Coffee with Amir Hussain

Dr. Amir Hussain is Professor of Theological Studies at Loyola
Marymount University in Los Angeles, where he teaches courses on
world religions. His own particular speciality is the study of
Islam, focusing on contemporary Muslim societies in North
America. His academic degrees (BSc, MA, PhD) are all from the
University of Toronto where he received a number of awards,
including the university’s highest award for alumni
service.  His most recent book is Muslims and the
Making of America where Dr. Hussain addresses the fear
of American Muslims and the misconceptions regarding the
religion.


In this interview Amir mentions some fascinating distinctions in
the story of Abraham's being called to sacrifice his son. While
Jews and Christians work from the shared text of Genesis 22,
Muslims have the same story with slightly different text in the
Quran. The name of the son is missing in the Quran and is
believed to be Abraham and Hagar's son, Ismail.


In Amir's story of greatest trial he graciously reflected with us
just after the 25th anniversary of his wife's passing. Shannon
died suddenly of a pulmonary embolism when she was just 28. In
his reflections Amir invoked this poem by William Blake when Amir
said, "It is any easy thing to rejoice in the tents of
prosperity."


“What is the price of Experience? Do men buy it for a song?
Or wisdom for a dance in the street? No, it is bought with the
price
Of all that a man hath, his house, his wife, his children
Wisdom is sold in the desolate market where none come to
buy
And in the wither'd field where the farmer ploughs for bread in
vain


It is an easy thing to triumph in the summer's sun
And in the vintage and to sing on the waggon loaded with
corn
It is an easy thing to talk of patience to the afflicted
To speak the laws of prudence to the homeless wanderer
To listen to the hungry raven's cry in wintry season
When the red blood is fill'd with wine and with the marrow of
lambs


It is an easy thing to laugh at wrathful elements
To hear the dog howl at the wintry door, the ox in the
slaughterhouse moan;
To see a god on every wind and a blessing on every blast
To hear sounds of love in the thunderstorm that destroys our
enemies' house;
To rejoice in the blight that covers his field and the sickness
that cuts off his children
While our olive and vine sing and laugh round our door and our
children bring fruits and flowers


Then the groan and the dolour are quite forgotten and the slave
grinding at the mill
And the captive in chains and the poor in the prison and the
soldier in the field
When the shatter'd bone hath laid him groaning among the happier
dead
It is an easy thing to rejoice in the tents of
prosperity:
Thus could I sing and thus rejoice: but it is not so with
me.”
― William Blake


The next picture is with Morgan Freeman and the American Muslim
calligrapher, Mohamed Zakariya. Amir is an advisor to The Story
of God with Morgan Freeman, and they filmed a segment at the
Islamic Center of Washington DC. This was the third episode of
the second season, titled “Proof of God”.
Links:

Sponsor: United Faith Leaders


Muslims and the Making of America by Amir Hussain


Oil & Water: Two Faiths One God by Amir Hussain


A Concise Introduction to World Religions


World Religions: Eastern Traditions


World Religions: Western Traditions


Video Interview on PBS (Travis Smiley Show)


LMU.edu Bio and More


Loyola Marymount University


California State University Northridge


William Blake


Abraham's Blood Sacrifice (Muslim, Christian, and Jewish
interpretations vary)


The Qur'an: English translation and Parallel Arabic
text (Amir referred to chapter 55)


Richard Thompson


Stevie Ray Vaughan


Albert Collins (not Albert King)


Mark Knopfler (from Dire Straits)


Dire Straits