Asking for help in hard times can be difficult, sometimes accompanied by shame. Our columnist offers practical tools for sharing and lifting the burdens of loved ones who have fallen on hard times.
Author
Omid Safi
Omid Safi teaches online courses on spirituality through Illuminated Courses, and leads spiritual tours every year to Turkey, Morocco, and other countries, to study the rich multiple religious traditions there. The trips are open to everyone, from every country. More information is available at Illuminated Tours.
He is a professor of Islamic Studies at Duke University. He specializes in the study of Islamic mysticism and contemporary Islam and frequently writes on liberationist traditions of Dr. King, Malcolm X, and is committed to traditions that link together love and justice. He has delivered the keynote for the annual Martin Luther King commemoration at the National Civil Rights Museum.
He has written many books, including Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender, and Pluralism; Cambridge Companion to American Islam; Politics of Knowledge in Premodern Islam; and Memories of Muhammad. His most recent book is Radical Love: Teachings from the Islamic Mystical Traditions and has a forthcoming book on the famed mystic Rumi.
Omid is among the most frequently sought out speakers on Islam in popular media, appearing in The New York Times, Newsweek, Washington Post, PBS, NPR, NBC, CNN, BBC, and other international media. He can be reached regarding speaking engagements at [email protected].
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When it feels like our life has been turned upside-down, sometimes the greatest comfort isn't advice or a solution, but having someone to simply endure alongside us.
A lesson in expectations, disappointment, and living forward tradition from our Hamilton-obsessed columnist.
The recent hurricanes and wildfires teach us not only about climate change and human folly, but also about the fundamental goodness of people in the face of disaster.
A modern-day tragedy has befallen Omid: His iPhone has died. But there's a deep lesson in this, too — on ensuring that our memories are stored in a deeper and more enduring place.
The value of solitude isn't simply in retreating from a chaotic world. It's a discipline that's different for all of us — and one that we can practice wherever we are.
An ode to a sentence from the legendary poet on recognizing and honoring the sacrifices of generations past to get us where we are — and on "paying it forward" as the best way to pay them back.
Learning of the great ethnomusicologist's death, our columnist offers an "ocean of remembrance" in return for the Turkish Sufi master who embodied the poetry of Islam in both his music and his being.
How can we nurture our identity and faith if we don't feel recognized for who we are? A reflection on yearning for a community that truly sees us.
Omid Safi on the experience of being institutionally invisible — and how our structures and spirits might change to acknowledge each other's entire being.
The extraordinary is revered and celebrated, but where does that leave the ordinary? On rediscovering the meaning of awe, and finding it in the quiet majesty of the daily grind.
There are gems at the heart of all our faith traditions. Omid Safi on the challenge ahead to polish away the impurities of hatred and greed that keep the light from shining.
After a medical condition changed the way he observes Ramadan, Omid reflects on what he misses about the embodied experience of the fast — and the inner, spiritual fast he takes on now to live out the holy season.
After a meditative walk through a Shinto shrine in Kyoto, Japan, a reflection on recognizing the paths we're on as a spiritual destination.
Challenging the notion of the “Muslim world,” what dedication to peace looks like, and the weight words — and actions — carry.
We often speak about how best to heal the world around us, but it's also essential to nurture ourselves. A reflection on self-care as a crucial part of healing one another.
Heartened by the resilience of nature, Omid reflects on our own capacity to soften and grow, even from the hardest places.
Wounds do not heal simply with the passing of time, but time does give us the tools to endure them. On learning to live with the unimaginable.
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