Topic:
For years, I longed to visit the Nubian villages of Upper Egypt, to meet the people, eat local food, shop in their markets, hear traditional Nubian languages, and listen to their music.
On January 9, 1960 construction had just begun on the High Dam project south of Aswan in my native Egypt. I had celebrated my 16th birthday just a couple of weeks earlier on December 24, 1959. I was finishing my last year of high school and preparing to study engineering at Cairo University. Growing up during the 1950s, I was fully aware of country's hard struggle against the ugly imperial powers of the world.
For such a tiny island, just 450 meters long and less than 150 meters wide, Philae in Upper Egypt near Aswan has managed to attract more than its share of history and mysteries.
Apart from the Great Pyramids of Giza, few monuments of ancient Egypt have captured the world's fascination like the two great Abu Simbel temples of Ramses II the Great and his beautiful wife, Queen Nefertari.
Does the first recorded image of a black hole mean we're almost at the end of what science can discover? The short answer is: No.
I was born a Muslim 75 years ago in Egypt and raised by a middle-class family. My mother practiced our faith more diligently than my father. I was also not as observant, saying my daily prayers occasionally, but much more during exam times. After the death of my father when I was just 15, however, I felt closer to God as I took on the new role of helping care for my mother and six younger siblings.
Abraham's message was ahead of his time; indeed, ahead of any time:
A recent renewal of interest in the ancient practice of solitude has brought a 1988 best-seller back to prominence. Solitude: A Return to The Self by Dr. Anthony Storr is now much in demand.
Sufism, the ancient expression of Islamic spirituality and aesthetics, has sadly taken a back seat in the popular imagination since the rise of Islamic fundamentalism and its deadly partner, Islamist extremism.
Today, dear readers, I am not asking you to believe what I believe, but instead will try to communicate the faith that works for me, and why.
Results 981-990 of 2144
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 81 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85 | 86 | 87 | 88 | 89 | 90 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 100 | 101 | 102 | 103 | 104 | 105 | 106 | 107 | 108 | 109 | 110 | 111 | 112 | 113 | 114 | 115 | 116 | 117 | 118 | 119 | 120 | 121 | 122 | 123 | 124 | 125 | 126 | 127 | 128 | 129 | 130 | 131 | 132 | 133 | 134 | 135 | 136 | 137 | 138 | 139 | 140 | 141 | 142 | 143 | 144 | 145 | 146 | 147 | 148 | 149 | 150 | 151 | 152 | 153 | 154 | 155 | 156 | 157 | 158 | 159 | 160 | 161 | 162 | 163 | 164 | 165 | 166 | 167 | 168 | 169 | 170 | 171 | 172 | 173 | 174 | 175 | 176 | 177 | 178 | 179 | 180 | 181 | 182 | 183 | 184 | 185 | 186 | 187 | 188 | 189 | 190 | 191 | 192 | 193 | 194 | 195 | 196 | 197 | 198 | 199 | 200 | 201 | 202 | 203 | 204 | 205 | 206 | 207 | 208 | 209 | 210 | 211 | 212 | 213 | 214 | 215