For the History
This winter break offered me some respite for some quiet time, quiet enough for me to sit down and write a chapter I am co-authoring with Professor Adis Duderija of Griffith University, Australia. The book is titled A Handbook of Contemporary Islam and Muslim Lives (eds. Ronald Lukens-Bull and Mark Woodward), and my chapter will be called “Progressive Islam: Theory, Movements and Lived Experience.” I will be illustrating the lived experiences of progressive Muslims which started in Los Angeles in 2006, and which have now proliferated all over the world. Seeing these stories put in black and white, is humbling.
This comes on the heels of contributing a profile on my musical activism for a book on music and human rights that will be published by Routledge out of Europe later this year.
And that’s not all.Tunisian human rights and Islamic scholar, and Human Rights Committee member, Yadh Ben Achour documents MPV’s work in his forthcoming book, The Revolution Within Islam, to be released on April 2, 2020 in Paris. The previous Special Rapporteur of Freedom of Religion or Belief, Professor Heiner Bielefeldt, with his co-author Michael Wiener of OHCHR, have also written on MPV’s human rights works in the context of Islam.
Lastly, I’m really thrilled to be included in a book titled Holy Troublemakers and Unconventional Saints, which features the stories of 50 “people of faith from different faith backgrounds who are doing the things you really would hope people of faith would be doing in the world — working for love and justice and kindness,” according to curator and editor Deneen Akers. Watch this short video for a sneak peak of what’s inside the book!
In a few weeks, I will be back in Africa as we prepare for some revolutionary work! In Kenya, MPV is partnership with our umbrella organization Alliance of Inclusive Muslims in organizing a strategy conference on the issue of Freedom of Religion and Belief and Gender, and in curtailing apostasy and blasphemy laws in Muslim societies.
In Burundi, we will be developing a children’s curriculum that will instill the values of love, justice and compassion. The curriculum will be illustrated in a comic form with storylines that are relatable to Burundian Muslim children and distributed at madrassas.
These two activities are made possible thanks to the support of the Foreign Ministry of The Netherlands.
I hope to share more good news in February, stand by!
Have a wonderful 2020!
Onward and upward…
Ani Zonneveld
Founder, President | Muslims For Progressive Values
Editor’s Note: This Message was originally published in the January 2020 issue of the MPV Monthly Newsletter. You may subscribe to the newsletter by clicking on the tab at the bottom-right corner of this page!