Xassan A. Musa

Reading politics @GUQatar| Development| Education| Social Entrepreneurship| Youth Empowerment.

[Naomi Klein @NaomiAKlein]

In our new essay for the @FT (you read that right), @astradisastra and I link the extreme weather events we have all been living through to the rise of a new iteration of futureless fascism, wherein the rich and powerful plan for their bunkered survival behind fortressed borders.

[Benjamin Fernandes 🇹🇿 @Benji_Fernandes]

America spent ten years turning a Tanzanian teenager into the founder of an American company.

Then it exported him.

I wrote about it for the @nytimes today. Thread 🧵

[Bleacher Report @BleacherReport]

Lamine Yamal wins his first World Cup at 19 🐐

[Yomi Kazeem @TheYomiKazeem]

Deserved win for Spain. Horrible, horrible final.

How does football fix the tendency of finals being crap?

[Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @NYCMayor]

To the world today, Nelson Mandela is a hero exalted as a legend. But to the people of South Africa, he was Madiba, a leader who fought for justice even when the tides of the present were turned swiftly against it. To honor Madiba’s legacy is to fight injustice before history rewrites itself.

[Sami Al-Arian @SamiAlArian]

Honoring Prof. John L. Esposito

Today, I lost not only a dear friend, but one of the greatest scholars and humanitarians of our time. Professor John L. Esposito has returned to his Creator, leaving behind an extraordinary legacy of scholarship, compassion, and service.

For decades, John dedicated his life to educating, mentoring, and building bridges of understanding in a world too often defined by division. His pioneering contributions to the study of Islam and Muslim-Christian relations transformed the field and inspired generations—students, academics, policymakers, and ordinary people across the globe. He embodied a rare combination of intellectual rigor, humility, moral courage, and an unwavering commitment to justice and human dignity.

It was an honor for me—and for the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA) at Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University—to recognize his lifelong contributions by awarding him the Lifetime Service Award at our first Ummah Conference in 2017. That moment was but a small reflection of a lifetime devoted to truth, understanding, and service to humanity.

I had the privilege of speaking with him recently, and today I find myself reflecting deeply on the remarkable legacy he leaves behind.

During the years I was confined to house arrest, from 2008 to 2014, John visited me time and again. His presence brought strength and hope during one of the most difficult chapters of my life. He stood by me with unwavering friendship, encouragement, and moral clarity when it mattered most.

I will never forget his visit to Türkiye a few years ago. We prayed together in the Blue Mosque—a moment I will forever cherish. It was also John who spoke passionately to President Erdoğan about my case, advocating for me at a critical juncture. His sincere efforts played an important role in the journey that ultimately brought me to Türkiye. For that, I remain forever grateful.

My family and I loved John dearly. We cherish every conversation, every visit, every moment we were blessed to share. He was a man of knowledge, integrity, faith, and immense generosity—a beautiful soul devoted to serving others and uplifting humanity. Truly, he was a man of God.

Our hearts are with his beloved wife, Jean, and the entire Esposito family during this painful time. May Allah, the Most Merciful, forgive him, envelop him in His infinite mercy, illuminate his grave, accept his lifelong service, and grant him the highest abode in Jannat al-Firdaws.

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un. To Allah we belong, and to Him we shall all return.

Rest in peace, my dear brother and friend. Your legacy will continue to inspire generations to come. May your knowledge remain a continuous charity, benefiting others long after your passing. You built bridges in an age of walls—may we prove worthy of crossing them.

In 2021, I had the privilege of sitting down with him for a conversation about his remarkable life, achievements, and the legacy he built. Looking back, I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to record and share his story in his own words.

You can watch our conversation here:
https://t.co/e4gFc2Y695

[Mark Goldbridge @markgoldbridge]

Norway deserved this semi more than us. FA are a fucking joke allowing this again.

[Xassan A. Musa @XassanAMuse]

They betting on him now to stage a come back. Ship has sailed.

[𝗧𝗠 @TMfutbal]

🚨𝗢𝗣𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗢𝗡: France doesn't value Rayan Cherki enough!🇫🇷❌

[Dr. Omar Suleiman @omarsuleiman]

In other news, Lindsey Graham is dead.

“I am with Israel. Do whatever the hell you have to do…”

“Level the place.”

“Do in Gaza what we did in Tokyo and Berlin”

Bye Lindsey. May you live an eternity in ruins for the ruins you helped create in Gaza. Ameen

[Roger Mitchell @RPMComo]

There is a small step between confidence and arrogance. The same coin.

But I tell you this. These are the cunts that do things in life.

We might not like them but we’ve all looked to them in our team to bring the goods when needed. Haven’t we? https://t.co/Qprl3mVVrT

[Mohamed Wehliye, MBS @WehliyeMohamed]

African teams after 80th minute!

[Jonathan AC Brown @JonathanACBrown]

People have replied with lots of good suggestions on resources on the crisis of liberalism/The West brought on the Gaza war(s). I'm making a thread here for them, in no particular order. Some are books, some articles, some podcasts associated or not associated with books, etc:

[Mehreen Khan @MehreenKhn]

Hegemons (or declining imperial powers) don’t feel the need to sportswash - welcome to Trump’s World Cup: my chat with @RaviReports is up on the Foreign Policy pod

https://t.co/beuFdx6VcF

[Mouin Rabbani @MouinRabbani]

We’ve reached the point where Nazi Germany placed less restrictions on foreign participation in the 1936 Olympics than has the United States for the upcoming FIFA World Cup.
Dirty rotten scoundrel Gianni Infantino must never be allowed to live down his obsequious sycophancy towards the US leadership.

[Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @NYCMayor]

Soccer would not exist without immigrants. Immigrants play and coach the game, work in the stadiums, fill the stands, and make celebrations like the World Cup possible. Six of the players on the US Men's National Team are immigrants.

We will not allow ICE or anyone else to sow fear in our communities — especially at this moment. As the world comes to our city, we will stand proudly with our immigrant neighbors and reject these attacks for what they are: an attempt to divide us.

[Faisal @FaisalAHAli]

Mahmood Mamdani, Zohran’s old man, recalls how close he came to taking a Somali passport after running into difficulties with his Ugandan one.

He was well on his way to doing so, until the 1969 military coup there replaced the government he had a contact in.

[Sami Hamdi سامي الهاشمي الحامدي @SALHACHIMI]

Dear John,

There are two billion Muslims in the world. These two billion do not demand child marriage or FGM, nor are they beating their wives, nor are they rampaging on the streets killing infidels. Are you suggesting these two billion are not following the commands of their religion and failing God and His messenger? Or that these two billion do not understand their religion properly and you have perceived the true meaning of Islam that these two billion do not?

John, two billion Muslims follow a book that has told the world since the 7th century that "mountains are like pegs" keeping the earth in place from being pulled apart by tectonic plates, and that the earth and planets "swim in orbit", and that seas "have a barrier between them that prevents them overlapping" due to the difference in density between them. As a result of its emphasis on open thought, this book led Muslims to establish algorithms (al-Khwarizmi), 'The Canon of Medicine' by Ibn Sina which was taught at European universities until the 17th century and whose picture is on the door of the Royal Society of Medicine. It inspired Ibn al-Nafis to prove pulmonary circulation, and Ibn al-Haytham to prove eyes receive light (as opposed to the Greeks who claimed they emit light). Al-Kashi calculated π to 16 decimal points, Al-Biruni calculated the earth's radius, and Al-Battani calculated the solar year and is cited frequently by Copernicus himself. Al-Ghazali's treatise on the moral economy was the basis of St Thomas Aquinas's treatise which Adam Smith relied on to write his "moral economy".

Far from closing thought, Islam opened it and subsequently enlightened the world. This is why King Charles III said "the West has forgotten the debt it owes Islam". I do not say this to suggest any superiority over Europe. Knowledge is, after all, shared and not owned. I merely make the point that in light of this, how do you dislike a system of thought that Europe's greats credit with helping to enlighten European civilisation?

John, these two billion Muslims are not of a single race or culture, and serve instead as a testament to Islam's capacity for multi-culturalism. These two billion include English, Scot, Welsh, French, German, Bosnian, Arab, Persian, Kurd, Turk, Indian, Malaysian, American, Hausa, Yoruba, Zulu, Berber, Latin American, Chinese, Japanese, and many more.

Moreover, these two billion Muslims are the inheritors of a legacy of harmonious co-existence of faiths and a commitment to uphold these values. Andalusia stands as a testament to Christians, Jews, and Muslims living together. When Isabella burnt it and set out to burn the Jews and Muslims alike, it was Sultan Bayezid II who sent boats to collect the Jews and carry them to safety. Sarajevo's nickname is the "Jerusalem of Europe" due to the commitment of Muslims to the protection of the rights and freedoms of other faiths. Jerusalem was ruled by Muslims for centuries, and remained a haven for Jews and Christians alike. @TuckerCarlson interviewed Mother Agapia on the relationship between the Christians and Muslims in the Holy Land, and I encourage you to listen to her.

Two billion Muslims are proud of this legacy, and uphold it by the command of Allah Himself who refers to the Christians and Jews as "People of the Book". Muslims pass on this legacy generation after generation, teaching stories of the Second Caliph's preservation of churches when he entered Jerusalem, of Saladin's refusal to massacre the inhabitants of the city as the Crusaders had done when they sacked it, of how Allah commands that people be treated with kindness, to give charity (even if it be a smile), to help the poor and lift their fellow brother and sister up when they are down. They are taught the sayings of the Prophet's companions such as that of Ali Ibn Abi Talib who said: "A man is my brother in faith, or my equal in creation [and therefore deserving of dignity]". They are taught the story of a righteous Christian King who was so moved by the similarity of Muhammad's message to Jesus Christ that he declared "the difference between you [Muslims] and us [Christians] is no thicker than this line" and gave them sanctuary from persecution,

John, the vision of the two billion Muslims of this world is not one of violent supremacy. Muslims are not the ones who caused two World Wars for the sake of ethno-supremacist ideas that slaughtered millions of innocents (including many Muslims who fought on the side of the Allies against fascism). Muslims are not the ones who committed the Holocaust, a crime of horrific proportions. Muslims are not the ones who imposed apartheid on South Africa, brutalising an entire population and labelling them "terrorists" for resisting what is now universally condemned. These are uniquely European, Western crimes.

The vision of two billion Muslims is not one of violent supremacy akin to that of the Western brutality of the 20th century, but of peace and freedom that enables genuine conversation on the nature of mankind, the purpose of life, and the relationship with the Creator. Allah expressly forbids forced conversions in the Quran on the basis that He will not accept a prayer that is forced; this is why Muslims emphasise dialogue on the basis that God only accepts a sincere submission. In other words, I cannot force you to become Muslim. No one can. Allah is explicit in His assertion that if anyone forces John Cleese to prostrate, then He will not accept it and therefore it is a fruitless exercise. John must accept it from his heart, and that requires a genuine and sincere engagement rooted in an earnest desire to see John Cleese enter God's Garden of Heaven (and I pray God leans your heart towards it).

John, if I want to know what a Christian believes (or is supposed to believe), I open the Bible or read from a Christian theologian. It would be insincere to read about Christianity from a book written by a Muslim or a Jew who would write on the topic from the perspective of trying to disprove it. Likewise, instead of reading third party sources and then repeating their claims, I would ask that you read from a Muslim source to try to understand why two billion Muslims follow this religion. The esteemed Englishman Martin Lings has an excellent book called "The Life of Prophet Muhammad". Most libraries have a copy, while any Islamic Centre will gladly give you a copy for free.

I do not ask you to change your mind. I simply ask you to at least do the courtesy of reading the message of Islam and Prophet Muhammad, if only to ensure that the claims you make in future are accurate. I ask that you give Prophet Muhammad a chance to convey his message to you. Read of his life through the eyes of an Englishman. I think this is a simple gesture that might at least help ease the dislike and mistrust of an idea of which your understanding has been badly hindered by ill-intentioned headlines.

[Guleid Ahmed Jama @GuleidJ]

On the night of 21 May, I was summoned and interrogated by the CID over Facebook posts. The summons followed public threats by the Minister of Interior. I told the police that freedom of expression is a constitutional right. Today, I was summoned again. 1/2

[Guleid Ahmed Jama @GuleidJ]

I have strongly and publicly supported the recognition and viewed it as a positive step for #Somaliland. However, I cannot understand this decision. You cannot make such a decision on your own. It should be presented to the Parliament.

[Adam @adancabdulle]

One of the most haunting pictures out of Mogadishu. A destitute mother and her two children left abandoned in rain after their home was dubiously sold off by their own government.

Long after the hubris of power wears off, this is the image that will haunt the culprits.