Eid Mubarak!

To all my Muslim readers!

And what's more, no Moonfighting! Although the ibn Saud continued with their literalist insistence upon actually seeing the new moon before declaring the end of the month, their chosen date coincided remarkably well with what ISNA and others said long ago - that Ramadhan this year would end this Sunday. Most, if not all, of the Muslim world will, inshallah, have celebrated Eid-ul-Fitr on the same day.

It is sad that this is an accomplishment, but it is at least progress.

And, to round out my own Ramadhan, here is an interesting video to reflect upon, considering that the decision to fast is, very obviously, a conscious choice.



And yes, in fact, I do believe that we are metaphysical beings!

Ramadhan Ideas

Sitting in Tim Horton's (the American-owned Canadian institution) after midnight with a large group of occasionally rowdy Muslim guys. The store management must either love or hate this time of the lunar year: love, because people like us give them late-night business, or hate, because we drive everybody else away.

In a discussion about Arab vanity projects - 6-star hotels and indoor ski hills - one wise individual uts forward the following thesis on the failures of the Ummah:

"Where in the Muslim world do you see an equivalent to the Library of Congress? Where are the massive libraries of the Muslim world? We don't realize the power that comes with the ability to write history. We started with a simple oral tradition, but not one that can satisfy historians today. How did the Companions defeat the Romans and the Persians? We have few details of how they saw it, just "We had an army of so many men, we went out to meet them, and then we won." It's such a simple story. But the ability to write the history and to record it gives you the power to create a narrative. Look at how zionists have controlled the narrative of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: 'in 1948 they were attacked by six Arab armies and bravely repulsed the invasion,' and now that's what most people around here believe. We need to start writing our own history."

Something to think about.

Ramadhan!

One more year.

One more chance for renewal.

One more chance to reclaim the self.

Feeling hungry, feeling alive.

Feeling thirsty, feeling strong.

The rhthyms of prayer amplified to a crescendo.

The gates of Hell locked for a month.

The month of the Qur'an.