One of the themes I have noticed throughout this unit are the similarities between Islam and Christianity. This is especially true with the Five Pillars in today’s reading. I found a variety of parallels between these and many of the rules in my religion, Catholicism. The first pillar, Shahadah, is declaring a belief in Allah.… Continue reading Five Pillars

On October 28th, we had dinner at Lucky Lou, an authentic Cantonese style restaurant, with Kwan and Professor Braid. Although I have Cantonese style foods all the time back at home, it was still fun and exciting to try some new foods that I had never had before. One of the first things to have… Continue reading 10/28 IACA Reflection ~ Dinner at Lucky Lou’s

Quran Chapter 2 al-Baqara “The Cow” 2:190 “Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight you, but do not transgress limits; for Allah loveth no transgressors.” 2:208 “Let there be no compulsion in religion; Truth stands out clear from Error: whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that… Continue reading Quran

In the second chapter, Gigi’s family is affected by the sequestration. Since her uncle is the Pasha, all those directly related to him have to face consequences and some are even sent to internment camps. Gigi’s family has to give up all of their servants except for Madame Helen and the cook who refuse to… Continue reading The Cairo House, Sequestration Summary and Analysis

The chapter starts with the main character, Gigi, getting on a plane to fly home to Egypt. It then turns into a flashback of her as a child. Her family is preparing for the Feast of Sacrifice in which a sheep or cow is sacrificed in order to honor Abraham’s past sacrifice of his son.… Continue reading The Cairo House, The Feast of the Sacrifice summary and analysis

The five pillars are five ways that guide Muslims to living a good life and being good people. They are enforced in households and children learn them by going to mosques with their families. The first pillar is Shahadah, which is that there is only one God Allah and that Muhammad is the messenger of… Continue reading The Five Pillars of Islam and the similarities to Christianity

I thought it was really interesting how a lot of what the Five Pillars of Islam related back to helping the poor or sympathizing with the poor. One of the Five Pillars is Zakah which is a charity tax that is used to support the poor. Another pillar is fasting during Ramadan which allows them… Continue reading Five Pillars and Muslim Praying

When it comes to religions, businesses, or any type of organizations, there are a few defined rules/guidelines/events that must be followed. In Islam, there are 5 pillars that every follower must take part in. The first one deals with how everyone must believe that Allah is the only God and that Muhammad is the messenger… Continue reading The Prominence of Pillars

In Sura 2, I thought it was important to note that Islamic tradition claims that there is nothing like the Quran and that it is distinctive. There was also a clear emphasis on predestination, as it states “And who believe in the Revelation sent to thee and sent before thy time and (in their hearts)… Continue reading Thursday 10/28 assigned Suras reflection

In class this week, we discussed how various languages sound and how this has an impact on attitudes. For example, languages that have harsher sounds, like German, may give the impression of being more aggressive. This is similar to Arabic as well, as the language has many glottal stops. However, watching the video of someone… Continue reading Thoughts from class this week