Of faith and fate

OF FAITH AND FATE: Religious faith is part of what is driving the conflict in Iraq but also what is sustaining many Iraqis through the war. While mosque attendance may be down due to threats of attacks, the faithful continue to take risks to observe their religion, including turning out in large numbers for major religious events. "We console ourselves with faith and patience," said one young man who, along with his mother, was wounded by a mortar explosion. A Sunni woman who lost her husband in the war and was driven out of her neighborhood by Shi'ite militias has added to the five daily prayers expected of Muslims an extra nightly prayer called a "prayer of need."

"I just ask God to help me raise my son," she says. There is a universal sense in Islam that whatever happens is in God's hands and that one can't escape fate (Christian Science Monitor, August 15).

COPYRIGHT 2007 The Christian Century Foundation
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning