Month: April 2020

Soccer is one of my favorite sports, and by far the world’s most popular, so I thought that it might be interesting to look into the world of soccer in China. The top division of Chinese soccer is called the Chinese Super League, and their league has been gaining quite a bit of popularity over the past several years because they have been known to spend a ton of money in transfer fees and wages to get superstars of the European game to come play in China when they are arguably either past their prime, or simply a snake wanting a huge pay day. Now, that’s great for the Chinese game that they get to grab some big name players to play in their league. The MLS does the same thing with players like Landon Donovan, David Beckham, and Thierry Henry. The problem in China however, is that the big wages their clubs promise those big name players, are driving some clubs out of business. This article from the South China Morning Post details the financial struggles of Liaoning, a former top Chinese club who is now in the second division and facing bankruptcy. The team has in fact not been able to pay quite a few of their players because of the money they have spent on big name players and the under performance of their club. So now, with the Covid-19 pandemic, everything with the details of the club is far more confusing. Players do not know whether the club is going under or not, so they do not know whether they can speak to new clubs or not. FIFA and the Chinese FA have gotten involved with the club, trying to help their players get paid, and considering whether the club will be able to stay afloat or not.

For this post I’d like to talk about a topic that has always both troubled and fascinated me since I’ve begun studying about China. That being, the re-education camps that the Chinese government has set up in Xinjiang province for their Uighur population. Uighur’s being the Turkic, Muslim minority that is based mainly in China, but also Uzbekistan, Turkey, Russia, Australia, and the U.S. The Chinese government has carefully constructed a narrative around these camps, claiming that they are “voluntary vocational camps” where people come to learn new job skills, and most importantly, are free to leave. However, what these camps have actually been revealed to do is hold Uighur peoples in them, until they can learn to be “good Chinese citizens who also speak Mandarin”. There have been horror stories of these camps leaked to the press and yet, nothing has been done about them up to now. Stories have come out about the conditions of the camps not just from the former inmates, but also from former staff who have fled China. This CNN article reveals the stories of a former staff member at one of the camps who fled to Kazakhstan. “Overflowing toilets in overcrowded cells. Food and sleep deprivation. Forced injections”. “Those who cannot learn fast enough or meet daily goals are deprived of food…For those who were not easily taught or who fought back against the ideology, Sauytbay claimed, even darker methods of coercion were used”. These kinds of things are happening to innocent people living in China every day because of their ethnicity and their religion and the international community is doing nothing to stop it because the backlash from China and their allies would be heavy. I’m not sure what the right answer is here, but I know that the world cannot stand idly by and let this happen to innocent people.

Out of all the readings for Thursday I think that the paper over social justice in Islam stuck out to me the most. This was a very interesting topic and I was able to reflect on it easily due to some of my experiences with different religions, including being raised a Catholic and my time volunteering at Al-Fajr. In this paper the author speaks a lot about the different aspects of Islam, and how it relates to their own culture and how it compares to other more western cultures. Throughout this paper the article focuses a lot on how Islamic societies should not follow the example of western cultures and their separation of church and state. The author believes that Islam should be an even bigger part of their culture and it should play a role in their daily lives and their government. He uses many different examples of this and why it should be done, with a lot of it focusing on the teachings of Islam and their values. At first while I was reading through this I was a bit skeptical and I wasn’t sure how I wanted to interpret it. However, upon further reflection I realized the author had a point. Compared to more western religions, Islam does seem to have different values that would be better in a government setting. When I volunteered at the mosque one of the first prayer services that I got to attend was focused on social justice and Martin Luther King Jr. This differs significantly from the normal homilies at Catholic masses I attend. I think that this paper certainly gives an interesting viewpoint and it was an enjoyable paper to read and reflect on.

One of the five pillars of the Islamic faith is to make at least one pilgrimage to Mecca during a Muslim’s life (if financial and physical able). There are several places in the Quran that mention the importance of the pilgrimage:

[Quran 2:125] We have rendered the shrine (the Kaba) a focal point for the people, and a safe sanctuary. You may use Abraham’s shrine as a prayer house. We commissioned Abraham and Ismail: “You shall purify My house for those who visit, those who live there, and those who bow and prostrate.”

[ 2:196] You shall observe the complete rites of Hajj and `Umrah for God. If you are prevented, you shall send an offering, and do not resume cutting your hair until your offering has reached its destination. If you are ill,or suffering a head injury (and you must cut your hair), you shall expiate by fasting, or giving to charity, or some other form of worship. During the normal Hajj, if you break the state of Ihram (sanctity) between `Umrah and Hajj, you shall expiate by offering an animal sacrifice. If you cannot afford it, you shall fast three days during Hajj and seven when you return home – this completes ten -provided you do not live at the Sacred Masjid. You shall observe God, and know that God is strict in enforcing retribution.

Quran 22:27: “And proclaim that the people shall observe Hajj pilgrimage. They will come to you walking or riding on various exhausted (means of transportation). They will come from the farthest locations.”

The Hajj is very important for Muslims. This year, Hajj is supposed to begin Tuesday, July 28 and go through Sunday, August 2. Each year, the number of Muslims that come to Mecca to perform Hajj varies. However, it is estimated that approximately three million Muslims gather for Hajj.

With COVID-19 being a current and imminent health crisis, Hajj has been one of the latest global events to be jeopardized by the pandemic. Although Hajj for this year has not been canceled yet, both Mecca and Medina have been closed for over a month. This was not an action that was taken during the last widespread pandemic. Saudi authorities have asked Muslims to hold off on making travel plans for Hajj as there is a significant risk that Hajj would not occur in the same way it has in years past. It has been over 200 years since Hajj has been canceled. This cancelation would be devastating for Muslims worldwide; however, Saudi Arabian authorities say they will make the decision that is safest for the greater community.

Take a look at the article that discusses this issue in more depth. 

This blog post is about the Social Justice in Islam article

Islam is different than Christianity because Islam deals with all aspects of life, whereas Christianity has been relegated to the private sphere of life. Islam prescribes the principles of social justice and teaches their followers to not neglect their rights on earth in favor of better expectations in Heaven. Islam encourages people to fight for their rights no matter if they are rich or poor. People can’t be certain that in today’s society, this social order of Islam will continue to have the potential for growth. Islam has taught us that we should not put away our social aspect of our faith on the shelf without thinking what we can gain from the Islamic foundation of our society. There is a wide ignorance of the nature of faith though were people try to separate religion from learning and growing. The Islamic summons is to return to our own stored-up resources, to become familiar with their ideas, and to proclaim their value and permanent worth. The social justice in Islam deals with human justice rather than economic justice. This justice embraces all sides of life, all aspects of freedom, and this justice mixes moral and spiritual values we have together. Islam focuses more on forming a unity where our spiritual desires can’t be separated from material necessities. Islam looks at the world and life with the idea of no separation or division between life on earth and on Heaven. This is how Islam is different than Christianity and Communism. Christianity looks at man only from the stand-point of his spiritual desires and seeks to crush down the human instincts in order to encourage those desires. On the other hand Communism looks at man only from the standpoint of his material needs; it looks not only at human nature, but also at the world and at life from a purely material point of view.

Islam makes sure our life is filled with mercy, love, and helping Muslims and non-Muslims. Communism deals with having a society where there is a struggle between classes, where helping others ends up becoming survival of the fittest. Islam is the undying goodness of humanity, while communism is the evil side of our human nature. Islam defines its definition of social justice by acknowledging the basic elements we need to survive and the responsibility individuals and societies have to make sure we are doing everything that is best for each other. The Islamic view of life make the Islamic faith the more powerful religion to provide equity and justice in society, and to establish justice in the whole of the human sphere. Justice in Islam is human equality, whereas communism is an equality of wages.

I really liked this article because of the concept behind Islam defining social justice. It enjoyed reading especially the economic part of social justice and the difference between Islam’s view and the lifestyle of communism. I do think people show live a life of trying to help others in need and live a life of mercy and love. I don’t think people should try so hard to do the right thing if they think that will make people around them believe that they are a good person. People shouldn’t try hard to improve their chances of living a better life in Heaven. I just enjoyed how while reading this, I couldn’t not think of the survival of the fittest concept when reading about the economic part of the article. Especially right now with this pandemic where if you’re poor, you have horrible chances of getting tested and receiving necessary equipment. If you’re in prison or homeless, you’re in a horrible situation right now. Where if you are rich, then you don’t have much to worry about. Overall, I like how Islam focuses on helping others as part of their social justice lifestyle.

I figured a really cool blog to talk about with my readers would be to just reflect on what I’ve been talking about over the past weeks. The world currently is in a bit of a hole. COVID-19 has affected every country, and even though America seemed to not think it’d be a big idea we have more people infected than any where else currently.

Over the past weeks the Middle East has begun to fall into a tourism crisis, as well as multiple wars and sieges ravaging the area. Not to mention the fact that oil barrels are being sold for so cheap that many companies will struggle to even break even on their sales.

While I feel like most people around my age are simply worried about be stuck at home, not being able to party, or be at college. I want everyone to consider just how lucky we are to have a home to go to, and that everybody sitting here doing their classes is lucky to be in the situation that we’re in. And to offer even just thoughts to the people not just in the Middle East, but anybody in a lesser situation.

It’s hard to imagine what COVID-19 could do to countries already affected entirely by war when you live in a country where currently the worst thing going on falls quite short of that. Yemen currently is under siege from a Saudi based Militia, and an Iran based Militia. One of these Militia’s recently attacked an oil line. Luckily this oil line was not in use, but the group that did it won’t take credit. Neither side has made a single claim or message regarding the attack.

This country has many many people left stranded due to the war, which means during the COVID-19 pandemic they can not take the precautions necessary to combat the pandemic. It’s sad but extremely true and something I think that everyone should take time to be informed upon, to see just how good we have it in America.

There are hopes that this stalemated war, will come to peace talks because of the current situation of the war. Definitely something to follow and look into if you’re not doing anything at home! None of the information above, is mine. It was all presented to me by the Middle East Monitor, and I simply analyzed it for my colleagues to be better informed.

In my last blog I touched a bit on the Middle East and it’s tourism economy tanking. However I ran across some Tok Tok posts recently, that alarmed me. These were videos of people getting gas for as cheap as less than a dollar per gallon. Absolutely unreal right? It seemed fake, fake enough for me to do some digging.

After I began to research this I found that not only was it true, but even my gas station is selling gas for $1.34 per gallon. As someone who is used to paying $2-3 per gallon this is absolutely unreal gas prices. While as a consumer this must be great, I quickly thought about where the majority of oil comes from in the world. And what that would do to their economy.

While digging through news articles, I found one from hurryietdailynews which I credit this information to, that showed the statistics on country growth. While I won’t get into insane specifics, all of the major oil countries are either projected to grow much less than they were going to, or are expected to sink more than they were expected to. Countries. Not the oil companies themselves, the countries that they inhabit. It’s very sad to see the COVID-19 crisis affecting the world in this way, and crazy how much you can find interest in on something as simple as Tik-Tok.

This week, I tutored the same students as last week. We conducted the tutoring sessions on Tuesday and Thursday via conference call. We covered chapter three in their ESL textbook and worked on material for the U.S. citizenship test. Chapter three was about the three branches of government and the purpose and primary members of each branch. In the textbook, there are exercises related to grammar, reading, writing, speaking, and other comprehension exercises. Not only is the vocabulary related to the government and the three branches of government difficult (“legislative,” “executive,” etc.) but understanding the purpose of each branch is also a challenge. It is easy to mix up small details, but it is very important for the students to understand the structure and purpose of the U.S. government.

On Tuesday, there was a greater focus on pronouncing the vocabulary words correctly and understanding the basics of the three branches of government (the purpose and members). This was difficult for the students. However, repetition was important. On Thursday, which was the second day we were covering the material, the pronunciation and reading comprehension came more natural for the students. We were then able to have more discussions about the United States government as well as the government in the students’ native countries. Learning about the government in other countries was interesting because it demonstrates how lucky we are to be in a democracy. I think we frequently take that for granted and fail to understand how governments operate in other countries and how this can be oppressive in certain instances.

Covering the content in this chapter aligned well with the weekly readings about democracy in Islam. Many people associate Islam with dictatorship, but a majority of Muslims actually live in countries that embrace democracy in some form. In the article on social justice by Sayyid Qutb, he mentions that Islam “grew up as an independent country owing allegiance to no empire and to no king, in a form of society never again achieved.” Some Muslims live in a very democratic country; however, some do not. The type of government that is associated with Islam is rarely democracy, but there is a blurry line and mix of information that is provided that speaks the truth. I found the chapter about democracy in Modernist Islam to be a bit confusing. I had to re-read several times to understand the point about democracy the author was trying to make as well as the inconsistencies of equality that is present. Hearing about someone’s government from their real perspective helps me better understand what the public’s perception of that government is like. Either way, it was important to utilize the resources I had to learn about the government and Islam.

One of the students was from Romania. This student clarified my perceptions of what Romanian government was like. She lived through the transition from communist government to the government Romania has now and was able to describe the differences for me. Having a real-life perspective like this helps me understand the government, but also proves to me that I should not make assumptions based on stereotypes and I should try to understand different governments. Being curious and wanting to be educated is an important trait to possess and a trait that I can apply to many areas of my life. I developed a deeper sense of responsibility to learn about other types of governments before making quick judgments or assumptions.