إمتحان نهائي

When I initially signed up for this class I was expecting something entirely different. I assumed this class would be all about Islamic beliefs and practices; I certainly did not expect to create and maintain a blog or that something other than texts would be the key determinate in my grade. I do have to admit, I believe I have completed more reading assignments in this class than in any other course in my college career. One of the first subjects we covered in this course that grabbed my attention was Islamic architecture. I tend to be math and science oriented and architectural design is usually one of the first things I observe when encountering new places. I have to say that the death towers took me by surprise; I have never experienced anything like that, not only were these towers extraordinarily tall and intimidating, at one point in history these towers served an actual purpose other than intimidation. My interest was also captivated by the beautiful mosques from all around the world. Some of my favorites were the desert mosques because the minaret essentially serves as a billboard for Allah. I couldn’t help but think how smoothly Christianity could have gone over if it had posted billboards instead of claiming land for God. All in all my absolute favorite most was the mud mosque. I enjoyed the idea that the building is alive with the people, forever changing, growing and shrinking, as each year the towns people gather together to rebuild the Mosque.

                Islamic music interested me a great deal. In class we learned that traditional Islamic music has no musical accompaniment. I have always been very musically inclined, and cannot imagine a world without piano, harmonica, guitar, and a solid bass line. I do think that Islamic A cappella music is beautiful but I cannot imagine that being the only source of music that I could have access to. I was nice to learn about progressive Muslim musical groups such as the Group from “Heavy Metal in Bagdad” or even the Muslim girl from “Covered Girls”.

                Islamic art grabbed my attentions with its unique design and intention. The sheer intricacies of a single tile, the complexity of patters, and the magnitude of artistic contributions and detail that go into designing mosques and other important buildings in Islamic culture shocked me. I cannot imagine working on the same pattern over and over, for years, especially when painting one tile could take several weeks. I also could not help but notice the amount of math that goes into Islamic art. The video made brief mention of the mathematical contributions to art but it didn’t need to. I also noticed the use of golden ratios. Golden ratios occur naturally in natures in many different instances, such as the spiral progressions on the shell of the nautilus. Romans also made heavy use of the golden ratio in much of their art as well as architecture. Aside from the aesthetics of Islamic art, I also learned that it is done to glorify god.  I also found it interesting that they did not make images of people, only nature.

                This course has greatly increased my knowledge of Islam as well as produced a better understanding of Muslim culture. When I began this class I was not knowledgeable about anything remotely relating to Islam. I knew the basic think like Allah is God, Mohammad is his prophet, and everything else I thought that I knew was just an assumption based on brief brushes and exposures to Muslim culture. I will also admit that one of the main influences was the media. I don’t mean the news media, I’m a political science major, and we never believe the news. I am talking about the representation of Muslims and middle easterners in movies, comics, and television shows. I’m ashamed really, to know that I let something influence me, however I do believe I was persuaded to believe that terrorist groups were more likely to come from the Middle East because of harsh living conditions, no because of religion. I have also realized things about my own faith when comparing it to Islam and I have come to the conclusion that Islam has come a lot farther in its 1400 years than Christianity did in its 15^th Century. In the 15^th Century there were 3 different Popes, all claiming to have supreme authority over the Catholic Church. 100 years later Christians are still in the midst of war among each other, Martin Luther and his Protestant reform has split away from the Catholic Church, and women are being arrested and tried on accusations of witchcraft.  Islam Is much more together than Christianity was at its age.

This class has been enlightening and taught me to understand a culture completely foreign to me, and often villainized by mass media. I have also learned that Muslims are just as approachable as everyone else. Since I have taken this class and tuned in to things that might be offensive to Muslims I have been horrified at the things that are said by fellow students, co-workers and even former instructors. 

Just some sweet links

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyzLlCthJac
Americans and Muslims stand up against Islamophobia

http://www.blinkx.com/watch-video/american-muslim-comedy-challenges-stereotypes-15-sep-2007/_GaGwcUdh-mwRYnMdUqtJQ
Breaking down barriers  with comedy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIMPFCU7lhU&feature=related
American's funniest Muslim

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQ3owg0jcxo&feature=related
Allah Made Me Funny

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOyLGJLHRms&feature=related
Allah made me funny, my favorite one

These comedians are great, they are not afraid of offending people, but not on a religious level.



Hijabs considered in FIFA
http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_/id/7149113/fifa-vice-president-urges-proposals-safe-use-hijabs

High School team practices faith and football
http://search.espn.go.com/s/overlay/videoOverlay?searchString=muslim&id=6588874&dims=6&start=0

2nd Muslim to ever be elected to congress
http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/03/12/us-usa-politics-muslim-idUSN1164415020080312

http://www.wallbuilders.com/downloads/newsletter/Winter2006.pdf

Covered Girls

Covered Girls is a short documentary following Muslim girls living in New York after 9/11. The film follows three very different Muslim girls who all wear the traditional hijab on a daily basis and documents their typical day. One girl is on the edge of cutting her first rap CD while another coaches her high school basketball team, and the third has a black belt in karate. The documentary also shows how the girls confront, and contradict the stereotypical portrayals of Muslims, particularly in the media. I was excited to see such ambition in these girls, and to learn that they are out there making their own way while still remaining devout. I sometimes have trouble understanding the practice of Islam due to its heavy ties to tradition, some of which (strictly in my opinion) seem outdated. But who am I to say what is extreme or outdated. Islam is 600 years younger than Christianity, and 600 years ago we were burning people at the stake.

l'Islam. (Islam in France)

So this article discusses the migration of Muslims from colonized territories of France into France over time, to escape oppressive governance and in search for income. Immigration of Muslims greatly increased during the industrial boom in France, which fueled the demand for housing, or HMLs. Since then many industries have failed, factories shut down and some say that Muslims are to blame. This has lead to a great deal of discrimination in France against Muslims, making it very difficult for Muslims to gain a legitimate standing in society. I'm starting to see an intrinsic pattern here, one that may be better explained in something a little more close to home.  After the Reconstruction Era in the former Confederate states one party ruled unanimously , the Democratic party. The Democratic candidate, with only a few rouge exceptions, carried every former Confederate State for nearly 100 years. Political Scientist call it the Solid South. The reason Southerners put aside their many differences was for one reason, to keep the African-American population subordinate to Whites. I believe this is what is we see occurring in France in this exert.

Guilty Until Proven Innocent

this Article poses 4 complications that pose problems to the acceptance of Islam. The first issue is that Europeans and Middle Easterners have battled with one another for hundreds of years. Encounters such as the Crusades leave very negative perceptions of Arabs on Europeans and vice versa. The second issue is the result of 9/11 and an overall anti-Islamic stigma created in the United States. The third is the perception of Muslims as terrorists, which is often encouraged by misconstrued media. And the forth issue is the confusion of anti-Semite in Islamic culture. I feel there was a lot of information in this article, it was well written and I didn't find myself asking where I was being lead. It was very straight forward.

Managing American Islam

I never considered America to be a safe haven for individual members of religious or ethnic groups. I do understand that America is "the land of the free" where individuals can choose to practice their own religion (within reason) and express their opinions, however the thought that the American Society can serve as a catalyst   to the rights and freedoms of individuals within a religious, ethnic, or interest based faction never occurred to me. I am referring to the articles mention of the flourishing of Islamic feminism in American.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF EATING DURING RAMADAN: CONSUMPTION AND EXCHANGE OF FOOD IN A VILLAGE IN WEST JAV

When I first read the abstract of this article I assumed that it was going to be about the economic and fiscal impacts of Ramadan on the food industry. Being a Political Science major I was instantly interested, however upon further reading, I discovered my assumptions were incorrect. I was not greatly disappointing because this article was in fact enlightening. The author seems to suggest that although Ramadan is a widely observed ritual it is in fact an important time of personal reflection and a focus, or re-centering of the self, which concentrates on personal needs. When breaking fast in the evenings, individuals seldom speak to each other, seemingly everyone eats in "private". I drew an interesting parallel with this because up until now all that I have learned about Islam has seem to show that Islam is a strict focus on loving Alah and being kind to others, a "good Muslim". In my experience of Christianity I have learned that in order to love god and love others, you must first learn to love one's self. This article brought to light that interesting parallel of the importance of the "Me" in both Isam and Christianity.

Class film The Women of Hezbollah

This film was very eye opening for me. It seemed to show the complexities of Islamism by revealing a side of Islam that we have not entirely been exposed to in this class. I was astounded by the support of "martyrs" and the way that they were exemplified as heroic in Hezbollah. I believe that the most shocking thing to me were the interviews of the mother's who's son's were martyrs and their support of their son's actions. I was also very amazed by the facist tendencies of the Islamic Party of God, mainly focusing on their patriatism as well as a sacrifice of the individual for the betterment of the group (martyrs or even  children marching with machine guns a "sacrifice of childhood").

Inside Mecca

I found this film very interesting and explanatory. The explanation of the collection of stones was very interesting to me, When Allah commanded god to kill his son the and the devil tried to stray his hand, Abraham picked up a stone and threw it at the devil, which is what the people do, is they throw stones at the devils in their lives. It is a massive form or release that takes place once a year, millions of people gathering, banning together for a common cause, to get the devil out. Its is a beautiful thing to see that many people gathered together, and actual structures that exist solely for that event, that isn't related to sports.  

From theocracy to Democracy? Towards Secularisation and Individualism in the Policy of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan By Roald

I thought that this article raised an interesting point when recalling Steve Bruce's opinion that the increases modernization and urbanization in Muslim life as well as the migration of Muslims to countries with other cultures and religions tends to impede the secularization of Muslim society. Bruce believes this to be a temporary impediment and that Islamic secularism will eventually occur.  The reason I found this interesting is because it suggests that when faced with alteration and altercation a people group tends to stand firmly together, creating very strict guidelines and principles, however as these changes and confrontations subside and the seas settle these principles and structures become more lax.

Islamic Resistance in Palestine- Hamas, the Gaza War and the Future of Political Islam by Da'na

So this article focuses on the attempt to reinvent Islam and Islamic government to me more liberal so that it can be more easily understood by outsiders on the basis of outside interventions in wars and conflicts in the middle East. What I found interesting in this article is that a movement towards liberality seems to be the necessary means to resolve religious and cultural conflict. I have also come to realize how much further along Islam is in its journey towards resolving religious issues. Islam was founded nearly 600 years after Christianity. In it's 1400 years of existence Islamic theorists have come to the conclusion that a move towards more liberal practices would be most beneficial to the Middle-East. In Christianity's 1400 years of existence, Christian's were fighting the 100 Years War, burning people at the stake, disputing between 3 different Popes, as well as (and most importantly) planting the seeds of Protestant reformations. So, in reference to congruence between Islam and Christianity, will the push for a more secular Islam lead to a split in the Nation of Islam?

Indigenous Australia's Pilgrimage to Islam

According to this article the indigenous people of Australia, the Aboriginal people, have, in recent years rapidly began to associate themselves with Islamic culture. The Aboriginal people are victims of colonization and have faced discrimination from the colonizing population. Islam appeals to Aboriginals because, for one reason, Islam was not one of the conquering forces that over took Australia and, Islam coincides with pre-colonial Aboriginal lifestyle. Muslims are also a group of people that have suffered alongside Aboriginals as a group that is heavily discriminated against in Australia for nearly 300 years. It is only logical that these two groups would eventually be forced together, fortunately these two cultures cohere on many levels.  

Sharia-compliant hotels

Sharia compliance has no set code, it simply varies from hotel to hotel. Some hotels are dry, prohibiting the sell or consumption of alcohol on the premises. Other hotels require  things such as separate dining halls with same sex servers for men and women, while others refuse to allow unmarried couples to stay in the same bedroom for the night. It sounds like a pretty understandable set of rules, for a high school field trip. The last thing that someone wants to do is follow a set of strict rules while paying for a commodity. Those who participate in devout religious practices can do so at their own free will, and those who do not should be allowed to practice their rituals at their own leisure, assuming that these two groups do not conflict or disturb one another.

My Islam, Class video 10/26

I found the theme following head coverings in Islamic culture to be most interesting in this video. The main character choose not to cover her head in order not to stand out in society, however she was able to mingle among other Muslims with no discomfort or judgmental looks from them. The intensity of a covering seems to correlate with that of a woman's education, not necessarily her religious devotion, the more educated the less intense the covering. 

Identity experience among progressive gay Muslims in North America: A qualitative study within Al-Fatiha

I was really interested in the argument posed by the subjects in this article about the story of Lut in the Quran and how it has been used by Muslims to discourage homosexuality. I am assuming that this is the same story in the bible of Abraham, his nephew Lot, and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Which Christians have used as a way to identify homosexuality as a sin. I thought that this was very interesting that modern interpretations of this story have reached new understandings of this story in different religions. I found a link to a website called cristiangay.com, that explains this interpretation from the Christian stand point. http://www.christiangay.com/he_loves/sodom.htm 

Coping with potentially incompatible identities: Accounts of religious, ethnic, and sexual identities from British Pakistani men who identify as Muslim and gay

This article brings up an interesting issue, the struggle of being gay while trying to maintain a health religious practice. I was astounded by the difficulties of balancing a religious image with that of an alternate lifestyle. I feel like it must be very difficult to want to be as devout as others in one's community however one's desires lead them astray. I've never considered the religious ramifications of homosexuality. Also This article reminded me of a movie I once saw Called My Beautiful Laundrette, About a young man, Omar a Pakistani Muslim, who convinces his uncle to let him run his broken down laundry mat with the help of his lover, Johnny, a former member of the fascist movement in Britain, aka Daniel Day Lewis. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzSdRNxWJbs

Does Political Islam Impede Gender-Based Mobilization? The Case of Egyp

http://reconstructionplanning.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/article.pdf

Thesis:
Using Egypt as a primary site of investigation this article argues that the correlation of  affirmative answers to the question "does political Islam impede gender-based mobilization" is spurious (apparently but not actually valid), if not ideologically biased and historical.
What that means in English is, that this article purposes that political Islam may not impede mobilization on the basis of gender although many scholars and feminist activists believe that it does on the basis of the Taliban in Afghanistan to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Instead it proposes that although gender mobilization may be impeded it may be due to the widespread and exponential support of political Islamism in the South accompanied with the decline of non-religious-based women's movements.

Methodology:
Rabab El-Mahdi uses a majority of secondary and tertiary sources. The secondary sources are taken directly from interview, statements, and books by the individuals involved in political mobilization in Egypt such as Heba Raouf, one of the key founders of Women for Democracy. El-Mahdi's analysis is very thorough, and often repetitive due to the preponderance of evidence used in iterating pinnacle points of his argument.

Analysis and Review:
Throughout the paper El-Mahdi speaks about the nonspecific "scholars". This mythical scholar is often the owner of an opposing view to the declination and inhibitors of female mobilization in Egypt. Who or what is this mysterious "scholar" and when and where does it exist. This opposition is nameless, faceless, and therefore rendered defenseless without reputable sources. A good argument addresses the opposition, states the factual information that supports the opposition, the logical assumption behind the opinion,  then points out flaws in the oppositions case. It does not seem to be too challenging to make a strong case against a party (the scholars) that may or may not exists. I am not saying that El-Mahdi did not execute his argument well, it just seems ill-begotten to pose your argument against such a vague and broad opposition such as "the scholars". 

El-Mahdi Covers the history of the formation of the Women for Democracy, which was well explained and articulated. He Includes the 5 goals, or pillars, of Women for Democracy, explaining each of them. Women for Democracy was not entirely a feminist agenda, moreover it was a group, consisting of mainly women pushing for Democracy in the best interest of all citizens of Egypt. As El-Mahdi explains, the Egyptian government often uses the sexuality of women to control society as a whole. For instance during the state’s confrontation with militant Islamist groups in the 1990s, security forces used similar tactics extensively in villages in Upper Egypt against female family members of the militants. This is a tactic commonly used historically, as a tool to humiliate an enemy. I thought that El-Mahdi makes an interesting link (whether he knows it or not) between the common approach to discouraging the enemy by means of female sexuality and the failures of universal feminism (which have worked in the western world) in contributing to female mobilization in Egypt. Eh-Mahdi proposes that there is a need for a more local approach to feminism, meeting on the axis of class, religion, nation, and gender rather than the dividing line of sex. I find this to be a very interesting and rational concept, that feminism is not universal, it must develop within cultural boundaries. If western feminism developed in the regions and cultures of the west, then eastern feminism must develop in the regions and cultures in the east.
I believe that this is a very critical and analytically examination of political mobilization in Egypt, and that it provides an excellent conclusion to the changes facing gender mobilization that does not determine a correlation with the rise of Political Islam

Guttman's Tolerance Scale

1. Guttman Scaling
1. Are you willing to permit Muslims to live in your country?
2. Are you willing to permit Muslims to live in your community?
3. Are you willing to permit Muslims to live in your neighborhood?
4. Are you willing to permit Muslims to live next door to you?
5. Would you permit your child to marry a Muslim immigrant?

Islam and the Media

Images of Islam in US Media and their Educational Implications:
The Intention of this article is to show the challenges of multicultural education and the common themes that emerge in images of Islam and Muslims in United States' media since 9/11. Jackson first establishes that media is educational in two ways, first in that people learn what to think and how to behave from media sources, exemplified by Walt Disney's Aladdin when "Middle Eastern fruit sellers are commonly prone to violent rage upon discovering a single apple has been stolen from their cart"; Secondly that media implies social norms, such as films and media promoting smoking as a social norm, while not directly advertising a brand or smoking in general, but by commonly featuring smoking as a habit of a protagonist in mainstream films.
Upon the second form of media influence Jackson poses that  associating Muslims with terrorism in media reveals that the association or connection of Muslims with terrorism is normal , reasonable and /or acceptable, and implied to and learned by young people, rather than the connection is biased and therefore harms Muslims. According to Jackson in order to educate students properly on multicultural issues teachers must consider student's knowledge and background experience in a subject matter in their teachings.

Question: Can you recall a time in which an instructor aggressively addressed an issue (mainly in media) dealing with an Islamic based issue such as religious values, practices or otherwise? (  Did this occur in Public, Private, or Secondary Education?)

For example, Osama bin Laden has been one of the most common religious leaders associated with Islam since 9/11. When bin Laden is portrayed in American media, such as Time Magazine his image does not include anything beyond his facial features, including text about being a target, giving a face to terror.






According to Jackson's argument, Americans' lack of familiarity with Islamic culture and its common association with terrorism is not necessarily due to a substantial amount of negative media about Muslim culture, but a lack of positive media about Muslims.

Question: Prior to this class, can you think of any positive portrayals of Islamic culture in mass media?

Old Pictures in New Frames: Images of Islam and Muslims in Post World War II American Political Cartoons

Old Pictues in New Frames briefly discusses images of Middle Eastern people presented in American Political cartoons since World War II. Christina Michelmore suggests that the impact of political cartoons is more substantial than news articles and editorials because images can often draw conclusions that cannot be reflected in text.
The portrayal of Arabs in political cartoons has developed in to a persistent ethnic stereotype. The are drawn to be "Kafiyya-wearing, bearded, big-nosed, often with dark glasses, [and] they greedily suck others dry and enjoy it". Other cartoons associate enemies with Islam which criminalizes, discredits, and demonizes it.
Michelmore's argument shows that throughout time the West has viewed Islamic culture in a very opinionated and narrow-minded way, often through a comical context.

Questions:
1. Do you think that there needs to be a filter on political cartoons in the same way there is a filter on media, in terms of political correctness?
2. How do you think political cartoons have evolved from the end of WWII to the end of the Gulf War?
3. How do you think political cartoons would change if Americans and Arabic characters shared more similar attributes? How do you think that the cartoonist would illustrate the differences? 

Paradise Found

I found the video Paradise Found to be an interesting and informative video. I learned that Islamic architecture has had a terrific and powerful impact on the West.For Example Islam is responsible for perfecting pointed arches, a feat that the Romans could not accomplish. I was very interested by the Zoroastrian Death Towers, which were tall towers that Zoroastrian's placed their dead for the birds to eat. It was considered to be very sanitary to have birds consume the dead rather than poison the Earth. I was also very entertained by the Minaret,  which is typically an "onion" shaped (according to Wikipedia) structure that stands far higher than any other structure surrounding it. It seems to be an ancient for of a billboard, advertising to travelers and traders. I cannot help but think, is the title "Paradise Found" by any chance an allusion to "Paradise Lost" by John Milton?...