Author: emallen2

Oil is a very important export of many countries in the Middle East, and the coronavirus has caused a 30% drop in oil usage around the world. Due to this Saudi Arabia and Russia, are hoping to cut the amount of oil they are outputting. The announcement is expected to come Thursday, but it is not confirmed yet. The agreement would reduce the amount of output by 10 million barrels per day. There is currently a surplus of oil, and so these cuts may not do much to curb the amounts unless they were much larger numbers. The discussion is set to happen at the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting. There are currently 15 countries in this alliance, and of those countries, six are in the Middle East and ten have a Muslim majority. This will have a tremendous impact on the Middle East and Islam as a whole, as the amount of money these countries are making declines due to the virus. Muslims in these countries may face economic downturns that will impact Islam throughout these countries and the world.

The coronavirus has caused difficulties around the world, and in Lebanon, it is no different. Undocumented immigrants are struggling to get access to coronavirus tests. Many migrant workers do not have identification because they have had to escape abusive employers. It is common for these employers to confiscate passports and IDs. Due to this problem, undocumented immigrants are sent away from hospitals or forced to pay extremely high amounts to get tested. It is also difficult for these immigrants because they are often living in poverty, often in close quarters with many people. Lebanon has 417 cases of the coronavirus and eight deaths. While these numbers are significantly lower than many parts of the world, the cases cannot be accurate especially if undocumented immigrants are not able to get tests. The spread will also increase if these immigrants continue to be turned away. Although this sounds appalling, undocumented immigrants in the United States might face some of the same fears as the immigrants in Lebanon. They might face retributions if they attempt to get tested, and this could continue the spread in the United States.

“Fake news” has always been a particularly striking statement for me as a journalist. Through my courses at Butler, this topic has come up quite a lot, and many of my classes are guided by the idea of preventing falsehoods. For example, in one class you will receive a zero on a story if a name is misspelled or facts are incorrect. This is done not to punish us, but to prepare us for a career where every word you type must be precise. However, often “fake news” is not news that is incorrect, but simply news that is biased. In the Hadith, Muslims have attempted to root out the falsehoods, but they cannot rule out the bias. Therefore, Muhammad’s behaviors are up for interpretation and disagreement. However, I think the point is not how accurate the Hadith is in terms of what Muhammad did, but rather, what the message is and if it aligns with the religion. I think it says a lot about the Islamic faith that they are able to admit that there were probably falsehoods in the Hadith. That is something that most Christians I know are unwilling to accept about the bible.

While watching the documentary about the hajj, I heard one man say that Muslims only wear the clothes they wear on the hajj in Mecca and when they die. This made me wonder about what an Islamic funeral is like. One interesting difference between Islamic funerals and many funerals held in the United States is that the burial takes place quickly after the death. Usually within three days, but most Muslims attempt to have the deceased buried in 24 hours. Therefore, there is no viewing, wake, or visitation. Similarly to traditional funerals, there is prayer involved in Islamic funerals. Due to the belief that the body will be resurrected on Judgement Day, autopsies and cremation are discouraged. Traditionally, women do not attend the burial. There is a forty day mourning period where it is acceptable for flowers and food to be sent to the family of the deceased. Some Muslims shorten the mourning period, and it is common for widows to extend the mourning period. Most funerals take place outside a mosque. Although there are a few traditions that are different, Islamic funerals are very similar to funerals of other religions and common funerals in the United States.

After seeing the pictures of Mecca before and after the coronavirus outbreak, I was curious about how Muslims are dealing with restrictions on pilgrimages. Saudi Arabia has banned foreign Muslims from visiting Mecca, the Kaaba, and Muhammad’s mosque in Medina. The hajj takes place July 28, so for now, it is expected to happen, but if the virus continues to be an issue at this time, it could cancel this pilgrimage. Iran has banned Friday prayers, and many other countries are asking Muslims to use their own prayer mats and to pray at home. For a religion that is based on the idea of worshipping together as one collective faith group, the coronavirus can fundamentally change that. These are restrictions are interesting because normally faith takes precedent over the government, and I wonder if religious groups will ignore some of these restrictions in favor of their faith. This is a time when many people are praying and turning to religion for comfort amidst the uncertainty of the virus, and it will be difficult for Muslims and other religious groups to continue as normal in spite of new restrictions.

After last classes discussion about the hijab and how some women may choose to wear it because it makes them feel more comfortable or more pious, I wanted to explore this article of clothing more. The hijab often becomes a symbol of all Muslim women, but there was a lot that I did not know about this symbol. The Washington Post wrote an article about five myths that center around the hijab. The first myth was that the hijab means headscarf, when it actually means “partition” or “curtain.” The actual practice of hijab has many more rules than just attire it can be behavior and interactions focused on modesty. In the United States, hijab has become synonymous with a headscarf which is actually incorrect, and this belief actually undermining the more complex beliefs of Islam. Another interesting myth to me was about the idea that wearing the hijab is oppressive because the articles goes on to explain situations where Muslim women were forced to remove their hijabs, and that is actually more oppressive than their own choice to wear it. Another myth is that all Muslim women wear the hijab. This is actually not true and does not measure a woman’s religiosity. It is an indication of a woman’s belief not of how religious she is or how faithful. It is similar to Christian women who dress very modestly and those who do not. The biggest myth that was debunked for me was that that hijab is only for women. Hijab also applies to men in rules such as dressing modestly and not wearing tight clothing. It also involves not being promiscuous or staring at women. Overall, I realized that our culture perpetuates many myths about the hijab that are insensitive and uneducated.

Before this class, I had not had much exposure to the Islamic faith. I had never interacted with someone who practiced this faith, and the faith traditions practiced in Islam were something I did not know much about. In contrast to China, which I had learned about in other classes, I know very little about the Middle East and its history. While reading No God but God I began to learn about the rich culture and history of this area. I was shocked that I had never heard of the Ka’ba. This place where people with all different religious backgrounds and beliefs could worship together was hard to imagine happening so long ago. This is something that rarely even happens today, so the fact that a place like this existed illustrated the culture of a place like this. I also had no idea that so many of the doctrines in the Quran reference stories that are also found in the bible. So much of the narrative that is portrayed in our society is that the Middle East is “barbaric” and “different,” and these initial readings have taught me that could not be farther from the truth. Islam actually has many similar stories and teachings as in Christianity, and it even acknowledges Jesus. The civilizations described at this time also seem very far from “barbaric.” They are able to worship together and the description of the area did not seem much different from Europe at this time. Overall, I did not realize how many preconceived notions I had about Islam coming into this class, but I now realize how important it is to learn about other cultures so these ideas do not continue to spread.