Religion Dispatches
…in the room, even if it is purple. This week a young feminist Muslim from Egypt is visiting in the Bay Area under a program from the US Department of State, called an “exchange.” But they don’t exchange, she said, they only tell us and tell us and tell us—as if Muslim women are clean slates that need to be informed by the likes of the state department. But it’s not just my young friend, but other fabulous Muslim women from Bahrain, Saudi Arabia,…
Read More…me for the best television around the Muslim world. A television serial in Egypt has stirred controversy: The Group explores the world of the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s largest opposition movement. Similarly, a Syrian serial, What Your Right Hand Possess (it sounds better in Arabic) has drawn furious criticism for allegedly distorting Islam. A Malaysian TV station has axed a commercial wishing Muslims a happy Eid al-Fitr because viewers com…
Read More…ars. I think it was successful. I mean, it went on for those years and the numbers who attended fluctuated a little, but I think the women appreciated the opportunity and I appreciated the company in worship and remembrance. This was our sacred isolation. For them they got a retreat from families, work, and other responsibilities for at least one day. We organized a collective fast-breaking meal and shared in the kitchen duties, as sacred work. Bu…
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…e around the globe reminds us what is at stake. Whether it is the Copts of Egypt, the Ahmadiyya of Pakistan, or the unregistered Protestants of China, self-identifying religious minorities can, to varying degrees, suffer the consequences of being deemed inauthentic by decree. During the French debate on the veil, President Sarkozy declared, “The burqa is not a religious sign,” suggesting that women had no religious right to don it. If the ideal of…
Read More…the equivalent of the cost of one full-course meal locally. I remember in Egypt that it was actually about 50 cents USD! In some places they still actually distribute it in food stuff — particularly rice, in Asia. I, like some Muslims, like to pay this amount directly to a family or individual in need. Others like to pay to local institutions, which in the U.S. would be the mosques or Islamic centers. The mosques then distribute to the members of…
Read More…r plate to eat out of or off of are a minimal requirement. When I lived in Egypt, there was almost a second tier religious mandate to eat “ful mudamas” (fava beans) for suhur. The rationale was that it “lasted” longer in the stomach and I guess made you less hungry for the day long. Uh-Uh! This was NOT my cup of tea. I resorted to my good old American pastimes for the morning and accepted that in most cultures there is not a special breakfast food…
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…Church sees in refugee families a reflection of the Holy Family fleeing to Egypt, and naturally is solicitous of the needs of immigrants. Reflecting on this image in a 1952 encyclical, Exsul Familia Nazarethena, Pope Pius XII wrote: In order that this example and these consoling thoughts would not grow dim but rather offer refugees and migrants a comfort in their trials, and foster Christian hope, the Church has to look after them with special car…
Read More…se things will not get done very efficiently. I was amazed when I lived in Egypt how government workers came to the offices several hours late each day of Ramadan, and then left for home and a nap several hours early. Obviously, you can’t have it both ways: up and about all night and then up and about all day. Something has to give. I guess they reason that since the fast prevents full force in the day, the night becomes full force. The offices ar…
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…t ideologues. But not all of them. Some settlers prefer the convenience of cheaper housing, without any apparent concern for how their desire for an affordable place to live jeopardizes the security of their country and the viability of their state. And that’s not even getting to Gaza. All this trouble, with the continued delusion that somehow it can be sustained, somehow it’ll be made to work, somehow if we just bomb them every few years, and pun…
Read More…God, or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword.” But the king of Egypt said, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!” Then Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working.” That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and foremen in charge of the people: “You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bri…
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