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Presenting the winners of the
First Annual Brass Crescent Awards

On behalf of both altmuslim and City of Brass, we'd like to thank the 250 people who voted in the First Annual Brass Crescent Awards. Voting was very close in most categories, and we would like to be the first to congratulate our winners and Honorable Mentions, as well as extend our thanks to all the nominees and voters for helping make this celebration of the Islamsphere a success. We also would like to thank Crooked Timber, A Fistful of Euros, Ideofact, Head Heeb, Amygdala, Left Edge North, Liberals Against Terrorism, Velveteen Rabbi and all the others (including the nominees) who linked to us and helped publicize the Brass Crescent Awards.

We'll keep a permanent list of nominees for the Brass Crescent Awards available, as they represent a dynamic, creative, and powerful cross-section of Muslim thought on the web. We fully expect next year's crop of nominees to be just as interesting, if not more so, than this year's candidates. We plan to run the Awards again next year, inshallah, so start bookmarking posts, series, comments, and blogs now!

Winners and Honorable Mentions may contact us to receive HTML code to display a badge announcing their achievement if they desire.

Let's not keep you waiting any longer - listed below are this year's winners and Honorable Mentions. (In cases where the second place candidates were very closely spaced, we chose multiple Honorable Mentions):
BEST BLOG:

The "Best Blog" category honors the single most essential muslim-authored blog in the Islamsphere, with the best overall writing and content.

Winner: avari/nameh
Honorable Mentions: Abdusalaam Al-Hindi and veiled4Allah

BEST WRITING:

Which blog is the most articulate, the most persuasive and well-reasoned?

Winner: Haroon Moghul (avari/nameh)
Honorable Mentions: Thabet (Muslims Under Progress) and Zack Ajmal (Procrastination)

BEST POST:

Which single post in the Islamsphere was the single most original, insightful, and important, above all the others?

Winner: Haroon Moghul (avari/nameh), Explaining the Mideast to the Midwest
Honorable Mention: Abdusalaam Al-Hindi, Driving while menstruating

BEST SERIES:

What regular, recurring feature in the Islamsphere deserves recognition for its comprehensiveness, its relevance to the concerns of the Islamsphere?

Winner: Leila M on Muharram
Honorable Mention: Zack Ajmal on Marriage

BEST IRAQI BLOGGER:

Whatever our opinions about the war, we can agree that Mesopotamia is once again fertile ground for self-expression and speech. Which blog from Iraq best captures the voice of the Iraqi people?

Winner: Riverbend (Baghdad Burning)
Honorable Mention: Aunt Najma (A Star From Mosul)

BEST NON-ENGLISH BLOG:

Whether it is in Urdu, Arabic, Persian or some other language, which non-english blog deserves the most recognition, especially for promoting multilingual blogging? (not 100% of the posts need be non-english).

Winner: Asif Iqbal (Asif Iqbal's Multi-Lingual Blog)
Honorable Mention: Zack Ajmal (Procrastination)

BEST GROUP BLOG:

Which multiple group blog in the Islampshere has the best diversity of writers and the most interesting debate on Muslim issues?

Winner: Muslims Under Progress
Honorable Mention: HU

MOST DESERVING OF WIDER RECOGNITION:

Which muslim-authored blog is a true diamond in the rough, one that everyone should know about but for the vagaries of the internet, few are aware?

Winner: Chapati Mystery
Honorable Mentions: Ethnically Incorrect and Mere Islam

BEST NON-MUSLIM BLOG:

Which blog writen by a non-muslim is most respectful of Islam and seeks genuine dialog with muslims?

Winner: Juan Cole (Informed Comment)
Honorable Mention: Abu Aardvark

BEST NEW BLOG:

Who's the most interesting new muslim kid on the block?

Winner: Malo's Adventures
Honorable Mention: PakPositive

BEST COMMENTER:

The greatest aspect of blogging is the community that springs up around the blogs and their comment sections. Which commentator in the Islamsphere deserves respect for the most consistently insighful and wise contributions to the debate?

Winner: Silent Spring
Honorable Mention: Al Muhajabah (veiled4Allah)

BEST THINKER:

Who is the most stimulating, insightful, and philosophically wise among us? This category is intended to highlight a blogger who may not post daily, but when they do post, they really make an impact.

Winner: Silent Spring
Honorable Mention: Razib Khan

BEST FEMALE BLOG:

The woman's voice in Islam is equal to the man's, and in the Islamsphere we seek to make sure the female perspective is highlighted and given its rightful due. Which muslim woman's blog has done the most to explore the role that woman play within Islam and society?

Winner: A Dervish's Du'a
Honorable Mention: Sister Scorpion
The Brass Crescent Awards were created in 2004
by Aziz Poonawalla and Shahed Amanullah