[Editor’s note: This article is a response to “On the crisis of Islam: In defense of discussion,” by Farouk Mardam Bey, Ziad Majed, and Yassin al-Haj Saleh, also published today by Al-Jumhuriya English. An Arabic version may be read here.]   In their article, “On the crisis of Islam: In defense of discussion,” Farouk Mardam Bey, Ziad Majed, and Yassin al-Haj Saleh argue that the…

To a beauty in a black veil…An allusion to a famous line of Arabic poetry that begins, “Say to the beauty in the black veil,” attributed to the Umayyad poet Miskeen al-Darimi (d. 708 A.D.).   My mother tells a lot of stories about my weaning days, stories that still make us laugh till we weep. People say she would put various substances on her…