Recent mass killings in Oregon and abroad inculcate a kind of fear that can be paralyzing. Through the lens of a Native American tale, Omid Safi refuses to feed those wolves and chooses to feed another wolf: love.
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 teaching about 9/11 and the dignity of all lives, a professor encounters a student in class who lost her father in the World Trade Center attacks. Her kind response is a reminder that we must sometimes reconcile our advocacy for, and anger towards, others with compassion for our fellow human beings.
"In their love, their tenderness, and their hope, there is hope for all of us." Inspired by a moving photo of a pair of Syrian refugees, Omid contemplates how love can motivate us to take a treacherous path in hopes of reaching a brighter future.
"We live in a state of constant scatteredness," writes Omid Safi. Through the lens of the Hajj, he turns our gaze to the true focus of the journey: to seek, to find, and to be found.
The image of a small boy's body washed onto the beach awakened the world to the largest refugee crisis in decades. Omid Safi shares his heartbreak, reminding us that love and compassion must lead toward action and must reach across geographical boundaries and borders of faith.
When asked how long they'd been married, Aljosie Harding named their time together down to the minute. Omid Safi marvels at the unexpected and profound love that infuses our world at any stage of living — and it's awe-inspiring power to provide hope in the face of grief.
Suffering can be a backstop for unexpected joy. A lyrical "Rumi"ination on shadow, gratitude, and the light of the stranger.
That moment of homecoming has a depth of perspectives and meanings. Through the story of babysitting and a mother's return, Omid Safi sees an opportunity for seeking, finding — and to "be blissful."
We spill something on ourselves, and then we postpone the inevitable: the cleaning. We often do the same thing with the pain and anger we inevitably experience. Omid and Rumi have something to say about stain-treating our hearts.
The prophetic voice is one that challenges, adapts, and evolves alongside history. Omid Safi reminds us of the sermon Dr. King never gave and invites us to live up to his hopeful invitation to create an America that is yet to be.
Extraordinary images of Pluto reveal the vastness and mystery that lies beyond. Omid Safi revels in it all, weaving together the poetry of Rumi and Rabi'a with the "celestial realities mirrored in the human heart."
Sometimes we need to be cut open in order to share our sweetest layers.
The recent success of Serena Williams and the U.S. women's soccer team in the World Cup is a beacon of light. It's also a reminder that we have a long way to go in recognizing the roles of half our population in sport and religion.
Is there room in our seeking for not-knowing? Are our hearts big enough to hold mystery? A prayer and a meditation for the mystery of the last ten nights of Ramadan.
Feces can be a powerful thing, but not in the way that you might gather. Before becoming a father, Omid Safi thought love was something you feel or experience, the everyday ritual of changing his daughter's diaper taught him about a love that's stronger than shit.
We are in need of a new vision and visionaries who remind us not of the “greatness” of America, but of its goodness writes Omid Safi. A call for forgiveness, but one that's rooted in love and justice — and for an America that is yet to be.
With a vivid retelling of a story from the sage poet Rumi, Omid Safi on the wisdom of chickpeas and going from a state of hardness to one of softness — and being on fire.
A metaphorically rich reminder that the "hard" values we so often revere and strive for in this modern world often supplant the necessary gentleness required to cultivate relationships, understanding, and love of one another.
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