Human Trustees

In the earliest documents of the Islamic community, we find that the word sunna (the path, or the example of a tribal leader in seventh-century Arabia) was applied to the new religious leaders – Muhammad, of course, but also the first caliphs (or successors) like Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali, and even governors of far-flung provinces. Within a century…

If Jesus of Nazareth didn't rise from the dead, the Christian faith is meaningless. Worse, it's a hoax. As the apostle Paul wrote, "if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins" (I Cor. 15:17). This is a blog about the bedrock of Christian conviction. It's also about the Easter…

In the first two blogs in this Lenten series we’ve seen that poverty can only be remedied in a holistic way. Now, having examined how Christians struggle with this concept, I turn to Muslims and show how alleviating poverty represents a challenge for them too. Though less than the Bible, the Qur’an often speaks of the poor and of the…

[This is the second blog in a Lenten series on poverty] In the first installment on poverty I argued that from a Muslim and Christian perspective the scandalous economic inequalities we now witness in our world can only be tackled with a holistic approach: short term relief for victims of hunger and natural disasters and long term pressure on the…