Brother Abdur Rahman of Abdur Rahman’s Corner has posted an excellent excerpt from a document that details excellent steps in building good relations with people of different faiths and beliefs. I really enjoyed the excerpt and the post, and found much that I could use when discussing Islam with others. Having good relations with people of other faiths I think is one of the more important goals for Muslims.
Narrated Jarir bin ‘Abdullah: Allah’s Messenger said, “Allah will not show mercy to him who does not show mercy to others.” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
Narrated ‘Aishah: Allah’s Messenger said, “Allah is Kind and He loves kindness, and confers upon kindness which He does not confer upon severity, and does not confer upon any thing besides it (kindness).” (Muslim)
Our dear readers can rest easy, as rumors of our death have been greatly exaggerated. 
In fact, Age of Jahiliyah is still alive and kicking, and now that we’ve got spring break – one lousy week 
– it’s time to annouce the biggest news in Ubuntu-land. That’s right, people, I’m talking about Ubuntu Muslim Edition, the one we’ve all been waiting for.
But not so fast; it’s still in alpha release and needs testers and developers to get it on it’s feet. So head over to the site, register and sign up to become a tester. It’s not hard at all; download the .iso and make sure you at least have an extra 10GBs on your hard drive to do a dual-boot. Otherwise, you can help with the artwork, translations, web design or development. Ideas are welcome, also. For more info, check out the forums.
Oh, and while you’re at it, make sure to vote on the logo and splash screen, (you’ll vote for no. 4, if you know what’s good for you).
So get to it, everyone!
Video uploaded by AashiqERasul
From Islamica Magazine
by Lucien De Guise
The monsoon winds brought Islam to Southeast Asia. Lucien de Guise wonders when interest in the region’s Islamic art will arrive …
Surveys of islamic art tend to venture no further east than India. Similarly, art historians have shown a long-standing lack of interest in the output of Muslim artists from sub-Saharan Africa. The same applies to Islam in Europe, unless it happens to be Spain or Sicily, which have acquired perhaps the greatest mystique of all. Islamic art of the Balkans does not have the same allure, partly because it is of a more recent vintage and includes embarrassing items such as wine cups.
The conventional approach has for more than a century determined that Islamic art comes from the “heartlands” and everything else is ethnographic. No one can say that the quantity of books on Islamic art is anything but massive, especially when the number of collectors is so small. The geographical range is, however, very limited. Books may occasionally mention China or Southeast Asia, but seldom do they show what works from so far east actually look like. To find a volume dedicated to Islamic art from these regions is almost inconceivable.
Age of Jahiliyah 