In this Ramadan poem by Rumi, fasting is seen as a way of escaping the body.
Tag Archives: Islam
Like a Reed, Open Yourself to God’s Breath
Rumi says that Ramadan is a time when, by emptying our bellies, we open up a path to spirit.
Finding a Place Where Hate Won’t Grow
In charged Israeli-Palestinian and Christian-Muslim relations, Naomi Shihab Nye is looking at how to move past the suffering and hate.
Stretch Your Nets to Harvest the Fog
When one has been fasting for Ramadan, one becomes attuned to spiritual dimensions of the world that elude our full-bellied selves. Kazim Ali captures the experience in a number of his poems.
The Hunger Inside You, Hold It
American Muslim poet Kazim Ali explores the spiritual dimensions of fasting in his poetry collection “Fasting for Ramadan.”
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Ramadan – The Self Lightens
Poet Nomi Stone, while studying an ancient Jewish community in Tunisia, also attempted to understand the Muslim neighbors. “Many Scientists Convert to Islam” describes her exploration of Ramadan.
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Faith in the Face of Terrorism
Today I recommend Of Gods and Men (2010), an extraordinary French film that I saw last month. It is about a small community of Cistercian monks in rural Algeria who must decide whether to stay or leave in face of rising terrorism. Good Friday is a good day to write about it since it deals with Lenten themes.
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Dance with the Enemy, Then Go Wash
Film Friday The Western, Hollywood’s quintessential genre, can tell us a lot about race relations. I was reminded of this on Wednesday when I taught John Ford’s The Searchers in my American Film class. Rewatching the movie got me thinking about the Congressional hearings on “Muslim American Radicalization,” which began yesterday. I will have more […]
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A Poem about the Stoning of Women
My colleague Jeff Coleman recently wrote the following poem about the stoning of women in places like Somalia, Iran, and Taliban-controlled regions of Afghanistan. He tells me the poem was triggered by an article in the New York Times about Iranian executions, but for me it brought to mind the Somalian stoning two years ago […]
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