Monthly Archives: March 2011
Religious Consolation by John Updike One size fits all. The shape or coloration of the god or high heaven matters less than that there is one, somehow, somewhere, hearing the hasty prayer and chalking up the mite the widow brings … Continue reading
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Fitrah: Are We Born Believers?
There is a concept in Islam called the fitrah which refers to the primordial state of belief in Allah. Muslims believe all people are born Muslims, at least in the sense that the human is born with an innate knowledge of … Continue reading
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God and Natural Disasters
Unless you’ve crawled up under a rock, in which case you won’t be reading this blog, you’ve probably heard about the catstrophe in Japan. First a devastating earthquake, a tsunami, the imment threat of nuclear meltdown and now a volcanic … Continue reading
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The Afterlife
Death is the mother of beauty–from the poem Sunday Morning by Wallace Stevens I recently had a conversation with a friend, regarding the role that the afterlife plays in people’s perception and adherence to religion. For me, it wasn’t fear … Continue reading
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The Joy and Pain of Music
pure unadulterated Beauty One of the deal breakers for me and Orthodox Islam was it’s prohibition against music. While it is a bit of a contentious issue, the fact is, the overwhelming majority of scholars of past and present have … Continue reading
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Who is a Muslim?
The last post redirected into an entirely different discussion as the comments section often does. However, I feel that this topic deserves a post of its own. In many ways, it echoes this post I wrote when I was in my final … Continue reading
