It's time for another guest post! Today we've got a piece by freelance writer and Harvard Divinity School student Hannah Gais on the recent schism between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople over the latter's decision to give Ukrainian church leaders permission to form an autocephalous Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Hannah argues … Continue reading Inaccurate Conception: Orthodoxy, Autocephaly, and the Nation-State
Category: religion
Islamic History, part 29b: Early Islamic Law (c. 700 – c. 850) — Shafiʿi and Ibn Hanbal
Islamic History Series Please start with part 29a Muhammad b. Idris al-Shafiʿi (d. ~820), who I just mentioned in the last entry, is the third legal theorist (founder of the Shafiʿi madhhab) you need to know something about. Born in Gaza in or around 767, his family moved to Mecca when he was still a … Continue reading Islamic History, part 29b: Early Islamic Law (c. 700 – c. 850) — Shafiʿi and Ibn Hanbal
Islamic History, part 29a: Early Islamic Law (c. 700 – c. 850) — Abu Hanifah and Malik
Islamic History Series This has been a long time in coming, and there's a simple reason for it: I haven't had the time to write it. Sorry. Here's the thing: the study of Islamic Law is its own discipline and it's one that I don't have a whole lot of familiarity with. I can give … Continue reading Islamic History, part 29a: Early Islamic Law (c. 700 – c. 850) — Abu Hanifah and Malik
A Short Primer for Islamophobe-Americans
Hey, folks, how are you doing? Yeah, I figured. It seems pretty scary out there, huh? Lotta people with funny-sounding names from distant lands seem to be doing a lot of bad stuff. I get it, you're afraid. And fear makes people do crazy things, especially when their fears are being demagogued by anthropomorphic piles … Continue reading A Short Primer for Islamophobe-Americans
University of Birmingham finds what might be the oldest Qurʾanic text in existence
Infirmities notwithstanding, I couldn't let this story pass by without at least mentioning it. Researchers at the University of Birmingham in the UK have found a manuscript of a part of the Qurʾan that can be dated to the middle of the 7th century CE, shortly after Muhammad's death: Radiocarbon analysis has dated the parchment … Continue reading University of Birmingham finds what might be the oldest Qurʾanic text in existence
Islamic History, part 25: early Islamic theology
We're getting into a potentially sensitive area (or back into one, since we've been down this road before), so I want to preface this by saying that I am not a theologian, I never went to divinity school, and I'm not here to assess the truth claims of any particular religion or sect. I'm covering … Continue reading Islamic History, part 25: early Islamic theology
On the Yazidis
Since we're now bombing northern Iraq in part to try to save the Yazidis, it's worth knowing more about them. This National Geographic piece is a pretty good start: The Yazidi religion is often misunderstood, as it does not fit neatly into Iraq’s sectarian mosaic. Most Yazidis are Kurdish speakers, and while the majority consider themselves … Continue reading On the Yazidis
The Hajj and Islamic Pilgrimage
If you’re already familiar with the Hajj then this essay isn’t going to break any new ground for you, but if you’re not then I hope you come away with at least a basic understanding of its purpose, origins, and practices. The Hajj is a group pilgrimage to the city of Mecca (whose full name … Continue reading The Hajj and Islamic Pilgrimage
The Foreign Exchanges Companion 