This image appeared on the glass of the coffee table, bringing  outside leaves into the room. An Arabic shadda  – added in photoshop – turns the upside down autumn skyscape into a joyful word for Unity.

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Here are the references from the radio show: Sufism: the Heart of Islam with Wendy McLaughlin. I mentioned Karen Armstrong, Muhammad, A Prophet for our Time; Martin Lings, Muhammad, His Life Based on the Earliest Sources; and Reza Azlan, No god but God. These all have general material on Muhammad’s wives and daughters. I forgot to mention the classic: Nabia Abbott, Aisha, the Beloved of Muhammad.

If you search farther into the primary sources – Muhammad Ibn Sa’d, The Women of Medina; Al-Tabari, The History of al-Tabari (in thirty-some volumes); A. Guillaume’s translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah (The Life of Muhammad); and the Alim, CD ROM (for Hadith). Gordon Newby wrote A History of the Jews of Arabia.  From here on, road leads into road…. Ya Fattah (may the way open!)

The CD’s played on the show are: White Shade Cloud and The Woman with Muhammad – to order contact http://www.marinsufis.com   click on – music for sale and Hear a sample! There will be a link to Wendy’s show here soon.

Damascus. One my favorite places on earth. May it be protected! See May archive for my visit to the Mosque of the Grand Mufti.