Islam- Interfaith Series- Article #1

It’s Term 3 and we are nearing the half way point in our journey.  One thing about this program that I love is how we’ve all been able to learn from each on so many different aspects.  It’s not just when someone raises their hand in class to share something, but conversations at dinner or breakfast, or even a crazy taxi ride.  Some of those conversations relate to business or skills we’re learning in our MBA, and some just have to do with learning more about people.

In CCL we learn about economic, social, and political tensions in each region we visit.  Something I’ve noticed is that no matter where you go religion in a given region, or even lack of religion, plays a role in each of the three tensions.  Because of the unique framework of the CCMBA and the diverse class we have a wonderful opportunity to ask and answer questions about a topic that is often avoided in a business setting, but undoubtedly plays a role…religion.

Our classmate Andy Domenico hosts an Interfaith dinner at each residency, and I had the opportunity to join while we were in Dubai.  The dialogue and discourse of all the different faiths is amazing.  Just at our dinner table alone we had Jews, Muslims, Catholics, Protestants, Sikhs, Hindus, and Buddhists.  I am firmly convinced that if 20 or more of the CCMBA class can sit around and share each other’s faiths calmly then there is some hope out there for the rest of the world to do the same.

With that in mind I reached out to some of our classmates to see if they would share some information about their religion with the class.  What I think we’ll all see with this series is that there is so much we all have in common.  No matter where you go, no matter what your beliefs, we can all learn a little bit from each other.

To start off we have Tarick Gamay sharing with us about Islam.

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Dissecting Dubai – Part 3: Muslim Disneyworld

Well, the Dubai residency was certainly a surprise. And in more ways than one! The pace was certainly not as hectic as London, and for the most part the group was able to go out and actually see the city, find time to know more about each other, and ourselves, appreciate some not so obvious things, and welcome if not tolerate some of the more confusing aspects of living an international life. I’ve mulled over a whole lot of new things from the course of that week, and as the whole experience has left me with a rather dense collection of inner musings, I am left with little choice than to split up my next few blog posts.

This is Part 3 of a series of 5

The word “burj” is Arabic for “tower”.

Dubai has a lot of towers, but one of them really stands out – a proper sky scraper. I first saw the Burj Dubai flying in to the city on a stopover to London. It was a magnificent panorama; one large monolith surrounded by what might as well have been Lego pieces. It reached out into the sky, so high up it was kissing the clouds.

As yet unfinished, it was already glittering in the sun. It was magnificent, and resplendent. By the 4th or 5th day of the residency however, I started to feel that it was also incredibly out of place. Why build a kilometer-high building out in the middle of nowhere?

This was the Middle East, after all. It’s the land of sand.  Although, the same could be said of Las Vegas.

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