
More from KALW
Trucking through the port of Oakland
(00:12:33)
From: KALW
Oakland has the 5th busiest port in the country. According to the Port of Oakland they support between 50,000 and 73,000 jobs in Northern California, making it one of the Bay ...
Santa Barbara County is writing its own rules on fracking
(00:08:28)
From: KALW
After a series of earthquakes near Youngstown, Ohio last week, some observers are pointing to an unusual culprit. Yesterday seismologist John Armbruster told NPR that he ...
As book prices rise, so do libraries
(00:06:35)
From: KALW
California is facing a $13 billion budget shortfall over the next year and a half, and it’s safe to say that the pain will be felt across public services. In some parts of ...
Remembering the attack on Pearl Harbor through the eyes of students
(00:05:19)
From: KALW
In October, President Obama declared that a major chapter in American military history was about to come to a close... PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: I can report that, as ...
One hundred years with Ishi, the "last wild Indian" of North America
(00:10:03)
From: KALW
In some ways, he’s famous: The anthropology department building at UC Berkeley is named for Alfred Kroeber, the scholar who worked closely with Ishi, and Dwinelle Hall’s ...
Berkeley’s Shotgun Players celebrates their 20th season
(00:07:30)
From: KALW
The Berkeley theater company Shotgun Players started performing twenty years ago in the basement of a Berkeley pizzeria. Now it’s got its own building, but the company has ...
Remembering a legendary Bay Area jazz club
(00:10:00)
From: KALW
It was a special time for jazz in the Bay Area. For most of the ‘70s and the early ‘80s, a small club called Keystone Korner presented a dazzling array of jazz greats from ...
How storytelling can combat poverty among young people
(00:06:35)
From: KALW
When it comes to poverty in California, it boils down to some pretty startling numbers: Last year, six million people in the state were officially living below the poverty ...
San Francisco Food Pantry fosters connection in hard times
(00:08:35)
From: KALW
The state of California produces more than half of the nation’s fruits, vegetables and nuts. Still, U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics from the last few years show ...
Why some young men in Richmond are laying down their guns
(00:08:32)
From: KALW
While Oakland stands in a tenuous state of peace, violence in nearby Richmond regularly grabs headlines – even within the walls of City Hall. KTVU ANCHOR: A bloody brawl ...
Piece Description
A new movement is challenging mosque culture in America. "Progressive Islam" is a new moderate form of the religion, and it is growing rapidly. Its adherents are a younger generation of diverse American Muslims, many of whom describe themselves as "culturally Muslim." Some of them are shaking up Islamic centers nationwide with their ideas, and raising eyebrows along the way. Centered in major cities like New York and San Francisco, Progressive Muslims are challenging what they see as rigid, conservative practices which they claim aren't Islamic at all, and gvie Islam a bad name in the post 9-11 world. One of the biggest issues of contention is women's rights. For example, most mosques in America and worldwide have agreed since the founding of the religion in the 7th century that the Friday prayer service should be segregated by gender and led by a male leader or "Imam." But that is all changing. For the first time ever, in a recent mixed-sex Muslim service in New York City, a woman led the prayer. KALW News reporter Hana Baba (Hana sounds like Hannah, with emphasis on the second syllable, BAH-bah) has the story.
Broadcast History
This story originally ran on KALW, 91.7 FM in San Francisco, on March 27, 2005, and aired on NPR's Morning Edition on August 8, 2005.



