GHS208-05 Fall 2019 China and the Islamic Middle East

Before doing the reading for class Thursday, I had only heard about Sufism once before. In one of my high school religion classes, we briefly talked about Sufism but we did not go into much detail about it. Looking back, I think my teacher mentioned it was a thing and then continued on, but it was interesting to read more about it in No god but God by Reza Aslan. I will admit that I did not fully grasp what it was when reading so I Googled it and found this short video that I think did a decent job summarizing Sufism. This made me wonder about the presence of Sufism in Islam and how common it is in each of the different types of Islam. The Pew Research Center found that a quarter or more of those surveyed identify to be apart of a Sufi order. I had not realized that there were different orders of Sufi. Identification in a Sufi order is highest in sub-Saharan Africa. This is interesting to me because in my last blog post I found that the highest Muslim populations are in Northern Africa and the Middle East. I would have thought, based on that, that there would be a higher Sufi population in Northern Africa.

This past week during english class At IPS Newcomer; the article/subject was on a literature reading by Julia Alvarez. The passage was on her being born in America while being a Dominican (aka American-Dominican). There were two sections that the class focused on, the first was on how she was bullied and made fun of because of her name. As well as, people getting/pronouncing her name wrong, examples such as, Juliet, Julie, Judy, Alcatraz, etc. Teachers tended to get her first name wrong while other students made fun of her last name. This made me think about being in the classroom at IPS Newcomer, many teachers there always pronounce the students names wrong because a lot of them have latin roots- (as well as how they pronounce each word/syllable for any name). I know what it feels like to have your name pronounced wrong or someone says a completely different name. My name is Hallie (Hal-lee), many times I get called Holly, Hayley (Haleigh/Haley), and a few times I’ve gotten Allie or Callie. Every year that I have been attending school not one teacher in my elementary or middle school, called me Hallie; it was always Haley. During high school, maybe a maximum of four teachers pronounced it right on first attendance or when calling on me. Many people always say “why don’t you correct them,” well after a while it gets kind of tiring to tell them that its not Haley. I usually only tell them if its a professional setting, such as being introduced to someone, interview, etc. So, I can relate to the wrong name calling. In addition, with being bullied with my name was only maybe once or twice (being called H-squared or HH-gregg) weird… yes I know, but my initials are HH, so thats why. I didn’t really care because it sounded terrible when they said it versus being called it because like its not that much of an insult to me.

This topic discussed in class made me think of our units, China and Islamic. I’m pretty sure many people and even me have pronounced a Chinese or Islamic name incorrectly. So, I can see how even though its a name, it can be very annoying or frustrating when people consecutively say it wrong/make fun of it. I decided to look up Islamic names because why not. This site shows some common Islamic names for girls and boys (I loved up H ones to see if there is any similarity). As well as, the meanings that the names have in Islamic is so special compared to someone being called Bob, ya know. Not bashing on anyone named Bob, but like a name such as Hasan, means to be beautiful and to be good. They all have nice meanings originating from Arabic. Have fun looking up names, as well as, trying to find a similar name to yours!

I found Sufism to be very interesting! I have heard the term before, but since I have limited knowledge on Islam, I always just thought it was a different type of Islam, similar to Sunni and Shia. Upon reading further, I learned that it is not necessarily a type of Islam, but a different “take” or “dimension” of the religion. I particularly liked the fact that they believe that texts are important, but teachers make all the difference when it comes to learning. I think this can be applied to just about any form of learning, such as in a class. I can read the assigned readings all I want, but I feel that I gain a better understanding of the material if I supplement what I read with what a teacher tells me. I like that Sufism focuses on this, because it can provide them a better understanding of the religion and why it is important.

I also thought that it was interesting that they have a particular verse from the Qur’an (Qur’an 51:56) that they use to ground their beliefs. This particular verse reads: “I created the Jinns and humankind only that they may worship me.” I like to think of the relevance of this verse to Sufism and compare it to John 3:16 in Christianity. While there are many verses that are repeatedly quoted in Christianity, I often feel that I could have my entire memory wiped and still know this particular verse. It is so common and almost seems as a sounding point for Christianity as the verse above is for Sufism. I found this interesting, because I never really thought about grounding points for religions, so it is interesting to not only see one that is in a religion that is not my own, but to realize there is one in my own religion as well.

I can’t actually decide which quote is my favorite. For me, it depends on my mood, or what I may be going through in life. Senior year of high school, I was faced with the dilemma of choosing my senior quote for the yearbook. I knew of many people who had a specific inspirational quote in mind, or maybe a verse from the Bible, but I was completely stuck. I finally came up with an idea eventually, although I don’t think it was an actual quote by a specific person, but more of just a funny thing I saw somewhere and liked. So my senior quote is “Any pizza is a personal pizza if you try hard enough.” I really hope that in 20 years when my children ask to see my high school yearbooks, they appreciate my humor.

Of course, since my quote was just some funny phrase, I couldn’t credit it to any specific person. I know of a few people who ran into the issue of knowing which quote they wanted to use, but not knowing who said it originally. I even remember looking through my yearbook and seeing a quote that I know was said by a certain person, but they credited someone completely different. This is an example of how you shouldn’t trust everything on the Internet. Some people chose religious quotes, such as verses from the Bible. It is kind of hard to get that wrong, and even if you get the verse number wrong, its at least not as noticeable since it is still in the Bible.

It is important to think about the context in which the quote was originally said, so it is important to know who originally said it. Even in the Bible, context is important, especially because there are people who will take certain verses out of context to fit with a specific belief and ignore others that contradict it. That being said, context, to me at least, is almost more important than who initially said the quote. Of course, the author of the quote is considered context too, but it is definitely important to do some research and figure out the why and the who of the quote before trying to twist it and use it out of context.

I think this can relate to studying any religion, but since this class is about Islam, I will relate it to that. Going back to when we had readings from the Qur’an, it was important to do those readings while thinking about Islam as a religion. The very fact that it was an Islamic text provides some context, and if one were to quote something, they would need to keep in mind the context in which it was said in the Qur’an. I have a feeling that a lot of religious debates from various religions, not just Islam, come from the lack of context and research on things that are mentioned in the texts.

After watching the documentary I found that I learned a lot about the pilgrimage to mecca. I have heard of the journey before but I have never actually looked into what the journey consists of.

My neighbors back at home are Muslim and they all made the journey to mecca! I remember them telling me and my family a little about it when I was younger, but I don’t remember much about what they said. They are some of our good family friends and they would always have my family over for dinner and they would show us all of their favorite foods! We would always have the most interesting BBQs because we would have a random mix of food! After watching this documentary it seems to bring back some of the memories of what my neighbors told me about their own journey to mecca. They have shown me and my family pictures from all of the places they got to see and visit when they went back for their trip. Their parents made sure that each of their five children were able to make it over to mecca. Since one of the main things that can hold people back from this journey is money.

Back to the documentary, I did think it was interesting that the one person they decided to follow was white male. Although, I think I can see some reasons for doing this. They were making it for a specific audience, which are people in the United States. It’s funny how the man in the video sticks out like a sore thumb, he doesn’t really look like anyone else there. I was trying to put myself in his shoes and I would stick out just as much, if not more than him!

I can’t imagine having to do all of that traveling required for this journey, but at the same time I can see why people would want to make this journey because it means so much to their religion. It is also such a specific journey I feel as though it is a trip that people will never forget!

When Pat, Taylor, and I were driving to the international festival for the last day we were getting ready for the lion dance! we wanted to make sure we would have plenty of time to get there and go over the dance so we left campus 40 mins early, thinking we would have plenty of time.. we were so wrong! Naturally there would be a marathon going through the streets around campus, so we tried a few different routes and eventually got stuck in front of Ross, as runners went by there were little gaps were cars could actually get through. After sitting there for about 10 mins we were moving again, since we left early we still had plenty of time! Until we got onto the next street, there was traffic as far as the eye could see! You wouldn’t believe it! As time was passing and we were actually sitting going zero miles per hour, we wondered if we were going to make it to the festival in time! I had to call kwan to let him know we were stuck in traffic because at the rate we were moving we were going to miss the lion dance! The festival was around 2.5 miles from campus, and it ended up taking us a little under an hour to get there!! We could have walked there faster! When we finally got into the festival we were shocked to see that the parade was going on, which was supposed to have happened in the morning. We got to watch the group walk around in the lion costume and wave the flags!

Later we found out that they moved the parade later in the day because there weren’t a lot of people, so the lion dance didn’t end up happening! So thankfully we didn’t miss much!

At the parent’s appreciation banquet I attended this weekend, several couples were honored for overcoming hardships as they parent. The first of these couples talked about how their child was born early, and that it was especially challenging for them. They spoke about how the event tested their faith in ways that they didn’t know was possible, but that their faith and belief in their religion came out stronger because of this. Another honoree was a single father talking about raising three daughters on his own, and how he is doing his best to raise them well, instilling values in them that honor God. The final couple that received awards was a couple, who during the course of their speech revealed that they were Catholic. However, what was most interesting to me was that they talked about the power of prayer, but also the uncertainty within prayer. How do you know that you are praying for the right thing/asking for the right outcome? How do you know that it’s working? How do you know that your prayer has been answered? But they continued, and talked about the inner peace that comes when a prayer has been answered. The specific quote that I remember she said was “we all pray to the same God.” This seemed to really resonate with the crowd gathered, and really enforced what I have learned is a common belief throughout this community: we are more similar than we are different.

There is a common misconception that Sufism is a sect of Islam. Actually, Sufism can be more accurately described as an aspect or dimension of Islam. Ibn Khaldun, a 14th century Arab historian described Sufism as “dedication to worship, total dedication to Allah most high, disregard for the finery and ornament of the world, abstinence from the pleasure, wealth, and prestige sought by most men, and retiring from others to worship alone.”

Khaldun’s description of Sufism still holds true over 700 years later. Sufi’s believe that Islamic knowledge not only has to be learned from books, but that teachers play an important role. The teachers of Islam date all the way back to the Prophet, with current day students trying to absorb what character they can of the Prophet. Sufi’s are responsible with spreading Islam to the furthest outposts of the Muslim world, including Africa, India, and the Far East.

Sufi’s find their purpose in life from a verse in the Quran, “I created the Jinns and humankind only that they may worship me.” Sufi’s belong to Tariqas, or orders, to pursue their goal of worshipping Allah. The Tariqas were established a few centuries after Allah’s death, they are orders which have a master who teaches the sacred knowledge of Islam to their students.

 

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/subdivisions/sufism_1.shtml

The first part of this reading in a way gave a great representation of what today was for me. First, I saw that it was snowing, and I love the first snow especially if it is enough where you can try and sled and enjoy it, other than the first “good” snow, I don’t want to see it because I would like to golf again outside in the warmth and not have it be freezing. In my head, I like the first snow because it allows you the possibility to go sledding and enjoy it for the brief time, we have it. Which I took full advantage of and did later on in the night with my teammates. Now you might be thinking how is this relating to the story?? I am getting there, first “Kais met a girl so lovely that he was instantly struck with a yearning he could not understand” (Aslan 199). The girls name was Layla, and his connection to her made me think about what I think about the first snow fall and the possibility that it means. When I was growing up in the wintertime and if there was snow on the ground, I was always outside sledding with my friends in the neighborhood, it was what we did. Kais and Layla found love with each other just like my friends and I did with sledding when we were young. We all know that snow doesn’t last forever, and sadly love doesn’t either, because once Layla’s father found out about Kais, he pulled her out of school and made her to never leave the tent again. This is where it became unpredictable on how at one moment or instance you can think the best thing ever is happening, but the next you’re at rock bottom. This feeling sadly happened when we went out to go sledding, my teammates and I were all excited about sledding, to find out the snow amount that was accumulated was hardly enough to make going down the bowl enjoyable. Yea, at first it was fun, but once you see the grass from the path you just went down it isn’t great. After Kais and Layla no longer saw each other for some time they were still trying and hoping for a way to connect, just like I’m still hoping for the first good snowfall that will dump enough snow on the ground to make sledding fun and enjoyable for a while. The end of the story is grim, because when Kais finds out about the death of her, he went to the grave to be with her.

 

This section was interesting because of how the father was forcing his daughter not to see the love of her life but keeping her out of the public with no fun and enjoyment. This being similar to others who may have seen the snow and said, “Nope its way to cold I want to stay in”. That isn’t fun, it was fun to sled a bit but I’m still waiting for the big snowfall.

 

Until next time,

Patrick

In this chapter the main concept is about Revolution and forcing the native people to take on Christianity. Some thought that this would be a good idea, because the British were thinking they can spread the lifestyle they have onto these people. Not everyone was in favor of this however, many saw this as possibly looking like an oppression and forcing Christianity onto them, and then being acceptable to a rebellion from the natives. Later on, we see how committed the natives were to one another, when they were notified that the ammo cartridges were greased with pork and beef fat, it made it contaminated for the Hindus and Muslims. Thus, causing the soldiers to not use the guns then be detained for disobeying orders.

This section of the book really shows that when someone is being pressured into something that they don’t like, or want, they will do anything in their own power to stand up for what they believe is right and do it. I can relate this to class, because I have learned a lot in the sense of their cultures, just because I don’t like, or think one way about something it doesn’t make it wrong it just makes all of us have firm believes in different instances and outlooks of life. The other main takeaway I got from this group was how committed they were to each other and to their common cause of what they believed in and not what was being forced onto them.

 

Until next time,

Patrick