On November 4th, we got the opportunity to go to Ling’s Oriental Martial Arts located thirty minutes away in Noblesville, Indiana. When we arrived there, one of the first things we were instructed to do when we walked in was to take our shoes off. We all then sat on a chair and met Master… Continue reading 11/4 ICR Reflection ~ Martial Arts with Master Ling

One of the things we talked about in class today was why the Islamic religion is perceived as being so strict. I think that one of the things that points to this is the rigidity of the requirements and what people think the punishments are for breaking them. The Muslim religion requires scheduled prayers, fasting,… Continue reading 11/4

After visiting the Raleigh masjid website, I found the explanation of Islamic prayer, and why, to be quite interesting and insightful towards the Islamic religion and culture. It starts off by talking about the 5 daily compulsory prayers, Salah, and how it keeps followers close with God as well as to keep yourself and the… Continue reading Intro to prayer

The Hadith is comprised of passages of Muhammad’s own beliefs and thoughts that are not found in the Qur’an. The Qur’an itself is God’s word spoken through Muhammad, but the Hadith is Muhammad’s own words. My favorite verse from the reading was, “Every good deed is charity, and it is a good deed that thou… Continue reading The Hadith and Fiqh Akbar

So for this drum circle we went off campus to a local Methodist Church that was having a celebration for Halloween. When we got there I was a bit nervous mostly because I have never done the drumming off campus and in front of the public before. We set up, practiced for a bit, met… Continue reading Drum circle outside campus on Halloween + Poster I made

I knew that there were multiple times Muslims prayed a day. I knew there was a certain kind of cloth they put down to kneel on, but I didn’t realize not all muslims so that. I guess it depends on how religious you are or where you are in the world. In the United States,… Continue reading 10/28 Notes Qur’an II

From reading this Hadith, I find several similarities to biblical references. I interpret the metaphor of not finding water then for 10 years then bathing in it once it is found as a symbol for the purification of one’s soul, the idea that this takes time and takes continuous work throughout one’s lifetime from the… Continue reading Selected Hadith Analysis and Summary

Prior to this class, I didn’t know about the Five Pillars of Islam. The first is shahada (profession of faith), which is a declaration of belief in God (Allah) and Muhammad’s role as the messenger of God. The second pillar is salat (prayer), which Muslims pray five times a day, at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset,… Continue reading Five Pillars and Hajj Documentary Blog Post

I really enjoyed the “What Sharia means: 5 questions answered” article online. I found it really interesting the setup with questions and then responses which answer the question, but also provide a lot of educational information and background. There was a little blurb about the author to give the article credibility, and there were a… Continue reading Reflecting on Sharia

Prior to taking this class, I was not aware of the specific details of the Five Pillars of Islam and what each of them meant. Watching the video at the start of class on Tuesday of adhan or the Muslim call to Prayer was again a reminder of the beauty of the sound of the… Continue reading The Five Pillars Reflection