City of Brass

I am honored to be invited to celebrate Eid al Fitr at the State Department again this year. And I am relieved that this time, it’s actually taking place after Ramadan, which means I can actually attend for the first time! 🙂 I am looking forward to meeting Secretary Kerry and thanking him for his…

As is tradition, the Empire State Building – the most beautiful skyscraper in the world – was illuminated in green to mark Eid al Fitr. Of course, in 2015, this is announced via the official twitter account 🙂 The Empire State Building will celebrate #Eid al-Fitr & mark the end of Ramadan with lights in green.…

Here is a link to all the posts in the Ramadan Pearls series for Ramadan: Criterion Non-existence Mystery Angels Objective Expectant Reed Veils Lend Good Sources:

By the Fatimid calendar, today is Eid al Fitr, 1436! I’ve explained my position on the calendar vs. moonsighting debate in detail – and this year there is a lot more divergence on the date than usual. Crescentwatch nicely summarizes: Crescentwatch did not receive any confirmed reports of the new crescent moon (hilal) being sighted…

These are the very last days of Ramadan, whether you go by moonsighting or calculations (aside, here’s my take on the moonsighting debate). Eid will be either on Friday or Saturday depending on how you reckon; for me, today marks the final fast. The thoughts of fasting Muslims are bidirectional – anticipating all the energy…

For to fast is to good unto your selves – if you but knew it. (translation, Muhammad Asad, The Message of the Qur’an)

On the 4th of July, it was also the 18th of Ramadan – so my community masjid in Chicago had an Independence Day barbecue for iftar! Burgers, fries, hot dogs – all halal, of course 🙂 Here’s video coverage from TV Asia: And that’s my sister being interviewed, too. Red White and Blue 🙂

Lend unto God. Give a loan of the leafage of this body, That in exchange a garden may grow in your heart. Give a loan, diminish the body’s food, that you may see that which the eye has not seen. When the body becomes empty, God fills it with musk and glorious pearls. (Jalaluddin Rumi,…

All desires, affections, loves and fondness people have of all sorts of things, such as fathers, mothers, friends, the heavens and the earth, gardens, pavilions, works, knowledge, food and drink – one should realize that every desire is a desire for food, and such things are “veils”. When one passes beyond this world and sees…

There’s hidden sweetness in the stomach’s emptiness. We are lutes, no more, no less. If the soundbox is stuffed full of anything, no music. If the brain and the belly are burning clean with fasting, every moment a new song comes out of the fire. The fog clears, and new energy makes you run up…

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