My first encounter with Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi was many years ago in Boise, Idaho. I was living in Mexico at the time on a foreign service assignment and I used to go to Boise frequently for business meetings. My next stop after Boise was San Francisco and then on to Tokyo and I wanted to find a good book to read on the 13 hour journey across the Pacific. I found a small bookstore in the middle of town... Read more
In the name of God, the Infinitely Compassionate, the Infinitely Merciful We sent it (the Quran) down on the Night of Destiny And what will make you comprehend what the Night of Destiny is? The Night of Destiny is better than a thousand months On that night, the angels and the Spirit come down by the permission of their Lord with His decrees for all matters It is all peace till the break of dawn (Quran, The Night of Destiny,... Read more
The word “saint” seems to have accumulated some negative associations in the West. When we describe someone as a “saint” we don’t always intend a compliment. We can mean someone with a cloying niceness, or a holier-than-thou religiosity. A saint isn’t someone we would want to spend any time with. We’re cynical today and more than a little egotistical. We like to think we appreciate someone who has a bit of the devil in them, a bit of edge, like... Read more
Entering the Kentucky Exposition Hall for the Islamic funeral service of Muhammad Ali, one of the first things that caught my eye were people in T-shirts that read “I Am Ali.” I quickly realized that these were not necessarily Muslims, nor sports fans, but regular people, citizens of Louisville, volunteers to help guide the many thousands of people who were arriving for a hastily organized “Janaza,” an Islamic prayer service. Ali’s family had intended to have a private ceremony, to... Read more
We sat in our circle in a bright hall, the sunbeams highlighting dust motes in the air. Our teacher was beginning the invocation before we began our loud zhikr together. He said the familiar words to welcome all the prophets and saints into our remembrance, our hearts, our gathering. And for what felt like the first time, I heard, “We welcome Khadija, Fatima and Aisha.” I’m sure the words had been shared before, but perhaps this time my heart was... Read more
As I was growing up, Islam’s benevolent female saints existed in my imagination as otherworldly matchmakers. Common features of my family’s infrequent summer holidays with relatives in Egypt were visits to mosques enclosing the shrines of Sayyida Zainab and Sayyida Nafisa, two descendants of the Prophet Muhammad who have come to be regarded as Cairo’s patron saints, may God grant them peace and blessings. My mother, often with her sisters who lived in smaller cities along the Suez Canal, would... Read more
My journey to Islam started with Leonard Cohen. In his album, Recent Songs, Cohen writes of being influenced by Attar and Rumi[i]. The lyrics were so beautiful and evocative, I had to find out whom these intriguing names belonged to. Recently, as a Sufi colleague and I were reflecting on Cohen’s music, it was suggested to me that part of its appeal lies in how he combines the erotic with the mystical, the dark with the light, particularly so in... Read more
I have been fortunate at certain times of my life to have been instructed by some extraordinary teachers, people who came into my life as if by chance, but whose presence and effect on my soul could not have been prayed for, much less imagined. One of these teachers was for a period of time the owner of a café where I sometimes enjoyed being served a cup of frothy Turkish coffee. One particularly rainy afternoon I took refuge in... Read more
I knew very little about the Prophet (peace be upon him) before coming to Islam. Once I embarked on the Path, however, I found myself developing a curiosity about him that gradually turned into longing. I wanted to know about his life but I also wanted to know him as a man. Reading biographies wasn’t satisfactory. I tried both religious and secular ones, but they all seemed to have something missing. I remember asking at the Dar Al Taqwa bookshop... Read more
What’s Love Got To Do With It? As Tina Turner once famously asked, “What’s love got to do with it?” For very different reasons the same question could be asked about Islam today. In these times of violence, stereotyping, extremism, criminal behavior enacted in the name of religion, and the mass media’s dumbed-down public discourse, what response is this question likely to evoke? A laughable oxymoron? A suspicious ruse? A hopeful possibility? What’s love got to do... Read more
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