islam

The Hagia Sophia: Where Christianity and Islam Coexist — and Clash

May 8, 2010 By Barbara 2 Comments

The Hagia Sophia -- Madonna with roundels, Muhammad & Allah. Photo by BF Newhall

In the Hagia Sophia, Christianity's Madonna and Child are flanked by roundels with Arabic script bearing the names of Muhammad and Allah. The rondels were added to the basilica when it became a mosque after the Turks conquered Constantinople in 1453. All photos by BF Newhall 2009

By Barbara Falconer Newhall

As a religion writer, I’ve got plenty of respect for Islam as well as for the many (friendly, smart, lovable, cool, inspiring) Muslims I’ve met on the religion beat over the years. So, trust me. This is not a rant against Islam or Muslims.

It’s about how it feels to have one’s culture and faith obliterated by someone else’s culture and faith. [Read more...]

Filed Under: My Rocky Spiritual Journey Tagged With: byzantine, christianity, don't miss, hagia sophia, islam, ottoman turks, religion, religious oppression, spirituality

Book Openers: Georgetown Professor John Esposito on the Future of Islam

February 23, 2010 By Barbara Leave a Comment

Detail of a painting by Salma Arastu, "Expansion of the Universe."

Detail of "Expansion of the Universe" by Muslim artist Salma Arastu of Berkeley, California -- a contemporary interpretation of a passage from the Quran.

By Barbara Falconer Newhall

In the late 1990′s, Georgetown professor John L. Esposito was working on a book about the future of Islam. After 9/11 he put that book aside in favor of more pressing topics – Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam (2002) and Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think (2009) are just two.

Now, nearly a decade later, Esposito finally returns to his subject [Read more...]

Filed Under: Book Openers Tagged With: 9/11, Christian-Muslim relations, don't miss, islam, John L. Esposito, religion, the future of Islam

Book Openers: Barack Obama — How He Got So Smart

June 23, 2009 By Barbara 2 Comments

The official White House portrait. 2009.

By Barbara Falconer Newhall

If you haven’t yet read President Obama’s memoir, Dreams from My Father, don’t miss it. It explains, I think, how Obama got so smart. As he grew from boy to man, Obama had to reconcile the many cultures that surrounded him – middle class white America in Hawaii, semi-poverty and Islam in Indonesia, urban African America in Chicago, rural Kenya, upper class Harvard.

To survive emotionally, this man had to think.

Dreams from My Father was published in 1995 and again in 2004. If you find an autographed copy of the orignal hardcover lying around, don’t lose it. It’s rare. It’s worth thousands.

I especially liked the Random House abridged audiobook version. Obama’s reading earned him the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album.

Here’s the Amazon link to the book.