A Sound of Sheer Silence

In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds the Compassionate, the Merciful Master of the Day of Judgment Thee we worship and from Thee we seek help Guide us upon the straight path the path of those whom Thou has blessed, not of those who incur wrath, not of those who are astray. Surah 1 ( Study Quran translation) So begins the Quran, in the form of the first chapter, or surah, in its entirety.  Al-Fatihah is a prayer, and (so the notes tell me) is used as the basis of the five-fold daily prayers performed by practicing Muslims.  In Catholic high school, I was taught the four purposes of prayer--adoration, thanksgiving, penance and petition.  In seven short lines, al-Fatihah covers at least three of those purposes, with the possible omission of penance.  It is a very direct, rather beautiful prayer. "Direct" is a descriptor that I suspect will be coming up repeatedly in this series, as the Quran is seen by Musl...

It is basically impossible to live a day without hearing something about Islam and the Muslim world.  And much of what we hear is disturbing.  We see terrible violence in Syria, primarily Muslim-on-Muslim, and that violence is spreading to other countries (including the U.S.) from ISIS and other radical groups.  Iran and Saudi Arabia, perhaps the two most high-profile Muslim nations, seem to be on the brink of war, if they are not already at war.  Meanwhile, there are calls from political leaders in the U.S. to round-up American Muslims, including American citizens, because they represent an existential threat to the country. Truthfully, I don't know what to make of much of this.  I believe strongly and completely that for the government to discriminate against Muslims in the United States on the basis of their religion would be to surrender the very thing that makes this country what it is.  Beyond that, it has dawned on me that I do not know enough ...