Center for Strategic Communication

Uways and his significance

by | May 20, 2014 | Monitor

[ by Charles Cameron — exploring the importance to both Shias and Sufis of Uways Al Qarni, and of the Uwaysi transmission in Sufism ] . Uways, the destruction of whose shrine I described today in the first of two posts, was the man to whom the Prophet Muhammad...

Of Omar Hammami — and dying more than once?

by | Apr 26, 2013 | Monitor

[ by Charles Cameron — dying more than once in hadith, in press reports, in Rumi and John of the Cross ] . The American mujahid in Somalia, Omar Hammami [see his Wikipedia bio], who has been tweeting back and forth with various “U.S. national security...

Ashura: the Passion of Husayn

by | Nov 25, 2012 | Monitor

[ by Charles Cameron — today’s solemn commemorations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India in comparative religious perspective ] . I was listening to Mozart‘s Requiem last night, and it is rich in grief shot through with glory. That’s the...

The Sufism of Zen

by | Nov 20, 2012 | Monitor

[ by Charles Cameron — double-quoting a remark taken from Zen’s most recent post with a Sufi teaching tale out of Idries Shah ] . . Zen – Zenpundit, Mark Safranski (above) that is — had a powerful comment about “the emaciated Somali...