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Following a global contest reading of the Koran by young Muslim children that takes place in Cairo, Egypt annually during Ramadan KORAN BY HEART is a coming of age story about Muslim kids in modern times.
Director: Greg Barker
Share this film. Give others the chance to be be inspired by its story.
Get to know and understand those who believe in a faith different from your own. Visit a local mosque, temple or church just to witness the goings on in your community and to touch base with people who share your neighborhood.
Check out some of the online resources that give you an intro to the Arabic language, such as Tajweed In English.
Listen to others recite the Koran. As non-Muslim Koran scholar Kristina Nelson explains in the film, “When you hear the Koran, you are experiencing a moment of (musically beautiful) revelation. You are not just hearing a religious text.”
Travel! The best way to learn about and appreciate foreign cultures is to envelop yourself with them!
“I found a man who both admires and respects the Muslim world, but also understands the challenges ahead. His film, [Greg Barker’s] film Koran by Heart is a must-watch, the tool we all need in these trying times, to help us realize just how similar our seemingly opposite and opposing cultures are.”
Read the full interview on the Huffington Post.
“Welcome to the tajweed and Quran podcasts which are explained in English. These podcasts are designed specifically for English speakers who want to learn tajweed. It will also assist those who do not have the chance to meet a sheikh or qari in their local area…”
Visit the website to find out more.
Researchers with a variety of academic and theological interests are proposing controversial theories about the Koran and Islamic history. Find out more here.
HE WHO DEVOTES HIMSELF
Films that see religion humanized by sacrifice and devotion.
Research by Lisa Miller shows that kids who develop a sense of a loving higher power or a guiding force—whether they call it God, creator, Allah or simply “loving universe”- are 80 percent less likely to suffer major depression and 50 percent less likely to suffer from substance abuse as teens.
Find out more about teaching kids about spirituality, faith, hope and morality, even if you’re a religious free agent in this article.
“Much of our daily lives would be dizzyingly unrecognizable to people living a hundred years ago: what we wear and what we eat, how we travel, how we communicate, how we while away our leisure time. But, surely, our occasional attempts to memorize a poem would feel familiar to them—those inhabitants of a heyday of verse memorization.”
Continue reading on the New Yorker.
The name of the holy book of Islam can be spelled several ways in English. Find out more here. (Note we opt for Koran on this page because it is consistent with the film’s title.)
“People like to joke that the only thing you really “learn” in school is how to memorize. As it turns out, that’s not even the case for most of us. If you go around the room and ask a handful of people how to memorize things quickly, most of them will probably tell you repetition. That is so far from the truth…”
Read the full article on Lifehack.
“So many students graduate without taking the leap and traveling… (…) Now, more than ever, it is becoming increasingly important for college students to go abroad.”
Read the full article here.
"FANTASTIC, VIBRANT, COMPELLING"
FSR
"INTRIGUING"
A.V. Club
