GHS208-05 Fall 2019 China and the Islamic Middle East

This reading was about the prayer that muslims do everyday. Which I had no idea it was actually that long. I thought on page 197, the first section, “The Call to Prayer,” was all they said repeatedly and then they were done. As well as, I had no idea that the placement of where one’s hands, fingers, and eyes were very important during the prayer. In addition, some surprising things I read were how at the end an alternative to an attribute during the closing of prayer, some would say the 99 names of God in Islam. I for one, did not know that God had 99 names in Islam. Since I’ve have only referenced or heard those say either, Lord, God, Father, He, etc. for Christians and Catholics, as well as, Allah and God for Muslims. Plus, muslims have these memorized, like holy cow, that’s a lot to memorize but I can see it would become easier to know when doing the prayer daily as well as, being taught it at a young age and repeating it multiple times. Moreover, during the Islamic prayer the phrase “peace be with you,” ” Praise to God,” and “Glory to my Lord the most high;” are very similar to some things I’ve had to the say in some church during Catholic service/mass. For example, “Glory to God in the highest (from The Gloria) ,” “peace be to God,” and “peace be with you,” are very similar to the phrases in the Islamic prayer. These phrases both are similar and connect also to Christianity and Judaism. All these phrases have similar meaning, but they are just worded different. This article shows the comparison between roman Catholics, Protestant, and Jews for the Lord’s Prayer. Anyways, look forward to furthering this discussion on religions in class tomorrow.

This week at IPS Newcomer, was a very informational week. This is because students were given a presentation on career and educational pathways for them after finishing their core 40 at IPS Newcomer. To my surprise, Newcomer also has a program for those after finishing high school, to help them go to another program that can further their education as well as, set them up for a career. For example, they would go attend one of the programs lets say a business for two years. YES ONLY TWO YEARS, sometimes three. Which is really surprising since at Butler University most business majors attend here for four years, and still need experience and networking to landing a job in a company that fits their skills. Furthermore, this made me think about how they probably didn’t have this type of support or connections in their native country. This is because a lot of the students there can barely read and write at a second grade level. So, it is very nice to hear that once they finish high school they still get this support. This made me think about in other cultures how some women can’t even go to school to get an education or in some places in Africa I know that once a girl hits puberty then their mother pulls them from school. Since they don’t have the material needs for a female to handle their cycles. As well as, some boys don’t even get put into schools they are put into labor once reaching a certain age. This just shows how much places around the world are as well as, just opens anyones eyes to appreciate what they are given when others probably aren’t given the same treatment as them.

Afterwards, was advisory (aka my favorite time at IPS Newcomer) which was on math again (think maybe its always math advisory not sure… still finding stuff out. Anyways, this time I had to teach and assist students in finding surface area of rectangles. I honestly forgot about surface area and the formula to solve problems like those ones. Well I figured it out and helped many students who were excited to learn how to solve the problems, in addition, many of the students enjoy math and learning new ways to calculate/ other ways to solve problems. Moreover, just surprises me that many of them don’t fully understand how to multiple or add simple numbers. Well, because when I was in the third grade is when I was first introduced to multiplication, however, these students are high schoolers and still haven’t learned this. It made me think maybe they didn’t get this education as well as, maybe their native country didn’t focus on math skills. Maybe they focused on family priorities, religion, or history of their country. Which all these are important and certain subjects are probably more information than others in certain countries. Altogether, I always enjoy going to IPS Newcomer and helping students and learning something new about their culture and teaching them about mine as well.

Also, something I talked with the teacher I was assigned too. Apparently, I’m the only student that has returned to his class out of the Butler Volunteer students, which is surprising. I can see maybe it was too much for them because the students are high schools and majority of the time they don’t listen, or maybe the language barrier scared them. Even though, Spanish is not my native tongue I still try and communicate with them (pros of actually paying attention in my 200 . level Spanish class). Anyways, still is a good experience and every time I go I feel more connected to anyone who lives in the Indianapolis community.

After watching the documentary, I felt as if I really didn’t know much about the Hajj. Prior to the film, I thought anyone could visit and seepartake in this experience but now I know its strictly those who are muslim. Which is something unique followers of Allah can share. As well as, I thought they could visit whenever they want, but now knowing it is a very spiritual and holy ground that people should keep it that way. Stated in the film was “the place should remain unique not grow familiar.” I really like this phrase because it does make going all the way to Mecca life changing, and not just like any other ordinary day or place to visit. This documentary also reminded me of a film I watched in one of my classes last year. The plot was held in Islam; it was about how a mother lost her husband and it was just her and her daughter. However, they needed money so the mother shaved her daughters head to make her look like a boy. It was working out fairly great until she was walking home one day and a man spotted her and asked what she was doing. Sounded strange at first but all the other boys in the village were taken to go learn rituals and educated on when it would be their time to visit the Hajj. But as in the documentary, everyone was in cloths and washed themselves for purity. And you can think how this could end badly when another boy sees a girl there. Anyways, not going to spoil anything else or the ending. But it was a very interesting film and heartbreaking at times, but this documentary sparked some connections with this film. Furthermore, I would love to learn more about this journey and when someone would know they are ready to visit Mecca and can succeed in the five day journey. Since I thought people just went there whenever and walked around a “cube” till they got tired and just talked with people. Whereas, it is much more than just walking around a block, for example, throwing pebbles at a pillar that replicates the devil, this action is to fight away temptations and replicate the place where satan attempted the prophet Abraham and drove him away with stones. Altogether, this was a very informational documentary, I would be interested in seeing another documentary to learn more about the Hajj.

I found the documentary on the Hajj very interesting. I thought it was fun to kind of get a first-hand view of what the Hajj is like, and I like how straight and to the point the whole thing was. Sometimes, there are hour long documentaries that can be cut down to about 20-30 minutes and still have all the necessary information included, because some of them just seem to go in circles just to hit the 60 minute mark. That’s not me saying I won’t watch an hour long documentary, I have just come across numerous that seemed so much longer than necessary, so I liked that this one had all the necessary information without making it clear they were trying to fit a time requirement.

The most interesting thing from the documentary was the fact that the Hajj takes place over a particular range of dates. I didn’t realize that there was a specific time of year that it happened, so I found myself thinking about how crowded the area must be during those days, and I found myself laughing at the thought that it is probably a good time of year for airlines that go in that area. Overall, the documentary was very informative, and I really liked the way that it was structured. It was so much more engaging and easier to follow than some that I have watched in the past.

I’ve been thinking lately, as we’ve been making our way through the Qur’an, that religion is a really cool thing to study because we can (and kind of have to) view it through both an academic lens and a personal lens. We consider the foundations of a religion—we learn about its origins, sacred texts, significant beliefs, and can look at these things in a factual way. But as we do this, we also get to think about how these things apply to the every day lives of people who practice these religions today, all while considering how our beliefs and values compare and contrast to those we’re studying. I know we have talked about this in class, as now that I’ve typed it out it seems pretty obvious and basic, but I was just feeling appreciative of the fact that we get to learn about things like this.

I was especially thinking about this recently as I was reading Sura 12. The story of Joseph is the story from Abrahamic religions that I am the most familiar with (yes, because of the Andrew Lloyd Weber musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. It’s pretty cheesy, but the music isn’t all bad!). Initially I felt that I was getting a lot more out of the reading when I already knew the content through a different lens, but then I thought more about how I might be getting more when I’m reading for the first time through the perspective of Islam. All this to say—I think there are pros and cons to being able to relate a religious study to prior knowledge.

After watching the documentary, I realized how much I did not know about the Hajj. At my service site at the Nur-Allah mosque, we spent part of a Sunday school day learning about the Hajj. The teacher explained the basics of it; that it is a pillar of Islam, that all Muslims are supposed to make the journey, and that it is a very inclusive process. After watching the documentary, it is much more clear one what it actually is- and I definitely had a much different idea of what I thought it was. I thought it was the journey to Mecca, and basically, the Muslims that were there kinda hung out for a while and worshipped Allah. But, it definitely it is a strenuous time. Seeing in the documentary about the long walk, and the collection of stones to throw at the pillar that represents satan, the process of Hajj has a lot to it. The other part that I didn’t really expect Hajj to be is how peaceful it is. It was really interesting to see in the documentary about all of the people from all over the world coming together during this time. The documentary showed kindness such as donations of food, sharing of prayer mats, and many other things that displayed how the community of Muslims really came together during this journey. This documentary was very interesting in seeing how Hajj really is, from an insider’s perspective. I also think that it is a good thing that this documentary was played on a pretty mainstream news channel in the United States so that Americans can see what Islam is really like, and how peaceful it is. Hopefully, if more items of news are shown like this, stereotypes of Islam can be combatted within the United States.

The BCR tonight, while running behind schedule, was a really interesting conversation –rather than a lecture– regarding the challenges of being Muslim in current culture. It was evident that the speaker, Ustedh Ubaydullah Evans, was witty, educated, well spoken, and stylish, but what he had to say was equally as captivating as how it was delivered. Evans began with a story that set up a very interesting premise to be considered. One day he was listening to NPR when a host began to address her disdain for the place of gender in the Spanish language. In Spanish, all nouns are masculine or feminine which reinforces the gender binary, and the generic form is masculine singular which reinforces the patriarchy. The host of the radio show saw no positive utility of gender within the language other than when addressing her transgender friends by the pronouns and tenses they prefer. This was an interlude to the conversation of choice, and the value of choice in religion. We spoke about how having the right to choose is much more important than what you do choose, and there are clear benefits from the will of choice, especially across cultures.

We have spoken in class about how Islam translates to “submission” referring to submission to the divine, but there is story that Muhammad most treasured being called a servant of God. This difference led us to addressing the tension that exists in submitting one’s self to God. Relating back to choice, we came to the conclusion, collectively, that those who feel they have no choice or are not afforded any, feel constricted in their religious identity. The tension and culturally stigma may be insoluble, but recognizing the differences, and the choices present is the foundation. We also spoke about other ideas like sola fide, the difference between being fearful and being afraid, western views of the hijab as a symbol of oppression, sin as a gift preceding repentance. His conversion to Islam in present in his views and much of what we discussed, but his humanity spoke louder.

I particularly liked the reading we had to do in preparation for class, because it came from the Qur’an, but we were also given passages from Genesis as a supplement. I knew that there were connections between the two texts, but I never actually took the time to go through and find those connections myself. I liked that it challenged me to think a little bit deeper and read two texts that I would normally consider to be different. Because of this, I am probably more inclined to read religious texts a little deeper and think about what I have learned from other texts or readings that I have not only read in this class, but my other religion classes as well.

I was a little disappointed to see that this day was the last day we would be reading directly out of the Qur’an, so I just might g through and read some of the parts that we didn’t read that stand out to me. I have flipped through a little bit and marked the pages that look interesting to me, so now it is just a matter of if I get the time to sit down and read them before I have to turn in my book at the end of the semester!

Today I realized that semantics and attention to detail are perhaps not my strong suit. Or at the very least, maybe I should not read emails in bed while my eyes are half closed. Despite the fact that I am sitting in the classroom alone right now, I was looking to attend the BCR tonight that pertain to this class titled, “Ubaydullah Evans: Life in Amazing Times – Islam and Our Current Cultural Movement.” The speaker, Ustadh Ubaydullah Evans, is a core scholar at the American Learning Institute for Muslims and now is the executive director of the program. After Evans converted to Islam in high school, he continued on to study Islam at Columbia as well as at other institutions all over the world. He seems like an esteemed academic and renowned speaker from everything I have read online, and I am excited to have the opportunity to learn about Islam from his perspective. His unique upbringing has shaped his view of Islam in the world today, as previewed but this video (do not feel obligated to watch, but it may provide you a taste of tonight’s talk if you are interested or cannot attend). If you read this in time, the event is this evening, Tuesday at 6pm in Jordan Hall room 141, and it is a BCR that will count towards your graduation requirements. Reading a little about Evans and his background sparked my curiosity about the diversity of Muslims in the United States and around the World. There 1.6 billion Muslims around the world, with Indonesia having the largest Muslim population housing over 13% of the world’s Muslims. In America, there is not majority race of Muslims, but the breakdown is as follows: 25% black, 24% white, 19% Arab, 18% Asian, 9% mixed race, 5% Hispanic. While the breakdown and numbers do not really matter, they are a factor that affects the practice of Islam in the U.S. and the prejudice against it. Again, it will be interesting to hear Evans’ perspective in regards to the political and social culture surrounding Islam today given his own background and upbringing.

Information sourced from:

http://tyglobalist.org/uncategorized/eid-banquet-an-interview-with-ubaydullah-evans/

https://www.pewforum.org/2012/08/09/the-worlds-muslims-unity-and-diversity-executive-summary/

 

Today started just like any other normal Tuesday, lift at 6:30 and then Taylor and I headed to class with Pat, but when we opened the classroom door we were surprised to see that the room was empty! The three of us were pretty confused, but after figuring that class was canceled we decided to be productive and get some other stuff done!

We turned on the documentary that we need to watch before next class and we were all working on homework, blog posts, and studying! This was a nice little office hour/break time to get ahead and get some more homework done! As I was working on this blog post I realized my attention to detail is very lacking sometimes, considering we are the only people who didn’t realize class was canceled. Maybe next time I should make sure I read every word of the email to ensure I don’t show up to another canceled class!