Tag: Islam
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Slaves, Sons, and Submission: Christian and Muslim Understandings of God
As with verses from the Quran dealing with violence and warfare, it seems many Christians tend to emphasize the names of Allah that deal with dominance and power and de-emphasize or skip over others involving love, mercy, and forgiveness. Read more
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Arbaeen
Everything is shimmering in the shrines of the slain, starlit crystal capturing song and the moan of the mourners, fermented, yet fresh, like the River of Wine that flows beside the Milk. Read more
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Abraham’s Sacrifice: Reflections from Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
Sometimes we see Abraham’s hand pressed over the boy’s face, as if to cover it, lest they make eye contact, and he lose his nerve to go through with the sacrifice. Some have the boy lying on his belly, his mouth agape, waiting in horror to have his throat slit. Read more
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Hussain at Karbala
I wander the sands, smeared crimson o’er gold; the blood of my house runs red as dusk. The children are crying, their throats parched earth. Read more
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Mary and Fatima: Reflections on the Sacred Feminine in Christianity and Islam
Both Mary and Fatima are seen, in their respective traditions, as “queens of paradise.” And what is a queen of paradise? Perhaps it has less to do with crowns and scepters, and more to do with a certain fullness of being, a height of proximity to the divine light. Read more
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C.S. Lewis and the Calormenes: A Commentary on Narnia’s Arabesque Baddies
But Lewis wasn’t in it for accuracy as much as to spin a colorful yarn that stoked the imaginations of mostly Western, Christian children. And if the spine-tingling savagery and exotic delights of far-flung locales could add flavor, more power to them. Read more