Category Archives: Blog

While exploring the Serengeti this week, my family and I marveled at this beautiful leopard nestled in a tree…

I felt tempted to give this lovely lioness a belly rub, while enjoying a spirited safari this week in the Serengeti…

My family and I spotted this adorable lion cub while on safari this week in Tanzania–more wildlife photos to come…

When I was on a Fulbright last summer in Java researching Sufism and Islamic education in Indonesia, I had the opportunity to visit a number of madressas, universities, and Sufi shrines. So I read with interest this week that Indonesia’s two largest Islamic organisations, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, are positioning themselves as beacons of “moderate” Islam.

A recent Editorial in the Jakarta Post, “Would the Real Islam Please Stand Up,” (which claims that “radical and other senseless elements within the nation’s Muslim masses have come to dominate the conversation on Islam in Indonesia”) calls upon the NU and Muhammadiyah to “take back Islam from the radical groups, condemn the use of violence and strengthen the voices of moderation and pluralism.”

Indonesian President Joko Widodo also recently urged the country’s two biggest Islamic groups to continue their brand of “moderate Islam.” In addressing religious leaders this week, President Jokowi said: “Make Progressive Islam part of the renewal process, where you understand a religion which is rational and open to the development of knowledge.”

When I was in Balkh exploring the structure above (which many Afghans believe once belonged to Rumi’s family), I encountered several young custodians of Rumi’s poetry and memory. In fact, they insisted on referring to him as “Rumi al-Balkhi” (Rumi, the one from Balkh). I was thinking of these little Rumi rascals today while reading the United Nation’s mid-year report–according to which there has been a sharp increase in casualties suffered by women and children in the Afghan war. The report reads: “The thousands of civilians killed and injured from conflict-related violence in the first six months of 2015 demonstrate the continued failure of parties to the conflict to protect civilians from harm.” So far this year, the “number of women casualties has risen by 23 percent and children by 13 percent.” Reading statistics like these, I immediately think of all the children I met and photographed along the road while wandering through Afghanistan. When–if ever–will these children know peace?

Whenever I’m in Sudan doing archaeology, studying Sufism, or following in the footsteps of Malcolm X for my research, I try to meet up with as many Sufi sheikhs as I can in the Saharan sands. So I was intrigued this week-end when a presidential aide in Sudan called for the promotion of Sufism to combat “religious extremism.” Mohamed Al-Hassan Al-Mirghani, the First Assistant of the President and son of the leader of the Khatmiyya Sufi order, said in his Sunday press statement that Sufi orders in Sudan should serve as the “spearhead in defending Islam against any attempts to misinterpret it or use it as a tool to serve other purposes and agendas.”

When I traveled to Jordan to speak on modern conflict archaeology in Afghanistan and Mali at the World Archaeological Congress, I took a trip to Bethany Beyond the Jordan–the site where Christians believe that Jesus was baptized. After my visit, I started reading more about the environmental and humanitarian challenges endangering this “sacred” but polluted river. To view a new Al-Jazeera video on the joint effort by Israel, Jordan, and Palestine to clean up and preserve the Jordan River, please click here.

When I traveled to Iran several years ago as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard to speak about my research at Sharif University and the Iranian Foreign Ministry in Tehran, I had the opportunity to meet with prominent Iranian academics, politicians, intellectuals, and students–all of whom expressed interest in future academic collaborations with universities in the United States. In the wake of the Iranian nuclear deal, academics on both sides are wondering if more opportunities for academic bridge-building will soon emerge. A few weeks ago, a delegation of U.S. universities traveled to Iran under the auspices of the Institute of International Education. Before the Islamic revolution in 1979, the highest number of foreign students in the United States came from Iran, and today the Iranian cabinet has more politicians with PhDs from U.S. universities than any other government in the world–including the United States. It is my sincere hope that these ongoing endeavors in educational diplomacy will create more study, research, and exchange opportunities for students and professors alike…

Having spent a significant amount of time in Tajikistan (as an Edward A. Hewett Policy Fellow & a State Department Critical Language Fellow for Persian/Tajiki), I’m always delighted when I come across new media about Tajik culture. For example, a new National Geographic short video profiles the art of baking bread in Tajikistan in a small town I passed by on my way to Afghanistan…

This week-end, I was grateful for the opportunity to visit the (often volatile) UN Blue Line & Fatima Gate–the former border crossing between Lebanon and Israel/Palestine…

My friends and I stumbled across this modern war relic, while exploring Beaufort Crusader Castle in southern Lebanon.

Yesterday afternoon, my friends and I explored Beaufort–an impressive cliff-side Crusader castle in southern Lebanon. From Saladin to the PLO and beyond, this 12th century castle, which towers above the Litani River, has changed hands countless times over the centuries. T.E. Lawrence named it the finest medieval castle in the region, and Herbert Kitchener included it in his 1881 Survey of Western Palestine. While exploring each nook and cranny of the castle, my friends and I stumbled across several battle scars from the last occupiers who left it behind…

Every week, my Iranian friends and I like to translate Persian verses from the poetry of Rumi into English. We enjoy debating the semantic and spiritual meanings of each line–and our spirited linguistic workout keeps my Persian skills fresh. Here are a few verses from what we’ve been translating this week:

Hey you–who lives off the soul of this world.
Shame on you! Why do you live this way?
Don’t live like a corpse without love,
Die in love: and alive you shall remain…

— Rumi

The ongoing garbage crisis here in Lebanon has brought people together across sectarian lines–everyone’s tired of the trash. Many streets aren’t even passable due to the mountains of refuse erupting in all directions. Today in Beirut, the government failed once again to find a solution to the protracted garbage crisis. As you can imagine, the smell throughout the city is awful–and now foreign governments are warning their citizens of the environmental, health, and travel risks of the 11-day crisis. In its travel advisory, the British government now notes the “higher than usual levels of air pollution in Beirut” from the buildup of trash throughout the city.