American Express has apparently started a program called "SafeKey". It's something like "Verified by Visa", except that instead of rolling it out worldwide, they decided to start out in the UK.
What's the problem with a limited roll-out of something like this?
It means that if you go, armed with your American Amex card, to British Airways's website, you can not pay for a ticket. This is the only card I have that doesn't charge foreign transaction fees (British Airways, in its infinite wisdom, wants to charge me for the tickets in Indian rupees), so I really wanted to use the Amex.
British Airways says it is an Amex problem -- the card is getting declined by their verification system. Amex says it is a British Airways problem -- the transaction is declined by the common system that handles "Verified by Visa" and "SafeKey".
The American Express support person got belligerent when I tried to explain the problem to him and asked how I could enroll my card in SafeKey. He had not heard of SafeKey, and kept insisting it was a merchant's custom program, and not anything to do with Amex. The British Airways rep essentially threw up his hands while maintaining his posh accent and polite voice. Sigh.
The First Muslim
It took me a while to read The First Muslim: The Story of Muhammad
primarily because I didn't want to read it on airplanes (a sad commentary of the times we live in!).
I'd heard bits and pieces of Muhammad's story before, but did not know much about his life because there are few non-pious biographies of the founder of Islam. This is in contrast, of course, to other historical-religious figures such as Jesus or Buddha whose lives and teachings have received the once-over multiple times (p.s. an excellent Manga telling of the Buddha's life is Kapilavastu
).
I was surprised by how dichotomous Muhammad's life was. In Mecca, his story as an outsider, preaching non-violence and detachment, is similar to that of Jesus or Buddha. In many ways, it's the prototypical founder-of-religion story, and there is little there to offend anyone's sensibilities. But in Medina, however, his life turns into that of a strategic political figure. In some ways, it is as if Jesus, Paul and Constantine were rolled into one lifetime. Or Buddha, An Shigo and Ashoka rolled into one. So, you have Muhammad orchestrating a triple cross, divvying up resources from raids on caravans, ordering that an entire tribe be wiped out, etc. Pretty gruesome stuff. But during it all, you never lose total sympathy for the central figure.
It is a wonderful biography and well worth the read. (Even if you have to hide the title of the book as you read it ...)
Another sad commentary of the times we live in: I went to Amazon to see what the reader reviews were like. There were several reviews by Muslims hoping fervently that their compatriots would not be offended by the secular view of their prophet's life.
primarily because I didn't want to read it on airplanes (a sad commentary of the times we live in!).I'd heard bits and pieces of Muhammad's story before, but did not know much about his life because there are few non-pious biographies of the founder of Islam. This is in contrast, of course, to other historical-religious figures such as Jesus or Buddha whose lives and teachings have received the once-over multiple times (p.s. an excellent Manga telling of the Buddha's life is Kapilavastu
).I was surprised by how dichotomous Muhammad's life was. In Mecca, his story as an outsider, preaching non-violence and detachment, is similar to that of Jesus or Buddha. In many ways, it's the prototypical founder-of-religion story, and there is little there to offend anyone's sensibilities. But in Medina, however, his life turns into that of a strategic political figure. In some ways, it is as if Jesus, Paul and Constantine were rolled into one lifetime. Or Buddha, An Shigo and Ashoka rolled into one. So, you have Muhammad orchestrating a triple cross, divvying up resources from raids on caravans, ordering that an entire tribe be wiped out, etc. Pretty gruesome stuff. But during it all, you never lose total sympathy for the central figure.
It is a wonderful biography and well worth the read. (Even if you have to hide the title of the book as you read it ...)
Another sad commentary of the times we live in: I went to Amazon to see what the reader reviews were like. There were several reviews by Muslims hoping fervently that their compatriots would not be offended by the secular view of their prophet's life.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)