![]() In later, more turbulent years, this image of festive beauty infused with a sense of peace and elation, blurred as it may be, would remind me that it was here that I received, in essence, my most important lesson, that no matter the place or moment, sacredness comes from diversity in meaningful convergence and that the true aim of civilization is to build by integrating a wide array of the finest influences, to preserve and develop the best ideas of the past that promise to carry us forward, to collapse distances not only in time and place and disciplines, but between human beings. ![]() Enveloped in the tranquil beauty typified by Islamic floral-geometric design, I found myself at prayer in a hall with people of all ethnicities, ages, countries of origin and skin colors. Taken with our very basic snapshot camera, the Kodak Tele-Instammatic 608, it lacks the sharpness and vivid colours we are so used to now, in 2020, but this photo is a special one, for two reasons: it is an image of the great Muhammad Ali Clay who was present for Eid prayer in the Islamic Center of Los Angeles, and because it was my first ever visit to an American mosque, at age 9. ![]() The photograph before me is from a summer morning in 1982, from an album of that year’s Eid ul Fitr congregation.
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