A Christian considers the Hajj
Mamoun Sakkal, Hajj, 2000. Arabic, Diwani script. Used by permission of the artist On Friday I watched a documentary on the Hajj. For those of you who do not know, the Hajj is the annual (in a lunar calendar kind of way) pilgrimage to Mecca that is a formal requirement of every able-bodied Muslim who [...]
Fear of a Muslim planet
The POTUS and FLOTUS celebrate their takeover of the world with a nice interspouse fist bump. The cover of The New Yorker, 21 July 2008. By Barry Blitt. Perhaps my Jordanian friend had seen this cover and missed the satire One of the delightful things about attending seminary is that you are made to do [...]
A Muslim approaches the Qur’an and its vilifiers
The first surah, or chapter, of the Qur’an. This chapter is known as Al-Fatiha (“The Opening”). By Turkish calligrapher Hattat Aziz Efendi (1871-1934). Source: Wikimedia Commons So this week I’ve been thinking about that utterly insane pastor in Gainesville, Florida, who thinks that burning a huge stack of Qur’ans is a good way to “send [...]
Dream on
It’s a crazy dream, like finding the Theory of Everything: finding the Universal Theology, or some such. It would be nice, wouldn’t it, to reconcile all faiths once and for all, at some incomprehensibly deep level? Well, it’s not going to happen. A Sufi dhikr ceremony. These guys really have it going on. Photo by [...]
Whatever Allah wills
I am taking a class on Islam at Emory. It’s really interesting. The other day I learned that when a Muslim (at least in Syria) sees a newborn baby, the normal response is “Whatever Allah wills.” Now to me that sounds like something a new and proud mother would not want to hear. But the [...]
