What?

What Do I Intend to Do?


Let me begin by saying what this is NOT.  This is not intended to be an argument against Islam.  I do not entirely agree with Islam, and I may at times make that clear.  But this is an attempt to learn from Islam, and thereby to grow deeper in my own faith.

I teach religious studies at the college level in the United States, and as I began to prepare to teach great world religions, I realized that one challenge was that many of my students came to me already convinced that Islam was an ugly and perhaps an evil religion. Several years ago, as I was looking for ways to counteract this initial prejudice, I came across the 99 Beautiful Names of Allah, initially in the form of this Nasheed.



Over the years, I have continually been drawn to these names, and wanted to spend time thinking about them. I have thought about doing this many times, and I think the time has come. It may not be the perfect time, but if I wait for that I may never start. I am planning to spend some time sitting with each of the 99 names of Allah, and seeing what they can teach me as a Christian. This is not intended as an argument, for or against Islam or Christianity. It is a spiritual exercise for myself that I hope might prove to be a blessing for some others. My goal here is to look at the 99 beautiful names of Allah, and reflect on them in the light of Christian belief and teaching. I want to understand how they are understood in Islam, so I will certainly look at where there occur in context in the Qur'an. How much farther I will be able go in looking at the names in the Islamic context remains to be seen.

I want to "sit with" each of the names, and just see what happens. On my own, that's going to mean some time of just writing the name in Arabic, while I think about its meaning. As I begin this project, I do not know exactly what each post will look like. I am someone who tends to respond with both head and heart, so I expect that there will be a mixture of scholarship, art and prayer. Only time will tell what the balance will be.

I don't really know how long I will sit with each name. At least a day for each one, but I'm sure it will take more time with some of them for something meaningful to grow in my mind and heart. On the other hand, I do not want to take forever with this project.