Dearest M, My heart is heavy as I write this. Not because of anything between us: I feel my longing for you only deepening with the passage of time, the green dome of your mosque in Medina becoming a beacon of certainty before my mind’s eye. No, my heart is not heavy with doubt. It is weighted with dread, for the next time there is some kind of attack and a Muslim is named as the culprit. I know they will say... Read more
As we enter deeper into the introspection of the winter months and America continues to search its soul in the aftermath of the presidential election, I find myself turning to one of the great American voices: Walt Whitman. What can this champion of democracy say to us at a time when inspiration is so sorely needed? It’s not just a pressing matter for Americans: many of us in other countries also feel an urgent need to reorient and reflect. For... Read more
Dearest M, I’ve been thinking about something you said: “Islam began as something strange and it will go back to being strange, so give greetings to the strangers.” To try to understand this for myself, I’m imagining the time before you became The Messenger. When you were still just an ordinary resident of Mecca, the sanctuary around the Kaaba was full of idols. I can visualize this by remembering the temples and shrines I saw in India. Some idols would... Read more
“All the heart wants is expanding friendship,” says Rumi.[1] Last week it was National Inter Faith Week (IFW) in the UK. Having been involved in IFW for a few years now, this year it felt more potent. Created to ‘build good relationships and partnerships between people of different faiths’, there seem to be even more IFW events happening around the country, more sharing of interfaith news and work globally. It seems that these dark times are making us turn even... Read more
One of the greatest musical performances I have ever witnessed was one wet summer evening in Weybridge in 2009. For two or three hours, a 75 year old Leonard Cohen with his remarkable band kept us so spellbound that the increasingly heavy drizzle felt like life-giving rain. It was as if divine mercy was falling. Leonard has now moved on into the Unseen, but in my nostalgia I wanted to better remember that amazing concert and was looking through a... Read more
Dearest M, Before I came to Islam, the only story I’d ever heard about you was about your cat. The story goes that she was sleeping on your prayer robe, and you cut off one of the sleeves rather than disturb her. I wish I could say that anecdote is an example of you being portrayed positively (for once!) in my culture. It’s a wonderful illustration of your kindness and mercy to all creatures, inhabiting all the worlds –... Read more
Turning on a tune by Egyptian legend Abdel Halim Hafez, my sister Mandy handed her iPod to Uncle Hoda and gestured him to place the headphones over his ears. Seconds later, an expression combining astonishment and glee came over his face while listening to a melody that must have taken him back at least three decades. Our uncle laughed and sang along to the words of “Gana El Hawa, the Love Came to Us,” while swaying his head from side... Read more
Islam and the Divine Feminine? Really? Yes, as improbable as it may seem, really. In our times we have become so accustomed to a male-dominated, authoritarian and repressive interpretation of Islam that has all but eliminated the feminine dimension from our spiritual life causing serious imbalances in our lives, our communities and our world. But it wasn’t always this way. In its original revelation and manifestation, Islam was, and remains, a guidance system that brings the human being... Read more
The theme for our service this morning is “Embracing Presence”. Two questions arise from this: What is presence and why should we embrace it? If you had told me two years ago that I would be saying these words to a congregation in a Unitarian chapel, I would have been very surprised. However, my wife and I feel very comfortable among the Unitarians and often attend their Sunday services. They are currently without a minister and have therefore been asking... Read more
Dearest M, Expatriates are supposed to fall into one of three categories: missionary, mercenary or misfit. When it comes to my own repeated moves overseas, I would say I’ve mostly been a misfit. Here’s the paradox: while I feel inwardly out of place in America, I can relax into the identity of being a foreigner in almost any other country. In India, for example, where I was such an obvious firangi that housewives pointed and giggled at me from their... Read more
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