Days of Ridvan in the Twin Cities

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Recently my friend David Sterling, Coordinator of the Annual Holy Days/Holidays Festival at the Mall of America, told me about a his celebration of the Days of Ridvan.  This is a sacred celebration for Baha’i around the world, a period to reconnect with the spiritual things of life and the holy bonds of family, friendship, and shared humanity.  He shared one of the events with me:

Today is a Baha’i holy day, the 12^th Day of Ridvan, the final day of the 12 Day Festival of Ridvan. On the first of those 12 days Baha’u’llah declared His mission, the holiest of all Baha’i holy days. On the ninth day His family joined Him in the Ridvan Garden in Baghdad and on the twelfth day He and His family left Baghdad being exiled to Constantinople. These three days, the 1^st, 9^th and 12^th Days of Ridvan are all holy days where we are asked to abstain from work and school. Wikipedia has a good description of the Garden of Ridvan. There is a second Ridvan Garden in Acre, Israel, recently restored to the time of Baha’u’llah’s visits there.

Our fund raiser raised over $700 for the National Baha’i Fund. This was only one of several such fund raisers in our Twin Cities metro area and in other Baha’i communities across the nation. Only Baha’is can contribute to any of the Baha’i funds whether they are for local, national, international, for special projects, etc. Any other offers to contribute (from outside the Faith) are politely refused.

For our fund raiser in my home after welcoming our dinner guests I read a fund raising story about the Baha’is in Germany after the end of WWII. I chose this story from among several in a collection of fund stories because I was born during the early months of the U.S. entering WWII, Mary Jo, my wife, was born at the end of that war, she and I are both of German descent and it is the Baha’i promise of world peace (and the plan of how to achieve that peace) that brought me to become a Baha’i. After reading the fund story I told our guests of your art glass project, the fact that your gift of your sculptural depiction of the Wellspring of Peace (As-Salam) had arrived earlier that same day and then I brought it into the room from our front porch placing it in the center of the dinning room table. There was considerable interest in your entire 99 Names of Allah art glass project.

Following is the German fund story I read to our guests that day:

“World War II had just come to an end. The scattered German Baha’is were coming together again in West Germany and trying to organize their affairs. They had been living under great pressure during the Nazi regime; the Faith had been banned, Baha’is were not allowed to meet or speak about their beliefs and Baha’i literature had been confiscated. Now that freedom had been restored, the Baha’is realized that the thing they needed most was Baha’i books and pamphlets. Unfortunately, neither printing paper nor ink was to be found in the country in those days.

“People did not even have enough food, and the Baha’is were in the same situation as everyone else. The pre-war German currency had become worthless overnight, and even those who had the money could buy nothing with it.

“The American believers began sending food parcels to their Baha’i brothers and sisters in Germany, often working overtime at odd jobs themselves to be able to afford the gift. The German Baha’is, however, decided that they would rather sacrifice the precious foodstuff that was sent to them if they could receive printing paper and ink instead. This is how they were able to start bringing out Baha’i literature during those difficult times.

“Another project which the German Baha’is undertook right after the war was building a National Baha’i Centre in Frankfurt. The *Guardian asked them to do this and they were not going to disappoint him, no matter how great the sacrifice they had to make.

“The Baha’is of Stuttgart gathered contributions for the Centre in a special way. They made little black cloth bags and each member of the community always carried one of these in his or her pocket. Every single penny which could be spared went into this bag. Baha’is economized in every way possible to save for the Fund. They walked instead of taking the bus, they collected money returning green stamps they received with certain foodstuffs and by deposits they got for their empty bottles. Penny by penny the filled their bags and emptied them out on each Nineteen Day Feast.

“Of the many thousands of people who have visited the Baha’i Centre in Frankfurt, there are probably very few who realize with what tremendous sacrifice it was built.”

*Shoghi Effendi, great-grandson of Baha’u’llah (1817-1892) [Prophet Founder of the Baha’i Faith] was Guardian of the international Baha’i community at this time.

Gardens are a symbol of the felicity, diversity, beauty, and limitless bounty in heaven, and gardens are an enduring symbol of the Baha’i world view; whatever our faith, this is a symbol we may share.  “The world is our country, and we are all it’s citizens.”

All mankind are flowers in a great garden.  If all the flowers were the same color, it would be dull and boring.  But if there’s diversity, there’s greater beauty.

–Robert Weinberg, Director, Office of Public Information, World Baha’i Center

Lord of Lightning, Lord of Grace

Years ago as a young volunteer minister living in Alabama, far from home and lonely, I relished the prospect of a good lightning storm.  I grew up in a desert – once in second grade, they canceled school because of an 80% chance of snow – so seeing majestic weather was wonderful.  Lightning, thunder, and the whipping rain witness the raw might and majesty of nature and the Creator, and I remember reflecting as a young minister if this was anything like Elijah’s experience:

And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire:  and after the fire a still small voice.

–1 Kings 19:12

My good friend Omid Safi, Professor of Islamic Studies at UNC Chapel Hill, has shared this same wonder many times in North Carolina:

Muslim mystics like Ibn ‘Arabi say that the heart of the faithful is held between the ‘two fingers’ of the All-Merciful.

It has helped me to see that even as love and gentleness of rain are aspects of God, so is the awesome and majestic thunder.

–From Omid’s beautiful article God of Thunder, God of Rain in RNS.

His observation also reminds me of another wonderful memory from my days in Alabama, a favorite passage from the hymn How Great Thou Art:

I see the stars, I hear the mighty thunder,

Thy power throughout the universe displayed;

…How great Thou art!

–From hymns.me.uk

A Christian artist and a Muslim professor, we stand in awe of the Lord of Storms, Al-Jalil, Al-Latif – the Glorious, Full of Grace.

Exhibit Challenges Stereotypes of Muslim Women

Muslima Smile
Image from Wikimedia Commons

My friend Ernest at Alpha Omega Arts shared this online exhibit with me – with four daughters, I enjoy learning about women’s empowerment, especially through art.  From Voice of America:

The Arabic word ‘Muslima‘ means a woman who believes in God.

The online Muslima exhibition, by the International Museum of Women, highlights the individuality of Muslim women and the rich diversity of their thoughts and contributions…  (Read the full article here, and visit the exhibition)

Very cool.

We are all blind, looking at the elephant

Blind Monks and the Elephant
Image from Wikimedia Commons

A very good friend is Baha’i, and told me this week about the wonderful Ridvan celebration Baha’i from around the world take part in, honoring the commencement of Baha’u'llah‘s prophethood.  Concurrent with this, I was confronted with a very strong opinion regarding the incorrectness of observing anything other than the One True Path.  I’m Christian, and enjoy the celebrations of my friends, neighbors, and those I admire, regardless of their spiritual traditions – how is my belief of the One True Path not diluted or polluted by supporting the differing beliefs of others?

There is an ancient Indian poem about the six blind men and the elephant.  Each came to the elephant and experienced a different part of the animal’s great body, compared the experience with what they already knew, and came away with part of the truth.  Each was right, each was different, and each was incomplete.  How does this parable apply to living peaceably in a world of such diverging views?

I believe, as many faithful of many faiths do, in a Creator Who is truly Infinite.  I, as many of my earth-bound friends are also, am a very finite being.  How can I comprehend entirely the majesty of an infinite Being?  Many of the world’s major scriptures include phrases which describe the principle of Divine knowledge being given to seekers in the language and to the understanding of the seeker.  Just as books are written about the same subjects in many languages so we can all share in knowledge, spiritual knowledge is given with many symbols so each person is able to understand Truth in the manner best suited to him or her.  Different paths of learning don’t negate Truth, but rather help us explore, see, and appreciate many different facets, and serve to expand our limited, finite knowledge.  The Muslim philisopher Dr. Tariq Ramadan speaks about this perceived dichotomy of faith beautifully in his book The Quest for Meaning, and I find his perspective on the subject particularly illuminating.

Each of us is made uniquely, each of us has a particular perspective to share, each of us can contribute, and each of us can learn.  The Indian parable teaches that all the blind men were wrong in their observations, but that isn’t quite the reality.  Each was right, and rather than arguing with each other, each could have learned so much from his neighbor through listening.  By exploring, learning, and appreciating other perspectives, our own beliefs are expanded and strengthened.  When we join in the celebrations of faith of our neighbors, rather than diluting or polluting our own beliefs we are deepened and enriched.  The Infinite is beyond my ability to see, but I catch glimpses through the joy of my friends.

Search Me, O God, and Know My Heart

Search me, O God, and know my heart:  try me and know my thoughts:  and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

–Psalms 139:23-24

The horrible events disrupting the Boston Marathon continue to ripple through the country, and knowing the perpetrators considered themselves Muslim has caused many concerns regarding faith and religion to return to the surface.  This subject is raw and uncomfortable, and my heart joins with my 300 million fellow Americans in praying for the welfare of those involved and their rapid healing.

However, I also wanted to learn something from those who share my right to religious freedom, and hear what they have to say for themselves.  Were these wicked men claiming a faith that wasn’t theirs, or were they simply misguided?

First, I spoke with a friend of mine who is the Imam for the largest private Christian university in the US.  “Islam does not need to defend itself,”  he said.  “It saddens me when I am immediately approached and told I must defend my faith.  What happened is absolutely horrible, and I and my congregation join with millions of Muslims across the country in praying for the healing of all involved.  There is no way to defend what those two men did.  Even if they were Muslim in the beginning, the very instant they determined to hurt an innocent being they ceased to be Muslim in their hearts.  At Final Judgment, they may very well seek to defend their actions, but even God will not recognize their claim to Islam.  Their actions prove they are not Muslim, so we have no need to defend our faith – it was not shared in any way that counts by the perpetrators.”

Second, I visited with a friend who retired from the Kuwaiti air force and lives in the US.  “It breaks my heart that people were hurt so badly, and it grieves me that the perpetrators claim my faith.  God declares in the Qur’an that to harm even a single person – to hurt an innocent, a noncombatant, a bystander – is to hurt all of mankind.  To kill an innocent is to kill all of mankind.  (Qur’an 5:32)  I am grateful for the first responders and emergency personnel, for God declares in the same breath that to save even one soul is the same as saving all mankind.  Why do these people who do such terrible things not even read the Holy Book they are claiming to follow?  They were not Muslim by any measure, regardless of what they called themselves.”

Dr. Tahir-ul-Qadri of Minhaj USA speaks very strongly against violence perpetrated for the sake of faith.  Immediately after 9/11 he wrote an extensive fatwah condemning all terrorism and faith-based violence.  I heard him speak last Spring, introduced by his friend and long-time admirer Allen Scott Bachman, Chair of the Salt Lake Interfaith Roundtable.  During his remarks, a passionate Dr. ul-Qadri iterated, “We are all of us created by God – how can we, acting in disregard to the laws of society, take the life of a fellow being and expect God not to be angered?”

And my friend Dean Obeidallah, comedian, documentarian, and writer for CNN, recently wrote his reaction to the religion-focused backlash of the tragic events.  Dean is a Muslim, and he hates terrorism – in all its forms and iterations.  He points out that US Muslims and Muslim organizations continually denounce terrorism, and although less than 3% of Americans are Muslim (The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life estimated only 0.8% in 2010) 7 out of 10 recent Al Qaeda plots in the US were foiled by tips from the American Muslim community.

My conclusion?  Evil people are evil.  The religion an evil person may claim to follow is evidence of his delusion, not an indictment of the religion.  Gandhi said, “If a few drops of water in the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.”  And it is much less of a burden on each of us to allow a Higher Power to do the judging, rather than assuming that one and a half billion people share the evil delusions of a few.

The only good Muslim, in my experience, is almost all of them.

Whether ye hide what is in your hearts or reveal it, Allah knows it all

–Qur’an 3:29

What’s With the Headscarf? Muslim Women on the Hijab Question

Iftar in Patterson, New Jersey
Image from Wikimedia Commons

“Dad, do we have to wear this?”

We were on our way to visit a Shi’a mosque in Salt Lake City, Utah,  a number of years ago, and my 10- and 12-year-old daughters were asking about the scarves I had invited them to wear.

“No, absolutely not,”  I said.  “The only reason I gave those to you is in case you wanted to.”

“Why would we want to?”

“Out of respect.”  I did not know much about the scarves or their use, just what I learned earlier that week about its history.  “We’re visiting another church, and there many of the women wear these over their hair.  They’re called hijabs.”

“Oh, we heard about these.”  Both girls then told me many of the things they had ‘learned’ from their friends at school, about how Muslim men force their women to wear clothes to hide who they are, and the word ‘subjugate’ kept coming up.

“Let’s ask when we get there,” I invited.  “Since it’s someone else’s church, I thought it would be nice to show respect and wear it, to help them feel more comfortable with us being there.”  The girls decided that was a good idea, and ended up making a wonderful first impression.

The hijab has come to be (mis)understood by Western media as the visible indicator ‘proving’ Muslim subjugation of women.  It is impossible, a friend from Morocco explained, to say that such a thing isn’t true for every Muslim in the world (a quarter of the world’s population).  “With such a huge population, even a tiny percentage will contain a large number of real people, but regardless of whether or not such people call themselves Muslim, subjugation in any form is against the teachings of Islam,” she told me.  She and her friend were both in the US studying microbiology and genetics, she did not wear a hijab and her friend did, and the women in both their families were split pretty evenly as to who chose to wear hijabs.

From our Western point of view, expecting a person to cover his/her head as part of religious observance is not unusual – the nun’s habit, for example, immediately comes to mind, as does the yarmulke for my Jewish friends.  And for the majority of Muslim women the headscarf means something completely different to what we ‘understand’ from various media.

Mohamed began receiving the revelation of the Qur’an in 610, on the Arabian peninsula.  This era, explains Dr. Sophia Pandya from California State University Long Beach, was particularly harsh for women.  A family’s cattle was better cared for than many of the girls and women in a family, and a young woman felt to be a drain on resources could be buried alive in the desert sands without fear of reprisal or reprimand.  The length, color, and luster of a woman’s hair was used to judge her breeding potential and overall health in a similar way to how the potential health of livestock is judged by the appearance of the animals’ hides.  In contrast, by covering her hair a man was forced to address the woman to her face and acknowledge her identity as a fellow human being.  A typical Western response is our immediate rebuttal, but doesn’t the Qur’an say a husband can beat his wife?  Yes and no, Dr. Pandya says.  “The Arabic word many have translated into ‘beat’ has over thirty other meanings, including variations of ‘separate’ which are more contextually valid – so Westerners find it problematic to say the least to fully appreciate the Qur’anic scripture.”  (Comments made during her lecture on Women in Islam at Pacifica Institute Utah, February 8, 2013)

Now asking a Muslim what the hijab ‘means’ is like asking Christians their views on particular subjects; just as Christianity is a rainbow of points of view, so is Islam.  My friends at Pacifica Institute Utah, a Turkish-American service organization, have a unique perspective.

During the Ataturk government, a system of enforced secularization was observed – religion in the workplace or professional environment was frowned on.  Muslim women who insisted on wearing their headscarves were banned from higher education and serving in public office.  Within the last decade or so that has radically changed.  Like the Amercian colonials adopting ‘Yankee Doodle Dandy’ as their own (sung by British troops to tease the Americans), many Muslim Turks feel that it is a symbol of their religious freedom to wear their hijabs.  I asked my friend Hulya to visit with the women who make up Utah’s Pacifica Institute and tell me more.

“I asked the ladies of Pacifica, and most of our answers (about wearing the hijab) are the same.  We come from all parts of Turkiye:  Ankara, Giresun, Istanbul, and Erzurum.  All of us are well educated, and we have college degrees in various areas:  Turkish Language, Economy, Biology, Education, and Computer Science.  I have a Masters Degree in Biology Education.  Most of us are teachers in different schools.

“Why do we wear hijab?  Inner peace and harmony, solidarity and peace, and the perseverance of society.”  (Modest Dress in Abrahamic Traditions, The Fountain Magazine)

Other Muslim women whom I’ve asked about this subject have very similar responses.  Those who wear or don’t wear are never judgmental about the sister who chooses differently, and will enthusiastically defend the choice whichever it is.  And they consistently tell me that to wear the hijab is a sign of devotion and modesty.  One poet I spoke with, who wears a full burqa, said it is wonderfully liberating.  A Western convert to Islam, she said that reciting her poetry in full burqa gives her unimaginable freedom – “Everyone only listens to the words I’m moved to give, and the message is pure and  undiluted.”

And I love this video, interviewing several Muslim women of Charlotte, North Carolina:

Meet the Muslims of Charlotte – Hijab Question

“And If He Walks Towards Me, I Rush Towards Him”: Finding the Face of God

Jesus Healing at Bethesda, Carl Bloch
Image from Wikimedia Commons

This morning I woke to learn that Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu was awarded the Templeton Prize.  His response, of course, was that when one stands out in a crowd “it is only on the shoulders of others.”  His lifetime of service and giving to others makes me reflect on a quote attributed to Victor Hugo.

One of my favorite authors, his heartbreaking and ultimately transcendent work Les Miserables has grown from the crucible of endurance for high school kids of my generation to a star-studded, award-winning media event.  He was careful and thoughtful in his writing, slowly building every element of a complex story over a daunting number of pages (the Belgariad by David Eddings, the Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan, and Gene Wolfe‘s Book of the New Sun and Book of the Long Sun all come to mind).  I recently came across a beautiful observation of his:  To love another is to see the face of God.  This really struck me, particularly in light of some touching passages in Les Miserable (the candle sticks and the priest, for example), so I asked some friends of mine to respond to Mr. Hugo’s statement.  These are ministers, scholars, and leity from many different paths of faith, but all seem to share a certain serenity in their answers; among the respondents are a Muslim scholar, an Agnostic writer, a Quaker, a Baha’i, and a Universalist Minister.

When I called on my friend Dr. Omid Safi, Professor of Religious Studies at UNC Chapel Hill, he sent me a link to a beautiful article he wrote at Huffington Post addressing this idea.  For Muslims, although figurative art is not prohibited it is highly inappropriate to represent our Creator with human form, and in many paths of Islam it is very disrespectful to represent the prophets and dignitaries of Scripture.  These artistic restrictions are for a number of reasons, including the fear that these images might potentially be used as icons or idols.  The main reason God is never depicted is that the Creator is infinite and beyond our understanding as finite mortals, and any representation displays our ignorance and seeks to limit God’s illimitable nature.  So I was very interested in what he had to say.  From his article:

To reach out in love and service to even one other human being is the beginning of shattering the idol of the self, recognizing our shared humanity, and making room for the real God to enter the temple of the heart.

–Omid Safi

Andrew Bowen dedicated himself to living the life of the faithful of twelve different paths for a year, and wrote Project Conversion:  One Man, 12 Faiths, One Year (his follow-up work describing his unique process of spiritual understanding is now available, Life, Depth, and the Art of Immersion).   We spoke about his experience a month ago; his response to Victor Hugo’s observation:

Love is a manifestation of perfection: perfect submission, perfect humility, perfect projection, all coalesced into one expression. Limitless, boundless, unfathomable even to the well-acquainted. These attributes are also familiar to those who believe in God, so to love someone is to reflect God and to have God reflected back upon one’s self.

–Andrew Bowen

My friend Elaine is Secretary of the Salt Lake Interfaith Roundtable, and member of the Traveling Interfaith Sisterhood.  Her response:

Two of my favorite quotes explain the Quaker view of that of God in all people.  The Quaker view of that of God in everyone is why our testimonies of Peace, Equality (Community), Simplicity and Integrity (Truth) make up the core of who we are as opposed to set doctrines.

“Be patterns, be examples in all countries, places, islands, nations wherever you come; that your carriage and life may preach among all sorts of people, and to them; then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in everyone; whereby in them you may be a blessing, and make the witness of God in them to bless you.”  (Statement of 1656, from The Works of George Fox (1831))

“There is a principle, which is pure, placed in the human mind, which in different places and ages hath had different names.  It is, however, pure and proceeds from God.  It is deep and inward, confined to no forms of religion nor excluded from anywhere the heart stands in perfect sincerity.”  (John Woolman, 1774)

–Elaine Emmi

My Baha’i friend Shari:

If I had to try to summarize a Baha’i response to Mr. Hugo, I might say:  God is an unknowable essence, yet He created mankind out of His love for us.  The way we can know God is through the knowledge of the Manifestations of God, Who act as stainless mirrors of all God’s attributes.  Once we know of God we wish to love and serve Him, and this can best be accomplished by loving and serving mankind.

–Shari (more on Baha’i history and faith)

And my friend Reverend Amy Long, Director of Universal Life Church Seminary:

God is love.  When you see love – loving actions, loving words, loving thoughts, or just the spirit of love shining through another – that is the face of God.

–Rev. Amy Long (for Daily Kind Words)

This reminds me of a Hadith Qudsi (Divine saying spoken through Muhamed), regarding God’s desire to be near to us:

And if he remembers Me in his heart, I remember him in My heart. . . And if he walks towards Me, I rush towards him.

And finally,  the response of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu:

God says (to us) I create you because I want you, not because I need you.

–Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu

Pages of the Knower

Writing

Number

The Stars Above

Engineering

Cartography

Faith and Reason

The Alchemical Marriage

Seven Sacred Grains

Little, Big

The Four Humours

The Heavenly City

The Council of Birds

Cover

Pages of the Knower

Photography by Hawkinson Photography

When I started Knower, the thought that kept returning to mind was to make something symbolizing the ability of transmission.  The ageless saying ‘Knowledge is power’ also buzzed between my ears endlessly.  I started thinking about ways to transmit knowledge and those aspects of knowledge which ‘stand’ behind everything – the hidden information, as it were, that governs how things are.

Many cultures have story tellers and teachers who share vital information about the history of the culture, why things happen the way they do, and what governs our sense of reality.  In some cultures this is transmitted orally and in others this is written; since the most important source of this kind of information for Muslims is the Qur’an, the symbol of a book felt appropriate for this sculpture.  Binding it with a traditional medieval knot-tying technique, modified for glass, was also important.  I felt it needed to feel displaced in time, to give a sense that the knowledge being represented is also outside of time, or unbounded by time’s constraints.

The shape was derived from visiting with a couple experts on cross-cultural aesthetics.  It is based on the Golden Section, a 1:1.618 ratio rectangle; Dr. Scott Olsen, an expert on what is called the Phi ratio, said that one of the things eerily consistent across all cultures is the way we gravitate to this ratio in art.  Dr. Lisa DeLong, an expert on Muslim art at The Prince’s School of Traditional Arts in the UK, said the awareness of this ratio governed much of the traditional Muslim aesthetic.  The pages of the book are Golden Section rectangles, and I used my observations of how hand-made copies of the Qur’an are laid out to guide where the elements were placed on each page.

The number of pages was a bit more problematic.  With one page representing an aspect of knowledge and God being the Knower of All, this would lead to an infinite number of pages which in turn would take quite a long time to put together.  I settled on thirteen for a couple reasons.  This is the number of lunar months in the year, a month reflective of the awareness of life, its processes, and its interconnectivity.  Also, thirteen is five plus eight; five is the number of ‘ The Pillars of Faith‘ in Islam (Declaration of Faith, Prayer five times a day, Fasting during Ramadan, the Paying of Tithes, and the once-in-a-lifetime commitment to travel on Hajj to Mecca) and eight represents the bridge between Heaven and Earth of the Qur’an.  In architecture, an octagon is typically used to bridge the cube of the earth-bound structure with the circular, heavens-reaching dome, and the eight-sided figure can be found in both Christian and Muslim art reflecting the awareness of the metaphorical ‘bridge’ between humanity and God (this ‘bridge’ being Jesus for Christians and the Qur’an for Muslims).  In the Qur’an, eight is also the number of angels who will carry God’s throne at the last judgment – a reminder for Muslims of personal responsibility.

About twenty different page ideas were explored.  I thought the Trivium and Quadrivium of traditional schooling would be good, then I thought of all the different paths of knowledge we study, and finally it felt appropriate to narrow the pages down to how we, as humans, observe the construction of the universe.  Not how we  believe the universe was made, but how we perceive the evidences of God’s hand in everything.  So the pages, more or less, tell the metaphysical story of creation and the universe.  Each page has a passage from the Qur’an, and a complementary passage from another book of scripture, etched in the languages they were written.

Cover.  The cover page is from tile patterns at the Alhambra, the elegantly astounding symbol of Moorish Spain.  This society was the most egalitarian Europe had ever seen, with at one point a Jewish doctor being the court-appointed Surgeon General to the Muslim Caliph.  The front is a geometric pattern, and the back uses an interlacing of organic forms; this dichotomy of structure and freedom reflects the Muslim understanding that freedom exists most expansively when seated within Divine law.  One Imam told me this concept is like flying a kite:  The kite (a human soul) will go as high as the sky when the string (the Commandments) is used, but when the string is cut the kite will come crashing down.

The Heavenly City.  The City of Heaven, described by both Paul and John in the New Testament.  An expert on the Taj Mahal told me that it is believed the Mughal (Indian Muslim) emperor who built it based the floor plan on Paul’s vision from a copy of the New Testament the emperor owned.  This diagram has been used by Jewish, Christian, and Muslim artists for centuries as they seek to understand Divine concepts of balance, order, and governance.

Faith and Reason.  Mohamed challenged the spiritual understanding of those who followed scripture like ‘dogs’ (meaning only with the heart) or like ‘monkeys’ (meaning only with the mind).  The Divine gift of reason helps us to function as human beings in society and order our thoughts; the Divine gift of faith draws our hearts closer to the true purpose of existence.  Each without the other is unbalanced, and both are Divine gifts – when used together, reason is tempered with faith and faith is balanced with reason.  God made us with both capacities so we can use them both, and learn through the process.

The Council of Birds.  A Persian poet said that, of all the animals on earth birds are closest to humans; the difference is that our wings are wings of spirit.  Farid ud-Din Attar wrote an epic poem describing the search for enlightenment by a council of all the world’s birds.  Thirty representatives were selected, and they spent many, many years traveling across mystical landscapes in their quest to find enlightenment.  At the end of their journey, they came to the reflective pool of the Simourgh (Persian for phoenix), and seeing themselves transformed the Simourgh appeared.  The center is a Phoenix, done in a Persian style and as a petroglyph, and this is surrounded by thirty birds drawn naturalistically (for the species mentioned on the quest in Farid ud-Din Attar’s poem) and in the style of cave carvings, petroglyphs, and rock art from around the world.

Number.  The red star is made of the even numbers two through twelve, and the star behind it is made of the odd numbers one through thirteen.  As humans we use number to describe, catalog, and correlate what we see, and Westerners owe a large portion of our understanding of numbers to the Muslims who transmitted their appreciation of all things math.  In the book the Wisdom of Solomon, it states that God constructed all things through measure, weight and number, and this view of the universe resonates through every culture giving number a certain reverence and mystical weight.

Little, Big.  An ancient Hindu saying is, ‘The wisdom of all the universe is contained in a single grain of sand.’  All things relate to all, and the Creator is mindful of the smallest particle in the midst of governing the orbits of galaxies.  This is a model of the smallest discovered sub-atomic structure and a map of the milky way, and serves as a reminder that the Creator of All is also intimately aware of our own personal situations.

The Stars Above.  There is an ancient phrase, ‘As Above So Below.’  This is a reminder of our interconnection as elements of Creation, but also is a reference to the idea that stars and the heavens are there to guide us in our activities, and that our souls are designed to reflect the Celestial balance and music of the heavens.  This is what led the Magi to the Christ child, and what drove Johannes Kepler to discover the laws of planetary motion, trying to find that peculiar resonance which links humanity to the heavens.  This is based on the astrolabe – Muslims were masters of astrolabe design and construction, because it was always a priority to find where they were in relation to the stars.

Seven Sacred Grains.  The ability to cultivate food and provide for ourselves is linked to our human identity.  In the Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), the first humans were commanded to till the earth, and these seven cultivated grains (amaranth, barley, corn, oats, rice, rye and wheat) are the things that made survival, and civilization, possible all across the world, from the dawn of humankind.

Writing.  One story holds that Adam, seeing bird tracks across wet sand, had the inspiration to begin writing.  This is a calligrapher’s layout grid, with the first and last letters of the alphabet in the center.  The grid is filled in with the most ancient symbols for God, sacredness, and peace, intermixed with the footprints of birds native to the Arabian peninsula.

The Four Humours.  From the most ancient of times, medicine has been a mystical profession.  Imhotep, the famous Egyptian architect and doctor, wrote the oldest treatise on medical treatments – providing a model still in use by doctors today.  Musim health professionals derived treatments for their patients which treated not just the symptoms, but the whole person, often calling for change in diet, environment, and religious habits, designed to make the entire person healthy, happy, and well.

Cartography.  Muslims were masters of map making, it was vital to always know the direction of Mecca.  Mecca held the symbols of God’s concern and love for mankind; by always being aware our current position in relation to these symbol’s of God’s love, in one sense we are always keeping God in the center of our life.

Engineering.  Learning how things fit together is something we identify as being human – when another animal does it, we always see this as a ‘human’ trait.  This is wonderful in building things designed to make life easier and more beneficial, but also helps us in our awareness that all things fit and interlace together, that everything we do ripples across the pond of existence and impacts others in ways we can’t comprehend.

The Alchemical Marriage.  This is the marriage of balance, or yin with yang.  The cold would never be cold without the hot, and the sweet would be impossible to enjoy without awareness of the bitter.  These are not opposites in the sense that they are inimical to each other, but rather are sides of the same page or coin – one cannot be fully realized without the other, and creation happens in the energetic tension between them.  Our unique position as thinking creatures leads us to find the balance, as we walk the path using the gifts of both faith and reason.

Expressing Faith: Islam Inspired Art at Duke University

Bismallah, Ar-Rahman, Ar-Rahim
Image from Wikimedia Commons

For the first 2 1/2 weeks in April this year, Lilly Library at Duke University is hosting the exhibit Expressing Faith:  Islam Inspired Art.  One of my favorite calligraphers, Dr. Huda Totonji, will be displaying her work, Dr. Carl Ernst of UNC Chapel Hill will be giving a presentation on the intersections of faith, art, and Islam, and my friends at the Duke MSA invited me to show sculptures from the 99 Names Project (and did all the heavy lifting).  As I wasn’t able to make it, Pres. Nabeel Hyder of the Duke MSA picked up the bubble-wrapped sculptures and he and his friends set the whole thing up.

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Dr. Totonji is an educator, consultant, entrepreneur, researcher, fine artist, and amazing calligrapher.  The several galleries on her website include her work in calligraphy and painting to her public art and installation.  Dr. Enst is a specialist in Islamic Studies, and his presentation will be insightful and engaging.  I’m grateful to Dr. Antepli for pointing Pres. Nabeel towards the Project, and I’m very happy and grateful the Duke MSA did all the work!

Easter

Pieta by Michelangelo
Image by Wikimedia Commons

Christmas is awesome, but I really love Easter.  There’s a lot fewer people telling you of all the bargains and sales you simply cannot miss, and there’s no rush at the mall.  More than that, though, I love the promise of new life that walks hand in hand with the new life we see in Spring.  And, of course, I love explaining to my youngest what the Easter Bunny has to do with it all.

The site Christianity Today has an excellent article on Easter, and Religion Facts has some very good bits, too.  I find beauty and godliness in all faiths, but I have a deep resonance with Easter – Christians around the world remember the suffering, death, and resurrection of the one Being in all the universe who could redeem another, and hope returns.  Jesus is the example of perfect obedience for many faiths, and offers salvation to those who honor, reverence, and apply His sacrifice to their lives; in the eyes of many Christians, a redemption the world itself recognizes in the new life of Spring.

From The Passion of the Christ, Youtube