Hi everyone, looking forward to our opening reception this Sunday! Just wanted to post for everyone an excerpt from one of our readings for Monday by the late scholar Shahab Ahmed, which I love and to open the conversation in terms of what we mean when we speak about "Muslim culture" or "Muslim identity." Would love to hear your thoughts on this or the longer excerpt in your reading--three little vignettes--which we could have a whole day discussing! SOME YEARS AGO, I attended a dinner at Princeton University where I witnessed a revealing exchange between an eminent European philosopher who was visiting from Cambridge, and a Muslim scholar who was seated next to him. The Muslim colleague was indulging in a glass of wine. Evidently troubled by this, the distinguished don eventually asked his dining companion if he might be so bold as to venture a personal question. "Do you consider yourself a Muslim?" "Yes," came the reply. "How come, then, you are drinking wine?" The Muslim colleague smiled gently. "My family have been Muslims for a thousand years," he said, "during which time we have always been drinking wine." An expression of distress appeared on the learned logician's pale countenance, prompting the further clarification: "You see, we are Muslim wine-drinkers." The questioner looked bewildered. "I don't understand," he said. "Yes, I know;' replied his native informant, "but I do."
