Sheila

“What is History? Any thoughts, Webster?'
'History is the lies of the victors," I replied, a little too quickly.
'Yes, I was rather afraid you'd say that. Well, as long as you remember that it is also the self-delusions of the defeated.”
― Julian Barnes

“So how can we improve the educational system? We should probably first rethink school curricula, and link them in more obvious ways to social goals (elimination of poverty and crime, elevation of human rights, etc.), technological goals (boosting energy conservation, space exploration, nanotechnology, etc.), and medical goals (cures for cancer, diabetes, obesity, etc.) that we care about as a society. This way the students, teachers, and parents might see the larger point in education and become more enthusiastic and motivated about it. We should also work hard on making education a goal in itself, and stop confusing the number of hours students spend in school with the quality of the education they get. Kids can get excited about many things (baseball, for example), and it is our challenge as a society to make them want to know as much about Nobel laureates as they now know about baseball players. I am not suggesting that igniting a social passion for education is simple; but if we succeed in doing so, the value could be immense.”
― Dan Ariely, Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions

“Drawing upon first-hand accounts from my own journey to the Muslim world – and primary and secondary scholarship when necessary – this book offers an anthropological window into Muslim piety in the early 21st century. In doing so, it is hoped that discussions concerning multiplicity in Muslim space and ritual, and Islam more widely, become more nuanced and more inclusive.”
― Rizwan Mawani, Beyond the Mosque: Diverse Spaces of Muslim Worship

“Muslims form a global community (umma) united by a common belief and value system as decreed by God. Essential to this system is the recognition of the Qur’an as God’s final message to mankind revealed through His Prophet, Muhammad (ca. 571–632), via the archangel Gabriel. The vast differences in how Islam takes form arise because of the ways in which the Qur’anic text is interpreted by communities and cultures, each with their own trajectories of history, experience and understanding”
― Rizwan Mawani, Beyond the Mosque: Diverse Spaces of Muslim Worship