Related Posts

Where’s the outrage?

I know quite a few Muslims and Muslim organizations are upset about the loss of Muslim lives in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kashmir, etc.. However, none of them seem to be upset by the fact that the largest slaughters of Muslims (this is opinion, I don’t have the numbers to back it up yet) in the last ten years has been committed by other self-styled Muslims, namely Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. In the last 48 hours I’ve seen three headlines (1, 2, 3), which are what have gotten me thinking about this issue. Why aren’t more Muslims decrying this loss of life…

Faith in Fantasy on Imaginary Worlds Podcast

I am a longtime fan of the Imaginary Worlds podcast, and was ecstatic was I was asked to participate in roundtable on the role of faith in imaginary worlds. I was joined by friend of many years, the Velveteen Rabbi, Rachel Barenblat, who did a wonderful write-up of her experience here. The episode description is: Science fiction has not always been compatible with religion — in fact many futuristic settings imagine no religion at all. But sci-fi and fantasy have long fascinated people of different faiths because the genres wrestle with the big questions of life. You can listen to episode…

A story

Rabia al-Adawiyya (aka Rabia al-Basri) was running through the streets of town, Basra, one day with a pail of water in one hand and a burning torch in the other. When asked what she was doing, she responded, “I want to put out the fires of Hell, and burn down the rewards of Paradise.” She was then asked why, to which she responded, “They block the way to God. I do not want to worship from fear of punishment or for the promise of reward, but simply for the love of God.”