I was privileged to be invited to speak at the Chautauqua Institution. My topic was on meanings made of death in Muslim tradition.
The lead up to the event got this write-up.
Moral and ethical questions often surround death, dying and the afterlife — questions Hussein Rashid will explore in a Muslim context.
Rashid, who teaches a course at Hofstra University called “Life, Death, and Immortality,” will give a lecture at 2 p.m. today in the Hall of Philosophy titled “Embracing Death to Live Life.” Week Nine’s Interfaith Lecture theme is “From Here to Hereafter: Facing Death with Hope and Courage.”
Rashid will examine the moral and ethical considerations surrounding death, dying and the afterlife. He will also explore what particular visions of the Muslim afterlife look like. Some such issues include quality of life, assisted living and end-of-life considerations, such as assisted suicide.
And here is the write-up of the event.
Hussein Rashid said death has power because people don’t understand it. Certain Muslim traditions, though, try to give death meaning.
Rashid discussed these traditions and the three stages of death — life before death, death and life after death — in his 2 p.m. Interfaith Lecture Thursday at the Hall of Philosophy, “Embracing Death to Live Life.” Week Nine’s Interfaith Lecture theme is “From Here to Hereafter: Facing Death with Hope and Courage.”
“To say we are living and then we are dead is too simple an equation,” Rashid said. “The way we perceive death deeply informs the way we live, and the way that we live deeply informs the way that we imagine what happens during and after death.”
And here is the video of the talk.