Related Posts

Ramadan Mubarak and L’Shana Tov [updated]

For us, Nizari Ismailis, the night of October 4, 2005, was the first night of Ramadan. This holy month for Muslims coincides with Rosh Hoshana. Over at City of Brass, he’s talking about something called the Tent of Abraham. Sounds interesting. Check it out. Also, the Bohras (official website), or Mustalian Ismailis, like the Nizari Ismailis, do not rely on moon sighting, but on astronomical calculation. I was always under the impression that we shared our calculated calendar from the Fatimid period, but since they started a day earlier, there must a divergence somewhen. Anybody know when and/or why? Update:…

Marble Church Sermon

Marble has a rich history of participating in interfaith activities and one of the highlights is our “Trialogue” under the leadership of Dr. Michael Brown. The focus of the service is a conversation among spiritual leaders of three faiths: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Ask a friend to join you for this unique and memorable worship experience. With A Mighty Arm And An Outstretched Hand from Marble Collegiate Church on Vimeo.

Reading the Qur’an – part 3 – Translations and Secondary Sources [updated][2x]

[I’ve jumped a head to part 3 since several commentors have asked about translations and secondary material.] I’ve done one post already on the vagaries of Qur’anic Arabic. Learning Arabic does not really help in learning to read the Qur’an in the sense of its interpretive history, but it does help you appreciate the large semantic range of each word in the Qur’an. (A really good secondary source for this discussion, although somewhat technical, is The Qur’an’s Self-Image.) As a result, when I look up passages, I don’t rely on just one translation, but rather several. I also use languages…