i was invited to deliver the pfaudler lecture at RIT’s osher institute today. the event was organized by the wonderful Nita Bledsoe Genova. excellent attendance, even on such a warm and sunny day (a rarity in rochester). i screened The Muslims I Know and then opened it up for Q&A. a lot of the feedback was heartwarming but some of the questions predictable. a woman asked about sharia law taking over the country: “that’s what we’re really worried about.” i urged her to check out the ACLU’s report Nothing to Fear: Debunking the Mythical “Sharia Threat” to Our Judicial System. i reminded her that muslims represent 1% of the american population (a bit hard to take over the country in any way whatsoever, let alone by overhauling its entire legal system) and that fears of “stealth jihad,” “creeping sharia,” and “islamofascism” come directly from the islamophobia industry. these are some of their hottest selling products. someone asked about islamic republics and if i was worried about their human rights challenges. i wish i had had more time to delve properly into how these “islamic republics” are the result of complicated histories and politics and processes of nation-state formation and not just religion, even if they speak the language of islam. i spoke a bit about iran from the 1950s onwards and zia’s islamization in pakistan during the cold war. always wish i had had more time to discuss…