Over a four-day period, Mecca’s population is more than doubled, with legions of devout Muslims making their way shoulder to shoulder through the dozen rituals that comprise Hajj. If it weren’t for the solemn and religious underpinnings, it would be an unnerving assembly of human beings for such a concentrated space
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Muslim Woman Chaplain
The Boston Globe Sunday Magazine ran an article a couple of weeks ago about the army’s first potential female chaplain. Unfortunately I found the article somewhat frustrating with respect to the issues at stake in the US military. The author hints at things like ageism and sexism, but there’s a much stronger undercurrent of discrimination in the article that never gets explored. In addition, he only hints at the reaction of Muslims in the military, or outside it, to a female chaplain. Personally, I have no problem. I pray through Bibi Fatimah, the Prophet’s daughter, for special occasions, and recognize…
Quote about the #Quran
Any point in the text might serve equally well as the beginning or the end, because in a sense the Qur’an is always complete. Whatever God has to say in response to a situation is never left unsaid; God is never at a loss for words. If there is more to come, it is not so much because God is only part way through displaying an already completed text, but rather because further situation will arise that call for direct divine address. The Qur’an presents itself not so much as a corpus completed in the past, but as the voice…
When did the Wahabbi movement become Muslim? [corrected]
Correction: After several months, I finally realized this article has a persistent typo. The correct transliteration is “Wahhabi” not “Wahabbi.” Therefore the title should properly be When did the Wahhabi Movement become Muslim? Arabic does not favor a double consonant at the end, and I should have known better. Rather than correct the entire piece, I’m simply putting the caveat up front. Sorry for the confusion. This is a serious question: When did the Wahabbi movement become Muslim? Just finished re-reading Hamid Algar’s excellent essay, Wahabbism: A Critical Essay, and the one question that he never answers is when did…