GHS208-01 Spring 2020 China and the Islamic Middle East

I have learned about Sharia Law before in my finance classes because of the impact it has on international finance. The articles provided in our Islamic Law activity did not directly address the impacts Sharia Law has on the world of finance, so I wanted to provide some background information for those who might want to learn more. An easy-to-read article published by Investopedia about Sharia Law and the implications it has on finance is linked here.

Islamic banking is handled much differently than banking in other types of the world. There is a lot of technical differences that pertain to the way capital can be raised, the types of investments that are permitted, and the way money is handled. The biggest component and the “big picture” of Islamic banking pertains to interest. As stated in the article linked above, “central to Islamic banking and finance is an understanding of the importance of risk sharing as part of raising capital and the avoidance of riba (usury) and gharar (risk or uncertainty).” Islamic law does not view money as an asset itself, which means it prohibits someone from earning a profit from lending money. Therefore, there is little to no interest because Islamic law discourages earning money from lending. Islamic finance encourages ethical practices. Those with careers in international finance deal with the impact of Islamic law on finance every day. However, for the common person in America, we rarely see or feel the impact of Sharia Law on the day-to-day finance we deal with.

While completing the activity on Sharia Law, I came across some news sources that addressed Sharia Law in light of the current issue of the Coronavirus. Gulf News is a daily English newspaper published from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It seems to produce more popular press articles than high-quality news sources about an issue like the Coronavirus. The article I read is linked here and outlined a decision based in Sharia Law to prioritize public health and safety over the Islamic practice of community prayer in the mosques. The basis for the decision stems from the principle of mitigating danger and harm to the people, which is reported to be a principle of Sharia Law. The article reports that the common practice is for Muslims to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in the mosques and sometimes up to 10,000 people gather at once. Today, the mosques in UAE are empty. The article also identified the looming issue of Coronavirus impacting Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting. Ramadan this year begins at the end of April. Thus far, plans for Ramadan have not been discontinued or rescheduled.

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.

The president of India Narendra Modi is a very popular figure in India and has done some excellent things for the people of his nation, but his policies toward the Muslim minority of India are controversial at best. Modi defines himself as a “Hindu Nationalist”, which means he believes that India is a strictly Hindu nation and Muslims should not be a part of the Indian nation. Religious tensions have been part of Indian life for decades, and Modi has been at the head of state for many violent acts against Muslims and has done nothing to stop it, and has barely made temped apologies when he was asked if he regretted that the violence/killings happened. Modi himself has not directly used anti-Muslim sentiments in his public speeches, but what he has done is appoint other “Hindu Nationalists” and far more vocal anti-Muslim people in his government, and Modi has done nothing to stop them, even taking steps to put laws in place to hurt and even get rid of the Muslims in India. For example, he is planning on releasing a new citizenship test for the Indian people, a nationwide registry. Those who cannot provide documents for their citizenship will be considered illegal aliens, and only non-Muslims will be protected under this act. This would likely strip millions of Indian Muslims of their citizenship. In a nation with millions of Muslims, this can have some devastating effects.

I’m sure that all of this information is shocking and they may have people asking where I got my information. I got all of it from an episode of HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, which can be found here: Last Week Tonight: Narendra Modi

The racism that has spread as a result of the corona virus is quite stunning to me personally. Sure, the virus was first discovered in China, but that does not mean that the virus is “Chinese”, as some people would like to put it. There has been a big push in America to label this virus as something foreign, or alien when that is simply not the case, it is a virus, it has no national allegiances. A great majority if not all of the people trying to brand this the “Chinese” corona virus are on the right side of the aisle politically, most notable among those is obviously President Trump. Recently President Trump did a press conference in which he was directly asked why he called Covid-19 the “Chinese” corona virus and he flatly answered because it “came from China”. Calling this virus the “Chinese” or “foreign” corona virus only seeks to deflect the attention away from the job that the administration has done to mitigate the outbreak, and it could seriously stoke racist tensions among a public that is already in panic due to the virus. I fear that it could have a very negative impact on the well being of Asian Americans in this country.

As we saw in the novel from Ha Jin, and her short story “Bad Joke”, free speech can be a difficult issue with the Chinese society. Simple jokes can land people in prison, and they can possibly not even have bad intent, but that doesn’t matter in many cases in China. Speaking out against the government is strictly prohibited, even online. For example, there was a story that came out a while back about the image of Whinny the Pooh’s face being banned in China, even on their internet servers because of a meme that president Xi Xinping found offensive. Some people compared Xi’s face to that of a cartoon bear and the entire country found that image banned. Speech is nothing to take lightly in China, and people can and have been put in prison, and worse for things they have said, or even put on the internet. Chinese society and America differ strongly on this front as free speech is seen in the first amendment of the Constitution. We place that much importance on it. China may pretend that they allow for free speech in their country, but the simple fact is that they restrict their people’s rights to speech in a great majority of cases.

In chapter 3 of Aslan’s No God but God I was able to get a deeper understanding of where the roots of women being subordinate to men came from within the Islamic religion. It was not necessarily the words of Muhammad but rather the supposed words of Muhammad and other leaders’ interpretations of the Qur’an that led to women being treated as lesser than. For example Fakhr ad-Din ar-Razi claimed in the 12th century that “women were created like animals….woman is weak, silly, and in one sense like a child” (Aslan 69). However, this interpretation was not in line with what the Qur’an intended and most likely not in line with what Muhammad believed.

I think this is great example of how leaders should be hyperaware of the weight that their words carry. The misogynistic words, beliefs and interpretations of Fakhr ad-Din ar-Razi are still present in some Islamic parts of the world. Global leaders today need to realize that their actions can have lasting impacts way beyond what they originally intended. This is a extremely relevant topic right now as we struggle with what leaders and news outlets to believe regarding the COVID-19 outbreak.

I have been trying to figure out what things to do while stuck at home. After making a list of things to do I decided to cooking would be a fun thing to do at home.

Tonight I decided to cook for my family. As my first dinner, I made lemon salmon, asparagus, and white rice. As I have been nervous about my new eating habits that may not be ideal, I have been cautious about my food choices. Yesterday my mom and I went to the grocery store together where we could barely find toilet paper. The only rolls we could find were in the defect area of the store. In addition to this “hard to find” purchase, my mom has gone back to Jewel three different times in order to pick up fresh chicken. 

As I intend to explore new food options to cook I have decided that I will explore cooking food from other countries. Since our class is focusing on Middle East countries I have researched recipes that I could make for my family. Through this research I noticed that couscous and other rice were common eaten dishes. I found multiple recipes consisting of of these dishes with chicken. Some included bowls, wraps, and salads. I am planning on trying many of these and posting about them later.