Grief in Ft. Hood Stltoday.com

Once again we are left with this question “Why”  in the face of the tragedy in Ft. Hood Texas.

No matter what led to this heinous act;  psychosis, extreme anger or ideological differences, there is no justification for taking innocent lives.  The fact that the perpetrator was a physician and a psychiatrist makes this even more incomprehensible; but I think we never know what goes through these murderers’ minds. How they justify their acts, is only understandable to them.  Our military personnel were killed in their own home by one of their own.

The fact that the perpetrator is a Muslim should not be a reflection on Islam. Islam does not condone these crimes. There are more than 4,000 Muslims in the military serving our country with pride. The Muslim community of Greater St. Louis and all the national Muslim organizations have condemned this horrific act.

I do not want to speculate about the killer’s…

A couple of days earlier, I was on my laptop, when I saw a YouTube window, which read “YouTube-Amazing Convert Story”. Upon reading this … I became a bit curious, I turned on the video, and listened to it half heartedly (it’s about 15 min long) as I did my homework and checking my mail.

As I was listening to this, the guy was describing how he was at a point in his life where he was confused and was looking for answers. It was a hard time in his life and he needed to believe in something. He went from religion to religion in search for something to fill the emptiness inside him.

When he asked the religious leaders of some given religions, questions, they would give him an answer but it was like it was their own opinion. After a while he finally stumbled across Islam and when he asked…

Jakarta, Indonesia (Adek Berry/AFP/Getty Images)

Ramadan, the month of fasting, is a time of great joy throughout the Muslim world. At the end I have put some pictures of scenes from around the globe. The pictures are from a collection on the Boston Globe website.

Krista Tippett also did a very nice program this Sunday on her wonderful NPR radioshow called Speaking of Faith, where each week some faith group is highlighted. In this Sunday’s program, titled Revealing Ramadan, a number of Muslims from all over USA (and some from elsewhere) shared their stories. The stories were about Ramadan and also about their journey to Islam or, for some, back to Islam.

Alee Ramadhan Sr. 65 years ago speakingoffaith.publicradio.org

There are stories of also sharing their experience with non-Muslims. Steven Longden in Manchester UK talks about his journey to becoming a Muslim and then later discovering that his great, great, great grandfather converted…

Pakistani Muslims buy dates for the coming Islamic month of Ramadan, Friday, Aug. 21, 2009 in Karachi, Pakistan (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

Zafar Nomani, professor emeritus of human nutrition and foods at West Virginia University, has written a fascinating piece on the Washington Post’s “On Faith” blog about the health aspects of fasting, just in time for the beginning of Ramadan.

Beginning today or tomorrow (depending on which authority one abides by) Muslims will fast from dawn to sunset each day. Fasting, or sawm, is one of the five pillars of Islam. Each evening during Ramadan Muslims, will break their 13- to 14-hour fast with a frequently festive communal meal called the iftar. The end of Ramadan is celebrated with a feast called Eid al-Fitr.

Nomani says fasting “can be healthy for people of all faiths from Christians to Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and others who fast as a part of their spiritual practice. But it’s…

AP file photo A Christian boy looks on as he sits at the back of his family car after leaving Mosul, Iraq

Until our invasion of Iraq, the 1.4 million large Christian population in Iraq (7% of the population) was one of the oldest, large, healthy minority population anywhere in the world. It was/is one of the oldest Christian populations anywhere in the world. They enjoyed a above average economic life. Today they are seriously facing possible extinction, primarily through exodus. 

Many westerners believe that Muslims and Islam are an intolerant society. And some are quick to point to this sad situation of Iraqi Christians today as proof of their assertion. How little do we contemplate things right in front of our noses! If indeed Muslims are extremely intolerant, how is it that these Iraqi Christians lived for over 1000 years among them? One may also consider that we cannot point to a…

http://img113.imageshack.us

Our faiths teach us that The Creator loves creation unconditionally. But what does this Love of God for Creation mean? Many people compare it to (or understand it in terms of) human love. This comparison of Divine Love and human love seems to be erroneous because human love seems to mostly be conditional. We love someone because of the circumstances or their response to us and if matters change so does our love (as the high divorce rate attests to).

In Islam when considering The Creator the qualities of Love and Mercy are used interchangeably. And the idea is that Allah Loves us beyond our imagination. I was reminded of this when again watching a beautiful little video titled ‘A Land Called Paradise’ .  There is a young man in it who puts up two placards about himself. The first one reads ‘I am a total idiot’ and the second one reads…

Young women at Imam Academy Morocco

Someone once said “For God’s sake if you have something to say begin at the end”. Well that is what the title does but now I need to backfill why this is a solution to improving present day Muslim society. When asked about women rights Muslim’s proudly point to the emancipation of women under Islam. In 700 AD the Islamic system of government, as mandated by the Qur’an, gave women rights unheard of in other societies for 800 years or more. Women had property rights and rights of inheritance and they had freedoms not known before (and some not known today). Some women took it upon themselves to travel alone over vast distances to visit Makkah (something no woman would consider today). Many women took the opportunity to become scholars and women were heavily represented among early Muslim scholars. So that is great but what…

Bountiful harvest www.partnerone.biz

OK admittedly the title is a bit tongue in cheek. But we should ask the question: Why did the Creator create Sin? (this is a bit of a diversion but I prefer the attribute Creator instead of the word God, (although in some cases language dictates using God) in that it is a bit more gender neutral. The word Allah would be even more preferable (if it did not connotate so many misunderstanding in so many people) because it is not only gender neutral but plurality neutral, i.e., there is no Allahs form of this word. The ‘Al’ is the ‘The’ in Arabic :) (four the’s in a row eh). ‘La’ in Arabic means ‘no’ but I haven’t been able to find what ‘lah’ would mean although it has to be close to ‘la’. Etymology suggests the meaning ‘The Undefinable’ for ‘Al Lah’ which does capture the deepest sense…

Being an American makes you the most popular kid in the village.

Rick Steve’s programs on travel in Europe have been enjoyable to watch. He is soft spoken and can show his enthusiasm without getting too worked up. When I heard about him making a program about Iran, I did not know what to expect. The PBS documentary he made was exceptional. He also kept a daily diary of his time in Iran and his entries there about talking and listening to people there are an eye opener. Here are some excerpts:

The Islamic Revolution is a “revolution of values.” People here tell me they support it because they want to raise their children without cheap sex, disrespectful clothing, drug abuse and materialism, believing it erodes character and threatens their traditional values. To conservative Iranians, America stands for all of the above. The people I’ve met here don’t want their culture to be…

Mousavi Supporter www.huffingtonpost.com/

If one remembers the results by county of the 2004 elections it was a swath of red with small pockets of blue, even though the popular vote was much closer. It was a clear demarcation of rural (generally poorer and less educated) versus urban (and generally more educated). There is a very similar line in the Iran elections. The religious lines are similarly drawn with the conservative (more rural) clearly supporting incumbent Mr. Ahmedinijad and the liberal supporting Mr. Mousavi.

It is the religious aspect that is of interest. One may also recall that former President Bush was

Ahmedinijad Supporters photos.upi.com/

intensely unpopular outside USA in 2004. Mr. Ahmedinijad is also very unpopular outside Iran. The two candidates also resemble in personality. Both have simple very conservative philosophies (albeit very different ones) and are seen by their supporters as having strong religious values and strong national security values, even if…

Utror Valley near Kalam http://laf.ee/wp

As a young child I remember going to Swat on summer vacation twice. It was an enchanting place with beautiful landscapes so unfamiliar to one who lived in the plains.

Swat Valley http://3.bp.blogspot.com

Saidu Sharif, Kalam, the names of the town’s were like from fairy tales. I still have those wonderful images of my childhood whenever I hear the name Swat.

Kalam www.swatvalley.com

Swat used to be different from the other regions in the north frontier of Pakistan. They used to not have the rigid view of life and religion.

Bahrain Swat racismandnationalconsciousnessnews

My wife tells me of her visit to Swat long ago (before we had met), with her family, and how they met the family of the Wali-e-Swat (the then ruler of Swat) and the love she saw among the people. She especially remembers at mealtime how all the women of the Wali’s household, servants and ladies, sat together to…

This was a bit of good news last week. Having women is position of how law is applied is a very good sign of progress. Looking at the story about Palestine I wondered if other muslim countries were also working on having female judges and yes there are already female judges in a number of other countries. Excerpts from a few news clips follow. The first one, from the Christian Science Monitor,  is really interesting and illuminating.

New female judge transforms Islamic court
RAMALLAH, WEST BANK - Khouloud el-Faqeeh has shattered the glass ceiling of Islamic jurisprudence.
After years of pushing to break into the all-male ranks of sharia judges in the Palestinian territories, she finally secured a post after scoring among the best - along with another woman - in a recent test for new jurists. They are widely considered to be the first female sharia judges in the Middle East.
Now, Ms.…

There is a saying ‘change is the spice of life’. But change is a spice that very few people like and sometimes even less with time. And it is this thought about dislike of change that may offer an explanation for an event early in Islamic history. It may also be instructive to us in our own personal journeys in search of truth.

Muslims pray 5 times a day facing in the direction of Kaaba the house that Abraham built in Makkah. The direction of prayer is called Qibla and when Muhammad first started receiving revelation the direction of prayer (Qibla) was towards Jerusalem. After about 15 years the Qibla was changed from Jerusalem to Makkah. The story I learn’t growing up was that the command to change the Qibla came in the middle of a afternoon prayer and that Prophet Muhammad stopped in the middle of the prayer, made the…

chinese women imams http://www.daylife.com

This question caused some debate a few years ago. Generally there was a big NO from the Muslim clergy who weighed in on this issue. Interesting one person did say it is permissible. Egypt’s Grand Mufti, Sheikh Ali Guma, declared that woman-led prayer of mixed-gender congregations is permissible, so long as the congregation agrees to it. According to a report by the satellite news channel Al-Arabiyya, Sheikh Guma declared in an interview on Egyptian television that there is no consensus among religious scholars on the issue of female imamat of mixed gender congregations, pointing out that respected scholars like Imam Tabari and Imam Ibn Arabi found the practice permissible. “The Mufti added that, in such issues where there are disagreements, then the situation rests with the specific people concerned. If (the congregation) accepts a woman as imam, then that’s their business, and there is nothing wrong with that…

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com

Very high on the list of things REALLY important to people part of the Christian Right is proselytizing. And very high on their potential targets for people who need to hear their message is people in the Muslim world. So one wonders had their leaders really thought out their position on Obama. Was it really a smart thing to try to paint him as a closet Muslim. To me that was a bit of cutting off one’s nose to spite the face. Had the Christian right even considered the enormous proselytizing opportunity that the reality of Obama offered them? Here is a man with the name of Barak Hussien Obama. His father was Muslim and his step father was also Muslim, giving him a strong Muslim influence early in his life. And yet today he is smart, successful, extremely well liked and a practicing Christian of over 20 years and…

elusive-bird-of-peace http://farm1.static.flickr.com

It is difficult to have a reasonable discussion on the Palestine-Israel issue. Passions run very high.  I guess as a Muslim I am supposed to offer support for Palestinian suffering and condemnation of Israeli brutality. Whenever events flare up in Palestine (like they have right now), there is a knee jerk response here in USA by Jews and by Muslims in passionate support of their respective co-religionists (and opposing the other). This is not very healthy. Suffering of all civilians is important and this spiraling violence has been going on far too long with no end in sight. We need to step back and take a hard look. Here are a few thoughts.

After over 40 years of violence and turmoil very little seems to have changed. It seems each side only goads the other to ever more depraved acts of violence. Over the years, both sides have committed so…

http://www.anonymousspace.com/

Gandhi Ji said “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” We all see problems in the world and want to try to change them. But as Gandhi pointed out, it really starts with changing ourselves. Jihad should more appropriately be translated as struggle and Prophet Muhammad clarified by defining two types of Jihad. The ‘Lesser Jihad’ (Jihad-i-Asghar) is struggling against injustice which may include physical struggle and war. The ‘Greater Jihad’ (Jihad-i-Akbar) is the struggle against one’s own self, which is far more difficult. But it is this changing of ourselves that is the first step to any change.

http://jottings.blogspot.com/

There are a lot of problems in our society and the world at large. On the eve of the New Year it would be nice if each of us looks within and picks one or two things to improve and vows to wage a personal struggle to improve. If all of…

Abraham’s sacrifice http://www.uruknet.info/pic.php?f=abrahamsacrificesisaacicon_sm.jpg

Last couple of years Christmas (one of two most important Christian holidays, the other being Easter) and Eid ul Adha, one of two most important muslim holidays have been very close together in December.

But Muslim holidays follow a Lunar calendar that is 10-11 days shorter than the Gregorian/Solar calendar. This year Eid ul Adha, marking the end of the Hajj pilgrimage (which commemorates the life and sacrifice of Abraham) was on this Monday, Dec 8.

Next year it will be in November, a little after Thanksgiving and it will be 30 years before it comes again in December.

Here in America it was nice, in some ways to have the Muslims celebrating their holy day close to the Christian holy day.

Eid Sacrifice http://www.mydigitallife.co.za/images/aksn1p3r/eid-ul-adha/eid_slaughter.jpg

The Kaaba during Hajj http://www.islamicity.com/Culture/Mosques/Makkah/kaaba3.jpg

From the Jackson Hole Star Tribune:

CHEYENNE — The Wyoming Department of Corrections says it will allow Muslim inmates at the state penitentiary in Rawlins to time their meals to accommodate their daily prayers.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit earlier this year on behalf of two Muslim inmates. The lawsuit challenged a prison rule requiring inmates to eat their meals within 20 minutes after delivery, saying the policy forced them to choose between eating meals and praying.

U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer approved an agreement on Wednesday that allows prisoners receiving religious meals to keep their meals in their cells until the next meal is served. It also requires the prison to install a new microwave for inmates that won’t be used for pork, which is forbidden to Muslims and members of some other religions.

Stephen Pevar, a lawyer with the ACLU in Connecticut, said Thursday that he credits prison officials…