{"id":49,"date":"2008-10-02T08:28:17","date_gmt":"2008-10-02T08:28:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/cityofbrass\/2008\/10\/5th-annual-brass-crescent-awar.html"},"modified":"2008-10-02T08:28:17","modified_gmt":"2008-10-02T08:28:17","slug":"5th-annual-brass-crescent-awar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2008\/10\/5th-annual-brass-crescent-awar.html","title":{"rendered":"5th Annual Brass Crescent Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image\"><a href=\"http:\/\/brasscrescent.org\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"brasscrescent_vert.gif\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/75\/import\/brasscrescent_vert.gif\" class=\"mt-image-right\" style=\"margin: 0pt 0pt 20px 20px;float: right\" width=\"150\" height=\"199\" \/><\/a><\/span>in partnership with Shahed Amanullah of <a href=\"http:\/\/altmuslim.com\/\">altmuslim.com<\/a>, I am pleased to announce that the 5th Annual <a href=\"http:\/\/brasscrescent.org\/\">Brass Crescent Awards<\/a> are now underway!<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>What<br \/>\nare the Brass Crescent Awards? They are named for the Story of the City<br \/>\nof Brass in the Thousand and One Nights. Today, the Islamsphere is<br \/>\nforging a new synthesis of Islam and modernity, and is the intellectual<br \/>\nheir to the traditions of philosophy and learning that was once the<br \/>\nhallmark of Islamic civilization &#8211; a heritage scarcely recognizable<br \/>\ntoday in the Islamic world after a century&#8217;s ravages of colonialism,<br \/>\ntyrants, and religious fundamentalism. We believe that Islam transcends<br \/>\nhistory, and we are forging history anew for tomorrow&#8217;s Islam. These<br \/>\nawards are a means to honor ourselves and celebrate our nascent<br \/>\ncommunity, and promote its growth.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The categories this year are as follows:<\/p>\n<p><b>BEST BLOG:<\/b> This category honors the most indispensable, Muslim-authored blog there is. Period.<\/p>\n<p><b>BEST WRITER:<\/b> Who is the most stimulating, insightful, and<br \/>\nphilosophically wise among us? This category is intended to highlight a<br \/>\nblogger who may not post daily, but when they do post, they really make<br \/>\nan impact.<\/p>\n<p><b>BEST NON-MUSLIM BLOG:<\/b> Which blog writen by a non-Muslim is most respectful of Islam and seeks genuine dialogue with Muslims?<\/p>\n<p><b>BEST BLOG DESIGN:<\/b> Which blog has the most aesthetically pleasing<br \/>\nsite design, appealing to the eye, evoking Islamic themes, and\/or<br \/>\nfacilitating debate and discussion?<\/p>\n<p><b>BEST POST OR SERIES:<\/b> Which single post or group of posts in the Islamsphere was the most original and important, above all the others?<\/p>\n<p><b>BEST FEMALE BLOG:<\/b> The woman&#8217;s voice in Islam is equal to the<br \/>\nman&#8217;s, and in the Islamsphere we seek to make sure the female<br \/>\nperspective is highlighted and given its rightful due. Which Muslim<br \/>\nwoman&#8217;s blog has done the most to explore the role that women play<br \/>\nwithin Islam and society?<\/p>\n<p><b>BEST NEW BLOG:<\/b> Which blog is a true diamond in the rough, one that everyone should be reading but who most just haven&#8217;t heard of (yet)?<\/p>\n<p><b>BEST GROUP BLOG:<\/b> Which multiple group blog in the Islamsphere<br \/>\nhas the best diversity of writers and the most interesting debate on<br \/>\nMuslim issues?<\/p>\n<p><b>BEST HUMOR BLOG:<\/b> Which blog gets their point across by using humor in the most effective way?<\/p>\n<p><b>BEST MIDDLE EAST\/AFRICAN, EUROPEAN, SOUTH ASIAN, AND ASIAN BLOGGERS:<\/b><br \/>\nThe Islamsphere is truly a global phenomenon. In Iraq, despite the<br \/>\nchaos and uncertainty, there is a sea change of free speech and<br \/>\nexpression, the vanguard of which are blogs. There are also bloggers in<br \/>\nIndia, Pakistan, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Palestine, Jordan, and most<br \/>\nother countries that host Muslims, all of whom have their own<br \/>\nperspectives on faith, culture, and politics.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"http:\/\/brasscrescent.org\/\">nominations phase for all 13 categories is now underway<\/a>, so head over and start nominating your favorite blogs now!<\/p>\n<p>Note, that the Awards methodology is slightly different this year:<\/p>\n<p>1. <b>Nomination phase<\/b> (<i>Wed Oct 1 &#8211; Fri Oct 24<\/i>). Anyone with a valid email address may nominate blogs to appropriate categories. Note that blogs may only be nominated once per category. We also encourage you to nominate your own blog!<\/p>\n<p>2. <b>Panel phase<\/b> (<i>Fri Oct 24th to Fri Nov 7th<\/i>). The top nominees in each category will be forwarded to the judges&#8217; panel, who will review the nominees and select the finalists. <\/p>\n<p>3. <b>Voting phase<\/b> (<i>Fri Nov 7 to Fri Dec 1<\/i>). <\/p>\n<p>4. <b>Winners<\/b> will be announced at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.brasscrescent.org\/\">brasscrescemt.org<\/a> around Eid ul-Adha.<\/p>\n<p>I am very excited about this year&#8217;s Awards &#8211; it is amazing to think that we have already reached our fifth year! The methodology above includes some changes to addresss some criticism we received last year, so I think this will be the best BCA yet. Please start nominating, and spread the word!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>in partnership with Shahed Amanullah of altmuslim.com, I am pleased to announce that the 5th Annual Brass Crescent Awards are now underway! What are the Brass Crescent Awards? They are named for the Story of the City of Brass in the Thousand and One Nights. Today, the Islamsphere is forging a new synthesis of Islam&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":165,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[102,103],"class_list":["post-49","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-read-this","tag-brass-crescent-awards","tag-islamsphere"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>5th Annual Brass Crescent Awards - City of Brass<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5th Annual Brass Crescent Awards - City of Brass\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"in partnership with Shahed Amanullah of altmuslim.com, I am pleased to announce that the 5th Annual Brass Crescent Awards are now underway! What are the Brass Crescent Awards? They are named for the Story of the City of Brass in the Thousand and One Nights. Today, the Islamsphere is forging a new synthesis of Islam&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2008\/10\/5th-annual-brass-crescent-awar.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"City of Brass\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-10-02T08:28:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/cityofbrass\/files\/import\/brasscrescent_vert.gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Aziz Poonawalla\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"5th Annual Brass Crescent Awards - City of Brass","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"5th Annual Brass Crescent Awards - City of Brass","og_description":"in partnership with Shahed Amanullah of altmuslim.com, I am pleased to announce that the 5th Annual Brass Crescent Awards are now underway! What are the Brass Crescent Awards? They are named for the Story of the City of Brass in the Thousand and One Nights. Today, the Islamsphere is forging a new synthesis of Islam&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2008\/10\/5th-annual-brass-crescent-awar.html","og_site_name":"City of Brass","article_published_time":"2008-10-02T08:28:17+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/cityofbrass\/files\/import\/brasscrescent_vert.gif"}],"author":"Aziz Poonawalla","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2008\/10\/5th-annual-brass-crescent-awar.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2008\/10\/5th-annual-brass-crescent-awar.html","name":"5th Annual Brass Crescent Awards - City of Brass","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2008\/10\/5th-annual-brass-crescent-awar.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2008\/10\/5th-annual-brass-crescent-awar.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/cityofbrass\/files\/import\/brasscrescent_vert.gif","datePublished":"2008-10-02T08:28:17+00:00","dateModified":"2008-10-02T08:28:17+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/#\/schema\/person\/87dfd5533a0222456bb5ad6eaf152fbb"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2008\/10\/5th-annual-brass-crescent-awar.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2008\/10\/5th-annual-brass-crescent-awar.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2008\/10\/5th-annual-brass-crescent-awar.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/cityofbrass\/files\/import\/brasscrescent_vert.gif","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/cityofbrass\/files\/import\/brasscrescent_vert.gif"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2008\/10\/5th-annual-brass-crescent-awar.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"5th Annual Brass Crescent Awards"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/","name":"City of Brass","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Aziz Poonawalla","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/#\/schema\/person\/87dfd5533a0222456bb5ad6eaf152fbb","name":"Aziz Poonawalla","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/a95\/a95f814e7f2984c887f3b03aed357433x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/a95\/a95f814e7f2984c887f3b03aed357433x96.jpg","caption":"Aziz Poonawalla"},"description":"Aziz Poonawalla is a member of the Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community, and currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children. City of Brass is his weblog, which was founded in 2002 under the name UNMEDIA. He is a co-founder of the annual Brass Crescent Awards. The name City of Brass refers to the Story of the City of Brass in the Thousand and One Nights, and the poem by Rudyard Kipling of the same name: Here was a people whom, after their works, thou shalt see wept over for their lost dominion; And in this palace is the last information respecting lords collected in the dust. -- Thousand and One Nights, Story of the City of Brass IN A land that the sand overlays, the ways to her gates are untrod, A multitude ended their days whose fates were made splendid by God, Till they grew drunk and were smitten with madness and went to their fall, And of these is a story written: but Allah Alone knoweth all! -- Rudyard Kipling, The City of Brass (1909)"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/165"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}