Nearly six years ago, Pope Francis issued his encyclical Laudato Si, on environmental care. I was blessed to join scholars and practitioners of different religious communities, and of no religions, who came together to understand how we could enter into conversation with this historic document. As we sit in the…

Traditionally, Muslims read the Qur’an in its entirety during Ramadan, in a section a day. The Qur’an is split into thirty sections, called juz’, and one section is read each night. This year is the 13th year I am inviting people to tweet the Qur’an for Ramadan. I will be…

O Allah Bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad. Let the light of Muhammad and the family of Muhammad be my guide. نور. Let me not be deceived by the Morning Star whose light tempts, and only leads astray. Knowing that the light also comes…

Wrote the following in preparation for joining an interfaith invocation ceremony. Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful The Creator of all creation The Lord of the Day of Justice Who By the Dawn Reminds us That time flies, and we are foolish unless we…

Ramadan 1441/2020: Week 4: In the World This article is the last in the series of four for this year. The first article talked about the basics of Ramadan. The second article dealt with the complexities and meanings of fasting. The third article started a conversation on what it means to withdraw from the world and still…

Ramadan 1441/2020: Week 3: To be Present and not Attached As we enter the third week of Ramadan, it seems like a time to stake stock of where we have been in our discussion. In the first week, I talked about the transformative properties of the month. It was a burning heat that smelted attachment to the world from us…

Week 2: Fasting is… One of the best selling poets in the US, for many years now, is the 13th century Persian-language poet Jalaluddin Rumi. Rozina Ali, in a wonderful piece, traces how Rumi is decoupled from Islam, his religion. Not only was he Muslim, but he was a legal scholar. He was both…

Week 1: Not Even Water This week marks the beginning of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is popularly known as the month of fasting. The Qur’an commands believers to fast during this month (2:185). There are exceptions to this command, such as if one is medically unable, ritually impure, or is…