There is something deeply stirring about standing beneath an open sky. Whether it is the soft blush of dawn, the brilliance of a midday sun, or the quiet scattering of stars at night, nature invites the heart into remembrance.

The Islamic tradition emphasizes cleanliness, and one of the ways Muslims stay clean throughout the day is by performing wudu, or ritual washing. Wudu, or ablution, is necessary for Islamic practices like prayer, touching the Quran, and performing tawaf around the Kaaba.

There are forests that seem quiet.

You walk through them and hear only the wind brushing against leaves, the soft crack of twigs beneath your feet, and perhaps the distant call of a bird. Everything appears still, separate, and independent.

We are deeply saddened by the state of our nation. Yesterday, the most powerful man of the most powerful nation in the world, our President Donald Trump, used profanity while mocking our faith and writing, in the same vulgar post, "praise be to Allah."