Yesterday, I took the fast train from Madrid to Cordoba in Spain’s Andalusian south. About 1400 years ago, Muslims arrived here from the Middle East. They made beautiful Cordoba the capital of their western empire and built the Aljama Mosque as a tribute to their religious beliefs and their political power. By 1492, Ferdinand and Isabella (think Christopher Columbus) began the violent expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Muslims, as well as members of the well-established Jewish community, which had been in Spain before the birth of Jesus.
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Hijab
When I was in Greece this year, a well-intended young Greek woman told me that my adopted Muslim daughter, Nahid, should not wear a hijab if she wants to be accepted in Greece. I guess I wasn’t surprised at her comment but it gave me something to think about. Continue reading
Come for the Rock, Stay for the People
One City, Two Countries
For the last several days, I have been in Nicosia, the capital city of Cyprus. Since the reunification of Berlin, Nicosia is the only city in the world that is divided between two nations. (Istanbul is divided between two continents but, unlike Nicosia, it is one big happy family). I am staying on the Greek side but close enough to the Turkish side that I can hear the call to prayer from the Mosque on the other side of the “green line” while I am listening to the chanting from the local Greek Orthodox church.