The errors and idiosyncrasies of an Arab-American tongue — Conversations with my parents are strange lingual chimeras. Take, for example, the following exchange with my mom, reproduced here almost verbatim: —Hi mama, keefek al-yawm? —Hi habibi, alhamdulillah, I feel great. Al-yawm ‘amilt nus sa’a ‘al treadmill. —Ya salam! …

Meet the scholars who think it is — Before it was united by Islam under a single religious polity, or umma, the Arabian Peninsula was inhabited by a large number of tribes, which vied against each other for power and prestige. …

The Islamic view of spiritual growth — Learning to trust ourselves — to have faith in our inherent capacity for truth and growth — is a profoundly rewarding, and healing, pursuit. …

Or; The hidden meaning of driving your car into a lake — The flaws, foibles, and fumblings of Michael Scott feature prominently in the TV show The Office. From bizarre malapropisms to cringe-worthy faux-pas, almost every episode involves some kind of mistake that the regional manager tries fruitlessly to correct, cope with, or cover up. But one of Michael’s mistakes is particularly…

Believe it or not, these words come from Arabic — Before the Arab and Western worlds became locked in antagonisms, their relationship was one of rich collaboration and dialogue. From this cross-cultural sharing comes words with well-known Arabic origins, such as cotton and algebra, both of which were exports of the flourishing Islamic empire as it contacted medieval Europe. But…

Lessons from the inscription of Jabal Ramm — At first glance, the inscription shown above may not look like much. It was found in Jabal Ramm, a valley in present-day Jordan, etched into the wall of a pre-Islamic temple. …

Offered to us by a Holocaust survivor — The Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky, known for his commentaries and insights on the human experience, once wrote: “Man is the creature that can get accustomed to anything — and I think that is the best definition of him” If we agree with Dostoevsky’s definition, then the psychiatrist Victor Frankl has…

Reflections from my family trip to Indiana — The United States offers foreign-educated doctors a nice deal. Spend a couple of years practicing in a physician-scarce area, and they’ll put you on a fast-track to citizenship. My dad, a graduate of the University of Damascus medical school and an aspiring American citizen, eagerly accepted this offer. And so…

A Holy Month spent in the City of Jasmine — The month of Ramadan — following, as it does, the lunar calendar — is a wandering month, coming earlier and earlier with each passing year. Ten years ago, before it coincided with spring, it came during the middle of summer. …