a joint effort involving Ali Eteraz, Haroon Moghul and Willow Wilson. We all owe a big thank you to Yursil Kidwai, who designed the site.

under|progress will remain up for the forseeable future as an archive of sorts (or at least until my existing agreement with Six Apart expires), but I may start to move some of my older writing to Eteraz.

Please join us for what will be an online collaborative effort involving not only us, but you, the all important reader. Please register with the community and sign up for a reader diary. We welcome views, whether you agree or disagree with anything we say. We only expect you show a modicum of respect for everyone else.

And please don't forget to add us to your blogrolls, feeds etc.

Comments

[Sara]

:( Thabet, please don't go! That other place looks ugly.

[ABD]

as-salam alaykum,

i've certainly enjoyed following this blog. may Allah extract good from your new project.

and to sara's comment: the baby isn't pretty when it first comes into the world. but a little cleaning up and voila!--everybody falls in love with it.

[thabet]

assalamu alaykum

Thank you, Abd and sara, for your kind comments. Please keep reading over at Eteraz.org!

Sara, please check out the new layout. The blog design has been changed and improved.

God bless you both,

wasalam

[Change is unislamic]

Don't leave!! :((( I hate change!!
But goodluck sir. You make a worthy and hard-hitting contribution to the blog world.

[shabana]

Congratulations on the honourable mention.

[peter portugal]

Hello.
I am portuguese and not a muslim.
While I was searching for information about islam and abortion I come across a post you wrote years ago and with wich I completely agree.

"It is interesting that "pro-choice" campaigners, in my experience, happen to the very same people who oppose war (on Iraq in this instane) and oppose the death penalty. The right to take a persons life, in the interests of serving justice on one who has flouted not only the law of land, but his own moral concious - when ordinary folk do not feel the same urge to do so - is defended to the hilt by campaigners who oppose the death penalty. Yet, the rights of the unborn, who has not even been able to breath the free air, are taken in the guise of "choice" and "lifestyle". Such corrosive ethics are sure to sap away the already dying edifice of morality.

Further, and this is meant to be taken as a severe rebuke, rather than an insult (I hope!), the "freedom" to kill your unborn child is simply the logical progression of the consumerist and purposless drive of secular society, whre child-bearing and rearing is becoming like any other "accessory", and "choice" is all important.

In fact, raising children is not only as an individual responsiblity, but also a social responsiblity - for families form a network which makes society. The philosophical cognet of Islamic law is based around this - protecting the family, which protects society. That is why a society driven by individualsim cannot understand the spirit behind Islamic law (that, and the legalism which our Jurists are marked by, who too seemed to forget the spirit of the Law).

Liberalism was meant to invigorate the "magesterium", and to free it from the clutches of self-appointed divines, who had stagnated and blocked freedom of human thought. But it ended up destroying it. This is culminating in the lowering of aesthetics and morality. Sad to say, most Muslim countries, at least their secular elite, want to follow this path.

~ Posted at March 11, 2003"

You are completely right.
The west is killing itself.
The career does count.., one own ambition does count but when it comes to the unborn..,the unborn can be slaughetered at will.

Such atitude towards life is suicidical since population is shrinking all across europe.

In ancient rome the pater familias had the power to abandonon or adopt the newborn.

He had freedom of choice.

Today it is the mother who has such freedom.

She can let kill her son.
Its the right to choose.

Muslims should not be infected with such nihilist world view.

A world view in wich human life can be destroyed without a second thought

[Jamal]

Asalaamu alaikum, I have moved from opinionated Voice to Radical Muslim so please update your link if neccessary, and keep in touch too.

[bdr]

as salaamu alaykum

You guys (you and Haroon) need to come back. You provided an important piece of the blogsphere of sophisticated yet honest Muslim discourse that has not since been filled again and is sorely missed.

[Mark Vane]

Hey, while searching for widgets for my blog, I stumbled upon www.widgetmate.com and wow! I found what I wanted. A cool news widget. My blog is now showing latest news with title, description and images. Took just few minutes to add. Awesome!

[Sara]

Thabet, where are you now? Where can we read you?

[ittef]

I keep checking this site, hoping you have returned. Eteraz.org is no longer readable. I wish you and Haroon would return to blogging.

[Baraka]

Salaam,

Since States of Islam seems to be defunct - won't you & Haroon consider coming back to blogging as Ali & Willow have?

Warmly,
Baraka

[Ali]

selamualaykum I was wondering if you can add my link to your site I have already added yours and i would greatly appreciated if you can do the same for me. Anyway thank you so much if you can do this, essalamualaykum :)