Intro to Al-Fitr

The world stopped for Emir Abdur Rahim in 1993. Actually, I knew him by a different name before he converted to Islam and yet our lives have followed parallel paths. For example, we both have found ourselves in positions of leadership in our respective religions despite our best efforts.

I am a proponent of prisons, as punishment as well as a place for rehabilitation. However, far too often in practice, it ends up dehumanizing most people - nobody ought to be able to put you in prison, torture you, and diminish your capacity for forming social relationships.

And I hate the way Muslims are generally branded. As Christians, we hate it when the actions of a few define us as a whole. Be it scandals (money or sex) or fundamentalists (protests, hate-filled pronouncements, or other acts of extremism), we fight to make sure those things don’t become our public face. As Black people, we hate how we are often depicted on television or movies, portrayed in the news, or portrayed in hip-hop.

So one reason why Abdur and I came together was to engage in conversations, but it also reminded me that religion without transformation is worthless. That when the church is not doing its job of making disciples and transforming lives, one of the consequences is people left without a sense of community (and them seeking to find it wherever they can). When prisons don’t offering much by way of redemptive rehabilitation, it leads to recidivism.

All this to say here’s my latest INtake article. “Celebrating Al-Fitr.”

SIDE NOTE: I guess I’ve just switched to the latest version of blogger. Apologies for the random blogs that keep popping up in my LiveJournal and Bloglines feeds.


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