With the modern Muslim fixation on the evil of sexual permissiveness, it would be reasonable to assume that Islam frowns on sex. Prophet Muhammad, however, taught that sex within marriage is an act of worship.

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In my mosque, we don’t have a single imam, but rather the sermon is delivered by different people from week to week. I don’t go to the imam of the week and ask, “Are you Arab or Indian? Syrian or Lebanese? African American or Somali? Did your parents hail from Karachi, Kabul, or Kerala?”

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Of course the earth isn’t going to last forever. Scientists currently estimate we’ve got about 5 billion years (give or take a couple billion) until the Sun wipes out our planet.

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I have decided that once a week, on Monday mornings, I'll be posting selections from the Qur'an and the hadith that inspire me. This is partly in response to one of the commentators who asked about that, and partly in response to the large number of attacks people are making on Islam in the comments threads, pulling out snippets of verse that distort the actual meaning, hadith from little known sources, or simply stating things that are supposedly fact which are, in reality, not factual at all. I hope that these postings will help people see the beauty in Islam that inspires the 1.6 billion Muslims of the world, and help make our devotion to the religion a bit more sensical than it would appear if all one ever hears is the sort of negativity such as some of the commentators are posting..

Today's selection comes from the Qur'an, the second chapter, Surah Baqara, verse 177:

2:177 Righteousness does not consist in turning your faces towards the East or the West - but righteousness is to believe in God, the Last Day, the angels, revelation, and the prophets; to spend of your wealth - however much you may cherish it - upon your near of kin, and orphans, the needy, the wayfarer, beggars, and for the freeing of human beings in bondage. It is to be constant in prayer, to be steadfast in charity, to keep the promises you have made, to be firm and patient in misfortune and hardship and in time of peril: Such are the people who have proved themselves true, and it is they who are truly pious.

As a believer, my fundamental aim is a life in resonance with the Divine, a life in concord with the natural order of the Universe. For me, Islamic teachings, principles, and practices help me strive after unity within humanity and personal harmony with nature and the Transcendent.

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Muslims have a prayer they say when they hear of a death: inna lillahi, wa inna ilahi rajiun -- To Him we belong and to Him we return. Each and every one of us is a gift from God to our families and friends, a trust from God given into our keeping but for a short while. No one, and nothing, is truly ours; all is loaned to us for a time, and then must return to the Merciful womb of the Divine.

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The other day, two of my children got into a fight. They called each other a few names, which led to a shove, and a shove back, someone falling off balance and bumping her head on the table. Tears. I promptly intervened, demanding an apology from the one who had pushed her sister over. Only after the two had performed the obligatory hug and been sent in opposite directions to cool off, did I think about what I was teaching my kids about apologizing, repenting and forgiveness.

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Since the topic of adultery has come up on the thread with forgiveness, here are two examples of forgiveness in the case of adultery or pre-marital sexual relations, which is also considered a sin in the Qur'an. The first is the present world; the second is in the hereafter.

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It's only natural to ask questions like why would God, especially a merciful, loving God, allow this or that horrible thing to happen. The problem with the answers we usually arrive at is that we really cannot know; and, indeed, it may well be that such questions make no sense from the point of view of God.

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On the authority of Abu Hurayrah, who said that the Messenger of Allah said: Allah (mighty and sublime be He) will say on the Day of Resurrection: O son of Adam, I fell ill and you visited Me not. He will say: O Lord, and how should I visit You when You are the Lord of the worlds? He will say: Did you not know that My servant So-and-so had fallen ill and you visited him not? Did you not know that had you visited him you would have found Me with him? O son of Adam, I asked you for food and you fed Me not. He will say: O Lord, and how should I feed You when You are the Lord of the worlds? He will say: Did you not know that My servant So-and-so asked you for food and you fed him not? Did you not know that had you fed him you would surely have found that (the reward for doing so) with Me? O son of Adam, I asked you to give Me to drink and you gave Me not to drink. He will say: O Lord, how should I give You to drink whin You are the Lord of the worlds? He will say: My servant So-and-so asked you to give him to drink and you gave him not to drink. Had you given him to drink you would have surely found that with Me.

It is related in Sahih Muslim.

I have always been touched by this affirmation that God does not burden us beyond what we can bear and the following supplication, found in the final verse of the second chapter of the Qur'an.

2:268 God does not burden any soul with more than it can bear; each gains whatever good it has done, and suffers its own bad. Say, "Our Lord! Do not take us to task if we forget or make mistakes. Our Lord! Do not burden us a you burdened those before us. Our Lord! Do not burden us with more than we have the strength to bear. Pardon us. Forgive us. Have mercy upon us. You are our protector, so help us with those who deny faith.

Life is good. That about sums it up. There are many ways in which life can be good, and I have been blessed with quite a few of them.

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While Hitchens and I would disagree about the existence of a God, I do believe that religion (or lack thereof) is created anew by each individual as s/he navigates her or his own faith course.

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When I sat down to think about this question, it struck me immediately that war is hardly worse than many of the other horrible things humankind suffers through. The tsunami, Katrina, the Pakistani earthquake; the genocides in Rwanda and Darfur; the slow starvation of millions of children and women, the ravages of preventable disease; all of these were/are at least as horrific as the carnage in any war zone.

The real question, it seems, ought to be how can we keep faith in face of natural disasters and human brutality towards other humans? How do we explain a God that allows such suffering to happen?

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24:35 Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The Parable of His Light is as if there were a Niche and within it a Lamp: the Lamp enclosed in Glass: the glass as it were a brilliant star: Lit from a blessed Tree, an Olive, neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil is well-nigh luminous, though fire scarce touched it: Light upon Light! Allah doth guide whom He will to His Light: Allah doth set forth Parables for men: and Allah doth know all things

Two of my favorite stories from the Qur'an relate to the the doubts of two prophets, Abraham and Muhammad.In surah Baqara we find the following verse:

2:260 And, lo, Abraham said: "O my Sustainer! Show me how You give life to the dead!" He said: "Have you, then, no faith?" Abraham answered: "Yes, but to give my heart ease." Said He: "Take, then, four birds and teach them to obey thee, then place a portion of each on every hill; then summon them: they will come flying to thee. And know that God is almighty, wise."

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1. WHAT IS JIHAD? UNDER WHAT CONDITIONS DOES ISLAM SANCTION THE USE OF VIOLENCE? WHAT WOULD YOU TELL SUICIDE BOMBERS WHO INVOKE ISLAM TO JUSTIFY THEIR ACTIONS?


The term jihad literally means "struggle" and is understood in the Qur'an to mean struggle for the good -- whether that be an inner struggle for righteousness, or an external struggle for justice. The greatest jihad, according to the Prophet, is the struggle to control one's baser desires. He described the strong man as one who could control his temper, not one who could beat others in a fight.

Accordingly, you will hear many American Muslims describe their daily life as a jihad. In particular, they will refer to the struggle to observe religious laws in a society which presents countless opportunities, incentives, and even pressure to violate them as a jihad. Wearing hijab is often described as a jihad, as it exposes the wearer to constant quetioning and negative judgements. So too observing rules against the consumption of alcohol, which may exclude American Muslims from social and business gatherings, is often seen as a struggle between the desire to get ahead in this world and the desire to uphold Islamic law.

More difficult than either of those is the spiritual quest. At a time when many Muslims feel under seige -- from extremists who are wreaking havoc among our bretheren in the Muslim world and attacking our homes, from Islamophobes who make egregious attacks on Islam itself, and from those who see every Muslim as a potential terrorist -- the challenges to American Muslims' faith and spirituality have never been greater.

For many of us, 9-11 was a shock not only because our homeland had been attacked in a horrific manner, but because people calling themselves Muslims had done it. It provoked a deep spiritual crisis within the community, making us question if fundamental beliefs that Islam is a religion of peace, inclusive, and teaching intercommunal harmony were indeed accurrate, making us confront questions of how devout Muslim could have come to the conclusion that such a vile act could ever be justified as Islamic. For some it was a wakeup call that they could not turn a blind eye to the extremism festering within our midst; for others it was more tempting to simply walk away from the Muslim community, to say these people are not my people. For a large part of the community, this spiritual crisis resulted in denial that 9-11 and other acts of terrorism were committed by Muslims at all.

Whatever the spiritual response, the struggle to hold onto one's faith, to continue to improve one's character, to reach out to others through good deeds, has indeed been an intense struggle for many American Muslims. Many of us feel caught between the need to defend Islam from those who defame it through fear, ignorance or malice, the imperative to support those Muslims who have been unfairly targete in the war on terror, and the clear and desperate need for reform within Muslim communities, whether it be confronting extremism or oppressive governments.

Slight wonder then, that daily life is seen as a jihad by many American Muslims.

This inner aspect of jihad is, of course, not the only manifestation of struggle. The Prophet told us, "When you see an evil action you must change it with your hand; if you cannot do so, with your tongue; if you cannot do so, change it with your heart." (Bukhari and Muslim) He described jihad as being with the tongue, the pen, the hand and the sword.

The first refers to sermons, lectures, exhorting one another to good. The second includes scholarly work, jurisprudence, articles, inspirational poetry. The third is working for good with your wealth and your time -- charity and volunteerism. The last refers to military struggle.

Depsite the many charges that Islam requires Muslims to slay all non-Muslims until they agree to convert, this is not the case. Rather jihad by the sword is specifically to relieve oppression. The Qur'an says, "How could you refuse to fight in the cause of God and of the utterly helpless men and women and children who are crying, "Oh our Sustainer! Lead us forth out of this land whose people are opressors, and raise for us, out of Your Grace, a protector, and raise for us, out of your Grace, one who will bring us succor!" (4:75)

It also is ruled by strict limitations. It is not to be aggressive, only defensive as God says, "Fight in God's cause against those who wage war against you, but do not commit aggression, for, verily, God does not love the aggressors." (2:190) If the other party sues for peace, then the Muslim side should cease fighting. "But if they desist, then let all hositlity cease, save for those who continue to commit oppression." (2:193) The Prophet further stipulated that in the course of warfare, non-combatants should not be harmed, nor should buildings, orchards, or farmland be destroyed. The Qur'an also tells us that our response should be commensurate with the provocation. "And one who attacks you, attack him in like manner as he attacked you." (2:194).

These precepts, coupled with the Prophet's teaching that suicide is a sin, make it clear that terrorist acts such as 9-11, the London, Bali and Madrid bombings cannot be justified by the Qur'an or the Prophet's words. Any attempt to do so by certain Muslim factions is illegitimate, dervied by twisting some texts and purposefully ignoring others.

At the same time, it is also quite clear that the Qur'an does not preach universal and unilateral pacifism. If all other means -- jihad via tongue and pen, ie negotiation and diplomacy -- fail, Muslims should stand up against oppression, aggression, and injustice militarily. It is a precept that I find resonant with the values I grew up with in New England, where the slogan "Give me Liberty or give me death!" was commonly championed.

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One of my favorite selections from the Qur'an is the chapter called Ar-Rahman, which can be translated as the all-Merciful, the All-Compassionate, the Beneficient. Rahman conveys a sense of overarching love and kindness, of God's attachment and the mercy implicit in the beauty of creation.

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One of my favorite scenes from the Qur'an is a story about Abraham. 2:260: And when Abraham said, "My Lord, show me how you give life to the dead," He said, "Have you no faith, then?" "Yes,: said Abraham, "but just to put my heart at ease." So God said, "Take four birds and train them to come back to you. Then place them on separate hilltops, call them back, and they will come flying to you. And know that God is all powerful and wise."

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