Month: April 2020

I think it is safe to assume at this point that most people know that the Chinese government is not always exactly honest about what kinds of things happen in their country. However, in my opinion these new developments are particularly striking. The Chinese government is actively trying to restrict the academic research of the deadly disease that is currently causing a pandemic on our planet. This CNN article details the efforts by the Chinese government to try to control the narrative around China and the coronavirus. “Under the new policy, all academic papers on Covid-19 will be subject to extra vetting before being submitted for publication. Studies on the origin of the virus will receive extra scrutiny and must be approved by central government officials, according to the now-deleted posts…The increased scrutiny appears to be the latest effort by the Chinese government to control the narrative on the origins of the coronavirus pandemic”. Also according to the article, some Chinese scientists and researchers have published findings concerned with the virus, and those findings seem to contradict the official government account of the outbreak. The Chinese government has obviously seen findings like these and are doing their best to squash them.

I can understand that the Chinese government does not want the PR disaster that would come with accepting that the outbreak began in China, but I think that there are far more important things to worry about right now other than how your country looks. The health of every human being on the planet is at stake right now and China is undermining important research that could help us end this pandemic.

I thought the recent Social Justice in Islam paper reading was an interesting piece for our class. I liked the comparisons that the writer made between Christianity and Islam. For many of us, Christianity is a faith that we are much more familiar with than certain aspects of Islam. I thought it was nice to have a credible breakdown of the two faiths that could be referenced in discussion.
My biggest takeaway from the article was the separation of life and the afterlife. Based on the reading, the Islamic faith doesn’t create a division between life and the afterlife. It also urges followers to not disregard life on earth in hopes of a better afterlife. This idea largely contrast with ideas of Christianity which puts a heavy emphasis on leading a virtuous life on Earth so that the afterlife can be even better.

“This moment, this love, comes to rest in me,
many beings in one being.
In one wheatgrain a thousand sheaf-stacks.
Inside the needle’s eye, a turning night of stars.”

I thought that poem 13 by Rumi was one of the more interesting selections. I also really enjoyed its message. I interpreted it as a message to not become overly obsessed with becoming larger than any one moment. As humans are always hungry for larger and greater experiences that will expand our reach to encompass everything. We all want to be so big that we don’t have to deal with tiny moments of everyday life. This piece urges that we let go of that urge and actually become smaller instead of urging to become larger than life. This message is why it was one of my favorites. I think it relates to the chaotic and busy lives that nearly all of us live.

Amid the shuttering of professional sports leagues around the world there is one league that will restart its season in the near future. I recently read about the Turkmenistan soccer league that will restart its suspended season even amid the coronavirus pandemic. Turkmenistan is located right next door to Iran, which is one of the worst-hit countries in that region. The eight-team Turkmenistan league is even allowing fans to attend games once the league restarts. Despite its location near Iran, Turkmenistan has yet to report a case of coronavirus, which has casted doubt upon the country. The Turkmenistan league is one of a handful, including the much publicized Belrausian Premier League, that will continue to play amid the the global pandemic. 

I grew up in Lawrence, Indiana a suburb of Indianapolis, and the school system in my town features some of the most diverse schools in the state of Indiana. As a result I was exposed to a variety of different cultures, including Islam, from a young age. In fact, without looking at the numbers, I can say that my high school had more diversity than Butler does. Many of my classmates were of Muslim heritage which meant I had been exposed some of the realities of the Islamic faith as opposed to stereotypes that popular culture and media portrays. Amid all this I still found the PBS Global connection reading to be quite informative. One thing that I found interesting was that Muslim women actually believe it is empowering to cover their heads and there is a “collective identity which is underlined” by covering their heads. Popular culture and media, which view it as oppressive for women, often portray the exact opposite idea of this.

After reading through Cairo House and reflecting on it, I think that I enjoyed it, and I was able to notice some similar themes that appeared in both Cairo House and The Bridegroom. With one of the big themes of Cairo house being a tribute to the changing of the times and the reflection on differences between a past and present life, it is easy to spot this theme in both stories. In my opinion the several Ha Jin stories that focused on similar themes to this were always some of my favorites. In Women from New York and Official Reply I think that this theme is very prevalent. In both short stories there is a focus on a main character trying to deal with a change in culture, either in their own culture or different cultures. The biggest parallel I think are the themes in a Woman from New York and Cairo House, yet an Official Reply still shares some of the broader themes. However, there are also key differences in the two books. Obviously, Cairo House is able to focus more on specific people and how they have changed along with the culture, which isn’t done as much in Ha Jin’s stories which focus more on the overall culture. Overall, I enjoyed Ha Jin’s short stories more than Cairo House, but it was still very interesting to be able to compare the themes from the two authors and see the similarities between them despite being from completely different cultures.

According to this Wall Street Journal article from April 8th, the Chinese government has elected to relax some of the restrictions placed on the people of Wuhan. The epicenter of the Covid-19 virus has been on total lockdown for 11 weeks and, “At the drop of midnight Wednesday morning, Chinese authorities began allowing people who can prove they are healthy to enter and leave Wuhan, and relaxed restrictions on many local businesses, in an effort to resuscitate a local economy devastated by the disease.” So, the Chinese government is not simply letting things return completely back to normal, but some of the restrictions they had placed on the people of Wuhan have begun to be relaxed. However, before we get too excited that the epicenter may be coming to an end, that is certainly not entirely true. As the quote suggested, these relaxing restrictions definitely do not apply to everyone, and it may simply be to restore some of the economy in the area, not because they believe the area is in better shape. “Millions of others in Wuhan, however, remained under effective lockdown in their homes after the city government said residential restrictions would remain in place—in part because of the recent discovery of dozens of asymptomatic cases in the city.”. So, yes, some of the restrictions on the people of Wuhan are being lifted, but those lifted restrictions may simply be a ploy to get the world’s attention and restore some of the area’s economy. The great majority of the city are still on lockdown and the end does not quite seem to be in sight, especially with the discovery of all of the new asymptomatic cases in the area, “The city has announced only three confirmed cases since March 18—the first day it reported none—but has revealed 194 new asymptomatic cases since it began reporting those numbers on April 1, raising fears of a second wave of infections in the city.”. The world may be incredibly far from the end of this pandemic.

1.) First, I’d like to say that both The Cairo House and The Bridegroom were very enjoyable and engaging reads for me. Obviously there were differences with Cairo House being a full novel as opposed to The Bridegroom being a set of short stories. I would say that I learned more from The Cairo House and the depictions of Gigi. That is partly because I had learned about Chinese culture prior to this class, but it’s also because Serageldin makes Gigi quite relatable and down to Earth while also discussing the political struggles and cultural struggles as well. The Bridegroom was also an excellent read because many of the common cultural characteristics of Chinese culture came out throughout those short stories. Some of which I knew about, others however, I did not, and those were fun to try to figure out and learn about. Both of these fictional stories gave insightful looks into both of these cultures, and I feel that the fictional reads are better looks into the every day common culture of these places over a non-fiction book.

2.) Secondly, I have found the course as a whole to be very beneficial. It was quite disappointing that we were not able to continue this class in person, but the discussions have still been beneficial. The knowledge that I gained about Islam was particularly good about this class for me being that prior I had almost no knowledge in that area. There were also some things about China and their culture that were brand new to me and were interesting to learn. Lastly, I think that the fiction stories were one of my favorite aspects of the course, and when we were in person the discussions were particularly good because they allowed us to collaborate and discuss our perspectives on the cultures we were reading about.

Before coming to Butler I had very little experience with anyone in the Muslim community. Even after being here for a while, I found myself knowing very little about their religion and culture. I took the first step towards learning about Islam last semester, when I took a course titled “Religion in American Politics.” In this class, we learned a lot about Islam and the culture that surrounds it.

For one of my assignments in the class, I had to attend a religious ceremony that I was not familiar with. I decided to visit the Nur-Allah Islamic Center, as I was very curious about how they worship. I know that one of the ICR’s we could have done was through the Nur-Allah Islamic Center, so the people who are involved in that can see if their experience matches up with mine.

I think that there are a very small number of times where I have felt more welcome then when I went there. They immediately welcomed me in and taught me about their worship and showed me what to do and when. Everyone who came was just as welcoming. I was able to talk to a few people after the worship, as I was curious about their experiences of being a Muslim person in a country that seems to harbor distaste for the Muslim community. Everyone was very honest and sincere with there responses, and I learned a lot about them. Attending worship at Nur-Allah Islamic Center was a very interesting an enlightening experience that I recommend to everyone.

One of the main themes of Samia Serageldin’s “The Cairo House” is the fear of “what would people say?” It is something that Gigi struggles with throughout the book, as she learns to balance the expectations of others with what she really wants in her life. She often feels trapped, “that her bed has been made, and she must lay in it.”

The most interesting example of this that I saw was with her cousin, Tamer. His love for her was made instantly apparent to me when he put on Eric Clapton’s, “Layla,” when Gigi was at his apartment. I almost felt silly that I hadn’t realized it sooner, because there were definitely a few moments throughout the book where his love was transparent. Regardless, it was a satisfying moment for me that I was able to make that connection to the story of Layla and Majnun, because of the other content we have studied in this course.

Tamer saw himself as Kais (Majnun), forever destined to love a woman who was unavailable, or could not return his love. It is a touching moment when Tamer finally confesses his love, and it even made me hopeful. Hopeful that maybe, Gigi had found what she was missing: someone who loved her, all of her, and who she felt comfortable around. Hopeful that she could start a new life, that wasn’t determined by the expectations of others or the pressures of needing to adapt… Unfortunately, this all came crashing down because of a rumor. Gigi overhears how Tamer has a “reputation with women,” and the weight of this gossip makes her question if her relationship with Tamer could jeopardize her chance to redefine her relationship with Tarek. Thus, she goes back to her bed that has been made, and continues to live in a state of “what could have been.”

In my life, what do I run away from? Who do I run away from? Are duty and obligation the determining factors of the decisions I make? I hope to use this extended time at home to be introspective and still. To reflect on Gigi’s story, and how it might relate to me as I graduate and move into a new stage of life.