What It Means - Day 222

As you know while I mainly talk about passages from the Quran or the ahadith or sometimes one of the Islam-themed books I'm reading, I do sometimes talk about other issues relating to faith. Today will be one of those days. Last night I was blessed to be invited to have shabbos dinner with my student Destiny and a group of wonderful young Jewish students from the University of Vermont.  We met at the apartment of Rafael, who is working on his Ph.D. at UVM, but Destiny was the main cook (which made her slightly nervous). I am happy to report, for her sake, that it was a delicious meal, and equally happy to report, for my sake, that it was a wonderful evening socially and spiritually. As Muslims we are taught to respect all faiths, and, as I've said, I think there are a thousand paths to God. One of my goals as part of my own journey is to learn more about other faiths, not simply as subjects in my classes but also as part of my lived experience. I'm also going to make a more concerted effort to get members of our masjid out and about more often to other religious organizations. We frequently invite other religious groups into our community for worship or meals, but we could definitely make a more a greater sustained effort to visit them as well, not simply because we're not akin to an exhibit at the zoo, but we also need to own that other religions are not the only ones with something to learn.

From right to left: Destiny, Rafael, Ben.