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Amanda Roraback's World in a Nutshell |
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NOTES
"MY CLASSMATE IS A TERRORIST"
NCSS, San Diego, December 1, 2007 |
The World in a Nutshell |
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BACKGROUND 1) Arabia before 7th century a. On left coast of Arabia -- the Hejaz (meaning “barrier” from Nejd to the east) i. A few urban and agricultural settlements ii. Most notably the cities of Mecca and Medina b. Rest of the peninsula is essentially desert c. No central govt. i. No distribution of resources ii. No law and order in the conventional sense iii. Governed according to tribal law. d. Tribes i. Identity through tribe ii. Protection through tribe iii. Livelihood through tribe e. Arabia desert i. few natural resources 1. what you have need to protect 2. when supply is low, raid other tribes f. Vengeance i. According to tribal codes 1. If a member of your tribe is killed 2. The tribe may kill someone from the offending tribe. a. So no numerical advantage g. Prisoners of war often tortured to death. h. Culture of violence and eternal feuds
Misconception #1 - Islam as misogynistic 1) Women in ancient Arabia a. Were considered a liability and burden b. practice of kidnapping women for ransom i. Matter of tribal pride – have to get her back ii. Women didn’t fight c. Led to female infanticide. i. Infant girls buried alive in the sand d. Women who did survive to adulthood i. considered property of father, then husband ii. spousal abuse rampant iii. no recourse for help e. No limit to number of wives a man could have i. if husband died, she could even be married off to her son f. No divorce or inheritance rights. g. Orphans swindled of inheritance or treated like pariahs. 2) Muhammad born into this Arabia a. Throughout his life received series of revelations from God i. Correcting injustices ii. Quran – forbade killing of innocent man for crime of another iii. Islam open to all people 1. Went beyond tribal identity a. Some of first converts from weak tribes or didn’t belong to any tribes at all b. Without tribal protection – could be killed without consequence. iv. Infanticide condemned v. Men restricted to marrying only 4 wives 1. and must treat them all equally a. Why 4 wives – protection for widows and orphans. 3) Mohammed’s wives a. first wife Khadija i. as more than a decade older than him ii. Twice widowed iii. He was faithful to her b. After Khadija i. Mohammed Married a dozen women 1. Of them, only 1 was a virgin 2. The rest were widows 3. Daughters of friends 4. Daughters of enemies 5. Two were Jewish 6. And one was a former slave. c. In early days of Islam i. Mohammed’s followers were allowed to visit the household ii. Got out of hand 1. His wives were sequestered 2. And when they went out of the house, were covered with veils or traveled in enclosed carriages
Quran 33:59 O Prophet! Tell thy wives and daughters, and the believing women, that they should cast their [jalabib] (Jilbabs) over their persons when abroad: that is most convenient, that they should be known (as such) and not molested. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
4) Veiling a. Muslims are encouraged to live as Mohammed and his family lived b. Following examples of moral behavior c. Also mimicked the way Mohammed’s wives conducted themselves i. Including veiling practices d. Quran i. Says men and women equally are supposed to dress modestly ii. women are supposed to talk as if from behind a veil (hijab) 1. Doesn’t say that women must cover themselves. e. Varied veiling practices worldwide i. Arabia – abaya ii. Afghanistan – burqa iii. Iran – chador – or manteau and head covering iv. India – dupatta v. Indonesia – jilbab f. Veiling predates Islam i. Examples: images of Mary, mother of Jesus ii. Nun’s habit iii. In Persepolis in Iran 1. See men as elaborately covered as women g. After Islam i. Veil as expression of piety ii. Veil to distinguish oneself as a Muslim iii. Veil as sign of wealth 1. Long piece of fabric 2. Means no need to work in fields a. Wealthy man can keep his wife at home. iv. Filming of Kandahar 1. Film about Afghanistan 2. Hired extras from across border of Afghanistan a. Agreed to participate in film in exchange for burqas. 5) Human rights for women a. Quran i. Women and men are equal spiritually 1. Both must dress modestly 2. Both men and women are addressed in verses a. God bestows his love and mercy on both men and women. b. Adam and Eve i. Creation of men and women at the same time
Quran 30:20-21 “Among his signs is this, that he created you from dust; and the – behold, you are men scattered far and wide. And among His Signs is this, that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that you may dwell in tranquililty with themn, and he has put love and mercy between your hearts: verily in that are Signs for those who reflect.
ii. Both Adam and Eve were responsible for eating the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge. c. God has given both sexes gifts i. Although they may be different ii. To the woman – gift of childbirth and the responsibility or rather the honor of raising children iii. To the men, he gave them strength
4:34 “Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because god has given the one more strength than the other and because they support them from their means ----- Therefore the reighteous women are devoutly obedient and guard in the husband’s absence what god would have them guard.” (be faithful).
d. Inheritance i. Women receive half inheritance than men ii. Before Islam women received no inheritance e. Women must approve of man they want to marry i. Pre-Islam 1. Women were acquisitions 2. Married and divorced at random 3. If divorced, woman and child would perish f. In case of death or divorce, the husband must provide for his wife.
2:240 Those of you who die and leave widows should bequeath for their widows a year’;s maintenance and residence…2:241 For divorced women maintenance should be provided on a reasonable scale. This is a duty on the righteous.
g. Divorced women i. Have the right to remarry. h. The education of women is encouraged i. As is participation of women in politics i. Benazir Bhutto ii. In Iran many women ran for the presidency iii. And many participate in the govt.
Misconception #2 Islam is a violent religion – or “all Muslims are terrorists” 1) Pre-Islamic tribal culture a. Tribes competing for meager resources b. Vengeance i. You kill our guy, we’ll kill yours. ii. Prisoners were usually tortured iii. And if you ventured outside the protection of your tribe 1. or if you were not part of a tribe at all 2. You were fair game 2) Quran and the words of Prophet Muhammad a. Aimed to pacify the violence b. In Quran Muslims are urged not to instigate wars c. But if its necessary i. Muslims are permitted to fight a defensive war ii. As long as there is no transgression iii. And if the warring party seeks peace 1. Then a Muslim is supposed to stop fighting.
“Fight in the cause of God against those who fight you, but do not transgress limits. God does not love trangressors.” (2:190) “If they seek peace, then seek you peace. And trust in God for He is the One that heareth and knoweth all things.” (8:61).
d. Prisoners of war i. Must be treated humanely.
3) Muhammad’s history a. After receiving his first revelation, he gathered a group of followers b. His message of monotheism angered and threatened the members of the Quraish tribe i. Who relied on paganism as a source of revenue and influence 1. The Ka’aba or Cube in Mecca used to house a number of gods a. he primary among them called Allah or “The God” 2. Pilgrims came from all over Arabia to worship their own idols and the Quraish took care of them c. so threatened by Muhammad, that the Quraish hassled the small band of Muslims i. Eventually forcing them to move north to Medina 4) Tribe is the source of your protection and livelihood a. The Muslims were exiled and had no way to make a living. i. In the verses of the Quran, God gave the Muslims permission to battle to save themselves. 1. Koran written within 20 years of Mohammed’s death 2. was not arranged chronologically but by the length b. Muslims began raiding the Meccan Quraish caravans that came through on way to Syria i. In their minds this was defensive since they had been deprived of their livelihood and the protection of their tribal brothers. ii. Without the threat, war and violence is highly discouraged iii. Muslims instead are supposed to “submit” to a merciful, compassionate and loving God. 1. Word “Islam” comes from the word “peace,” salam, or shalom. 5) Jihad a. Which literally means “struggle” but is mistranslated today as “holy war” 1. Arabic word for “war” is harb. b. There is the sense of military “jihad” as holy war i. But only as a last resort and with rigorous conditions ii. And innocent people, especially women and children, must not be targeted and every effort must be made to bring reconciliation and peace. c. One of the only “true” jihads of the 20th century i. According to most Muslims ii. Afghanistan war in 1979 1. Afghanistan invaded by true “infidels” (meaning “without faith”) – the atheist Soviets a. At this time, Muslims worldwide contributed money to the cause. i. Including, Osama bin Laden. d. but the “Greater Jihad” i. And by far the most common use of the word ii. Is a struggle against one’s own vices, 1. A struggle to stop smoking for instance 2. or giving in to carnal desires or road rage or picking your nose, whatever vice you might have.
Misconception #3 Muslims hate Jews and Christians 1) According to Muslims a. Mohammed was only the last in a long string of prophets sent by God to send his message. b. There are 100s of prophets in Islamic tradition i. Including Abraham, Noah, Moses, David, Jacob, John the Baptist and yes, even Jesus
2:136 Say ye: “We believe in God, and the revelation given to us, and to Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes and that given to Moses and Jesuse and that given to all Prophets from the Lord: We make no diference between one and another of them: And we boy to God in Islam [submission].”
c. And the message they sent came from the same source i. God or Allah d. According to Muslims, the problem was that the message was corrupted. i. The Jews used to rely too heavily on ritual and not on the spiritual message ii. so God sent down Jesus 1. But the Christians mistakenly created a new religion 2. And began to worship Jesus as God iii. So God sent another messenger, 1. Mohammed a. But this time, the words given to Mohammed through the angel Gabriel were preserved verbatim in the local language – Arabic b. And it continues to be read in the originally style of Arabic. i. Highly discouraged to read any other translations since message is susceptible to mistranslations, politics, corruption. 2. Memorization a. Like in pre-Islamic times b. When people were illiterate and had to pass on information orally, c. Muslims are encouraged to memorize the words of the Quran 2) “People of the Book” a. Since the Quran is simply the last rendition of God’s words i. It doesn’t preclude the significance of the books that came before. ii. In fact, Muslims are encouraged to read and even memorize the bible as well. 3) Bible and the Koran a. And the Quran actually includes many of the same stories as the bible 1. Although with slight variations. b. Story of creation i. God didn’t rest on the 7th day because, well, he’s god and is tireless. c. Adam and Eve i. Both Adam and Eve responsible for taking the forbidden fruit (or wheat as some believe). d. Story of Abraham i. Who married Sarah and impregnated his servant Hagar ii. Muslims believe they are descended from Hagar’s son Ishmael 1. Who was left with his mother by Abraham in Mecca and forced to fend for herself. iii. Jews say they are descended from Sarah’s son Isaac. e. Also in the Quran i. Noah’ Ark, Jonah and the whale f. Jesus i. And even the birth of Jesus ii. To a virgin mother (no mention of her husband Joseph) iii. There is a whole chapter in the Koran titled and devoted to Mary. iv. Jesus as a baby 1. Was able to speak v. See Quran chapters 3:4-63 for more on Jesus vi. As an adult Jesus performing miracles vii. And on the cross. | ||
