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.
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Aslan Intro and Chapter 1
The introduction talks about how after the attacks on September 11th, politicians and preachers in the United States declared a clash of civilizations between the Western Societies and the Middle East. Many people had this bias that Western Civilization was democratic and enlightened while the Middle East was barbarous and archaic. However, the author goes on to explain how it is more of class of monotheisms. One line from the passage that I found interesting was, “Religion, it must be understood, is not faith. Religion is the story of faith. It is an institutionalized system of symbols and metaphors that provides a common language”. He then goes on to talk about how this clash of monotheisms occurs when this faith becomes entangled in religion.
Chapter 1: The Sanctuary in the Desert
The first chapter begins by talking about the sanctuary called Ka’ba. I really liked how the author described in great detail the appearance of the Ka’ba. It helped me visualize something that I had never seen before. There are said to be three hundred and sixty idols housed at the Ka’ba. Each one representing different gods in the Arabian Peninsula. One part of the reading that surprised me is when the author talks about how no one knows who built or how long the Ka’ba has been there. One theory is that since the Ka’ba is near an underground spring known as Zamzam, that wandering tribes used the Ka’ba as a secure place to store various objects used in rituals.
Another part of the chapter I enjoyed was when he discussed the term Jahiliyyah. Jahiliyyah is defined by Muslims as an era of moral depravity. Jahiliyyah Arabs were thought of as polytheistic individuals who engaged in bad behavior with little thought of their moral consequences.
Through just the intro and the first chapter of this book I already have been exposed to Islamic culture and religious beliefs that I previously did not know about. I look forward to the next chapters of this book.
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Chapter 5: Muhammad’s Successors
This chapter revolves more about Muhammad’s successors or more like his disciples. Muhammad had changed and shifted many peoples’ views on life and divinity. Many people did not want to believe that Muhammad was dead, but Abu Bakr went before the community and said, “O men, if anyone worships Muhammad, Muhammad is dead; if anyone worships God, God is alive, immortal!” (Aslan, 85). Aslan describes that people were scared to continue on because they felt like they were not prepared for it. There would need to be a new leader, and it was the one that implied that people need to move on and accept Muhammad’s death, Abu Bakr. However, Abu Bakr had someone who would compete with him for the throne, and it was Muhammad’s cousin, Ali. But, Ali agreed it should be Abu as he appointed Umar his successor.
Abu would have military campaigns against these fake prophets. However, Abu died two years after Muhammad, and Umar was the next leader. Umar turned out to be a great military leader. He was a leader who was all about equality, inclusion, and peoples’ voices being heard rather than being autocratic. His successor was Uthman who had more wealthy power than being a regular ruler through leadership. He’d appoint people in his clan and was accused of supporting nepotism. However, he was murdered. Finally, Muhammad’s cousin Ali was the final leader chosen, and Aisha had led a revolt against him which would be called the Battle of the Camel. Battle of the Camel was the first Islamic civil war. There was a divide between the sectarian lines. However, Ali agreed to settle between the two lines even though he was going to win. After, Ali was murdered by Kharijites who seceded from his party, and his successor was his son, Yazid. Overall, this was a very interesting chapter about the successors who kept filling the role of Muhammad’s next heir.
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.
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Xinjiang Province Detention Centers
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.
Today I read the step-by-step guide by Aljazeera on how to participate in what is known as the Hajj (the Muslim pilgrimage). In my previous GHS class Modern Middle East and North Africa (a great GHS class to take by the way if you need one more GHS to satisfy the GHS curriculum), we talked briefly about what the Hajj is in a broad sense, but not exactly getting down to the nuts-and-bolts about the important little things of it. Not that it means anything, but we were supposed to go over it in class in the middle of the semester, but thanks to some unfortunate winter storms, we never were able to hear the professor delve deeper in the topic.
This guide was a quick read about the what seemed like a long and somewhat tiresome process of paying homage to the Prophet Muhammad. It was a good baseline i’d say for the documentary i watched over it. It showed devout practitioners of Islamic faith and those looking to complete the ‘journey of a lifetime’, people who were willing to be in such close proximity to other because of their faith. I found the most interesting part of the Hajj was the stoning of the devil, symbolic for Allah casting away the devil. I saw some people chuck the rock, while others just tossed it. I took it as people trying to truly emulate their God would try to throw it harder (maybe i’m just overthinking it?). I found the gesture strange, but the fact that everyone was doing it made it seem normal.
Overall, the documentary was the best way for me to bolster my understanding of this incredible pilgrimage. It gave me the impression that many followers of Islam have an unwavering faith in their religion, and the Hajj is the perfect example of such devotion.
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Social Justice in Islam reading
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.
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Hajj and COVID-19
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.
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Social Justice in Islam
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.
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Reflection Blog
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.