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Last Night I Cried

Last night was Laylat ul-Qadr, the night of power, the night Qur’anic revelation began. “Read in the name of your Lord Who created you from a clot of blood God the most bountiful who taught you by the pen taught what you did not know.” Read is the first command. During a dhikr tasbih last night, I was terribly moved. Group prayer is such a wonderful experience and the loud recitation, late at night, is a good way to feel the presence of the Divine. It was a lovely and indescribable. Just wanted to share. Back to the first command.…

Milad un-Nabi

Yesterday was the birthday of the Prophet (Milad un-Nabi). I had wanted to do a lengthy post on the various world traditions associated with the celebration of the day. When I went on-line to try to pull resources about Egypt, Pakistan and Indonesia, all I kept getting were sites decrying the celebration of the Prophet’s birthday. Apparently because he never celebrated it, we shouldn’t either (leave aside the irony of the “guardians of faith” making this decree on the internet.) I celebrate birthdays of my friends and family, people who are important to me. I can’t think of a more…

Anglican [Gay] Sex

The Atlantic has a short piece on Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and how he is guiding the Church through the problems of recognizing homosexuals. The middle way, via media, seems to be a good reminder of what we need to be doing in religious discourse in general. The Archbishop’s passage on sex is an interesting read.