The Camel and the Deer
A couple of weeks ago on 18th March, something happened that has not happened for a good while: the holy seasons of Lent and Ramadan began on the same day. Both are seasons of prayer, fasting, almsgiving and self-examination in their respective religions of Christianity and Islam, both commemorate times of prayer in out-of-the-way places by revered religious figures, and both culminate in an important feast (Easter and Eid al-Fitr). This week, I made use of a public "comtemplation room" in my hometown of Bradford to pray silently alongside Muslims, each according to our own tradition. But as a member of the Community of Aidan and Hilda, I feel another form of connection with my Muslim neighbours. Both Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne (d.651 AD) and Saint Hilda of Whitby (614-680 AD) lived in the same century as the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) (c.570-632 AD). They inhabited the same world, with many of the same cultural norms, even though the first two were in the British Isles and the...