Literature Review - Muslim Communities

How do Muslims adapt to a culture outside of their own community?

There is a population of about 6 million Muslims residing in America. France has a population of roughly 3.7 million Muslims within her borders. The United Kingdom counts nearly 1.6 million. These Muslims are respectively "American", "French", and "British"; but do they embrace this title? Do they cling to their heritage as Muslims and reject the West's often drastically different culture? Some Muslims feel very threatened in the irreligious society, whereas others feel perfectly comfortable in it. They have some different customs, but, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, about 63% of Muslim Americans feel that they can synthesize their thoroughly Muslim life with the more secular customs of the US. Some Islamic individuals, however, feel as if they will never truly fit into a foreign culture, whether that is self-induced, or imposed by peers.

Muslims of the West and those of more traditionally Muslim areas tend to show great variance in their daily lives. Conventional, religious lines of black and white shift to gray as the years and miles increase away from traditional Islam. Living in such a different world, many Muslims have adapted their faith to fit the respective culture of the West. They have melded into being flexible in their standards and obligations in order to coalesce more naturally into a different lifestyle. Still others, adhering tightly to custom, reject any close connection to the life and community of outside nations and have no intention of becoming a part of others' society. They are content to remain on the outskirts of outsiders' perspectives and communities, remembering that their authentic home is in the heart and with the people of the Holy Land.

Just as in any other religion that one might encounter, questions regarding certain specifics of Islamic doctrine depend on who you ask. Some more orthodox Muslims might tell you that the hijab, for example, is an absolutely mandatory expression of the Muslim identity. A woman rejecting this exterior sign of dedication to her faith commits sin, and in some places her decision could be viewed as rebellion and might affect her well-being. The inverse of that, though, is a woman who feels it is her deserved right to decide whether she will accept the traditional use of the hijab. Another scenario is that a woman may feel threatened when wearing the veil in public, and thus, she separates from it. Many imams and other leaders of the Islamic faith have no argument against this, but again, others do not accept it.
Living in the secular culture has brought unique challenges to Muslims. Situations that Islam has never dealt with often occur in the different environments that Muslims are continuing to find themselves in. Nieman Reports expresses this situation occurring in America:

"In Muslim countries, imams lead the five daily prayers and deliver the Friday sermon. When they are recruited to American mosques--for their Islamic expertise--they end up filling many unfamiliar roles. They become marriage counselors, Islamic judges, matchmakers and Qur'an school principals. They broker business disputes, grant divorces, and often deal with the FBI. For none of this are they prepared. And as they take on these new roles, they often find themselves rethinking Islamic law in the context of American needs."

Tradition is fusing with culture worldwide to create a different kind of Islamic community for Muslims.


Bibliography:

• Forecasting the future of islam; Visiting expert sees renaissance of islamic culture. (2008, April 19). The Ottawa Citizen, p. A10.
• Muslims in america: in this together. (2007, May 28). Seattle Post-Intelligencer, p. B5.
• Elliott, A (2007, Jue 22). Muslims in america: creating a new beat. Nieman Reports, 61, 2, 55.
• Between faith and country: Muslims in america (2006, September 11) NPR:Morning Edition
• (2008). Islam in france. Retrieved September 28, 2008, from Wikipedia Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_France#References
• (2008). Demography of the united kingdom. Retrieved September 28, 2008, from Wikipedia Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_Kingdom#Religion

About the empty seat...

I missed class on Friday. I wish that our bodies were invincible... Had mine been, I would have been in class, as always. Since I am not superwoman, I unfortunately missed out. I have a few people filling me in on what we did, but if you'd like to pass on anything additionally helpful, that would be very much appreciated! :)

My New Favorite Thing

Pandora Radio!!

http://www.pandora.com/

This is the Coolest Thing Ever!

Like many other people living under an eroding ozone layer, I am distressed by the amount of styrofoam (among many other non-degradable products) that is carelessly put into our environment on a daily basis. Granted, often times our waste production is not careless, but more like choice-less. I know I feel so guilty when I have no option but to dispose of things improperly. For example, here at Virginia Tech, there is no specified container for styrofoam waste. That's not just here, though, recycling centers are inaccessible all over the place.
Approximate number of recycling centers in the USA, per state.

So, I am always interested in learning of new ways we humans are learning to clean up after ourselves... Check this website out!
"Using Oranges for Styrofoam Recycling"
This site tells of a scientific breakthrough that the Sony Research Center has discovered.

Another super cool, environment-friendly idea...



That's all for now. Happy weekend!

Interviews and Site Visits

Our assignment is to research communities of our choice...and so far we've implemented that with site visits and interviews.

A week or two ago, I contacted the Virginia Tech's Muslim Student Association and discussed my research project with their Community Liaison. I explained the Honors English class that I am taking, and why I am interested in researching the Islamic community. He was extremely welcoming and was very eager to allow me to observe and interact with their group.

Ramadan is taking place this month, so the timing of that event and my project have been very convenient. Mr. Amine, the Community Liaison, invited me to join the MSA as they broke their fast in one of their daily Iftars. I gratefully accepted his offer, and went to an Iftar last Thursday. I think it was a valuable experience to be able to take part in the Iftar; I would have had many
more questions about it had I not gone and gotten a taste of it myself.

At the Iftar, I sat with my notebook and inconspicuously observed the actions of my new Muslim acquaintances. After filling his own plate, the gentleman that I had previsouly spoken to by email
came and sat down with me, so did the President of the MSA. We chatted for a few minutes talking about all sorts of things, spanning from the topics of education to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. I learned new things about the significance of Ramadan, and I also attained a view of his personal perspective of the religious festival.

The second part of our assignment was interviewing people related to our community. I have had great luck with interviews! So far, I have about two hours worth of audio from interviewing Muslims that I met through the MSA. Both on Tuesday and today, I interviewed a man and a woman together. I have spoken with four individuals so far, and there is a possibility for a fifth. I have had great success with these discussions, which have all given me valuable information and points of view that I will be mulling over for some time. I know I learned a lot about Islam, and I think that the people I interviewed learned some things about me and my faith as well. I believe that each party felt it was a good experience overall, and I am satisfied with my results!

(Hopefully the links in this post were helpful, and not annoying.)

Course Goals

What are some things that I, personally, wish to accomplish through this course?

1. I want to learn how to better use English in a concise manner, so that a lot of information is given in as few words as possible. I tend to be very repetitive in my writing. Mainly, I reiterate my words because I try to give as much clarity as possible...but saying things twenty different ways is probably more unhelpful than had I said it one way the first time. I also like to describe things...there are so many different ways to state something, and sometimes I just don't know what is the best way to communicate a certain idea.
   
   
2. I want to discover how creative I can be while maintaining the attention and comprehension of my audience. Now, I do not claim to be creative...that's part of what I mean. I want to learn, or just continue to acquire the knack for how to throw in unique, witty things at the appropriate time and in the right situation.
   
   
3. Introducing and summarizing paragraphs is not a strength of mine. Another weakness is titling papers. This somewhat ties into what I was saying about creativity. I don't want my writing to be bland and predictable; I want to add some character as I open and close a topic, but I want to be confident in knowing that I haven't gone over the top.

Interview Questions

For our project on communities, I will be interviewing a Muslim (or two) from the Muslim Student Association here on the Virginia Tech campus...

Possible Interview Questions:

• Are your parents Muslim?
• Is a person who is born into a Muslim family and raised by Muslim parents considered a Muslim?
• Can anyone convert to Islam?
  
  • Can they do that at any time?
    
• How long have you been a Muslim?
• If you can remember when you converted to Islam, or have done so recently, could you describe how that came about?
  
  • Who or what was the primary influence of your decision?
• Are there things about Islam that you still don't understand?
• How might you describe the Five Pillars of Islam to someone who had never heard of them before?
  
  • What might you tell that same person about Mecca?
  • How would you explain Ramadan to them?
    
  • What about the differences between Sunnis and Shi'ites?
    
    • Why do you think differences like this happen, and what do you think causes them?
      
• What are some words (e.g., adjectives) that you would use to describe Muhammed?
  
  • How might you describe Alláh?
• Is there anything you would like the world to know about Islam?
• What do you like best about your religion, if anything?
  
  • What do you like least, if anything?
• Do you ever feel uncomfortable when discussing your religion, or any religion at all?
• Have you ever encountered a situation in which you met conflict because of your religion?
  
  • If so, what was that situation like?
• Have you noticed a difference in the way that people treat you since your conversion to Islam, or because you are a Muslim?
• Have you noticed a difference in yourself since your conversion to Islam? (What affect has your faith had on your life?)
• How different would your life be without your faith?
  
• How might you describe Islam to a curious Atheist? Agnostic? Christian? Jew?
• What do you think of people in other religions?
• What do you think is the most common misconception about your faith?
• Do you feel your belief system is misrepresented by media, groups, etc.?
• What do you feel your role is, as a Muslim?

....."What in the world is going on here??" ;)


(Please feel free to mention anything that you personally would like to know about Islam, etc., and I can add that to my list!)

Speaking of quotes...

"Lives are not transcriptions of events. They are artful and enduring symbolic constitutions which demand our engagement and identification. They are to be perceived and understood as wholes." -Elliott Oring

This quote from our bi-daily reading assignment struck me. It so elegantly summarizes our purpose in our coming research assignment...and really, what a fantastic synopsis of how we should treat each other in our daily lives. We are all worth each others' attention. We all deserve to be acknowledged and understood by those around us. A life is not something that should be haphazardly represented on paper as just another faceless point of view to give evidence for our one-way perspectives. We are dealing with people, just as we are; people who have experienced things that we might never imagine, things that shaped and molded their character, beliefs, biases, and worldview. We each have something to learn from these lives, it would be impossible for us not to. Later, we will have that same something to pass on to another who is willing to perceive and understand those around them in totality.


See you in class tomorrow. :)

This is bothering me!

...Does anyone know how to indent paragraphs on here?

An Evening In a Dorm Room

A few doors down from my room, giggles and one-sided arguments can be heard from the room with a sound leak. The two roommates went to town earlier this week; one girl bought a calling card for the room phone, the other purchased noise-cancelling headphones.
Walking in from the hallway, the heat of the room meets you right away. The two football-game-sunburned young ladies are each beneath their respective lofts. Roommate is at her laptop getting homework done, and Chatty is talking on the phone with the same person she started talking to over an hour ago. Abrupt exclamations of playful retaliation are common interruptions of study.
The Colts vs. Bears game is on the tv. The volume is surprisingly low. “I’m gonna punch that guy in the face! …I hate that football player,” a diss in reference to a member of the so-displeasing opposing team. In her frustration, she looks away from the television. Remote in one hand, phone in the other, she incessantly jerks about in her chair, looking for a more comfortable spot as well as other things in the room to occupy her visual senses. Rocking back and forth, and then leaning to view her toes, a pedicure session has begun. But ever so brief, that takes a lot of effort. What’s this on the floor? Oh, it’s just trash. I’ll leave it there.
Around 11:00pm, she yawns. Contemplating her bed, she grumbles, “If I find out that we won and I missed it….” And then continues to “Mhm,” and nod in reply to her friend. Oh, what about Myspace? That hasn’t been checked in a few minutes. Logging in. A friend request?? Ugh, it’s that girl. THAT GIRL. THE ONE MY BOYFRIEND DUMPED ME FOR. DENY FRIEND REQUEST. Why does she need to be friends with me, anyway?? She just wants to stalk me…she knows I’m better than her. He wants me back and she’s just jealous. But oh well. Now, to the odd socket wrench in the desk…let’s spin that around. What a wonderful clicking noise it makes. Just what I… “Wait, she did WHAT?! Oh my god, she DID?”
Suddenly, Roommate skips over to the opposite side of the room…Roomie stealthfully sneaks from behind and places her nose right next to the phone-framed face of her blabbing friend. A cry of surprise and then some profanity erupts, as well as self-satisfied laughter on Roomie’s part. Conversation about banana splits illogically ensues.
Back to the phone. “Well, if you wanna go, that’s fine. I have to get up early. I have to get dreeessed, get coooffeeeee, walk all the way to claaasss….. Okay, I love you too. Bye.” Chucking the phone into its cradle, she exhales, “BOY, he can be long-winded!” Quick displays of some child-like ballerina skills are randomly exhibited next to her desk. On go the slippers, and she scampers off to the Ladies’ room.
…Silence…
She’s back, and now an outbreak of some more song and dance. “I used to know a girl who took jazz lessons…I was SO jealous of her. Oh, but what about the football game?! Is it over?” She pushes the dusty power button and stands with her face six inches away from the screen. “…What are they talking about? Is it….oh, it’s over! She’s interviewing the BEARS. We LOST?! Ugh, we’re never going to make it to the superbowl at this rate. Stop being so dumb, Manning! ‘I think I’ll throw the ball where no one’s standing!’ UHHhhh!”
Getting ready for bed, she pouts and stomps around the room. Her roommate is half-observing, while typing away at her homework. It’s about 11:30pm, she hasn’t gotten much done. It looks like it will be another late night for Roommate.
So it is, just about every night in the ever-leaky room of my hallmates. Every time I go in, they’re doing just about the same thing as always. Studying, and chatting -loudly. …I wonder how much those headphones cost…

Go, Colts!

In honor of our good professor, I'm rooting for the Colts tonight...

Go COLTS!!

It begins with me.

So which one of these previous quotes is the most important for us, as a society, to hear? Such a tough decision...but after reading through them a few times, I think it may be this one:

HH the Dalai Lama:
Responsibility does not only lie with the leaders of our countries or with those who have been appointed or elected to do a particular job. It lies with each of us individually. Peace, for example, starts within each one of us. When we have inner peace, we can be at peace with those around us.

It starts with me. Communities reflect each individual within them. The integrity and character of those within communities are the threads and fabric of the community quilt, and every color shows.
If each person in a community asks, "What can so and so do for me?" not much will be accomplished, and the community wouldn't have a whole lot of purpose or meaning. Instead, if individuals were to ask, "What can I do for so and so?" verbs happen. "What can I do?" If no one were to ask this, think of what the world would be like. If Mother Theresa had not taken up the responsibility to minister to the sick and poor in Calcutta, India, who would have? And what would that community have been like without her? She didn't dedicate her life to such a cause because she felt capable and comfortable, but because she knew that the responsibility to those weary people lay with her.
Many times, we talk about how our government, our school, or our family should change this or that. During one of those situations, did we ever think of what we might be able to do to mend the issue? In so many situations, we can begin with ourselves as we seek to solve problems. Communities would not be what we want them to be without our willingness to make them better; in order to improve our communities, we must begin with bettering ourselves. "It (the responsibility) lies with each of us individually."

Some Great Quotes on Community

Abraham Lincoln:
The strongest bond of human sympathy outside the family relation should be one uniting working people of all nations and tongues and kindreds.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman:
The first duty of a human being is to assume the right functional relationship to society -- more briefly, to find your real job, and do it.

Chinese proverb:
One generation plants the trees; another gets the shade.

Cicero:
We were born to unite with our fellow men, and to join in community with the human race.

Elie Wiesel:
This is the duty of our generation as we enter the twenty-first century -- solidarity with the weak, the persecuted, the lonely, the sick, and those in despair. It is expressed by the desire to give a noble and humanizing meaning to a community in which all members will define themselves not by their own identity but by that of others.

Eugene V. Debs:
Now my friends, I am opposed to the system of society in which we live today, not because I lack the natural equipment to do for myself but because I am not satisfied to make myself comfortable knowing that there are thousands of my fellow men who suffer for the barest necessities of life. We were taught under the old ethic that man's business on this earth was to look out for himself. That was the ethic of the jungle; the ethic of the wild beast. Take care of yourself, no matter what may become of your fellow man. Thousands of years ago the question was asked; ''Am I my brother's keeper?'' That question has never yet been answered in a way that is satisfactory to civilized society.
Yes, I am my brother's keeper. I am under a moral obligation to him that is inspired, not by any maudlin sentimentality but by the higher duty I owe myself. What would you think me if I were capable of seating myself at a table and gorging myself with food and saw about me the children of my fellow beings starving to death. [1908 speech]

Eugene V. Debs:
Years ago I recognized my kinship with all living things, and I made up my mind that I was not one bit better than the meanest on the earth. I said then and I say now, that while there is a lower class, I am in it; while there is a criminal element, I am of it; while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.

Frederick Buechner:
The life I touch for good or ill will touch another life, and that in turn another, until who knows where the trembling stops or in what far place my touch will be felt.

George Bernard Shaw:
I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the community, and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.

HH the Dalai Lama:
Responsibility does not only lie with the leaders of our countries or with those who have been appointed or elected to do a particular job. It lies with each of us individually. Peace, for example, starts within each one of us. When we have inner peace, we can be at peace with those around us. [This entry continued...]

Harold Kushner:
What cannot be achieved in one lifetime will happen when one lifetime is joined to another.

Lyndon B. Johnson:
The American city should be a collection of communities where every member has a right to belong. It should be a place where every man feels safe on his streets and in the house of his friends. It should be a place where each individual's dignity and self-respect is strengthened by the respect and affection of his neighbors. It should be a place where each of us can find the satisfaction and warmth which comes from being a member of the community of man. This is what man sought at the dawn of civilization. It is what we seek today.

M. Scott Peck:
There can be no vulnerability without risk; there can be no community without vulnerability; there can be no peace, and ultimately no life, without community.

Margaret Mead:
Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

Marian Wright Edelman:
The challenge of social justice is to evoke a sense of community that we need to make our nation a better place, just as we make it a safer place.

Marianne Williamson:
In every community there is work to be done. In every nation, there are wounds to heal. In every heart there is the power to do it.

Mitsugi Saotome:
If you were all alone in the universe with no one to talk to, no one with which to share the beauty of the stars, to laugh with, to touch, what would be your purpose in life? It is other life, it is love, which gives your life meaning. This is harmony. We must discover the joy of each other, the joy of challenge, the joy of growth.

Ralph Waldo Emerson:
Nor knowest thou what argument
Thy life to thy neighbor's creed has lent.
All are needed by each one;
Nothing is fair or good alone.

Robert McAfee Brown:
How does one keep from "growing old inside"? Surely only in community. The only way to make friends with time is to stay friends with people…. Taking community seriously not only gives us the companionship we need, it also relieves us of the notion that we are indispensable.

Rumi:
Come out of the circle of time
And into the circle of love.

Sandra Day O'Connor:
We don't accomplish anything in this world alone ... and whatever happens is the result of the whole tapestry of one's life and all the weavings of individual threads from one to another that creates something.

Simone Weil:
The love of our neighbor in all its fullness simply means being able to say, "What are you going through?"

Starhawk:
We are all longing to go home to some place we have never been — a place half-remembered and half-envisioned we can only catch glimpses of from time to time. Community. Somewhere, there are people to whom we can speak with passion without having the words catch in our throats. Somewhere a circle of hands will open to receive us, eyes will light up as we enter, voices will celebrate with us whenever we come into our own power. Community means strength that joins our strength to do the work that needs to be done. Arms to hold us when we falter. A circle of healing. A circle of friends. Someplace where we can be free.

Vaclav Havel:
Genuine politics -- even politics worthy of the name -- the only politics I am willing to devote myself to -- is simply a matter of serving those around us: serving the community and serving those who will come after us. Its deepest roots are moral because it is a responsibility expressed through action, to and for the whole.

Wendell Berry:
We clasp the hands of those that go before us,
And the hands of those who come after us.
We enter the little circle of each others' arms
And the larger circle of lovers,
Whose hands are joined in a dance,
And the larger circle of all creatures,
Passing in and out of life,
Who move also in a dance,
To a music so subtle and vast that no ear hears it
Except in fragments

William Pickens:
Living together is an art.

There is quite a montage of different people being quoted here...that's intentional. (I think that if some of these people were to be in the same room with each other, we might have some conflict, but anyway.) It's here to say that community is something that we all think about, long for, and try to build; community is in our makeup, we are destined to be with and to belong.

Community, Our Theme.

Honors English (but really, Honors Research and Writing)...
We'll be focusing on community throughout this semester, so don't be perplexed when most of my blog topics will be focused on that. Each student in the class had to choose a community in our local area, Blacksburg, that was of interest to them and that they wanted to research further. As soon as this topic came up, my mind went directly to the Middle East, a region which I love very much. I tried to look beyond my first reaction and look into some other groups and organizations like: Virginia Tech's Radio Station, Sororities and Fraternities, Classic Car Organizations, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and Martial Arts.....I'm interested or a part of all of these groups, but I'm going to stick with communities in the Middle East. Specifically, Muslims and Islamic culture (Anybody have a friend here at Virginia Tech that is a Muslim?) I'm looking forward to learning more about the culture and religion of my chosen group!