Ancient Wisdom for a Modern World
After 35 prayers, I can feel the humility coursing through my veins. I would say I’m pretty high up in the ranks for the “most humble” competition. Just kidding. I don’t feel particularly different. My first week of prayers actually reminds me of my first week of ice baths for Stoicism. The effects are subtle.
Every soul will taste death. And We test you with evil and with good as trial; and to Us you will be returned. – Qur’an 21:35 I’m beginning to think that all religions have elements of Stoicism in their teachings. Like Judaism and Christianity, Islam teaches that God is all-knowing, and knows past present and
In the 1985 book, Habits of the Heart, sociologists Robert Bellah and Richard Madsen interviewed a young nurse, Sheila Larson, about her religious beliefs. “I believe in God. I’m not a religious fanatic. I can’t remember the last time I went to church. My faith has carried me a long way. It’s Sheilaism. Just my
I attended my first Jum’uah yesterday, which is a congregational prayer that takes the place of the Dhurr, the regular afternoon prayer. It’s the equivalent of going to church or Shabbat services. This particular Jum’uah service was conducted by the organization Make Space, whose target audience is Muslim youth in the DC area. The sermon
Over the past few days, I’ve done 9 of the 10 prayers I was supposed up to do. To make up for the one I missed, I doubled up on an evening prayer. So far the most powerful prayer times are the Fajr and Isha’a, the pre-dawn and post-sunset prayers. The Fajr is a nice
When I taught English in Egypt, I assigned homework for the students to complete. There were a few students who were habitually late with their work so I would ask them directly if they were going to be on time. They would routinely respond “Insha’Allah,” which means “God willing.” In this particular context, the response
My first prayer I woke up at 5:30 AM to conduct the morning prayer, the Fajr. This prayer is supposed to be conducted before sunrise, so I only had a half hour to get this done according to the prayer timetable on my Muslim Pro app. I took a shower, and then I performed wudu, a
I arrived at the ADAMS Center Mosque 15 minutes early for my meeting with the Imam. At the top of the steps to the front entrance, there were multiple shelves holding several pairs of shoes. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do. I took a peek inside and I couldn’t see anyone walking
I chose to practice Judaism because I wanted to find out how the religion has managed to foster such a strong sense of identity and community. I wanted to find out what they were doing right, because I get the sense that modern life values the ability to be transient. If there is a great
“Any love which is dependent on something, when the ‘something’ ceases, the love ceases. Any love which is not dependent on anything will never cease. What is a love which is dependent? The love of Amnon for Tamar. And which is not dependent? The love of David and Yehonasan.” – Pirkei Avos This is an