In Perspective

I’m trying really hard not be political, but darn it, it seems that we as Americans are most threatened whenever the current administration opens its mouth. Iraq has yellow-cake, WMD (oddly enough, it’s meant as non-conventional weapons, not necessarily nuclear which is why it can different from the yellow-cake claim), Al-Qaeda is in bed with every Muslim in the world, etc., etc., etc.. I was feel better when they are quiet, not because ignorance is bliss – in their case quite the opposite – but because then the truth starts to come out into the open. That’s when I feel…

December 25 marks the day we commonly celebrate the birth of Prophet Isa (a.s.), known in English as Jesus. It’s a wonderful occasion to spend time with family, and to think about the commonalities amongst all the Abrahamic faiths. I have to theological objection to celebrating the birth of a prophet of Islam, after all I celebrate the birth of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and Imam Ali (a.s.). However, since we don’t recognize Jesus as the Christ, I felt we as Muslims needed to recognize both our commonalities and differences with other faiths, hence Eid ul-Isa. If you like it, please…

A few new books added to our sidebar items. One is on mystical poetry and symbolism in Islamic literatures, by Annemarie Schimmel. Another is a theoretical framework for understanding some of the issues plaguing Muslim majority societies. It covers a wide-range of disciplines including religion, economics and history. The newest one is a discussion of the stories of Joseph/Yusuf found in the Hebrew Bible and in the Qur’an.