tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/prophet-muhammed-24290/articles
Prophet Muhammed – The Conversation
2024-03-11T12:24:50Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/225152
2024-03-11T12:24:50Z
2024-03-11T12:24:50Z
Ramadan will be difficult for those in Gaza or other war zones – what does fasting mean for those who might be already starving?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580797/original/file-20240309-20-1w4qtd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=40%2C11%2C3730%2C2144&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Palestinians gather at the area where aid was distributed in Gaza City on Feb. 19, 2024.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/palestinians-struggling-with-hunger-gather-at-the-area-news-photo/2015671793">Karam Hassan/Anadolu via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ramadan in the Gaza Strip this year will be anything but “normal.” </p>
<p>Malnutrition and disease are claiming dozens of lives. The Gaza Health Ministry said on March 6, 2024, that <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/famine-gaza-hunger-israel-hamas-war-rcna141891">at least 20 people had died</a> of malnutrition. Many others, it said, were “dying silently,” unable to reach medical facilities.</p>
<p>According to humanitarian organizations, the proportion of people in Gaza deprived of food <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/06/colleagues-starvation-gaza-no-precedent-famine">exceeds any other place in the world</a>. </p>
<p>What meaning can the holy month’s fast have for those who have nothing to eat? </p>
<h2>Ramadan and the Quran</h2>
<p>Fasting in Islam requires believers to abstain from certain acts that are necessary for sustaining life – mainly eating, drinking and sexual – from dawn to dusk. But it is not just about food. It also requires that people abstain from lying or criticizing others behind their backs. </p>
<p>Muslims access “the sacred” primarily through the Quran, which is recited collectively from cover to cover in <a href="https://gulfnews.com/uae/ramadan/ramadan-2023-all-you-need-to-know-about-taraweeh-prayers---when-why-and-how-to-perform-it-1.1618320387277">communal night nighttime vigils during Ramadan</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://keough.nd.edu/people/mahan-mirza/">As a scholar of Islam</a> and as a practicing Muslim, I often think of how Islamic scripture describes the purpose of this sacred month. “Fasting is prescribed to you,” <a href="https://quran.com/2/183">says the Quran</a>, “that ye may learn self-restraint.”
The revelation of the Quran to Muhammad commenced in Ramadan, and Muslims take this time of the year to renew their connection to God’s words. </p>
<p>Fasting in Ramadan was prescribed in 624 C.E., the second year of Islam. This was shortly after the Prophet Muhammad’s emigration from Mecca to Medina in today’s Saudi Arabia to escape persecution. This episode, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Hijrah-Islam">known as the Hijra</a>, came to mark the first year of the Islamic calendar. </p>
<p>While Muslims may fast voluntarily throughout the year, it is mandatory in the month of Ramadan. Sick or pregnant people, as well as travelers, must make up missed days. The chronically ill or elderly must make amends by feeding others. </p>
<p>Fasting in Ramadan is believed to rejuvenate spiritual strength. The <a href="https://sunnah.com/ibnmajah:1690">Prophet Muhammad said</a> the mere ritual of fasting without inner transformation results in nothing but hunger.</p>
<p>“Goodness does not consist in your turning your face towards East or West,” <a href="https://quran.com/2/177">the Quran cautions</a>, in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/qiblah">reference to the orientation</a> that is required in ritual prayer. Rather, goodness consists in caring for the neighbor and stranger. These are principles that <a href="https://www.acommonword.com/the-acw-document/">all religions have in common</a>. </p>
<h2>Ramadan and charity</h2>
<p>In Muslim culture, Ramadan is experienced primarily as a month of prayer, ascetic practice, family life and generosity. A select few engage in a practice known as “<a href="https://www.zakat.org/on-ritual-retreat-itikaf">i’tikaf</a>,” a voluntary retreat in partial seclusion at the mosque, typically during the last few days and nights. </p>
<p>A highlight of Ramadan is increased acts of charity and the feeding of others. Many mosques offer meals, which is believed to be an act of particular virtue at sunset to facilitate breaking of the fast, at this time of the year. Muslims often pay their <a href="https://www.muslimaid.org/what-we-do/religious-dues/ramadan/zakat-facts/">annual mandatory alms known as zakat</a> during Ramadan in order to reap the special rewards of this month. </p>
<p>Islamic educational and humanitarian organizations increase their appeals for donations every year in Ramadan, and the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2022/apr/11/ramadan-2022-around-the-world-in-pictures">rhythm of life in Muslim communities transforms</a> with pre-dawn family meals, lazy mornings, working afternoons and communal feasts.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580575/original/file-20240307-28-ap9at8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Several children and adults share a meal while being seated in a circle on the floor where a number of dishes are placed in the center." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580575/original/file-20240307-28-ap9at8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580575/original/file-20240307-28-ap9at8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580575/original/file-20240307-28-ap9at8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580575/original/file-20240307-28-ap9at8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580575/original/file-20240307-28-ap9at8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580575/original/file-20240307-28-ap9at8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580575/original/file-20240307-28-ap9at8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A family living in a tent breaks their fast during Ramadan 2021 in Deir Al Balah, a city in Gaza, on April 19, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/tawfik-al-akraa-and-his-family-are-seen-during-the-iftar-news-photo/1232406941?adppopup=true">Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Ramadan in Gaza</h2>
<p>The meaning of Ramadan in a war zone is poignant for Muslims who are suffering directly. War is neither prescribed nor prohibited during Ramadan. <a href="https://sunnah.com/abudawud:2406">Muhammad urged</a> his troops to break the fast when entering into battle in order to preserve their strength. The <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Badr">Battle of Badr</a>, the first of many military confrontations under Muhammad’s command, which became a turning point in early Islamic history, took place in Ramadan. </p>
<p>For those who witness that suffering on screens from the comfort of their homes, the question of moral responsibility still remains. Muslims who seek to fulfill <a href="https://quran.com/2/3">God’s command</a> are “to spend out of what God has provided for them” in worthy charitable causes in Ramadan. Many of them will ask what more could be done to feed the hungriest of hungry in the world, who are <a href="https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/80-of-world-s-hungriest-people-live-in-gaza-palestine/3156190">now in Gaza</a>.</p>
<p>Religions help us come to terms with our mortality. They help us make sense of life beyond this life. In a time of war and famine, when death is near, <a href="https://quran.com/50/16">Ramadan can remind us that God is nearer</a>: “closer than the jugular vein.”</p>
<p>For countless innocent victims of all ages and every gender who are breathing their last – in the direst of circumstances and the deepest of anguish – this thought can be a source of solace, if not joy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225152/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mahan Mirza does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Ramadan encourages acts of charity. This also poses a question for many Muslims as they consider what more could be done to feed the hungriest in the world, many of whom are in Gaza.
Mahan Mirza, Executive Director, Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion, and Teaching Professor of Teaching Professor of Islam and Global Affairs, University of Notre Dame
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/205555
2023-06-21T12:30:27Z
2023-06-21T12:30:27Z
Islam’s call to prayer is ringing out in more US cities – affirming a long and growing presence of Muslims in America
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531804/original/file-20230613-27-tc94cl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C7%2C5166%2C3457&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Minneapolis allows call to prayer to be publicly broadcast five times per day.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/muslim-worshippers-gather-at-the-huntington-bank-stadium-news-photo/1234075176?adppopup=true">Kerem Yucel/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Minneapolis recently became the first major U.S. city to allow the “adhan,” or <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/minneapolis-mayor-signs-change-to-noise-ordinance-allowing-amplified-islamic-prayer/">Muslim call to prayer, to be broadcast</a> from mosques five times a day.</p>
<p>In April 2023, the Minneapolis City Council <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/minneapolis-mayor-signs-change-to-noise-ordinance-allowing-amplified-islamic-prayer/">unanimously approved a change to the city’s sound ordinance</a>, effectively eliminating time constraints that previously prevented the pre-dawn and evening prayer calls from being broadcast. </p>
<p>For the citizens of Minneapolis and for many Muslims across the United States, this represents a historic moment. Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, described this as a <a href="https://www.cair.com/press_releases/cair-mn-welcomes-resolution-allowing-public-broadcast-of-islamic-call-to-prayer-5-times-daily-in-minneapolis/">victory for religious freedom</a> and for the U.S. Constitution. The resolution demonstrates that Muslims are not only “welcome here, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NknPuGwP7uA">but they’re also here – that they are part of the fabric</a> of the diversity of this city and our state,” he said in a statement.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://people.cal.msu.edu/tarakjil/">scholar of Islam and Muslims in America</a>, I am particularly interested in how Muslim Americans express themselves as a faith community at the local, national and global levels. The practice of calling worshippers to prayer is an important aspect of daily Muslim life, one that has a long history on American soil.</p>
<h2>Adhan: Tradition and meanings</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/adhan">Adhan literally means</a> “announcement” in Arabic and refers to the Islamic call to prayer that takes place five times a day. The <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/salat">five daily prayers</a> signify one of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pillars-of-Islam">five pillars of Islam</a> that are traditionally considered obligatory for every Muslim. The prayers are performed in the direction of Mecca throughout the day.</p>
<p>The practice of calling the adhan dates to the time of Prophet Muhammad, when it became the standard way to mark the beginning of each prayer’s time and to call Muslims to prayer. In his text “<a href="https://home.uchicago.edu/%7Emsells/publications/#pub-books">Approaching the Qur’an: The Early Revelations</a>,” scholar <a href="https://home.uchicago.edu/%7Emsells/">Michael Sells</a> notes that “the call to prayer punctuates daily life five times, drawing people out of their everyday preoccupation to matters of ultimate concern.” </p>
<p>Recited in Arabic, the adhan translates as: God is most great, God is most great; I testify that there is no god but God; I testify that Muhammad is the messenger of God; Come (alive) to the prayer; Come (alive) to flourishing; God is most great, God is most great; There is no god but God. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CFmascOaY0M?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The adhan.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Muslim-majority countries, the distinctive sound of the adhan loudly called from every mosque’s minaret is one of the most memorable sounds for visitors. </p>
<p>The significance of the adhan is such that Islamic tradition recommends that it be one of the first sounds that a newborn baby hears. Often, the <a href="https://nyupress.org/9781479804887/the-practice-of-islam-in-america/">father will gently recite the adhan</a> in the baby’s right ear. The words mark the beginning of a person’s life on the “right path,” with the remembrance of God. </p>
<p>In America, where the adhan is not commonly heard in public settings, many Muslims make do with a prayer app, on their cellphones or other devices, that lists the various prayer times and calls the adhan at the appropriate time.</p>
<h2>Influence on popular music and culture</h2>
<p>The earliest practice of the adhan on American soil dates back to the hundreds of thousands of enslaved African Muslims who, to varying extents, brought their Islamic practices with them. In the process, the adhan has left a deep influence on American music and culture. </p>
<p>Historian <a href="https://www.sylvianediouf.com/">Sylviane A. Diouf</a> attributes the <a href="https://renovatio.zaytuna.edu/article/what-islam-gave-the-blues">roots of blues music</a> to West African Muslims who were enslaved and forcibly taken to the Americas between the 1600s and mid-1800s.</p>
<p>Diouf specifically makes a comparison between the adhan and “Levee Camp Holler,” a song that was written and sung by former slaves. Holler songs were precursors to the blues. “It features the same ornamented notes, elongated syllables sung with wavy intonations, melismas, and pauses. When both pieces are juxtaposed, it is hard to distinguish when the call to prayer ends and the holler starts,” Diouf writes. </p>
<p>More recently, Muslim rapper Lupe Fiasco released an album called “<a href="https://genius.com/Lupe-fiasco-muhammad-walks-lyrics">Muhammad Walks</a>” that clearly includes sound bites from the adhan along with various references to Islamic traditions.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vgOShYiBHOQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Adhan broadcast during the month of Ramadan from a mosque in Virginia.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>History of the Muslim prayer call in the US</h2>
<p>Generally speaking, mosques in the U.S. make the call to prayer inside the prayer space, where it is audible only to those present. The earliest documented public broadcasting of the Muslim call to prayer took place during the World’s Columbian Exposition, a world’s fair that was held in Chicago in 1893.</p>
<p>The fair featured “<a href="https://worldsfairchicago1893.com/tag/street-in-cairo/">Cairo Street</a>,” a popular attraction that sought to recreate a small cross section of Cairene life. Among the 26 different structures that were specifically built for this project was a mosque where tourists could hear the muezzin – one who makes the call to prayer – call the adhan from the minaret and then watch Muslim worshippers perform their daily prayers. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Black and white image of musicians and performers in costume posing for photographs in Cairo Street at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531810/original/file-20230613-29-uqujtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531810/original/file-20230613-29-uqujtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531810/original/file-20230613-29-uqujtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531810/original/file-20230613-29-uqujtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531810/original/file-20230613-29-uqujtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531810/original/file-20230613-29-uqujtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531810/original/file-20230613-29-uqujtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A scene from the Cairo-themed area of World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, 1893.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/scene-in-the-streets-of-cairo-at-the-midway-plaisance-news-photo/158707363?adppopup=true">Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Later the same year, the prayer call was broadcast from a third-story window of the Union Square Bank building in New York City. After John Lant, a convert to Islam and co-founder of First Society for the Study of Islam in America, made the adhan, <a href="https://www.infobasepublishing.com/Bookdetail.aspx?ISBN=0816075751">a congregational prayer was held</a> before the group proceeded with the society’s first meeting. </p>
<p>This moment was documented by <a href="https://wp-media.patheos.com/blogs/sites/260/2013/05/new-yorks-first-muezzin-call.jpg">The New York Times</a>: “For the first time in New-York’s history, cosmopolitan as the city is, the melodious call of the Muezzin, celebrated by every traveler in Mohammedan countries, was heard yesterday morning.”</p>
<h2>Recent broadcasts</h2>
<p>Since the 1970s the adhan has been broadcast from mosques in the U.S., such as the <a href="https://amsdearborn.org/history/">American Moslem Society</a>, which was established in <a href="https://www.michiganradio.org/news/2018-02-02/mornings-in-michigan-dearborn-residents-wake-up-to-sacred-chant">Dearborn, Michigan</a>, in 1938 and is arguably the first U.S. mosque to be granted the legal right to transmit all five prayer calls through loudspeakers. </p>
<p>In nearby <a href="https://hwpi.harvard.edu/pluralismarchive/news/news-stories/hamtramck-call-prayer-controversy">Hamtramck</a>, considered to be <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-59212355">America’s first majority-Muslim city</a>, the adhan was legalized by local government in 2004, when a noise ordinance change <a href="https://hwpi.harvard.edu/pluralismarchive/news/hamtramck-residents-will-vote-call-prayer">was put to a citywide vote</a>. At the time, <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2004-04-21-0404210290-story.html">this stirred notable tensions</a> between Hamtramck’s different faith communities.</p>
<p>In 2020, the city council of <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/new-jersey-city-paterson-approves-noise-ordinance-broadcast-adhan-muslim-call-prayer">Paterson, New Jersey</a>, also authorized the call to prayer between certain hours of the day. In 2023, several mosques in <a href="https://www.thecity.nyc/2023/4/3/23665676/adhan-muslim-call-to-prayer-astoria-ramadan">Astoria, New York</a>, received permits to broadcast the five calls to prayer specifically for the duration of the holy month of Ramadan. </p>
<p>Similarly, a small mosque in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgOShYiBHOQ">Occoquan, Virginia</a>, was invited by the local mayor to broadcast the adhan on two separate occasions to mark the month of Ramadan. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RwJXDZxaLvI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The call to prayer in Queens, New York.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Indeed, the public broadcasting of the adhan is part of a larger narrative of American plurality. It is a natural manifestation of Muslim American presence and communal expression. </p>
<p>The fact that the adhan can be heard in the streets of Minneapolis, Hamtramck and Astoria – alongside church bells and other sounds of worship – signifies that Muslim beliefs are not deemed less worthy, nor must they be confined to a private space. It is a sign that Muslims are at home and welcome here.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205555/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leila Tarakji does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The earliest documented public broadcasting of the Muslim call to prayer in the U.S. took place during the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, 1893.
Leila Tarakji, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Michigan State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/198225
2023-01-26T13:24:48Z
2023-01-26T13:24:48Z
Debates over sacred images in the Byzantine Empire show why it’s hard to appease any side
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506453/original/file-20230125-24-83a2uq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=6%2C6%2C2029%2C1523&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The depiction of Prophet Muhammad at Hamline University has opened up a debate about what sacred images can or cannot be shown in a classroom.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/friscocali/29237898582/in/photolist-LxDSBG-7UJADJ-7UJALq-7UFm3H-7UJRe5-7UFjUp-2o3feQr-7Fz8L2-L3a4V9-cucgoA-7UFm9P-Rdyujo-2n3bdpg-3Q1Uk-Jqsr3E-3Q1KG-2n3bfRq-3Q1T4-7UFkKK-7UJAu1-7UJApb-6r7p4q-6r7po7-TCAEiE-2o3fiwz-7UJA5b-7UJAmq-7UFmdH-9qTeX9-9ifvb-7UJAbQ-2nDevVi-7UJzxj-gniaVK-sGHDZ2-d6Ze2j-7UFjSe-7UFjMD-AVJJij-25UAnVh-ZF7Co1-6QtQwS-7UJAa1-9ZweGN-2eMYA4L-5hsDKt-tFhYdk-3Q21u-Td8Zij-eRhcbT">Friscocali via Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>An adjunct lecturer at Hamline University recently lost her job for showing an image of Prophet Muhammad in an art history class, which some students and administrators considered to be Islamophobic. The university later retracted the accusation of Islamophobia <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/17/us/hamline-lawsuit-prophet-muhammad-religion.html">and said in a statement</a>, “It was never our intent to suggest that academic freedom is of lower concern or value than our students,” but still insisted that “care” does not “supersede academic freedom, the two coexist.” </p>
<p>An earlier statement from Hamline President Fayneese Miller had <a href="https://www.twincities.com/2023/01/05/hamline-accreditor-complaint-professor-muhammad-art/">noted</a>, “Students do not relinquish their faith in the classroom,” which suggested that classrooms need to be visually tailored to a specific faith. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://lsa.umich.edu/histart/people/faculty/paroma.html">historian of Byzantine art</a> familiar with the fierce debates over sacred images in the 8th and 9th centuries, I consider Miller’s statement a challenge to how students might study religious imagery at all.</p>
<p>The very example of the debates in the Byzantine Empire shows how hard it is to design a space that caters exactly to the specifications of any particular faith.</p>
<h2>The debates over images in Byzantium</h2>
<p>In Greek Orthodox Christianity, which was the official religion of the Byzantine Empire that lasted from 312 to 1453 A.D., some factions were against sacred images and some in favor of them. The factions that were against images claimed that the image of Jesus Christ was unacceptable, since his nature was both divine and human. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506459/original/file-20230125-12-b91uaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An illustration showing men holding long brushes whitewashing a Crucifixion icon." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506459/original/file-20230125-12-b91uaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506459/original/file-20230125-12-b91uaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=811&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506459/original/file-20230125-12-b91uaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=811&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506459/original/file-20230125-12-b91uaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=811&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506459/original/file-20230125-12-b91uaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1019&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506459/original/file-20230125-12-b91uaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1019&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506459/original/file-20230125-12-b91uaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1019&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An icon of Christ being effaced, from 9th-century Byzantium.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Crucifixion_with_iconoclasts,_Chludov_Psalter,_folio_67r.jpg">Chludov Psalter, State Historical Museum, Moscow, via Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This position argued that an image of Christ, therefore, either showed only his divinity – which was impossible, since divinity cannot be depicted in ordinary, human-made materials – or that such an image claimed Christ was not divine at all - also considered a heresy. An image of Christ could not be produced or displayed, since it put the artist and viewer in a false position regarding the Orthodox faith. </p>
<p>However, those who were in favor of images countered this stance by arguing that God, or divinity, had taken human shape in the form of Christ. The incarnation, meaning “enfleshment” of Christ, thus legitimized the making of images, since it made Christ accessible to humankind. This faction also argued that sacred images were necessary, as they served to <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Byzantium-in-the-Iconoclast-Era-ca-680850-The-Sources-An-Annotated/Brubaker-Haldon/p/book/9780754604181">remind viewers of the sacred beings they depicted</a>, such as Christ, the Virgin and the saints. </p>
<h2>Contradictions acknowledged on both sides</h2>
<p>The differences between the two factions became clear in the Council of Hiereia, which was called by Emperor Constantine V in 754 A.D. to lay out the terms of those who were against images. However, despite affirming that sacred Christian imagery was blasphemous and should not be produced, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/23268277">this faction still stated</a>: </p>
<p>“… we ordain that no one in charge of a church … shall venture … to lay his hands on the holy vessels … because they are adorned with figures. The same is … in regard to the vestments of the church, cloths, and all that is dedicated to divine service. …” </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506463/original/file-20230125-12-xfngvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A round rimmed metal vessel." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506463/original/file-20230125-12-xfngvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506463/original/file-20230125-12-xfngvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506463/original/file-20230125-12-xfngvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506463/original/file-20230125-12-xfngvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506463/original/file-20230125-12-xfngvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506463/original/file-20230125-12-xfngvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506463/original/file-20230125-12-xfngvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Example of a vessel for holy bread used in the sanctuary.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/466152">Metropolitan Museum, New York. Gift of Mrs. Hayford Peirce, 1987</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The above statement was at <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/23268277">odds with the general stance</a> of the council against images. It meant that the already existing sacred images were still considered holy, and vessels containing sacred images were permitted to remain intact. These vessels were in all probability used at the altar table in the sanctuary, the holiest part of a church. </p>
<p>The faction in favor of images <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/767119">won the debate in 843 A.D</a>. That was the year when the Greek Orthodox Church officially ruled that sacred images, or icons, were essential to that faith. But despite the victory, that side made an implicit concession to its opponents. </p>
<p>It was decreed that the sacred icon <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/767119">was not to be venerated</a> for the materials of wood, wax, colors, or other matter it was composed of, or even the image it showed. There was a general idea that venerators, by lighting candles in front of icons and kissing and touching them, were directing attention to the materials and not to the holy subject. Instead, the image was supposed to lead the viewer’s mind to the holy subject, which was Christ, the Virgin or the saints. </p>
<p>In the 11th century, Symeon the New Theologian, an Orthodox monk, came to disregard this definition. A historian of Byzantine art <a href="https://artandarchaeology.princeton.edu/people/charlie-barber">Charles Barber</a> argues that Symeon, despite being in favor of images, <a href="https://brill.com/display/title/14531">sought a spiritual experience</a> during his prayers that went beyond the matter of the image. </p>
<p>Thus, each side of the Byzantine debates implicitly acknowledged the impossibility of any watertight, consistent theory regarding sacred images. By the same token, both sides indicated the impossibility of fashioning spaces that catered exactly to any Orthodox Christian position regarding such images. </p>
<h2>Visual sanctity in the classroom</h2>
<p>Returning to the contemporary classroom, to what extent can this space be visually controlled? </p>
<p>All art history instructors can certainly curate their lectures. Curation here inevitably means the inclusion and exclusion of certain things. However, it is unlikely that any degree or kind of selection would completely satisfy any single position regarding sacred images. </p>
<p>To demand that a discipline like art history maintain visual sanctity in the classroom is, I believe, tantamount to demanding the impossible.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198225/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paroma Chatterjee does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Fierce debates about visual depictions of the sacred have existed for centuries. An art historian explains the controversies in the Byzantine Empire over images of Christ.
Paroma Chatterjee, Associate Professor of History of Art, University of Michigan
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/197277
2023-01-09T19:58:31Z
2023-01-09T19:58:31Z
Islamic paintings of the Prophet Muhammad are an important piece of history – here’s why art historians teach them
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503431/original/file-20230106-12-3prvbi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C0%2C1039%2C815&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A painting showing the Prophet Muhammad raising his hands in prayer while standing on the Mountain of Light in Mecca.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Siyer-i Nebi (Biography of the Prophet), Istanbul, Ottoman lands, 1595-96. Topkapı Palace Library, Istanbul, H. 1222, fol. 158v. Photograph by Hadiye Cangökçe.</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, recently dismissed <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/08/us/hamline-university-islam-prophet-muhammad.html?fbclid=IwAR2hnx6-xm3WYbHDxODN-F_5U39bPNyzRcCGtZhNzPafYdnY7-FEHnyf-AY">Erika López Prater</a>, an adjunct faculty member, for showing two historical Islamic paintings of the Prophet Muhammad in her global survey of art history. Following complaints from some Muslim students, university administrators described such images as disrespectful and Islamophobic.</p>
<p>While many Muslims today believe it is inappropriate to depict Muhammad, it was not always so in the past. Moreover, <a href="https://banished.substack.com/p/most-of-all-i-am-offended-as-a-muslim">debates</a> about this subject within the Muslim community are ongoing. Within the academic world, this material is taught in a neutral and analytical way to help students – including those who embrace the Islamic faith – assess and understand historical evidence.</p>
<p>As an expert on <a href="https://iupress.org/9780253025265/the-praiseworthy-one/">Islamic representations of the Prophet Muhammad</a>, I consider the recent labeling of such paintings as “hate speech” and “<a href="https://localtoday.news/mn/hamline-university-fires-depictions-of-prophet-muhammad-professor-in-art-class-twin-cities-114820.html">blasphemy</a>” not only inaccurate but inflammatory. Such condemnations can pose a threat to individuals and works of art. </p>
<p>The Prophet Muhammad has been <a href="https://theconversation.com/muslims-have-visualized-prophet-muhammad-in-words-and-calligraphic-art-for-centuries-150053">represented</a> in Islamic paintings since the 13th century. Islamic art historians such as my colleagues and me, both Muslim and non-Muslim, study and teach these images regularly. They form part of the standard survey of Islamic art, which includes calligraphy, ornament and architecture.</p>
<h2>Comparing prophetic images</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://images.is.ed.ac.uk/luna/servlet/detail/UoEsha%7E4%7E4%7E64742%7E103064?page=220&qvq=&mi=220&trs=318">14th-</a> and <a href="https://tr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dosya:Siyer-i_Nebi_158b.jpg">16th-century</a> images López Prater selected depict Muhammad receiving the beginning of Quranic revelations from God through the angel Gabriel. In Islamic thought, it is at that moment that Muhammad became a divinely appointed prophet.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503654/original/file-20230109-7605-as69wb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A folio from a manuscript showing an image of a winged angel and a man seated in reverence before it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503654/original/file-20230109-7605-as69wb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503654/original/file-20230109-7605-as69wb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=845&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503654/original/file-20230109-7605-as69wb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=845&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503654/original/file-20230109-7605-as69wb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=845&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503654/original/file-20230109-7605-as69wb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1062&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503654/original/file-20230109-7605-as69wb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1062&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503654/original/file-20230109-7605-as69wb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1062&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A painting showing the Prophet Muhammad receiving the beginning of Quranic revelations from God through the angel Gabriel.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://images.is.ed.ac.uk/luna/servlet/detail/UoEsha~4~4~64742~103064?page=220&amp;q%20vq=&amp;mi=220&amp;trs=318">Rashid al-Din, Jami‘ al-Tawarikh (Compendium of Chronicles), Tabriz, Iran, 1306-1315 CE. Edinburgh University Library, Edinburgh, Ms. Or. 20.</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The 14th-century painting is part of a royal manuscript, the “Compendium of Chronicles,” written by Rashid al-Din. It is one of the earliest <a href="https://archives.collections.ed.ac.uk/repositories/2/archival_objects/145535">illustrated histories</a> of the world. The manuscript includes numerous paintings, including a cycle of images depicting several key moments in the Prophet Muhammad’s life.</p>
<p>The one that was discussed in López Prater’s class appears in a section on the beginnings of Quranic revelation and Muhammad’s apostleship. The painting depicts the prophet with his facial features visible as the angel Gabriel approaches him to convey God’s divine word. The event is shown taking place outdoors in a rocky setting that matches the accompanying text’s description.</p>
<p>The second image, made in Ottoman lands in 1595-96, is part of a six-volume <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4629330#metadata_info_tab_contents">biography</a> of the prophet. Over 800 paintings in this manuscript depict major moments in Muhammad’s life, from his birth to his death.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503343/original/file-20230105-2380-nzfm79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A painting set on gold-colored background showing a figure dressed in white with hands raised in prayer." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503343/original/file-20230105-2380-nzfm79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503343/original/file-20230105-2380-nzfm79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=953&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503343/original/file-20230105-2380-nzfm79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=953&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503343/original/file-20230105-2380-nzfm79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=953&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503343/original/file-20230105-2380-nzfm79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1198&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503343/original/file-20230105-2380-nzfm79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1198&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503343/original/file-20230105-2380-nzfm79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1198&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Ottoman-era painting depicting the prophet’s purity through the use of white fabrics, with a large flaming nimbus encircling his body.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Al-Darir, Siyer-i Nebi (Biography of the Prophet), Istanbul, Ottoman lands, 1595-96. Topkapı Palace Library, Istanbul, H. 1222, fol. 158v. Photograph by Hadiye Cangökçe.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In that painting, Muhammad is seen raising his hands in prayer while standing on the Mountain of Light, known as Jabal al-Nur, near Mecca. His facial features are no longer visible; instead, they are hidden behind a facial veil. </p>
<p>The Ottoman artist chose to depict the prophet’s purity through the use of white fabrics, and his entire being as touched by the light of God via the large flaming nimbus that encircles his body. Jabal al-Nur is shown, as its name suggests, as a radiant elevation. Above it and beyond the clouds, rows of angels hover in praise.</p>
<h2>Key study questions</h2>
<p>These two paintings show that Islamic representations of Muhammad are neither static nor uniform. Rather, they evolved over the centuries. During the 14th century, artists depicted the prophet’s facial features, while later artists covered his face with a veil.</p>
<p>Islamic art historians ask their students to compare these two paintings while encouraging them to slow down, look carefully, train their eyes to detect pictorial elements, and infer meaning. They also ask students to consider the textual content and historical context accompanying the paintings.</p>
<p>The key question students are prompted to think about through the juxtaposition of these two Islamic paintings is this: Why did the facial veil and flaming nimbus develop as two key prophetic motifs in Islamic depictions of Muhammad between A.D. 1400 and 1600?</p>
<p>The images help a teacher guide a collective conversation that explores how the prophet was conceptualized in more metaphorical ways – as a <a href="https://www.academia.edu/456885/_Between_Logos_Kalima_and_Light_Nur_Representations_of_the_Prophet_Muhammad_in_Islamic_Painting_">veiled beauty</a> and as <a href="https://www.academia.edu/6223682/_Pre_Existence_and_Light_Aspects_of_the_Concept_of_Nur_Muhammad_updated_">radiant light</a> – over the course of those two centuries in particular. </p>
<p>This prompts a larger exploration of the diversity of Islamic religious expressions, including those that are more <a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9780807841280/and-muhammad-is-his-messenger/">Sufi</a>, or spiritualized, in nature. These paintings therefore capture the richly textured mosaic of Muslim worlds over time. </p>
<p>This historically sensitive, pictorial side-by-side is known as a comparative analysis or “<a href="https://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/how-write-comparative-analysis">comparandum</a>.” It is a key analytical method in art history, and it was used by López Prater in her classroom. Now more than ever, a rigorous study of such Islamic paintings proves necessary – and indeed vital – at a time of sharp debates over what is, or is not, Islamic.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197277/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christiane Gruber does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
An art historian describes the two historical representations of Prophet Muhammad that led to a controversy at Hamline University.
Christiane Gruber, Professor of Islamic Art, University of Michigan
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/184624
2022-06-12T19:36:06Z
2022-06-12T19:36:06Z
Why Muslim countries are quick at condemning defamation – but often ignore rights violations against Muslim minorities
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468273/original/file-20220610-24020-pgezi3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=172%2C77%2C5578%2C3750&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Supporters of a Pakistani religious group burn an effigy depicting the former spokeswoman of India's ruling party, Nupur Sharma, during a demonstration in Karachi, Pakistan.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/PakistanIndiaIslam/cfcff703192e4cfda0ddc017f7060ad8/photo?Query=nupur%20sharma&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=65&currentItemNo=0">AP Photo/Fareed Khan</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Indian government finds itself in a diplomatic crisis following offensive remarks by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson, <a href="https://thewire.in/communalism/after-boycott-india-tweets-in-arab-world-bjp-clarifies-on-insulting-remarks-against-islam">Nupur Sharma</a>, on national television about the Prophet Muhammad and his wife, Aisha. The BJP has suspended Sharma from the position, but that has not been enough to <a href="https://thewire.in/diplomacy/qatar-summons-indian-envoy-seeks-govts-public-apology-over-bjp-leaders-remarks-on-prophet">quell the crisis</a>. Over a dozen Muslim countries, including Pakistan, Iran and Saudi Arabia, have condemned the Indian government and asked for a public apology.</p>
<p>This is just another incident of <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/what-the-recent-hate-speech-incidents-will-achieve-7712243/">hate speech against Muslims</a>, which has been rising in India since the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government came to power in 2014. The government has been criticized for several <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-60225543">lynchings of Muslims by Hindu mobs with police indifference and judicial apathy</a> over the past years. In 2019, the BJP passed a new citizenship law <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/22/world/asia/modi-india-citizenship-law.html">that discriminated against Muslims</a>, and its <a href="https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-report-on-international-religious-freedom/india/">Islamophobic attitudes</a> recently encouraged <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/15/world/asia/india-hijab-ban-schools.html">some schools and colleges</a> to impose a <a href="https://frontline.thehindu.com/cover-story/hijab-controversy-karnataka-the-paradox-of-hijab-quran/article38430996.ece">headscarf ban on students</a>.</p>
<p>These discriminatory policies have a global significance because India has the world’s third-largest Muslim population, after Indonesia and Pakistan. Out of the estimated Indian population of 1.4 billion, <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2015/04/02/religious-projection-table/">about 210 million – 15% – are Muslim</a>. </p>
<p>As a Muslim, I am aware of the deep reverence for Prophet Muhammad, and I understand Muslim individuals’ resentment. The reaction of Muslim governments, however, reflect their political regimes. As my book “<a href="https://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/politics-international-relations/comparative-politics/islam-authoritarianism-and-underdevelopment-global-and-historical-comparison?format=PB">Islam, Authoritarianism, and Underdevelopment</a>” explains, most Muslim governments are authoritarian and <a href="https://theconversation.com/execution-for-a-facebook-post-why-blasphemy-is-a-capital-offense-in-some-muslim-countries-129685">concentrate on condemning sacrilege against Islam</a> – more than advocating to protect the rights of Muslim minorities abroad.</p>
<h2>Aisha: a powerful woman</h2>
<p>The recent Indian case focused on Aisha’s age when she married the Prophet. <a href="http://cup.columbia.edu/book/politics-gender-and-the-islamic-past/9780231079990">Aisha is one of the most important, vigorous and powerful</a> figures in Islamic history. The favorite wife of the Prophet, she was the daughter of the Prophet’s successor and closest friend, Abu Bakr. She became a leading narrator of hadith – the records of the Prophet’s words and actions – the teacher of many scholars and a military leader in a civil war.</p>
<p>According to a hadith record, <a href="https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/understanding-aishas-age-an-interdisciplinary-approach">Aisha was 9 years old</a> when she got married. Some Muslims accept this record and see it normal for a pre-modern marriage, whereas other Muslims believe that Aisha was <a href="https://unity1.store/2021/09/26/the-age-of-aisha-at-marriage/">either 18</a> or <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/hazrat-aisha-was-19-not-9/story-G4kaBHqM0VXoBhLR0eI2oO.html">19 years old</a> by referring to other records. </p>
<p>It is not possible to know the true facts of Aisha’s age. As Islamic scholar <a href="https://law.ucla.edu/faculty/faculty-profiles/khaled-m-abou-el-fadl">Khaled Abou El Fadl</a> stresses, “<a href="https://www.searchforbeauty.org/2016/06/30/my-good-friend-confronted-me-on-the-issue-of-the-prophet-s-wife-aisha-and-asked-did-muhammad-rape-a-child-i-was-disturbed-and-confounded-and-did-not-answer/">we do not know and will never know</a>” them. Sharma thus used a single narration, while ignoring alternative Muslim explanations, in her remarks.</p>
<h2>Prioritizing blasphemy, not human rights</h2>
<p>This is not the first time that Muslim governments have reacted to defamatory actions against the Prophet. The long list of incidents includes Iran’s Supreme Leader <a href="https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/salman-rushdie-satanic-verses-fatwa-iran">Ruhollah Khomeini’s 1989 call on Muslims to kill novelist Salman Rushdie</a> and <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300124729/the-cartoons-that-shook-the-world/">the 2006 boycott of Danish products throughout the Middle East</a> in reaction to a dozen cartoons published in a newspaper.</p>
<p>An interesting pattern is visible in Muslim governments’ attitudes: They are very vocal when it comes to the cases of verbal or artistic attacks on Islamic values, whereas they are generally silent about human rights violations against Muslim individuals.</p>
<p>Muslim individuals in India have complained about the violations of their rights for almost a decade, but <a href="https://time.com/6185355/india-bjp-muslim-world-prophet/">Muslim governments did not show a noteworthy reaction to the BJP</a> until this defamation incident.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468274/original/file-20220610-43412-vmhhoj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two men and one woman holding posters with photographs of missing Uyghurs." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468274/original/file-20220610-43412-vmhhoj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468274/original/file-20220610-43412-vmhhoj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468274/original/file-20220610-43412-vmhhoj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468274/original/file-20220610-43412-vmhhoj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468274/original/file-20220610-43412-vmhhoj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468274/original/file-20220610-43412-vmhhoj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468274/original/file-20220610-43412-vmhhoj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Uyghur protesters, saying they had not heard from their relatives in years, protest near the Chinese Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, in Feb. 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/TurkeyChinaUighurs/85e4020b2b5a4241be53a5fe19abf6e8/photo?Query=%20uighurs&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=947&currentItemNo=100">AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another example is China, which has been <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-22278037">persecuting 12 million Uyghur Muslims</a> for many years. <a href="https://www.rferl.org/a/islamic-world-china-uyghurs/31324045.html">No Muslim government showed any major reaction</a>. Instead, these governments have focused on their material interests and <a href="https://uhrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Transnational-Repression_FINAL_2021-06-24-1.pdf">disregarded how the Chinese state treats its Muslim minority</a>.</p>
<p>This double standard can be explained by the widespread authoritarianism in the Muslim world. Out of 50 Muslim countries, <a href="https://institute.global/policy/ulema-state-alliance-barrier-democracy-and-development-muslim-world">only five are democratic</a>. Most authoritarian governments in the Muslim world have blasphemy laws that <a href="https://theconversation.com/execution-for-a-facebook-post-why-blasphemy-is-a-capital-offense-in-some-muslim-countries-129685">punish sacrilegious statements and suppress dissenting voices</a>. That these governments should demand the punishment of blasphemy and defamation from India or other non-Muslim countries follows from these policies. </p>
<p>Another characteristic of authoritarian Muslim governments is their <a href="https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-report-on-international-religious-freedom/">own violations of the rights of religious and ethnic minorities</a>. In Pakistan, these violations have targeted <a href="https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/2022-06/USCIRFAnnualReport2022_ONLINE_FINAL.pdf">the Ahmadiyya, Shia, Hindu and some other religious communities</a>, while in Iran, ethnic minorities, including Azerbaijani Turks, Baluchis and Kurds, faced <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/middle-east-and-north-africa/iran/report-iran/">discrimination in education and employment</a>. A rights-based discourse abroad, therefore, would contradict these governments’ policies at home.</p>
<p>Authoritarianism in the Muslim world has tragic consequences for Muslim minorities in India and elsewhere. Muslim governments’ short-term, emotional reactions to some defamation cases do not help improve the conditions of Muslim minorities, who actually need a more consistent and principled support.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184624/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ahmet T. Kuru does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
A scholar of Islam writes about how widespread authoritarianism in the Muslim world shapes governments’ foreign policy toward Muslim minorities abroad.
Ahmet T. Kuru, Professor of Political Science, San Diego State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/165942
2021-09-14T12:12:48Z
2021-09-14T12:12:48Z
Chile has a growing Muslim community – but few know about it
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420876/original/file-20210913-20-reb5do.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=189%2C0%2C5561%2C3802&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Chilean Muslims reflect significant diversity. The Naqshbandi Haqqani Sufis, a global Sufi order that originated in Central Asia, are among them.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">John Albert</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nora is a rare sight at the Universidad de Chile. Dressed in a long abaya, or Islamic robe, that covers all but her hands and face, her outfit distinguishes her from other students on campus. In between classes, she’ll often seek a quiet, sheltered space to lay out a small carpet and pray. </p>
<p>If one were to ask Nora, as we did, about her distinct appearance on campus, she would say she doesn’t mind. She’s content with her dress, her prayers and the way of life it reflects. Nora is a Chilean Muslim, and proudly so.</p>
<p>Chile is not a country where most people would expect to find a Muslim population. It is, however, not unique. Some of the earliest Muslims in Latin America, for example, arrived in the 16th and 17th centuries. <a href="https://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/15494.html">Known as “Moriscos,”</a> these Muslims traveled to the colonies hoping to evade persecution under the Christian crown in Spain. </p>
<p>Muslims also came to the Americas during the 18th century as <a href="https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/faq/islam-brazil">enslaved Africans under the Portuguese and Spanish empires</a>. These Muslims came mostly from West Africa and, in Brazil, <a href="https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/faq/mal%C3%AA-uprising">led one of the continent’s largest revolts</a> against slavery. Muslims in Latin America are also the result of <a href="https://utpress.utexas.edu/books/narbona-pinto-karam-crescent-over-another-horizon">Middle Eastern migrations from the Ottoman Empire during the late 19th and early 20th centuries</a>. </p>
<p>This history of Islam in Latin America is visible today in the <a href="https://www.pewforum.org/2011/01/27/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-regional-americas/">1.7 million Muslims</a> living across Central and South America. </p>
<h2>Why we did this research</h2>
<p>As scholars of <a href="https://aud.academia.edu/MatthewIngalls/Papers">religion</a> and <a href="https://memphis.academia.edu/MichaelVicentePerez/Papers">anthropology</a>, our interest in Latin American Muslims began in 2018. At the time, few studies on Muslim minorities in the Americas considered the experience of Muslims in Latin America. Moreover, much of the research in the Americas focused on questions of assimilation or terrorism and neglected the more basic issues of belief, practice and community. </p>
<p>Islam, in other words, was framed as a problem, not a way of life. And we found that, because of such research, large Muslim communities and their experiences had been excluded from the picture of Islam in the Americas. </p>
<p>As both scholars and converts to Islam ourselves, we understand the depth of meaning Islam can have for its believers. We therefore decided to focus our research on a growing community of Muslims in a region not typically associated with Islam. </p>
<h2>Diverse community</h2>
<p>In Chile, Islam is primarily the result of Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian migrations from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Fleeing conditions in the Ottoman Empire, these Levantine immigrants and their descendants permanently settled in Chile and <a href="https://centroislamicodechile.cl/portfolio/historia-de-la-comunidad-musulmana-en-chile/">established the first Islamic institutions</a> in the 1920s. </p>
<p>Despite their national and religious differences, members of this early community combined their efforts as Muslims to lay the foundation for Islam in Chile. Now, almost a century after the first Islamic center was built, Chile boasts over 13 mosques and Islamic centers.</p>
<p>Home to <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100805091041/http:/pewforum.org/newassets/images/reports/Muslimpopulation/Muslimpopulation.pdf">approximately 5,000 Muslims</a>, including Sunnis and Shiites who have their own distinct mosques and centers, these sites are the communal epicenters for the Muslim minority in Chile. Together, they provide the spaces for Muslim education and practice and serve as an important source of their visibility. </p>
<p>Chile has one of the <a href="https://www.pewforum.org/2011/01/27/table-muslim-population-by-country/">smaller Muslim populations in the region</a>. Its size notwithstanding, Chilean Muslims reflect significant diversity. In many ways, they are a microcosm of the Muslim world. In the capital city of Santiago, where the majority of Muslims live, the largest community is tied to the Mezquita as-Salaam. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420882/original/file-20210913-22-1whq32z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The Mezquita as-Salaam mosque in Santiago, Chile." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420882/original/file-20210913-22-1whq32z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420882/original/file-20210913-22-1whq32z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420882/original/file-20210913-22-1whq32z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420882/original/file-20210913-22-1whq32z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420882/original/file-20210913-22-1whq32z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420882/original/file-20210913-22-1whq32z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420882/original/file-20210913-22-1whq32z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Established in 1989, Mezquita as-Salaam mosque conducts daily ritual prayers and hosts all Islamic events, including festivals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">John Albert</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Established in 1989, Mezquita as-Salaam today is open daily for ritual prayers and hosts all Islamic events including nightly feasts during <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-ramadan-is-called-ramadan-6-questions-answered-77291">Ramadan</a> and communal meals for the festival of <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-eid-celebrated-twice-a-year-and-how-has-coronavirus-changed-the-festival-143647">Eid</a>. The mosque is currently managed by the <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/2058855">Tablighi Jamaat</a>, a global Muslim missionary movement, which provides most Islamic instruction and delivers the main lectures in Spanish and Arabic for Friday prayer. </p>
<p>The Tablighi Jamaat also sends Chile’s Muslim converts abroad for Islamic learning and takes them on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716203588001009">religious excursions</a> throughout Latin America as part of their mission to remind Muslims to adhere to Islamic traditions. </p>
<h2>Converts to Islam</h2>
<p>Mezquita as-Salaam is a diverse communal space. Despite its official affiliation with the Tablighi Jamaat, Chilean Muslims come from a range of backgrounds and experiences. </p>
<p>Many are native Chilean converts, like Khadija, who embraced Islam about a decade ago. We met Khadija in the Mezquita as-Salaam during Ramadan. She discovered Islam through her own online search and came to the mosque only after deciding she wanted to join the faith. Khadija does not identify with the approach of the Tablighi Jamaat and instead participates in study circles with Chilean converts and some of the Arab Muslim women who attend the mosque. </p>
<p>Together, they practice Quranic recitation; study the Quran and <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=0B69DwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT5&dq=hadith+islam&ots=Fl9zEGZJBK&sig=mzWRIkQ0itxQgZxPvMd4XUW73-8#v=onepage&q=hadith%20islam&f=false">hadith</a>, the recorded sayings of the Prophet Muhammad; discuss the ethics of Islam; and share ideas for halal recipes. For Khadija, the mosque is an important space to connect with other Chilean Muslims and escape her experience as a minority. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420878/original/file-20210913-23828-1nc179f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Naqshbandi Sufi Dargha, a global Sufi Order that originated in Central Asia, in Santiago" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420878/original/file-20210913-23828-1nc179f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420878/original/file-20210913-23828-1nc179f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420878/original/file-20210913-23828-1nc179f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420878/original/file-20210913-23828-1nc179f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420878/original/file-20210913-23828-1nc179f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420878/original/file-20210913-23828-1nc179f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420878/original/file-20210913-23828-1nc179f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Naqshbandi Sufi Darghah, which the community visits regularly for informal gatherings, vegetarian meals, and prayers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">John Albert</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In a working-class area about 6 miles west of the Mezquita as-Salaam is the center, or dargah, for the <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780203947432/naqshbandiyya-itzchak-weismann">Naqshbandi Haqqani Sufis</a>, a global Sufi order that originated in Central Asia. We were introduced to the Naqshbandis through a Tablighi imam who was providing Islamic education to the community. Led by a local Chilean sheikh who established the first branch in Chile, this small group of Muslims is connected to Naqshbandi Orders throughout the Americas, including Argentina and the United States.</p>
<p>From our visits with the Naqshbandis, we learned that they are almost exclusively converts. Many of them told us during interviews that they discovered Islam through what they said they experienced as personal encounters with the order’s sheikh, Muhammad Nazim al-Qabbani, during a dream. The community visits the dargah regularly for informal gatherings, vegetarian meals, and dhikr (devotional acts of prayer that remind Muslims of their connection to God), as well as prayers on Fridays. </p>
<p>They also meet to prepare and distribute meals in impoverished areas of Santiago. For the Naqshbandi, this is a critical dimension of their ethical labor. It is one of the most important ways to practice the Islamic principles of compassion and faith. </p>
<p>Iman, for example, is one of the founders of the food drive they call <a href="https://ollarabbani.com">Olla Rabbani</a>. Every week, she and other Naqshbandis travel to local markets to collect unspoiled food scraps and use them to prepare large pots of lentil soup for local distribution. Iman was a deeply spiritual woman who established her connection to God in the practice of dhikr. But Iman also found a connection to God through her work with the poor. For her, as with many of the Naqshbandi, feeding the hungry is as much a part of Islam as any other form of devotion. </p>
<p>The communities of Mezquita as-Salaam and the Naqshbandi dargah are only a fraction of Chile’s Muslim community. In Santiago and the throughout the country, there are other Sunni, Shiite and Sufi mosques and centers with their own communities. Some are mixtures of Chilean converts and Muslim migrants from abroad. Others are exclusively Muslim converts.</p>
<p>Together, however, they represent the Muslim minority population of Chile. More significantly, they are a part of the ever-expanding Muslim world. </p>
<p>[<em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=youresmart">You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165942/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Vicente Perez received funding from John Templeton Trust Global Religion Research Initiative and the American Academy of Religion International Research Collaborative Grant. Michael Vicente Perez is affiliated with the University of Washington. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Ingalls has received funding from the Templeton Religion Trust (Global Religion Research Initiative grant) and the American Academy of Religion. </span></em></p>
Two scholars – both converts to Islam – set out to understand the Muslim community in Chile. Here is what they found.
Michael Vicente Perez, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Memphis
Matthew Ingalls, Chair of the Department of International and Middle Eastern Studies and Associate Professor of Middle Eastern Studies, American University in Dubai
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/145527
2020-09-15T11:53:40Z
2020-09-15T11:53:40Z
Charlie Hebdo shootings served as an extreme example of the history of attacks on satirists
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357713/original/file-20200911-14-akb40f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=108%2C54%2C5044%2C3383&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A painting made by French street artist Christian Guemy in tribute to the members of those killed in the attack on Charlie Hebdo attack in January 2015.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/France-Attacks-Trial/f97618364f494b49b7bdbd0996778e33/22/0">AP Photo/Michel Euler</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the trial of alleged accomplices to the attack on Charlie Hebdo recently got underway in Paris, the magazine republished <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/01/world/europe/charlie-hebdo-cartoons-trial-france.html">caricatures of the Prophet Muhammed</a>. </p>
<p>It was a defiant act. The same images were cited as the grievance that led two killers to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/08/world/europe/charlie-hebdo-paris-shooting.html?searchResultPosition=44">shoot dead 12 people</a> at the magazine’s offices in a terror attack in 2015. </p>
<p>Previously, the paper’s offices had been <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/03/world/europe/charlie-hebdo-magazine-in-paris-is-firebombed.html?searchResultPosition=3">firebombed</a> when a caricature of the Prophet Muhammed was run on the cover of a November 2011 issue. Charlie Hebdo runs cartoons <a href="https://forward.com/schmooze/212244/when-charlie-hebdo-lampooned-jews-too/">satirizing other religions</a>, <a href="https://qz.com/322550/charlie-hebdo-has-had-more-legal-run-ins-with-christians-than-with-muslims/">including Christianity</a>. </p>
<p>Depictions of the founder of Islam are <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-theres-opposition-to-images-of-muhammad-36402">forbidden</a> in the Sunni branch of the faith. As a result, what was intended as satire was perceived as blasphemous by observant Muslims and as an unforgivable offense by extremists.</p>
<p>The attack on Charlie Hebdo was an extreme example of a long history of attacks on satire and those who create it. But satire can take many forms, as can its reprisals.</p>
<h2>Satire as criticism</h2>
<p>Indeed, condemnation of satirists has more commonly taken the form of censorship, public humiliation and imprisonment.</p>
<p>Aristophanes, who wrote satiric plays 2,400 years ago, was <a href="https://www.ancient-literature.com/greece_aristophanes.html">condemned during his lifetime</a> for his depictions of citizens of Athens. Plato criticized the playwright for <a href="https://blog.oup.com/2015/12/birth-comedy-socrates-aristophanes/">slandering Socrates</a> as vain and arrogant in his play “The Clouds.”</p>
<p>In 1599, the bishops of Canterbury and London <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1741-4113.2010.00701.x">banned the publication</a> of a variety of works, including those seen as satirical. Attacks on the privileged and powerful were seen as violating cultural norms and <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/renaissance-papers-2011/reconsidering-the-1599-bishops-ban-on-satire/E032CFB6126BF6360C2BBE6E7B43B88E">corrosive to social order</a>.</p>
<p>And years before writing his best-known work, “Robinson Crusoe,” Daniel Defoe wrote satirical works that were critical of many prominent figures. Among his more popular work was “<a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44081/the-true-born-englishman">The True-Born Englishman</a>,” which highlighted xenophobic prejudice in England against <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44081/the-true-born-englishman">King William III</a>, a Dutchman by birth. </p>
<p>In 1703, Defoe also criticized individuals who wanted to separate from the Church of England. In “<a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Shortest_Way_with_the_Dissenters.html?id=m10UAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0#v=onepage&q&f=false">The Shortest Way with the Dissenters</a>” he accused separatists of being responsible for the English Civil War, among other crimes. Since Defoe was himself a separatist, his critique is considered to be a satiric attack on the leaders of the Church.</p>
<p>Defoe’s call to “crucify the thieves,” that is, the dissenters, led to him being <a href="https://www.historytoday.com/archive/daniel-defoe-put-pillory">accused of seditious libel</a>. He was fined, endured public humiliation in a pillory and was then thrown in prison.</p>
<p>Authors of what is known as Juvenalian satire, criticism of contemporary persons or institutions, engage in a full-throated condemnation. In appearing to be advocating for the public good, they could also end up with outlandish suggestions. Perhaps the best-known example of this is Jonathan Swift’s 1729 essay, “<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1080/1080-h/1080-h.htm">A Modest Proposal</a>,” in which he suggests that the Irish sell their babies as food for the rich. It was an attack on the attitudes of the wealthy and on British policies toward the Irish.</p>
<p>Needless to say, assaults like these can get under the skin of those being depicted as corrupt, cruel or dimwitted.</p>
<h2>Mild or hidden satire</h2>
<p>But there isn’t one form of satire. Satire can be fairly gentle as well. An example of so-called Horatian satire is Alexander Pope’s 1712 “<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/9800/9800-h/9800-h.htm">The Rape of the Lock</a>.” The poem describes a mundane incident – the cutting of a lock of hair without permission – in mock-heroic terms.</p>
<p>Pope’s poem is relatively good-natured. His goal was to poke fun at his own society and is therefore not particularly judgmental. </p>
<p>Then there is the use of caricature as a form of satire, which often gets away merely by exaggerating the physical characteristics of its intended targets. <a href="https://hughjnusscrapbookarnorfer7.weebly.com/caricature-humor.html">Barack Obama’s ears</a> and <a href="https://simplifythemessage.com/2014/06/ministry-caricatures/">Richard Nixon’s nose</a>, for example, were often depicted as comically large by cartoonists during their respective presidencies.</p>
<p>But then, a work intended to be satiric may cease, over time, to be recognized as such. As I describe in my book on <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/irony-and-sarcasm">irony and sarcasm,</a> an example may be the Historia Augusta, a fourth-century collection of biographies of Roman emperors.</p>
<p>Scholars <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ZzWehZ4AAAAJ&hl=en">Justin Stover</a> and <a href="http://www.mike-kestemont.org/">Mike Kestemont</a> have pointed out that the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.2041-5370.2016.12043.x">manuscript is unusual</a> in its “lurid focus on emperors’ peccadilloes and personal habits to the detriment of their political accomplishments.” There has been some discussion over the intent and purpose of such a text. Scholar <a href="https://people.wright.edu/shawn.daniels">Shawn Daniels</a>, <a href="https://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/uf/e0/04/59/15/00001/daniels_s.pdf">who has studied the text closely</a>, concluded that the language of “quips and bad puns” suggest that the work was intended as satire. </p>
<h2>Free speech and satire</h2>
<p>In modern times, the liberty of free speech can often protect even harsh examples of satire. </p>
<p>In the U.S., for example, criticism of public figures is protected speech, so satire <a href="https://www.loc.gov/exhibitions/drawing-justice-courtroom-illustrations/about-this-exhibition/significant-and-landmark-cases/satire-is-protected-free-speech/">cannot be used</a> as a basis for libel or to seek damages for emotional distress. In countries such as Italy and Germany, satire is explicitly protected by the Constitution. And France has a <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2015/01/why-satire-holy-french-islam-2015113124829607350.html">long tradition</a> of satirists mocking religious and political institutions.</p>
<p>With regard to Charlie Hebdo’s caricatures of the prophet, there are those who question whether religious sentiments should not be taken into consideration. Many have described the caricatures, such as one depicting a bomb hidden in a turban, to be <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/09/france-charlie-hebdo-reprints-prophet-mohammed-caricatures-200901103959129.html">offensive to religious feelings</a> and in poor taste. There have been <a href="https://theprint.in/world/charlie-hebdos-decision-to-republish-prophet-muhammad-cartoons-spark-widespread-protests/497447/">protests across several countries</a> condemning the republication.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357715/original/file-20200911-20-s36xkg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357715/original/file-20200911-20-s36xkg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357715/original/file-20200911-20-s36xkg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357715/original/file-20200911-20-s36xkg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357715/original/file-20200911-20-s36xkg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357715/original/file-20200911-20-s36xkg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357715/original/file-20200911-20-s36xkg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357715/original/file-20200911-20-s36xkg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Supporters of a religious group hold a rally to condemn the republication of caricatures in Lahore, Pakistan, on Sept. 10, 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Pakistan-Charlie-Hebdo-Protest/f17365ebf3864f4f8403e4fe7e7739b9/9/0">AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In <a href="https://m.startribune.com/french-paper-attacked-in-2015-reprints-mohammed-caricatures/572282162/">an editorial</a> that accompanied the caricatures, the magazine has defended its actions. The editors stated that the drawings “belong to history, and history cannot be rewritten nor erased.”</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>Support for freedom of expression was <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-35108339">evident in the slogan</a> “Je Suis Charlie,” or “I am Charlie,” which was adopted by thousands soon after the attack in 2015. </p>
<p>Are there limits to such freedom of expression? The future of satire as a form of criticism may depend on a balance being struck between its practitioners and its targets.</p>
<p>
<section class="inline-content">
<img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248895/original/file-20181204-133100-t34yqm.png?w=128&h=128">
<div>
<header>Roger J. Kreuz is the author of:</header>
<p><a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/irony-and-sarcasm">Irony and Sarcasm</a></p>
<footer>MIT Press provides funding as a member of The Conversation US.</footer>
</div>
</section>
</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/145527/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roger J. Kreuz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The French satirical magazine republished the controversial caricatures of Prophet Muhammad. An expert says satire has often been a subject of condemnation.
Roger J. Kreuz, Associate Dean and Professor of Psychology, University of Memphis
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/144542
2020-09-09T12:17:48Z
2020-09-09T12:17:48Z
The largest contemporary Muslim pilgrimage isn’t the hajj to Mecca, it’s the Shiite pilgrimage to Karbala in Iraq
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355168/original/file-20200827-16-1qsxjrz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=61%2C30%2C5059%2C3040&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Shiite Muslims attend a mourning ritual during the Islamic month of Muharram, in the central shrine city of Karbala.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/iraqis-attend-a-mourning-ritual-as-shiite-muslims-news-photo/1228172416?adppopup=true">Photo by Mohammed SAWAF / AFP) (Photo by MOHAMMED SAWAF/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every year, Shiite Muslims mark the death of Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Hussain with a mourning period that lasts a total of 50 days. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-ashura-how-this-shiite-muslim-holiday-inspires-millions-122610">Ashura</a>, the tenth day of the Islamic month of Muharram, commemorates the day Hussain died. </p>
<p>For millions of Shiites, this mourning period culminates in a pilgrimage to Karbala in Iraq. This pilgrimage has, in recent years, become the <a href="http://web.mit.edu/cfotini/www/Shia_Pilgrims_Survey.pdf">largest gathering of people in the world for a religious reason</a>. This year Ashura was observed on Aug. 30 and the pilgrimage, 40 days later, will end on Oct. 9, 2020. </p>
<p>My research focuses on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020743812000050">Shiite shrines</a> and <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/500163">Muharram mourning practices</a>.
The city of Karbala, which I visited twice in 2013, is located 60 miles southwest of Baghdad and 45 miles north of Najaf, the other important Shiite shrine city in Iraq. </p>
<p>The pilgrimage and the city of Karbala have been through many changes over a more than 1000-year-old history. This year, the pilgrimage and the holy city are faced with a new challenge: COVID-19. </p>
<h2>The historic battle at Karbala</h2>
<p><a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_3928">Karbala</a> is the place where Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Hussain was killed during what is known as the Battle of Karbala in A.D. 680. According to Shiites, Hussain and his men were martyred in this battle on the day of Ashura.</p>
<p>Following the death of Prophet Muhammad in A.D. 632, <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/191146">there was a dispute over who would be his rightful heir</a>. Sunnis, who make up the majority of Muslims, believe that Abu Bakr, Muhammad’s friend and father-in-law, rightly succeeded Muhammad in A.D. 632. Shiites believe that Ali, Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law, should have been Muhammad’s successor.</p>
<p>After years of civil war, as well as wars of expansion, the Arab Umayyad dynasty established its rule over the region, from the Middle East to North Africa from A.D. 661 to 750. But there were those who decried Umayyad rule.</p>
<p><a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0304">Hussain had been invited by the inhabitants of Kufa</a>, which was a garrison town near Najaf, to come and lead them in a revolt against the Umayyad caliph in Damascus. Umayyad forces first put down the unrest in Kufa and then met and killed Hussain and his men on the desert plains of Karbala. </p>
<p>For Shiite Muslims, Hussain was their third imam, a worldly and spiritual leader whose direct relationship to Muhammad gave him special status and authority.</p>
<p>After Hussain’s death, a tomb was soon built which <a href="https://doi.org/10.1215/1089201X-25-1-78">attracted devotees and benefactors</a>. Najaf is where Hussain’s father, Ali, lies buried. </p>
<h2>The pilgrimage throughout history</h2>
<p>Over the years, Hussain’s shrine was <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_3928">destroyed, rebuilt, remodeled and expanded</a>. </p>
<p>Muharram mourning rituals, whether in Karbala or elsewhere, have been used for political ends. Sometimes, Muharram practices were sponsored by rulers who sought to gain popular support. At other times, the rituals turned into anti-government protests. Fearing civil unrest, some rulers <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/500163">prohibited or limited pilgrimage</a> to Karbala. </p>
<p>For example, Mutawakkil, a caliph of the Abbasid dynasty, which ruled over a vast Islamic empire from the eighth to the 13th century, feared that the rituals <a href="https://doi.org/10.1215/1089201X-25-1-78">inflamed anti-regime fervor</a>. He <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_3928">destroyed the tomb in A.D. 850 and banned the pilgrimage to Karbala</a>. </p>
<p>Karbala and Najaf grew in importance in the 16th century with the founding of a Shiite state in Persia, today’s Iran, under <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300035315/introduction-shii-islam">Shah Ismail I</a>. From then on, the Iraqi shrine cities attracted increasing numbers of pilgrims.</p>
<p>Many pilgrims brought bodies of deceased relatives because of a belief that <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691115757/the-shiis-of-iraq">being buried close to Ali or Hussain</a> ensures that when the deceased stands in front of God on Judgment Day, Ali or Hussain will appeal to God’s mercy to allow the person’s soul to enter heaven. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355170/original/file-20200827-16-tziofs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355170/original/file-20200827-16-tziofs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355170/original/file-20200827-16-tziofs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355170/original/file-20200827-16-tziofs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355170/original/file-20200827-16-tziofs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355170/original/file-20200827-16-tziofs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355170/original/file-20200827-16-tziofs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355170/original/file-20200827-16-tziofs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Imam Ali mosque in Najaf, Iraq.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/this-picture-shows-a-partial-view-of-the-imam-ali-mosque-at-news-photo/1228135688?adppopup=true">Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This has led to “<a href="https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000228324">Wadi al-Salam</a>,” Arabic for “Valley of Peace,” in Najaf becoming one of the world’s largest cemeteries, holding up to 5 million corpses. </p>
<p>The transport and burial of corpses provided employment for a wide strata of the population in Najaf and Karbala. Higher fees were charged from those wanting to be closer to Ali or Hussain in the burial site. </p>
<p>Blaming the corpse traffic as one of the reasons for several outbreaks of cholera in 19th-century Persia and Ottoman Iraq, the Ottoman government, which ruled over Iraq from the 16th to the beginning of the 20th century, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1215/1089201U-2010-031">sought to restrict and control the number of corpses that were brought in</a>. </p>
<p>Yet even under these restrictions, around <a href="https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000228324">20,000 dead bodies were brought to Najaf each year at the start of the 20th century</a>. Today, roughly 100,000 are brought for burial in Najaf annually. </p>
<h2>From decline to rebirth</h2>
<p>Under the authoritarian Iraqi Baath regime, from the early 1970s to 2003, <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/iraq-since-1958-9781860646225/">Shiite pilgrimage was closely monitored and limited</a>.</p>
<p>Like many previous rulers, Saddam Hussain feared that the rituals would be used in order to incite rebellion against his regime, that the pilgrimage would turn into a protest. But once Saddam was overthrown by U.S.-led forces in 2003, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1386/pi.4.1.61_1">the pilgrimage flourished again</a>.</p>
<p>In 2004, more than 2 million pilgrims walked to Karbala, and the most common route was from Najaf to Karbala. Since then, the pilgrimage to Karbala has even eclipsed the <a href="https://www.stats.gov.sa/sites/default/files/haj_40_en.pdf">hajj, which annually draws between 2 and 3 million</a>. In 2014, <a href="http://web.mit.edu/cfotini/www/Shia_Pilgrims_Survey.pdf">17 million people</a> reportedly completed the walk to Karbala. By 2016, the number of pilgrims increased to 22 million. </p>
<p>This year, fear of the spread of COVID-19 has greatly restricted many pilgrimages, including <a href="https://theconversation.com/hajj-cancellation-due-to-coronavirus-is-not-the-first-time-plague-has-disrupted-this-muslim-pilgrimage-135900">the hajj</a>. Only a limited number of Muslims already inside Saudi Arabia was allowed to attend. </p>
<p>As a precautionary measure, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, a top Iraqi Shiite leader, <a href="https://mainstay.us/muharram-message-2020/">encouraged his followers to mourn at home</a>, rather than visit Karbala. </p>
<p>For Ashura this year, Shiites gathered in Najaf and Karbala, but on a much smaller scale. There was social distancing, but not everywhere. <a href="https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/afp/2020/08/iraq-religion.html">Not all pilgrims wore masks</a>. In the absence of stringent measures, the <a href="https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-09-highest-virus-iraq.html">number of infections in Iraq has already spiked</a>. Whether the government will respond with stricter policies for the pilgrimage at the beginning of October remains to be seen.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/144542/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Edith Szanto does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Millions of Muslims travel to Karbala in Iraq for one of the largest annual pilgrimages. The pilgrimage has adapted and changed over its centuries-old history.
Edith Szanto, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, University of Alabama
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/141575
2020-07-06T12:10:45Z
2020-07-06T12:10:45Z
Islam’s anti-racist message from the 7th century still resonates today
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345374/original/file-20200702-111368-1x5lf4i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C6%2C4640%2C3014&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Muslims of all backgrounds pray during the 2019 Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/muslim-pilgrims-pray-outside-the-namirah-mosquee-at-mount-news-photo/1160522220?adppopup=true">Fethi Belaid/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>One day, in Mecca, the Prophet Muhammad dropped a bombshell on his followers: He told them that all people are created equal. </p>
<p>“All humans are descended from Adam and Eve,” said Muhammad in his <a href="https://www.arabnews.com/news/467364">last known public speech</a>. “There is no superiority of an Arab over a non-Arab, or of a non-Arab over an Arab, and no superiority of a white person over a black person or of a black person over a white person, except on the basis of personal piety and righteousness.”</p>
<p>In this sermon, known as the Farewell Address, Muhammad outlined the basic <a href="http://lcwu.edu.pk/ocd/cfiles/Gender%20&%20Development%20Studies/Maj/GDS%20%E2%80%93%20308/TheFarewellAddressofProphetMuhammad.pdf">religious and ethical ideals of Islam</a>, the religion he began preaching in the early seventh century. Racial equality was one of them. Muhammad’s words jolted a society divided by notions of tribal and ethnic superiority. </p>
<p>Today, with <a href="https://theconversation.com/george-floyd-protests-arent-just-anti-racist-they-are-anti-authoritarian-139932">racial tension and violence roiling contemporary America</a>, his message is seen to create a special moral and ethical mandate for American Muslims to support the country’s anti-racism protest movement. </p>
<h2>Challenging kinship</h2>
<p>Apart from <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/M/bo6826294.html">monotheism</a> – worshipping just one God – belief in the equality of all human beings in the eyes of God set early Muslims apart from many of their fellow Arabs in Mecca.</p>
<p><a href="https://quran.com/49/13">Chapter 49, verse 13</a> of Islam’s sacred scripture, the Quran, declares: “O humankind! We have made you…into nations and tribes, so that you may get to know one another. The noblest of you in God’s sight is the one who is most righteous.”</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>This verse challenged many of the <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/middle-east-history/hierarchy-and-egalitarianism-islamic-thought?format=PB">values of pre-Islamic Arab society</a>, where inequalities based on <a href="https://www.mqup.ca/ethico-religious-concepts-in-the-qur-an-products-9780773524279.php?page_id=73&">tribal membership, kinship and wealth</a> were a fact of life. Kinship or lineal descent – “nasab” in Arabic – <a href="https://www-jstor-org.proxyiub.uits.iu.edu/stable/pdf/j.ctt7zvcmx.9.pdf?ab_segments=0%252Fbasic_SYC-5187%252Fcontrol&refreqid=excelsior%3A110bbea87bab858639cb7b042ca39f1c">was the primary determinant of an individual’s social status</a>. Members of larger, more prominent tribes like the aristocratic Quraysh were powerful. Those from less wealthy tribes like the Khazraj had lower standing. </p>
<p>The Quran said personal piety and deeds were the basis for merit, <a href="https://brill.com/view/title/7252?rskey=Db4ryV&result=1">not tribal affiliation</a> – an alien and potentially destabilizing message in a society built on nasab.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345141/original/file-20200701-159815-1lxj4en.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345141/original/file-20200701-159815-1lxj4en.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345141/original/file-20200701-159815-1lxj4en.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345141/original/file-20200701-159815-1lxj4en.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345141/original/file-20200701-159815-1lxj4en.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345141/original/file-20200701-159815-1lxj4en.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345141/original/file-20200701-159815-1lxj4en.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345141/original/file-20200701-159815-1lxj4en.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The wealthy Quraysh tribe of ancient Arabia dominated the region for centuries.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.qantara.de/sites/default/files/styles/slideshow_wide/public/uploads/2018/03/16/mahmudinrobefromthecaliph.jpg?itok=2R3-quT4">Qantara</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Give me your tired, your poor</h2>
<p>As is often the case with revolutionary movements, early Islam encountered fierce opposition from many elites.</p>
<p>The Quraysh, for example, who controlled trade in Mecca – a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Islamic-world/Formation-and-orientation-c-500-634">business from which they profited greatly</a> – had no intention of giving up the comfortable lifestyles they’d built on the backs of others, especially their <a href="https://oneworld-publications.com/slavery-and-islam.html">slaves brought over from Africa</a>. </p>
<p>The Prophet’s message of egalitarianism tended to attract the “undesirables” –people from the margins of society. Early Muslims included young men from less influential tribes escaping that stigma and slaves who were promised emancipation by embracing Islam. </p>
<p>Women, declared to be the <a href="https://quran.com/33/35">equal of men by the Quran</a>, also found Muhammad’s message appealing. However, the potential of gender equality in Islam would become compromised by the <a href="https://utpress.utexas.edu/books/barlas-believing-women-in-islam">rise of patriarchal societies</a>. </p>
<p>By Muhammad’s death, in 632, Islam had brought about a fundamental transformation of Arab society, though <a href="https://www-cambridge-org.proxyiub.uits.iu.edu/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/CC41AE69D28F2827B1AB50559905DF6F/S002074380005546Xa.pdf/in_praise_of_the_caliphs_recreating_history_from_the_manaqib_literature.pdf">it never fully erased the region’s old reverence for kinship</a>. </p>
<h2>I can’t breathe</h2>
<p>Early Islam also attracted non-Arabs, outsiders with <a href="https://its.org.uk/catalogue/muhammad-his-life-based-on-the-earliest-sources-paperback/">little standing in traditional Arab society</a>. These included Salman the Persian, who traveled to the Arabian peninsula seeking religious truth, Suhayb the Greek, a trader, and an enslaved Ethiopian named Bilal.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345137/original/file-20200701-159815-wl178v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345137/original/file-20200701-159815-wl178v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345137/original/file-20200701-159815-wl178v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1000&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345137/original/file-20200701-159815-wl178v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1000&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345137/original/file-20200701-159815-wl178v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1000&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345137/original/file-20200701-159815-wl178v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1257&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345137/original/file-20200701-159815-wl178v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1257&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345137/original/file-20200701-159815-wl178v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1257&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bilal, center, found freedom in Islam.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a8/Bilal.jpg/360px-Bilal.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>All three would rise to prominence in Islam during Muhammad’s lifetime. Bilal’s much-improved fortunes, in particular, illustrate how the egalitarianism preached by Islam changed Arab society. </p>
<p>An enslaved servant of a Meccan aristocrat named Umayya, Bilal was persecuted by his owner for embracing the new faith. Umayya would place a rock on Bilal’s chest, trying to choke the air out of his body so that he would abandon Islam. </p>
<p>Moved by Bilal’s suffering, Muhammad’s friend and confidant Abu Bakr, who would go on to rule the Muslim community after the Prophet’s death, set him free. </p>
<p>Bilal was exceptionally close to Muhammad, too. In 622, the Prophet appointed him the first person to give the public call to prayer in recognition of his <a href="https://referenceworks-brillonline-com.proxyiub.uits.iu.edu/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/bilal-b-rabah-SIM_1412?s.num=1&s.f.s2_parent=s.f.book.encyclopaedia-of-islam-2&s.q=bilal">powerful, pleasing voice</a> and personal piety. Bilal would later marry an Arab woman from a respectable tribe – unthinkable for an enslaved African in the pre-Islamic period. </p>
<h2>Black lives matter</h2>
<p>For many modern Muslims, Bilal is the <a href="https://oneworld-publications.com/the-first-muslims-pb.html">symbol of Islam’s egalitarian message</a>, which in its ideal application recognizes no difference among humans on the basis of ethnicity or race but rather is more concerned with personal integrity. One of the United States’ leading Black Muslim newspaper, published between 1975 and 1981, was called <a href="https://www.preciousspeaks.com/bilalian-project">The Bilalian News</a>. </p>
<p>More recently Yasir Qadhi, dean of the Islamic Seminary of America, in Texas, invoked Islam’s egalitarian roots. In a June 5 public address, he said American Muslims, a population familiar with discrimination, “must fight racism, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyECoCpPkw0">whether it is by education or by other means</a>.” </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/muslim-americans-assert-solidarity-with-black-lives-matter-finding-unity-within-a-diverse-faith-group-141344">Many Muslims in the U.S. are taking action</a>, supporting the Black Lives Matter movement and protesting police brutality and systemic racism. Their actions reflect the revolutionary – and still unrealized – egalitarian message that Prophet Muhammad set down over 1,400 years ago as a cornerstone of the Muslim faith.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141575/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Asma Afsaruddin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The Quran recognizes ‘no superiority of a white person over a black person.’ That notion, radical in 7th-century Arab society of slavery and tribal divides – remains unrealized 1,400 years later.
Asma Afsaruddin, Professor of Islamic Studies and former Chairperson, Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures, Indiana University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/133221
2020-03-16T12:18:14Z
2020-03-16T12:18:14Z
What Islamic hygienic practices can teach when coronavirus is spreading
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/320483/original/file-20200313-115127-1aiuq2v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A Muslim man prepares for prayer by doing a ritual washing.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/muslim-man-taking-ablution-for-prayer-royalty-free-image/1165714884?adppopup=true">mustafagull/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As outbreaks of the coronavirus spread throughout the world, people are reminded over and again to limit physical contact, <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-hand-washing-really-is-as-important-as-doctors-say-132840">wash hands</a> and avoid touching their face. The recent Netflix docuseries “<a href="https://www.netflix.com/Title/81026143">Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak</a>” illustrates how the Islamic ritual washing, known as “wudu,” may help spread a good hygiene message.</p>
<p>The series focuses on Syra Madad, a Muslim public health specialist in a New York hospital, who takes a break to say her prayers at the Islamic Center of New York University. Before entering the prayer room, Madad stops to perform wudu, and washes her mouth and face as well as her feet. </p>
<p>Islamic law requires Muslims to ritually purify their body before praying. As a scholar of Islamic studies who <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=FvTDlCsAAAAJ&hl=en">researches</a> ritual practices among Muslims, I have found that these practices contain both spiritual and physical benefits. </p>
<h2>Ritual purity</h2>
<p>The Prophet Muhammad left detailed guidance for Muslims on how to live their lives, including how to pray, fast and stay ritually pure. This guidance is available in collections called the Hadith. </p>
<p>According to Islamic law, there are minor and major impurities. Minor impurities involve urinating, defecating and sleeping, among other practices. A person of Muslim faith is supposed to perform a <a href="http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e2520">ritual washing</a> of their bodies before praying to get rid of these minor impurities. </p>
<p>Wudu is to be performed, as was done by the Prophet Muhammad, in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=8x-OHSYzPr8&feature=emb_title">a specific order</a> before praying, which takes place five times a day. Before each prayer, Muslims are expected to wash themselves in a certain order – first hands, then mouth, nose, face, hair and ears, and finally their ankles and feet. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8x-OHSYzPr8?wmode=transparent&start=3" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>While washing with water is required when it is available, if a person has limited access to water, then a Muslim is permitted to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oh0gxMmyPSk">symbolically “cleanse” their hands and face</a> with dust or sometimes sand or other natural materials. </p>
<p>A Quranic verse <a href="http://al-quran.info/#5:6">says</a>: “And if you are ill or on a journey or one of you comes from the place of relieving himself or you have contacted women and find no water, then seek clean earth and wipe over your faces and your hands [with it]. Indeed, God is ever Pardoning and Forgiving.” </p>
<p>A hadith from the prophet also <a href="https://ahadith.co.uk/permalink-hadith-1552">describes the Earth</a> as a purifying agent if there is a scarcity of water for washing. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Oh0gxMmyPSk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Major impurity is defined in Islamic texts as occurring after sexual activity or when a woman completes her menstrual cycle. A Muslim woman should not pray during her menstrual cycle. To purify oneself after such an impurity, a Muslim is required to take a shower, called “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEgUbg9YuCA">ghusl</a>.” A person needs to wash their entire body, from head to toe, including their hair. </p>
<h2>Spiritual actions</h2>
<p>Preparing for prayer by washing one’s body using water can be a deeply spiritual act for Muslims. Islamic studies scholar <a href="https://college.lclark.edu/live/profiles/99-paul-powers">Paul Powers</a> <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jaar/jaar/article-abstract/72/2/425/688516">argues</a> it isn’t “empty ritualism,” but an embodied practice that helps the individual center on an inner religiosity. </p>
<p>Similarly, another Islamic studies scholar, <a href="https://as.nyu.edu/content/nyu-as/as/faculty/marion-h-katz.html">Marion Katz</a>, explains in her 2002 book “<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=60YGB0kF3-cC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA75#v=onepage&q&f=false">Body of Text</a>” that the importance of wudu lies in its symbolic cleansing. It does not always cleanse the parts of the body that are “physically involved in the pollution act.” </p>
<p>Ritual purity is different from hygienic practices, although Islam also emphasizes good hygiene. Muslims take care to wash often, including using water <a href="https://www.salon.com/2012/07/10/secrets_of_the_muslim_bathroom/">after going to the bathroom</a>.</p>
<h2>Aligning with public health guidelines</h2>
<p>In view of the coronavirus risk, Muslim leaders <a href="https://sandala.org/congregations-and-covid-19/">around the world</a>, including <a href="https://shuracouncil.org/">in the U.S.</a>, have aligned their religious opinions with public health experts. </p>
<p>Muslim institutions have begun to <a href="https://www.adamscenter.org/coronavirus">recommend</a> that people make sure to wash their hands for 20 seconds with soap before doing wudu. Emphasizing that wudu alone cannot prevent the virus from spreading, other Islamic institutions <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/muslims-advised-stop-coronavirus-spread-200304160256140.html">recommend</a> that mosques supply extra soap and hand sanitizer near the washing area.</p>
<p>They have issued rulings to <a href="https://sandala.org/congregations-and-covid-19/">cancel Friday prayers</a>, urged Muslims to wash their hands with soap regularly, refrain from touching their face and practice social distancing. </p>
<p>While people have cleared local store shelves of hand sanitizers, wipes, cleaning supplies, gloves and masks, basic hygiene practices remain the best way to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and other viruses. </p>
<p>At this time, Islamic practices that emphasize purity of body could help reiterate the importance of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4099567/">hygienic practices</a> along with the use of soap or hand sanitizer, to reduce one’s vulnerability to the virus.</p>
<p>[<em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=youresmart">You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/133221/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rose S. Aslan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Islamic law requires Muslims to ritually clean their body before praying. This guidance has particular relevance at a time when hand-washing is important to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
Rose S. Aslan, Assistant Professor of Religion, California Lutheran University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/126175
2019-11-13T13:10:03Z
2019-11-13T13:10:03Z
What is a caliph? The Islamic State tries to boost its legitimacy by hijacking a historic institution
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300751/original/file-20191107-10930-39lr05.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An image of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who died on Oct. 26, 2019..</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/US-Islamic-State/fee3c4433beb4f088323b85b942a5c0c/38/0">Department of Defense via AP</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Just days after the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/27/abu-bakr-al-baghdadi-isis-leader-killed-us-donald-trump">death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi</a> on Oct. 27, the Islamic State named <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-50254785">Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi</a> as the new “caliph.” </p>
<p>In 2014, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/middle-east-live/2014/jun/30/isis-declares-caliphate-in-iraq-and-syria-live-updates">IS conquered vast swaths of Iraq and Syria</a> and declared itself to be the “caliphate.” </p>
<p>Defined and applied in different ways over the centuries, the fundamental idea behind the caliphate is the <a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/hugh-kennedy/caliphate/9780465094394/?lens=perseus">just ordering of society</a> according to the will of God. </p>
<p>The Islamic State’s caliphate was never widely recognized among the global Muslim community and no longer has significant territory. But the Islamic State still uses the history of the caliphate to push their claims.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=cQRzNv8AAAAJ&hl=en">a scholar of global Islam</a>, every time I teach my “Introduction to Islam” class, questions about the caliphate come up, in part because of IS’s claims. </p>
<h2>Caliph conundrums</h2>
<p>The leader of a caliphate is called the caliph, meaning deputy or representative. All caliphs are believed to be the successor to Prophet Muhammad. Muhammad was not a caliph; <a href="https://quran.com/33/40">according to the Quran</a> he was the last and greatest of the prophets. </p>
<p>That means no one can replace Muhammad as the messenger of God. The caliph, for example, is not always seen as holding special spiritual authority. But he is meant to preside over the caliphate in the absence of Muhammad.</p>
<p>The debate over who was the rightful representative of the prophet began immediately after his death. <a href="https://books.google.de/books?id=O36yXxCMiQIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=islam+a+brief+history&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false">While the majority supported Abu Bakr</a> – one of the prophet’s closest companions – a minority opted for his young son-in-law and cousin, Ali. </p>
<p>Abu Bakr’s supporters would come to be known as <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-shia-sunni-divide-78216">Sunni Muslims</a>, who believe that Muhammad did not leave instructions regarding his successor. Those who felt Ali was appointed by the prophet to be the political and spiritual leader of the fledgling Muslim community became known as Shiite Muslims. </p>
<p>Abu Bakr was the first caliph and Ali the fourth. </p>
<p><a href="https://books.google.de/books?id=EmN8tCx_jR4C&pg=PA9&dq=the+rashidun&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwisvPS13uHlAhUGjqQKHeqGB_0Q6AEIWjAH#v=onepage&q=the%20rashidun&f=false">The second and third caliphs were Umar and Uthman</a>. Under Umar, the caliphate expanded to include many regions of the world such as the lands of the former Byzantine and Sassanian empires in Asia Minor, Persia and Central Asia. Uthman is credited with compiling the Quran. </p>
<p>That al-Baghdadi adopted the name of the first caliph was no coincidence. Together, Sunni Muslims call the first four caliphs <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781118455074.wbeoe277">the Rashidun, or the “Rightly Guided Caliphs,”</a> because they were close companions or relations of Muhammad. They are also believed to be extraordinarily pious. This period lasted about 30 years. </p>
<h2>The complex history of the caliphate</h2>
<p>After rebels assassinated Uthman in A.D. 656, Ali was elected caliph. However, a civil war soon broke out between Ali and Muʿawiya ibn Abi Sufyan. The civil war ended in Sufyan’s victory and the formation of the Umayyad caliphate in A.D. 661. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/isru/hd_isru.htm">The Umayyad dynasty lasted 89 years</a>.</p>
<p>The Abbasid dynasty descended from Muhammad’s uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib, and succeeded the Umayyads.</p>
<p>These two caliphates oversaw the continuing expansion of the empire. <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-24774-8_2">Under them architecture, the arts and sciences flourished</a>.</p>
<p>For example, the “Dome of the Rock,” a shrine in the Old City of Jerusalem, was built under an Umayyad caliph as <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233604991_The_Dome_of_the_Rock_Origin_of_its_Octagonal_Plan">a monument</a> to the rising supremacy of their empire.</p>
<p>The Grand Library of Baghdad, also known as the “House of Wisdom,” was supported by Abbasid patronage. The “House of Wisdom” is credited with being a center of translation, scientific study and academic exchange. This period of flourishing, from the eighth to the 14th century, is often referred to as the <a href="https://books.google.de/books?id=O36yXxCMiQIC&pg=PA39&dq=islamic+golden+age&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiGvsuz4OHlAhU9wAIHHdFcBmo4FBDoAQgvMAE#v=onepage&q=islamic%20golden%20age&f=false">“Islamic Golden Age</a>.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300754/original/file-20191107-10961-19h1cn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300754/original/file-20191107-10961-19h1cn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300754/original/file-20191107-10961-19h1cn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300754/original/file-20191107-10961-19h1cn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300754/original/file-20191107-10961-19h1cn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300754/original/file-20191107-10961-19h1cn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300754/original/file-20191107-10961-19h1cn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dome of The Rock, in Jerusalem.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/rayinmanila/24665287394">Ray in Manila</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Both before and after the fall of the Abbasids in A.D. 1258, a succession of various empires <a href="http://teachmideast.org/articles/timeline-of-islamic-dynasties/">made overlapping and competing claims</a> to the caliphate. These included the Mamluks of Cairo and the Umayyads in Cordóba, Spain. </p>
<p>In 1517, the Turkish Ottomans amassed enough land and power throughout Asia Minor, North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and Eastern Europe to claim the title “caliphate.” Ottoman sultans, however, were not universally recognized as caliphs. <a href="https://www.mei.edu/publications/declaring-caliphate-doesnt-make-one-caliph">Many Muslims believe</a> that the caliphate effectively ended after the Mongol conquest of Abbasid Baghdad in A.D. 1258.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, the Ottomans effectively held on to that title until 1924, when the Turkish nationalist and secularist Kemal Ataturk <a href="https://books.google.de/books?id=R3SYDwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=ataturk+abolished+caliphate&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi_tJ-e4eHlAhVS2KQKHTeXA4kQ6AEISDAE#v=onepage&q=ataturk%20abolished%20caliphate&f=false">abolished the caliphate</a>. </p>
<h2>Resurrecting the caliphate?</h2>
<p>The idea of the caliphate, which the Islamic State has forcefully promoted, recalls a time and a place when Islamic states flourished politically, economically and socially. It also summons up a spiritual vision of a supposedly more devout and dedicated Muslim community than exists today. </p>
<p>Other modern-day Islamists have called for a <a href="https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4287&context=gc_etds">resurrection of the caliphate,</a> or at least its ideals, as a way to recapture the vibrancy of the past. However, only violent extremist groups such as al-Qaida or the Islamic State have tried to make it a tangible reality.</p>
<p>Killing al-Baghdadi has not quashed the Islamic State’s version of the caliphate. The idea <a href="https://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/mappingmilitants/profiles/islamic-state">lives on and continues to motivate</a> its members in enclaves across the globe. It is worth mentioning that the name of their new caliph is an honorific title for a member of Prophet Muhammad’s family – “al-Qurashi.” This prophetic lineage is one more way IS is trying to resurrect the history of the caliphate for its destructive purposes. </p>
<p>[ <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=expertise">Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter and get a digest of academic takes on today’s news, every day.</a></em> ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126175/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ken Chitwood does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The Islamic State has appointed yet another ‘caliph’ after the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. What is the idea behind the caliphate?
Ken Chitwood, Lecturer, Concordia College New York, Concordia College New York
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/106423
2018-12-14T11:44:59Z
2018-12-14T11:44:59Z
Who are Yemen’s Houthis?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250550/original/file-20181213-178570-rs5rzo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Supporters of Shiite Houthi rebels attend a rally in Sanaa, Yemen, in 2017.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Yemen/5e3dba120f09431cb34025096ffbadca/71/0">AP Photo/Hani Mohammed, File</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Fully half of Yemen’s population – <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/06/world/middleeast/famine-yemen-saudi-arabia-hudaydah.html">14 million people</a> – are on the brink of starvation. Some analysts blame their inability to access basic foodstuff on escalating conflict between two religious factions: the country’s Sunni Muslims and its Houthis. The Houthis belong to the Shiite branch of Islam. </p>
<p>Saudi Arabia, which shares a border with <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/these-maps-show-where-yemens-conflict-could-be-heading-2015-3">Yemen</a> and is predominantly Sunni, has been helping Yemen’s government forces try to regain control over Houthi-held parts of the country. For several weeks, a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/06/world/middleeast/famine-yemen-saudi-arabia-hudaydah.html">Saudi-led coalition</a> has unleashed near-continuous airstrikes on Houthi strongholds including access points for the majority of humanitarian aid coming into country. </p>
<p>What are the Houthis’ religious beliefs? </p>
<h2>Roots of Houthi movement</h2>
<p>Just as the Protestant tradition is subdivided into Methodists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists and others, Shiite Islam is also subdivided. Houthis belong to the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249485351_Zaydism_A_Theological_and_Political_Survey_Zaydism">Zaydi branch</a>. </p>
<p>From the ninth century onward, or for a thousand years, <a href="http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e2567">a state ruled by Zaydi</a> religious leaders and politicians existed in northern Yemen. Then, in 1962, Egyptian-trained Yemeni military officers <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/markaz/2017/12/18/who-are-the-houthis-and-why-are-we-at-war-with-them/">toppled the Zaydi monarchy</a> and replaced it with a republic. Because of their ties to the ancient regime, Zaydis were perceived as a threat to the new government and were subjected to <a href="http://www.mei.edu/publications/huthi-ascent-power">severe repression</a>. </p>
<p>Nearly three decades later, in 1990, the region known as south Yemen merged with north Yemen to become the <a href="https://blog.oup.com/2010/11/yemen/">Republic of Yemen</a>. Zaydis remained <a href="https://www.ecfr.eu/mena/yemen">a majority in the north and west</a> of the country, and also in the capital city of Sanaa. However, in terms of the overall population, they became a minority.</p>
<p>According to a <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ym.html">2010 CIA estimate</a>, 65 percent of Yemen’s people are Sunnis and 35 percent are Shiites. The majority of those Shiites are Zaydis. Jews, Bahais, Hindus and Christians make up less than 1 percent of inhabitants, many of whom are refugees or temporary foreign residents.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250556/original/file-20181213-178573-1mffisw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250556/original/file-20181213-178573-1mffisw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250556/original/file-20181213-178573-1mffisw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250556/original/file-20181213-178573-1mffisw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250556/original/file-20181213-178573-1mffisw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250556/original/file-20181213-178573-1mffisw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250556/original/file-20181213-178573-1mffisw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Yemen: 2015 Civil War map. The section in green is controlled by the Houthis.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yemen_war_detailed_map.png#/media/File:Yemen_war_detailed_map.png">0ali1,via Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To reduce the dominance of Zaydis in the north, government authorities encouraged Muslims belonging to two Sunni branches with links to Saudi Arabia – Salafis and Wahhabis – <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10576100903262716?src=recsys&journalCode=uter20">to settle</a> in the heart of the Zaydis’ traditional territories. </p>
<h2>Start of Houthi insurgency</h2>
<p>Contributing to this trend, in the early 1990s, a Yemeni cleric founded a <a href="https://ctc.usma.edu/deconstructing-salafism-in-yemen-2/">teaching institute</a> in the Zaydis’ heartland. This cleric, educated in Saudi Arabia, developed a version of Salafi Islam.</p>
<p>His institute proselytized with the goal of reforming Muslims through conversion. It educated thousands of Yemeni students and, in less than three decades, the new religious group grew large enough to compete with older groups such as the Zaydis.</p>
<p>According to scholar <a href="https://www.towson.edu/cla/departments/geography/cschmitz.html">Charles Schmitz</a>, the Houthi insurgency began in the early 1990s, spurred, in part, by <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-31645145">Zaydi resistance</a> to growing Salafi and Wahhabi <a href="https://institute.global/insight/co-existence/what-houthi-movement">influence</a> in the north. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.academia.edu/4818151/A_Portrait_of_Tunisia_s_Ansar_al-_Shari_a_Leader_Abu_Iyad_al-Tunisi_His_Strategy_on_Jihad">Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi</a>, son of a prominent Zaydi cleric, gave the grassroots movement its name. He coalesced support among his followers around a narrative of Houthis as defenders and revivers of Zaydi religion and culture. </p>
<h2>Sunni vs. Zaydi Shiite beliefs</h2>
<p>What beliefs set Zaydis apart from Sunni Muslims? That is an old story, dating back to the seventh century when the Prophet Muhammad died. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-shia-sunni-divide-78216">Shiites and Sunnis disagree</a> about who should have been selected to succeed Muhammad as head of the Muslim community. Two groups emerged after his death. One group of the Prophet’s followers – later called Sunnis – recognized four of his companions as <a href="http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e2018">“rightly guided” leaders</a> In contrast, another group – later called Shiites – recognized only Ali, the fourth of these leaders, as legitimate.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Ali_ibn_Abi_Talib">Ali</a> was the Prophet’s first cousin and closest male blood relative. He was also married to Fatima, Muhammad’s youngest daughter. For these and other reasons, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/616187">Shiites believe that Ali was uniquely qualified</a> to lead. In support of this claim, they cite sources describing Muhammad’s wish that Ali succeed him. Shiites consider Ali second in importance only to the Prophet. </p>
<p><iframe id="lPEaI" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/lPEaI/5/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Over time, <a href="https://iis.ac.uk/academic-articles/what-shi-islam#zaydi%20shiism">further divisions</a> took place. Allegiances to different descendants of Ali and his two sons, Hassan and Hussein, split Shiites into sub-branches. A grandson of Hussein called <a href="http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e2566">Zayd</a> gave the Zaydis their name. To them, he is the fifth imam after Muhammad, giving the Zaydis their other name: “Fivers.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250562/original/file-20181213-178573-1qa8jnb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250562/original/file-20181213-178573-1qa8jnb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250562/original/file-20181213-178573-1qa8jnb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250562/original/file-20181213-178573-1qa8jnb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250562/original/file-20181213-178573-1qa8jnb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250562/original/file-20181213-178573-1qa8jnb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250562/original/file-20181213-178573-1qa8jnb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250562/original/file-20181213-178573-1qa8jnb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The family genealogy of the Zaydi Shiites’ first five imams.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Conversation, CC-BY-ND</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Zayd earned the respect of his followers when he rose up against the powerful Muslim rulers of his time, whom he believed to be tyrannical and corrupt. Though his rebellion was ill-fated, his fight against oppression and injustice inspires Zaydis to actively resist. </p>
<p>A key Zaydi belief is that only blood relatives of Ali and Fatima are eligible to serve as religious leaders, or imams. In Yemen, these relatives form a notable class of people called <a href="https://www.oasiscenter.eu/en/war-in-yemen-who-is-involved">Sada</a>. Hussein al-Houthi, the first leader of the Houthis, came from a prestigious clan of Sada. </p>
<h2>Impact of sectarian differences</h2>
<p>Not all Zaydis have a favorable view of Sada elites. When north and south Yemen merged in 1990, the republican government, led by a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/04/former-yemen-president-saleh-killed-in-fresh-fighting">Zaydi president</a> sought to reduce their outsized influence and limit their privileges.</p>
<p>Some members of the Sada reacted to the country’s changing political landscape by joining electoral politics to secure honor and exercise power. This path was initially followed by Hussein al-Houthi but, after he decided it was ineffective, he abandoned it. </p>
<p>Other members of the Sada, particularly the youth, reacted by pledging to teach and promote Zaydism among their peers who had forgotten their ancestors’ religion. To accomplish this, they founded the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10576100903262716?src=recsys&journalCode=uter20">Believing Youth organization</a> and set up a cultural education program based on a network of summer camps in the north. Hussein al-Houthi joined this organization in the early 2000s and later transformed it into a political movement critical of the Yemeni government’s ties to the West.</p>
<p>Security forces sent to arrest Hussein al-Houthi touched off the first war with the Houthis. Hussein was killed during the conflict and <a href="https://institute.global/insight/co-existence/what-houthi-movement">leadership</a> passed to Hussein’s father and then to Hussein’s youngest brother, Abdul-Malik Badreddin al-Houthi. Abdul-Malik helped transform the Houthi movement into a powerful fighting force. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.academia.edu/4818151/A_Portrait_of_Tunisia_s_Ansar_al-_Shari_a_Leader_Abu_Iyad_al-Tunisi_His_Strategy_on_Jihad">Five additional wars</a> followed over the next six years until, in 2010, the rebels had grown strong enough to repel a ground and aerial offensive launched against them by Saudi Arabia. During these wars, the <a href="https://cfr.org/interview/who-are-yemens-houthis">Houthis</a> pushed beyond their traditional base and captured vast sections of territory.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244002/original/file-20181105-74775-tcslag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244002/original/file-20181105-74775-tcslag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244002/original/file-20181105-74775-tcslag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244002/original/file-20181105-74775-tcslag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244002/original/file-20181105-74775-tcslag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244002/original/file-20181105-74775-tcslag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244002/original/file-20181105-74775-tcslag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Yemeni women and children at a camp in north Yemen.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/irinphotos/4437447101/in/photolist-7LbBas-7L85qD-7KTgRD-7L85qV-r9xKk3-V1rFYe-FVXHwd-244XFAY-S991QM-pXsjFW-26KRXzQ-F3ZFHT-HaNyf4-22oWX1e-23Lrqqk-FCty1E-FCqegb-ryxv8k-ryrExv-22oWWmD-qBLbnB-E7fq1K-23HuKuA-278Vcw2-FSoMgM-ryrWCC-23LrpMM-244XFUU-JPpdox-244XDzJ-FCqekE-275e39G-Kv6DzP-25seAwc">IRIN Photos/Flickr.com</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many Yemenis, <a href="https://civiliansinconflict.org/dt_team/nadwa-al-dawsari/">according to one expert</a>, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/houthis-endgame-yemen-171221082107181.html">believe</a> that the Houthis are fighting to restore a state like the one prior to 1962, led by imams who came exclusively from Sada families. </p>
<h2>Complex factors today</h2>
<p>Houthis continue to focus on protecting the Zaydi region of north Yemen from state control. However, they have also forged <a href="http://www.mei.edu/publications/huthi-ascent-power">coalitions</a> with other groups – some of them Sunni – unhappy with Yemen’s persistent high <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-middle-east-13917706/yemen-s-unemployment-crisis">unemployment and corruption</a>.</p>
<p>A 2015 U.N. <a href="https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/wp-content/uploads/s_2015_125.pdf">Security Council report</a> estimates that the Houthi movement includes 75,000 armed fighters. However, if unarmed loyalists are taken into account, they could number between 100,000 and 120,000.</p>
<p>Sectarian tension is only one factor in the complex set of <a href="https://www.cfr.org/article/yemens-spiraling-crisis">interlocking factors</a> responsible for violence and starvation in Yemen. But it is, without a doubt, a contributing factor.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106423/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Myriam Renaud is affiliated with the Parliament of the World's Religions. </span></em></p>
The Houthis belong to the Shiite branch of Islam. The Houthi insurgency began in the early 1990s, spurred in part by growing influence of different Sunni branches of Islam.
Myriam Renaud, Principal Investigator and Project Director of the Global Ethic Project, Parliament of the World's Religions, University of Chicago
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/102321
2018-09-24T10:19:29Z
2018-09-24T10:19:29Z
Why Salman Rushdie’s ‘The Satanic Verses’ remains so controversial decades after its publication
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478998/original/file-20220813-21776-whppmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C20%2C2702%2C1787&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Author Salman Rushdie pictured in London in 2017.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Grant Pollard/AP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Author Salman Rushdie is in the hospital with serious injuries after being <a href="https://apnews.com/article/salman-rushdie-attacked-9eae99aea82cb0d39628851ecd42227a">stabbed by a man at an arts festival</a> in New York State on Aug. 12, 2022. The following article was published in 2018 on the 30th anniversary of the release of The Satanic Verses.</em></p>
<p>One of the most controversial books in recent literary history, <a href="http://www.salmanrushdie.com">Salman Rushdie’s</a> <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Satanic_Verses.html?id=CSVwPG1Kdl8C">“The Satanic Verses,”</a> was published three decades ago this month and almost immediately set off <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4308642?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">angry demonstrations</a> all over the world, some of them violent. </p>
<p>A year later, in 1989, Iran’s supreme leader, the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/khomeini_ayatollah.shtml">Ayatollah Khomeini</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1989/02/16/world/iranians-protest-over-banned-book.html">issued a fatwa</a>, or religious ruling, ordering Muslims to kill the author. Born in India to a Muslim family, but by then a British citizen living in the U.K., Rushdie <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/04/magazine/rushdie-in-hiding.html">was forced to go into protective hiding</a> for the greater part of a decade. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/236706/original/file-20180917-158219-nya3b0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/236706/original/file-20180917-158219-nya3b0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236706/original/file-20180917-158219-nya3b0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236706/original/file-20180917-158219-nya3b0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236706/original/file-20180917-158219-nya3b0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236706/original/file-20180917-158219-nya3b0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236706/original/file-20180917-158219-nya3b0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Angry demonstrators protest against the book in 1989.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/croma/425264494">Robert Croma</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What was – and still is – behind this outrage?</p>
<h2>The controversy</h2>
<p>The book, “Satanic Verses,” goes to the heart of Muslim religious beliefs when Rushdie, in dream sequences, challenges and sometimes seems to mock some of its most sensitive tenets.</p>
<p>Muslims believe that the <a href="http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1577">Prophet Muhammed</a> was visited by the angel Gibreel – Gabriel in English – who, over a 22 year period, recited God’s words to him. In turn, Muhammed repeated the words to his followers. These words were eventually written down and became the <a href="https://universalistfriends.org/sells.html">verses</a> and chapters of the <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Qur_an.html?id=2LmsCiv8waEC">Quran</a>. </p>
<p>Rushdie’s novel takes up these core beliefs. One of the main characters, Gibreel Farishta, has a series of dreams in which he becomes his namesake, the angel <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/angel-jibreel-gabriel-in-islam-2004031">Gibreel</a>. In these dreams, Gibreel encounters another central character in ways that echo Islam’s traditional account of the angel’s encounters with Muhammed.</p>
<p>Rushdie chooses a provocative name for Muhammed. The novel’s version of the Prophet is called Mahound – an alternative name for Muhammed sometimes used during the Middle Ages by Christians who considered him <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/9523983/The-Satanic-Verses-and-me.html">a devil</a>.</p>
<p>In addition, Rushdie’s Mahound puts his own words into the angel Gibreel’s mouth and delivers edicts to his followers that conveniently bolster his self-serving purposes. Even though, in the book, Mahound’s fictional scribe, Salman the Persian, rejects the authenticity of his master’s recitations, he records them as if they were God’s. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234147/original/file-20180829-195319-v1vxrp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234147/original/file-20180829-195319-v1vxrp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234147/original/file-20180829-195319-v1vxrp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234147/original/file-20180829-195319-v1vxrp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234147/original/file-20180829-195319-v1vxrp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234147/original/file-20180829-195319-v1vxrp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234147/original/file-20180829-195319-v1vxrp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">British author Salman Rushdie.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/61838152@N06/14191350061">Fronteiras do Pensamento</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Rushdie’s book, Salman, for example, attributes certain actual passages in the Quran that place men “in charge of women” and <a href="https://quran.com/4/34">give men the right</a> to strike wives from whom they “fear arrogance,” to Mahound’s sexist views. </p>
<p>Through Mahound, Rushdie appears to cast doubt on the divine nature of the Quran. </p>
<h2>Challenging religious texts?</h2>
<p>For many Muslims, Rushdie, in his fictional retelling of the birth of Islam’s key events, implies that, rather than God, the Prophet Muhammed is himself the source of revealed truths.</p>
<p>In Rushdie’s defense, some scholars have argued that his <a href="https://journals.openedition.org/erea/493">“irreverent mockery”</a> is intended to explore whether it is possible to separate fact from fiction. Literature expert <a href="http://wp.ucla.edu/person/greg-rubinson/">Greg Rubinson</a> points out that Gibreel is unable to decide what is real and what is a dream. </p>
<p>Since the publication of “The Satanic Verses,” Rushdie has argued that religious texts should be <a href="https://journals.openedition.org/erea/493">open to challenge</a>. “Why can’t we debate Islam?” <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/23/salman-rushdie-on-islam-we-have-learned-the-wrong-lessons">Rushdie said in a 2015 interview</a>. “It is possible to respect individuals, to protect them from intolerance, while being skeptical about their ideas, even criticising them ferociously.”</p>
<p>This view, however, clashes with the view of those for whom the Quran is the literal word of God. </p>
<p>After Khomeini’s death, <a href="https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/99/04/18/specials/rushdie-free.html">Iran’s government announced</a> in 1998 that it would <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-15949285">not carry out his fatwa</a> or encourage others to do so. Rushdie now lives in the United States and makes regular public appearances.</p>
<p>Still, 30 years later, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/23/world/middleeast/irans-hard-line-press-adds-to-bounty-on-salman-rushdie.html">threats against his life persist</a>. Although mass protests have stopped, the themes and questions raised in his novel remain hotly debated.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102321/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Myriam Renaud is affiliated with the Parliament of the World's Religions.</span></em></p>
The novel goes to the heart of Muslim religious beliefs and challenges some of its most sensitive tenets.
Myriam Renaud, Affiliated Faculty of Bioethics, Religion, and Society, Department of Religious Studies, DePaul University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/102161
2018-09-19T10:40:16Z
2018-09-19T10:40:16Z
How an ancient Islamic holiday became uniquely Caribbean
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/236942/original/file-20180918-146148-1irg90t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Hosay procession in St. James.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nicholaslaughlin/5271820234/in/photolist-92Rsuj-93G17k-93G266-dxpNUo-93K6pb-pV58nw-93K6zW-dxj6Bv-6QAyyH-dvXECR-93K6KQ-fP4epm-fP4hBb-dxpwyu-2ehUmX-fNLHVT-92Rt49-fP4heS-92RR4q-92NJqc-92Ru8w-7rMSiF-92RsMb-fP4hmu-92RGff-92RGZW-53mpsM-4jCZRt-a1LZxg-pWZRHB-dxjckM-aSwYyV-dxjkyF-dxpzU7-dxpDfs-5QUe6o-92Nkgz-fP4fbh-92Nm9r-fNLGPV-fP4eU9-92RRib-92Nn86-92NJbi-92RGTU-92NHZc-92NHtV-92NHcT-92RRKA-92RGBU">Nicholas Laughlin</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A throng of Trinidadians line up along the streets of St. James and Cedros to admire the vibrant floats with beautifully bedecked models of mausoleums. Their destination is the waters of the Caribbean, where the crowds will push them out to float.</p>
<p>This is part of the Hosay commemorations, a religious ritual performed by Trinidadian Muslims, that I have observed as part of the <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&view_op=list_works&gmla=AJsN-F41GSnDbtBMMGKRcnlscgBXMvXPniHqtBzNEj1yU-fJRmovJpK9BacUyqgrBfeJtnBGtps-SGjRfFrLADgbDK9Qc5hz3Q&user=IHuvSrIAAAAJ">research</a> for my forthcoming book on Islam in Latin America and the Caribbean.</p>
<p>What fascinates me is how a practice from India has been transformed into something uniquely Caribbean.</p>
<h2>Re-enacting tragedy</h2>
<p>During the 10 days of the Islamic month of Muharram, Shiite Muslims around the world <a href="http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/ashura-COM_0068">remember the martyrdom of Hussein,</a> Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, who was killed in a battle in Karbala, today’s Iraq, some 1,338 years ago. For Shiite Muslims Hussein is the rightful successor to Prophet Muhammad.</p>
<p>Ashura, the 10th day of Muharram, is marked by public mourning and a re-enactment of the tragedy. Shiite Muslims put on passion plays that include inflicting suffering, as a way to remember Hussein. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/05/world/middleeast/bloody-and-belittled-shiite-ritual-draws-historic-parallels-in-iraq.html">In Iraq</a>, Shiite are known to beat themselves with swords. <a href="http://www.mmg.mpg.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Subsites/Diversities/Journals_2012/2012_14-02_art7.pdf">In India</a>, mourners whip themselves with sharp blades. Some Shiite also visit Hussein’s shrine in Iraq. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/236943/original/file-20180918-146148-1o3k8g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/236943/original/file-20180918-146148-1o3k8g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236943/original/file-20180918-146148-1o3k8g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236943/original/file-20180918-146148-1o3k8g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236943/original/file-20180918-146148-1o3k8g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236943/original/file-20180918-146148-1o3k8g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236943/original/file-20180918-146148-1o3k8g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ashura procession in Pakistan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/diariocriticove/8221405538/in/photolist-dwuRrm-hEM9vs-hEMB95-dkGQkL-7rLkeT-8jZnJZ-5588zs-asA3qM-hEMahC-pUh4Zb-dxYiWG-dkGMSD-bfiND2-hEMC6W-hELTKV-AXiXQB-8jZp8B-hELTVe-7rLkG6-hEMBWh-7qNmH7-AjmLV8-aSHV8c-asA8c2-hx2AKF-hEMAUN-dkGQnQ-sgLcH-dX3JQv-AjoFmt-7qKd5v-6Bw12k-asD52m-4eMe78-AmG7BK-8pu2bY-dwSaxX-7rLkrB-92JNeg-GtYhP-5SDDPp-aZzJU8-8w594d-M4zh97-dnxmLG-7sz1VY-hx3kPL-dwXEuW-aszUJz-6RscBF">Diariocritico de Venezuela</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The commemoration has also become a symbol for <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-shia-sunni-divide-78216">the broader Shiite struggle for justice</a> as a minority in the global Muslim community.</p>
<h2>Early history</h2>
<p>In Trinidad, the <a href="https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-3-319-08956-0_267-1">100,000 Muslims who make up 5 percent</a> of the island’s total population, celebrate the day of Ashura, as Hosay – the name derived from “Hussein.” </p>
<p>The first Hosay festival was held in 1854, just over a decade after the first Indian Muslims began to arrive from India to work on the island’s sugar plantations.</p>
<p>But Trinidad at the time was under British colonial rule and large public gatherings were not permitted. In 1884, the British authorities <a href="https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-3-319-08956-0_267-1">issued a prohibition against Hosay commemorations.</a> Approximately 30,000 people took to the streets, in Mon Repos, in the south, to protest against the ordinance. Shots fired to disperse the crowd killed 22 and injured over 100. The ordinance was later overturned. </p>
<p>The “Hosay Massacre” or <a href="https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-3-319-08956-0_267-1">“Muharram Massacre,”</a> however, lives in people’s memories. </p>
<h2>Colorful floats of Trinidad</h2>
<p>These days, Hosay celebrations in St. James and Cedros not only recall Hussein, but also those killed during the 1884 Hosay riots. Rather than recreate the events through self-flagellation or other forms of suffering, however, people in Trinidad create bright and beautiful floats, called “tadjahs,” that parade through the streets to the sea.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/236945/original/file-20180918-158219-1ne4t6d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/236945/original/file-20180918-158219-1ne4t6d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236945/original/file-20180918-158219-1ne4t6d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236945/original/file-20180918-158219-1ne4t6d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236945/original/file-20180918-158219-1ne4t6d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236945/original/file-20180918-158219-1ne4t6d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236945/original/file-20180918-158219-1ne4t6d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The tadjah, a colorful model of a mausoleum.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nicholaslaughlin/3178639298/in/photolist-5QTmHQ-7ma37X-aS3gCF-dxpP71-92NHZc-92NHtV-fP4h5S-dxjgjM-5QTTCw-dxj7q4-fNLFXr-a1PSgu-93K6KQ-7orMV7-92RRKA-92NmWP-92Rui1-dxpzDS-a1LWmz-92RGqS-5QQ8QZ-fNLHPr-92RGNQ-nEEjpT-MBiJxe-93G1ja-NrwYAZ-93K6gG-aSwYyV-fP4gYo-fP4gru-dxjkyF-fP4frb-dxpx2C-fP4hmu-fP48qL-fNLK7Z-9rjt92-fNLHTF-fP4hhd-fP4gLU-i6Gmqg-i6FYqW-i6G9k7-b9EFRi-i6G2zH-63DjHr-i6G6vD-i6G7GL-i6GnoD">Nicholas Laughlin</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Each tadjah is constructed of wood, paper, bamboo and tinsel. Ranging from a height of 10 to 30 feet, the floats are accompanied by people parading along and others playing drums, just as is the practice in India’s northern city of Lucknow. Meant to reflect the resting place of Shiite martyrs, the tadjahs resemble mausoleums in India. To many, their domes might be a reminder of the Taj Mahal. </p>
<p>Walking ahead of the tadjahs are two men bearing crescent moon shapes, one in red and the other in green. These symbolize the deaths of Hussein and his brother Hassan – the red being Hussein’s blood and the green symbolizing the supposed poisoning of Hassan. </p>
<p>The elaborateness of the tadjahs continues to increase each year and has become somewhat of a status symbol among the families that sponsor them. </p>
<h2>A bit carnival, a bit Ashura</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/236944/original/file-20180918-158219-10oichg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/236944/original/file-20180918-158219-10oichg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236944/original/file-20180918-158219-10oichg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236944/original/file-20180918-158219-10oichg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236944/original/file-20180918-158219-10oichg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236944/original/file-20180918-158219-10oichg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236944/original/file-20180918-158219-10oichg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Trinidad’s Hosay brings in a more carnival-like joy to a somber remembrance.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nicholaslaughlin/5271899626/in/photolist-92RS69-93G17k-92NHcT-92RGTU-2ehUmX-dxjckM-53mpsM-pWZRHB-92RR4q-4jCZRt-dxpzU7-dxpDfs-7rMSiF-92RGBU-92RsMb-a1PSom-dxpAfL-5QUe6o-dxpGhU-dxpMoq-93K6pb-92RR7u-dxpB99-dxjhaT-92Nn86-fP489m-92NJbi-96jXVv-93K6zW-92RGZW-dxpBnU-5RmkvJ-dxpvJu-dFBhKN-dxjcLg-dxjhLH-9UJM7a-i6Gpst-i6GvLR-5Rmkr5-i6FLp1-7rRqRa-dxpA55-5QTmHQ-7ma37X-aS3gCF-dxpP71-92NHZc-92NHtV-fP4h5S">Nicholas Laughlin</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While the festival is certainly a somber one in terms of its tribute, it is also a joyous occasion where families celebrate with loud music and don festive attire. This has led some to compare <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40653916">Hosay to Trinidad’s world-famous carnival</a> with its accompanying “joie de vivre.”</p>
<p>But there are also those who believe that the occasion should be a more somber remembrance of the martydom of Hussein. More conservative Muslims in Trinidad have <a href="http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/13848.html">made attempts to “reform” such celebrations</a>. These Muslims believe local customs should be more in line with global commemorations like those in Iraq or India. </p>
<p>What I saw in the festival was an assertion of both the Indian and Trinidadian identity. For Shiite Muslims, who have dealt with oppression and ostracism – both in the past and in the present – it is a means of claiming their space as a minority in Trinidadian culture and resisting being pushed to the margins. At the same time, with its carnival-like feel, the festival could not be <a href="http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/13848.html">more Trinidadian</a>. </p>
<p>Indeed, the celebrations each year illustrate how Indian and Trinidadian rituals and material culture merged to create a unique festival.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102161/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ken Chitwood does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Hosay, a religious ritual performed by Trinidadian Muslims, combines the somber Islamic observance of Ashura, brought by immigrant Indians, and the joy of Trinidad’s famous carnival.
Ken Chitwood, Ph.D. Candidate, Religion in the Americas, Global Islam, University of Florida
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/101641
2018-08-16T10:35:00Z
2018-08-16T10:35:00Z
What is the Hajj?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/232118/original/file-20180815-2912-37rz21.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Muslim pilgrims pray at the Grand Mosque, ahead of the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, in August 2017.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Khalil Hamra</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nearly <a href="https://www.thenational.ae/world/gcc/hajj-2018-explained-two-million-muslims-descend-on-makkah-for-a-journey-of-a-lifetime-1.759610">2 million Muslim pilgrims</a> are gathering in the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia for <a href="http://www.dictionary.com/browse/hajj">the Hajj</a>. This five-day pilgrimage <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/middle-east-history/hajj-pilgrimage-islam?">is a once-in-a-lifetime obligation</a> for all Muslims who have the physical and financial ability to undertake the journey.</p>
<p>What is the religious and political significance of this annual pilgrimage?</p>
<h2>The fifth pillar</h2>
<p>Millions of Muslims come from countries as diverse as Indonesia, Russia, India, Cuba, Fiji, the United States and Nigeria – all dressed in plain white garments. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pilgrims dressed in white garments.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/aljazeeraenglish/4123390204/in/photolist-7hnsfy-dqsVVf-7duYF4-8RpkCH-79riDe-f7bkTc-4Hh1A1-5VrCdR-5EQert-aECwxs-WfuiKx-5Zp6RG-5vEWkL-5Zp3Nd-UkvMJu-bbLaB4-baMrWa-dnXjRu-aaj4Pe-7yfUEo-6X522A-aNLLcn-dtNpmB-prVQPP-xpBTq-efCN2o-7ZiP1B-7ab1dG-7ab1du-eg4WRc-689Sed-fntKkM-RaUt4-5YD77K-7iU1uN-Sk6Z3y-5Xbum3-8UiyE8-vNjgG-pS5hEz-62kErs-dtw7BT-RtMFKv-5L8q5Y-5MNzJw-aECKRw-S8Wdyh-2jjQt-Jq48b-baj3MZ">Al Jazeera English</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Men wear seamless, unstitched clothing, and women, white dresses with headscarves. The idea is to dress plainly so as to mask any differences in wealth and status. </p>
<p>The pilgrimage is considered to be the fifth pillar of Islamic practice. The other four are the profession of faith, five daily prayers, charity and <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-ramadan-is-called-ramadan-6-questions-answered-77291">the fast of Ramadan</a>. </p>
<h2>The first day of the Hajj</h2>
<p>The rites of the Hajj are believed to retrace events from the lives of prominent prophets such as Ibrahim and Ismail. </p>
<p>Pilgrims start by circling <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580">the “Holy Kaaba</a>,” the black, cube-shaped house of God, at the center of the most sacred mosque in Mecca, seven times. The Kaaba occupies a central place in the lives of Muslims. Muslims, all over the world, are expected to turn toward the Kaaba when performing their daily prayers.</p>
<p>The Quran tells the story of Ibrahim, who when commanded by God, agreed to sacrifice his son, Ismail. Muslims believe the Kaaba holds the black stone upon which Ibrahim was to carry out his oath. </p>
<p>Pilgrims are bound by <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580">specific rules</a> regarding going around the Kaaba. They may kiss, touch or approach the Kaaba during the pilgrimage as a sign of their devotion.</p>
<p>In performing these rituals, they join a long line of pilgrims to Mecca – <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-life-of-muhammad-9780196360331?cc=us&lang=en&">including Prophet Muhammad</a>, who circled the Kaaba. </p>
<p>Pilgrims then proceed to a ritual walk – about 100 meters from the Kaaba – to hills known as “Safa” and “Marwah.” Here they re-create <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/middle-east-history/hajj-pilgrimage-islam?">another significant event</a> recorded in the Quran.</p>
<p>The story goes that Ibrahim was granted a son by God through his Egyptian slave girl Hajar. After the birth of Ismail, God instructed Ibrahim to take Hajar and her newborn son out into the desert and leave them there. Ibrahim left them near the present-day location of the Kaaba. Ismail cried out with thirst and Hajar ran between two hills, looking for water until she turned to God for help.</p>
<p>God rewarded Hajar for her patience and sent his angel Jibreel to reveal a spring, which today is known as “Zamzam Well.” Pilgrims drink water from the sacred well and may take some home for blessings.</p>
<h2>The second day of the hajj</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pilgrims praying on Arafat.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/aljazeeraenglish/4135906354/in/photolist-7itASf-7ipEj8-7m6S5M-4kgEVJ-7iw61y-8TRppx-97r2W7-arbDH-7iscY6-7ifhd9-7ygqjr-7hX95R-fBsJ1X-7ykfkW-7ygrB8-7ygrne-7ykeTq-an6Zn-8TULHS-5Hycc7-5HtS4v-7ykf8J-5Hu33g-5HtUxP-7ygrbR-5HyeCd-5HtTPn-5HyrAE-8TUqFh-7ygrRD-8TRKpi-5HtRhv-8TRnNz-8TREd4-7ykdSq-4qY7wP-an6Zo-arbS4-qXKmg2-dcec1H-8TRzCc-8TUp9s-8TRU4c-7rR3ib-8TUVES-8TRJ9r-8TRH3K-8TRSuH-8TUUFE-8TRx2n">Al Jazeera English</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The hajj “climaxes” with a sojourn in the plains of Arafat near Mecca. There, pilgrims gather in tents, spend time with one another and perform prayers. Some pilgrims will ascend a hill known as the “Mount of Mercy,” where Prophet Muhammad delivered the <a href="https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/muhm-sermon.asp">farewell sermon</a> toward the end of his life. </p>
<p>They then proceed to an open plain near Mecca, often a highlight of the journey for many pilgrims. Muslims believe that the <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580">spirit of God comes closer to Earth</a> in this place at the time of the pilgrimage.</p>
<p>As a <a href="http://florida.academia.edu/KenChitwood">scholar of global Islam</a>, during my fieldwork I have interviewed those who have gone on the Hajj. They have described to me their personal experiences of standing in the plains of Arafat or circling the Kaaba with fellow Muslims and <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=LkmkAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA60&lpg=PA60&dq=a+close+communion+with+god+plains+of+arafat&source=bl&ots=xfljL0qqXO&sig=ST3pnAIcye_QJ2ZbbcPA2gfMBIM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjitdWOp4LWAhVDQiYKHamnA9QQ6AEIPjAG#v=onepage&q=a%20close%20communion%20with%20god%20plains%20of%20arafat&f=false">feeling a close communion with God</a>. </p>
<h2>Final three days</h2>
<p>Afterwards, pilgrims move to Mina, also known as the Tent City <a href="https://www.amusingplanet.com/2014/08/mina-city-of-tents.html">where more than 100,000 tents house the millions of pilgrims</a> about 5 kilometers from the holy city of Mecca. </p>
<p>Here they recall how Satan tried to tempt Ibrahim to disobey <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-muslims-celebrate-eid-twice-a-year-6-questions-answered-80949">God’s call to sacrifice Ismail</a>. Ibrahim, however, remained unmoved and informed Ismail, who was willing to be offered to God. To reenact Ibrahim’s rebuff of Satan’s temptation, pilgrims throw small stones at a stone pillar. </p>
<p>They then proceed to follow Ibrahim in the act of sacrifice. The Quran says just as Ibrahim attempted to kill his son, God intervened and a ram was killed in place of Ismail. In remembrance, Muslims all over the world ritually slaughter an animal on this day. The <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-muslims-celebrate-eid-twice-a-year-6-questions-answered-80949">“festival of the sacrifice” is known as Eid al-Adha</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pilgrims stoning the devil in Mina.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/aljazeeraenglish/4142094316/in/photolist-7iXrgk-7iXrAK-7iXrqk-7j2iPq-8U9pyc-7iXrtK-7iXrxn-7j2jd3-7j2jfj-7ykkpd-7j2iSQ-7j2jkf-7j2j7E-7iXrcV-7j2jFy-7j2jJU-7ykk2L-7iXr7Z-7iXriZ-7iXryR-7j2job-7j2iVd-7iBtP1-7j2jGS-7iXrSX-7ykhiS-7ygxAz-7iXrLe-7j2j2d-7ygwp8-8UbHdp">Al Jazeera English</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many pilgrims spend the next few days in Mina, where they repeat some of the rituals. It is where they start to <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580">transition to their worldly life</a> by putting on their everyday clothes. </p>
<p>Muslims believe that a proper performance of the Hajj can absolve them of any previous sins. However, they also believe that just undertaking the pilgrimage is not enough: <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/middle-east-history/hajj-pilgrimage-islam#O3cwEbjxDttkhEyF.97">It is up to God to judge</a>, based on the intention of those undertaking the pilgrimage. </p>
<h2>Creating one Muslim community</h2>
<p>Of course, the pilgrimage does not take place in a political void. The Hajj is a massive <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/08/world/meast/how-hi-tech-manages-millions-during-the-hajj/index.html">organizational project</a> for the Saudi authorities. <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/08/world/meast/how-hi-tech-manages-millions-during-the-hajj/index.html">Issues concerning</a> crowd management, security, traffic and tensions constantly plague the successful organization of the event. A tragic stampede in 2015 left <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/25/middleeast/hajj-pilgrimage-stampede/index.html">over 700 dead</a>. Since then Saudi authorities <a href="http://www.arabnews.com/node/1355906/saudi-arabia">review preparations even more carefully</a>. </p>
<p>There are other tensions too that come up at this time: Some <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-shia-sunni-divide-78216">Shia</a> governments such as Iran, for example, have leveled <a href="http://www.alterinter.org/spip.php?article4502">charges alleging discrimination</a> by <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-shia-sunni-divide-78216">Sunni</a> Saudi authorities. </p>
<p>This year, Muslims from Canada are <a href="https://www.thestar.com/edmonton/2018/08/10/hajj-pilgrims-are-concerned-that-a-spat-between-canada-and-saudi-arabia-could-affect-their-travel-plans.html">concerned about logistics</a> traveling back from the Hajj. Saudi Arabia has suspended all direct flights to Canada in a diplomatic feud <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/suspension-of-direct-saudi-flights-to-canada-marks-worsening-of-diplomatic-feud/4526381.html">sparked by tweets</a> related to the Kingdom’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/saudi-women-can-drive-but-are-their-voices-being-heard-99183">human rights violations</a>. </p>
<p>To address such issues, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=6VeCWQfVNjkC&q=OIC#v=snippet&q=OIC&f=false">Muslims in the past have called</a> to put together an international, multi-partisan committee to organize the pilgrimage.
Perhaps that could help avoid regional or sectarian conflicts. The Hajj, after all, is any individual Muslim’s <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580">single most</a> symbolic ritual act that reflects <a href="http://imjcr.com/journals/imjcr/Vol_3_No_1_June_2014/3.pdf">the ideal of unity</a>.</p>
<p>By requiring Muslims to don the same clothes, pray in the same space and perform the same rituals, the Hajj has the potential to unite a global Muslim community across national and class boundaries.</p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of an article <a href="https://theconversation.com/explaining-the-muslim-pilgrimage-of-hajj-83284">originally published</a> on Aug. 31, 2017</em>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/101641/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ken Chitwood does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Each year, Muslims from all over the world go on a pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, known as Hajj. A scholar explains its spiritual significance.
Ken Chitwood, Ph.D. Candidate, Religion in the Americas, Global Islam, University of Florida
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/99497
2018-07-30T10:31:18Z
2018-07-30T10:31:18Z
What are madrasa schools and what skills do they impart?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/227170/original/file-20180711-27036-5uqcko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Students at a madrasa in the Assaba region of southern Mauritania in May 2014.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/m1key-me/15126255339/in/photolist-p3E1HR-4KG5QD-i9b5JE-bew4F2-jEDJvj-4KLmdy-4KG4Yp-9dPT9n-9AoQBu-8sBf39-jjM3q4-qaaB8N-ekwwrB-ogmgXy-8FdFqD-Ut18e1-oxb1dz-9YcgT7-8sBbN9-56Sgro-duaKv1-6WPUjG-6WKks2-8sy9xg-7LjtKM-jECzmP-8NhyXw-4KLmh3-8sBdas-hbLEGr-sgQftr-5QNWKm-ak3Eza-XvDj7W-qugCLc-asTdau-8LGJtH-asTdg9-bevzXz-yyTSg-22mUMx2-ofXnTt-5D4xoX-asQAft-avhh2S-rz2A4L-am6di1-seyXTu-3bwr4k-jEzFQ9">Michal Huniewicz</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Turkey’s recently reelected president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/18/world/europe/erdogan-turkey-election-religious-schools.html">has made expansion of Muslim schools</a> a top priority. Erdogan’s government is reported to have approved a religious education budget of US$1.5 billion this year, an increase of 68 percent.</p>
<p>Whether or not they receive public funding like those in Turkey, religious schools are a common feature of Muslim life. The most common of these schools is known as a <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/610822">madrasa</a>. In general, madrasas focus on teaching the Qur’an, the recorded sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, sacred law and other Islamic subjects. </p>
<p>The question is: How well do these schools prepare students for jobs in economies based on contemporary knowledge and technology? </p>
<h2>History of the madrasa</h2>
<p>Madrasas have a long and rich history. After the birth of Islam in the seventh century, Muslims who wanted a religious education joined <a href="http://www.muslimheritage.com/article/education-islam-role-mosque">study circles</a> in mosques where teachers provided instruction.</p>
<p>Over the next 400 years, additional centers of learning, founded and endowed by rulers, high officials and wealthy members of the community, met in public and private libraries. These were early forms of <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/610822">madrasas</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229514/original/file-20180726-106517-1sqcv7a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229514/original/file-20180726-106517-1sqcv7a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229514/original/file-20180726-106517-1sqcv7a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229514/original/file-20180726-106517-1sqcv7a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229514/original/file-20180726-106517-1sqcv7a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229514/original/file-20180726-106517-1sqcv7a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229514/original/file-20180726-106517-1sqcv7a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Abdulaziz Khan Madrasa built in 1652 and located in Bukhara, Uzbekistan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/9508280@N07/16256491531/in/photolist-qLwLyK-4KG5QD-bew4F2-jEDJvj-4KLmdy-8hHMDo-9AoQBu-ekx8VK-XvDj7W-8sBf39-i9b5JE-ekwwrB-qaaB8N-8FdFqD-Ut18e1-9dPT9n-9YcgT7-8sBbN9-4KG4Yp-8FgQ8J-8NhyXw-sgQftr-ekwDfg-p3E1HR-qugCLc-us8z9d-5FFQhb-bexqGP-9cLPjf-beywcz-Vp4ZRo-jEmLXi-ogmgXy-oxb1dz-56Sgro-VVL3p5-6WPUjG-jECzmP-22mUMx2-8os5MM-WekBXL-jEMREd-ak3Eza-eaM9EH-av2nrh-5FBym2-5FFQ6s-kPXXx-asTdg9-F1PbUJ">Dan Lundberg</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20050305093937/http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RS21654.pdf">By the 11th century</a>, madrasas were well-established independent centers of learning with some of the features they retain today. They had permanent buildings, paid staff and resident scholars with living quarters and stipends. Students were given room and board, and received a free education. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/610822">Madrasas generally taught</a> calculation, grammar, poetry, history and above all the Qur’an and sacred law. At a higher level they taught literary subjects and arithmetic. While memorization of texts was emphasized, personal instruction, lectures and imitation of the teacher by students were also held to be <a href="http://jiscnet.com/journals/jisc/Vol_3_No_1_June_2015/5.pdf">crucial to minimize errors</a> in religious understanding. </p>
<p>These schools spread quickly. During the Middle Ages, while fewer than 5 percent of the West’s inhabitants learned how to read and write, <a href="http://jiscnet.com/journals/jisc/Vol_3_No_1_June_2015/5.pdf">thousands of madrasas spread literacy</a> as far as <a href="https://books.google.fr/books?hl=en&lr=&id=D2-LAwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=Hasan+Zaidi.+(August+8,+2005).+Schools+of+hate.+India+Today+International.&ots=JkRi6FlJc2&sig=yP39VPVLn1kzrmeRLbmMbRyTueo&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Hasan%20Zaidi.%20(August%208%2C%202005).%20Schools%20of%20hate.%20India%20Today%20International.&f=false">Russia, Mongolia, the Chinese plains, India and the Malay archipelago</a>.</p>
<p>During the 19th and 20th centuries, Christian missionaries and colonial rulers such as the British opened schools that were based on a Western educational model and offered courses in English, science and technology. </p>
<p>As economies modernized, Muslims who continued to choose madrasas over other schools found that they lacked the training needed for well-paid jobs. Their socioeconomic mobility suffered. Nonetheless, many madrasas refused to integrate nonreligious subjects into their curricula. As a result, <a href="https://books.google.fr/books?hl=en&lr=&id=D2-LAwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=Hasan+Zaidi.+(August+8,+2005).+Schools+of+hate.+India+Today+International.&ots=JkRi6FlJc2&sig=yP39VPVLn1kzrmeRLbmMbRyTueo&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Hasan%20Zaidi.%20(August%208%2C%202005).%20Schools%20of%20hate.%20India%20Today%20International.&f=false">a dual system of schooling</a> became the norm: one Islam-centered, the other Westernized. </p>
<h2>Why do parents choose madrasas?</h2>
<p>Today, madrasas are most dominant in Pakistan – <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-religion-army/army-chief-says-pakistan-should-revisit-islamic-madrassa-schools-idUSKBN1E12F6">20,000 are registered</a> and thousands more are unregistered – but the number of madrasas is growing in many parts of the world. </p>
<p>In Egypt, they increased from 1,855 to 4,314 <a href="https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2005/12/01/inside-the-madrasas/">between 1986 and 1996. In Mali</a>, one out of four primary school children attended madrasas during 2005. In India, where 14 people out of 100 are Muslim, the government reports that, overall, <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2017/03/indias-emerging-modern-madrasas/">4 percent of Muslim students attend madrasas full-time</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229513/original/file-20180726-106508-bf05e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229513/original/file-20180726-106508-bf05e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229513/original/file-20180726-106508-bf05e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229513/original/file-20180726-106508-bf05e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229513/original/file-20180726-106508-bf05e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229513/original/file-20180726-106508-bf05e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229513/original/file-20180726-106508-bf05e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students at a madrasa in India.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/94592664@N00/1254830480/in/photolist-2UTkoh-7ruvDY-LKVBk-3euPGE-8LCds4-HZ8Wp5-eUQeLt-68a9pt-peWgQw-5q54mR-ekx2aT-mkNTKv-ekvZ4v-qTouMx-XymxJv-8N9EN8-9BZ7ro-TKDwxr-Wx2h8e-4AgbZk-ovqCxs-68askH-68eCHJ-asTdB7-WekyyS-67por1-pFjXvc-WukNkx-s2pde7-67pow7-99DPgK-6jiJqB-siQHYf-25aUJLm-jpYbQ8-ejXPBc-PVw59w-6hgocx-ovnQTL-qJpeuG-ogmKsH-8iubyp-8LC91k-ekCw2W-MHHtgw-X9mma3-9XBjJ2-ox8wUv-8RV3qV-hZquAW">Two Circles</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>During 2013, a study by scholars of a rural district in northwestern India illustrates <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042814016140">why some parents choose madrasa</a> education for their children. In this impoverished district, called Mewat, which is majority-Muslim, nearly <a href="http://islamicvoice.com/May2012/FACTUALLYSPEAKING/">10 percent of Muslim students</a> – more than twice the national average – are enrolled in madrasas.</p>
<p>Most graduates from Mewat’s madrasas find poorly paid jobs in madrasas, mosques or shrines of saints, a few others in farming. Only 3 percent attain a higher level of socioeconomic development. </p>
<p>The majority of Mewat’s Muslim families want madrasas to offer technical courses and vocational training. However, the study’s authors found that the religious leaders who could approve changes are “set against the modern education.” </p>
<p>Such madrasas contribute to a vicious circle of poverty. Mewat’s free government schools could serve as an alternative, but, perhaps due to their low quality of instruction, nearly three-quarters of Muslim families said that if they had the financial means to do so, they would choose fee-based, private, nonreligious schools. </p>
<p>In Pakistan’s four main provinces, where most Muslim families are wealthier than Mewat’s, three-quarters of parents who opt for madrasas <a href="https://www.economist.com/europe/2017/09/30/the-decline-of-turkish-schools">supplement their children’s education</a> by sending them to other schools.</p>
<h2>Turkey’s shift to religious schools</h2>
<p>To return to Turkey, technically speaking, this country eliminated madrasas nearly 100 years ago. In 1924, the first president, <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/610822">Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, replaced madrasas</a> with nonreligious schools based on a Western educational model or converted them into schools called Imam Hatip for the training of Muslim preachers.</p>
<p>However, when Erdogan assumed power in 2002, he and his Justice and Development party <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/18/world/europe/erdogan-turkey-election-religious-schools.html">turned Imam Hatip schools</a> into religious middle and high schools whose graduates could apply into any university program. Between 2003 and 2012, <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/610822">enrollment in Imam Hatip schools tripled</a>. Fifteen years ago, there were 450 such schools. Today there are 4,500. </p>
<p>Erdogan’s government implemented further educational reforms in 2017. Imam Hatip schools now require students to study the concept of holy war, to learn that Muslims should not <a href="https://www.economist.com/europe/2017/09/30/the-decline-of-turkish-schools">marry atheists, and to believe that wives should obey husbands</a>. These schools also <a href="https://www.economist.com/europe/2017/09/30/the-decline-of-turkish-schools">emphasize rote learning</a> over critical thinking.</p>
<p>At a time when Erdogan has <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/turkish-leader-takes-oath-with-new-powers-and-high-ambitions-1531168532">pledged to boost Turkey</a> from the 17th world economy to the top 10, the approach that he has chosen to “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/18/world/europe/erdogan-turkey-election-religious-schools.html">raise a pious generation</a>” may derail this ambition.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/99497/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Myriam Renaud is affiliated with the Parliament of the World's Religions. </span></em></p>
Madrasas, or Islam-centered schools, have long spread knowledge and literacy throughout the Muslim world. However, can they prepare students for today’s tech-based economies?
Myriam Renaud, Ph.D. Candidate in Religious Thought and Ethics, University of Chicago
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/98067
2018-06-12T10:39:46Z
2018-06-12T10:39:46Z
Why religions of the world condemn suicide
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222671/original/file-20180611-191971-1bqhe4p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A mourner reads a sympathy card left for Anthony Bourdain at a makeshift memorial in New York.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Mary Altaffer</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The recent suicides of <a href="https://www.biography.com/people/kate-spade-214145">fashion designer</a> <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/05/us/kate-spade-dead/index.html">Kate Spade</a> and <a href="http://business.time.com/2012/11/08/why-suicides-are-more-common-in-richer-neighborhoods/">celebrity chef and writer</a> <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/08/us/anthony-bourdain-obit/index.html">Anthony Bourdain</a> have reminded all of us that, even for the <a href="http://business.time.com/2012/11/08/why-suicides-are-more-common-in-richer-neighborhoods/">wealthy</a>, life can become too painful to bear. </p>
<p>The sad truth is that suicide rates have been increasing in the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/09/us/suicide-rates-increasing-bourdain.html">United States</a>. In the last decade, the suicide rate increased by <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/suicide-rates-are-30-percent-1999-cdc-says-n880926">nearly 30 percent,</a> with <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/u-s-suicide-rates-reach-30-year-high-especially-for-women-672031299528">women</a> and <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/social-media-contributing-rising-teen-suicide-rate-n812426">teens</a> particularly affected. </p>
<p>And it’s not just the United States. Suicide is increasingly taking a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/31/suicides-of-nearly-60000-indian-farmers-linked-to-climate-change-study-claims">toll on individuals</a> and families <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=80563&page=1">throughout the world</a>. </p>
<p>The ethics of self-inflicted death have historically been an important area of reflection for the world’s religions.</p>
<h2>Whose life is it?</h2>
<p>Many of the world’s religions have traditionally condemned suicide because, as they believe, human life fundamentally belongs to God.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222672/original/file-20180611-191978-1t863pe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222672/original/file-20180611-191978-1t863pe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222672/original/file-20180611-191978-1t863pe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222672/original/file-20180611-191978-1t863pe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222672/original/file-20180611-191978-1t863pe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222672/original/file-20180611-191978-1t863pe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222672/original/file-20180611-191978-1t863pe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many of world’s religions have beliefs that condemn suicide.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Religious_symbols.svg">Jossifresco, revisions by AnonMoos</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the Jewish tradition, the prohibition against suicide <a href="https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/suicide-in-jewish-tradition-and-literature/">originated</a> in <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+5-9&version=ESV">Genesis 9:5</a>, which says, “And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning.” This means that humans are accountable to God for the choices they make. From this perspective, life belongs to God and is not yours to take. Jewish civil and religious law, the <a href="https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/talmud-101/">Talmud</a>, withheld from a suicide the <a href="http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/suicide-in-judaism">rituals and treatment</a> that were given to the body in the case of other deaths, such as burial in a Jewish cemetery, though this is not the case today. </p>
<p>A similar perspective shaped <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/9f07/c3f950da57a489dc8348fcf63db61faa8ce0.pdf">Catholic teachings</a> about suicide. <a href="http://www.augustinian.org/saint-augustine/">St. Augustine of Hippo</a>, an early Christian bishop and philosopher, wrote that “<a href="http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/120101.htm">he who kills himself is a homicide</a>.” In fact, according the <a href="https://www.ewtn.com/library/CATECHSM/PIUSXCAT.HTM#Commandments">Catechism of St. Pius X</a>, an early 20th-century compendium of Catholic beliefs, someone who died by suicide should be denied Christian burial – a prohibition that is no longer observed.</p>
<p>The Italian poet Dante Aligheri, in “The Inferno,” extrapolated from traditional Catholic beliefs and placed those who had committed the sin of suicide on the seventh level of hell, where they exist in the <a href="http://www.online-literature.com/dante/inferno/13/">form of trees</a> that painfully bleed when cut or pruned. </p>
<p>According to traditional Islamic understandings, the fate of those who die by suicide is similarly dreadful. <a href="http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e758">Hadiths</a>, or sayings, attributed to the Prophet Muhammad warn Muslims against committing suicide. The hadiths say that those who <a href="http://hadithoftheday.com/suicide/">kill themselves</a> suffer hellfire. And in hell, they will continue to inflict pain on themselves, according to the method of their suicide.</p>
<p>In Hinduism, suicide is referred to by the Sanskrit word “atmahatya,” literally meaning “soul-murder.” “Soul-murder” is said to produce a string of karmic reactions that prevent the soul from obtaining liberation. In fact, Indian folklore has numerous stories about those who commit suicide. According to the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09552369608575426?journalCode=casp20">Hindu philosophy of birth and rebirth</a>, in not being reincarnated, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=PD-flQMc1ocC&pg=PA146&lpg=PA146&dq=bhut+pret+suicide&source=bl&ots=IFPz_TVB19&sig=VvLt5TIFvgyGH51MAO8T3wt7Z6Y&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjhi46PyczbAhUDu1MKHWL2DCQQ6AEIZjAK#v=onepage&q=bhut%20pret%20suicide&f=false">souls linger on</a> the earth, and at times, trouble the living. </p>
<p>Buddhism also prohibits suicide, or aiding and abetting the act, because such self-harm <a href="http://www.westernbuddhistreview.com/vol4/suicide_as_a_response_to_suffering.html">causes more suffering rather than alleviating it.</a> And most basically, suicide violates a fundamental <a href="https://tricycle.org/magazine/the-five-precepts/">Buddhist moral precept</a>: to abstain from taking life.</p>
<h2>Altruistic suicide</h2>
<p>While many religions have traditionally prohibited suicide when motivated by despair, certain forms of suicide, for the community or for a greater good, are permitted, and at times, even celebrated.</p>
<p>In his classic work <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/On_Suicide.html?id=Dk31PO6cLW4C">“On Suicide,”</a> French sociologist <a href="http://durkheim.uchicago.edu/Biography.html">Emile Durkheim</a> used the term “<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16006395">altruistic suicide</a>” to describe the act of killing oneself in the service of a higher principle or the greater community. And consciously sacrificing one’s life for God, or for other religious ends, has historically been the most prominent form of “altruistic suicide.”</p>
<p>Recently, Pope Francis has added another category for sainthood, that of <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-becomes-a-saint-in-the-catholic-church-and-is-that-changing-81011">giving up one’s life for another</a>, called “oblatio vitae.” Of course, both Christianity and Islam have strong conceptions of martyrdom, which also extend to intentionally giving one’s life in battle. For example, the Crusader <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=DvJP7qIePPQC&pg=PA147&lpg=PA147&dq=hugh+the+insane+crusades+suicide&source=bl&ots=bsbfSG1Own&sig=UdadRT98Vv0PgfdesP-BtYG2U80&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjl_ae5mszbAhWNwFMKHbtXAzgQ6AEINTAF#v=onepage&q=hugh%20the%20insane%20crusades%20suicide&f=false">Hugh the Insane</a> self-destructively leapt out of the tower of a besieged castle in order to crush and kill Turkish soldiers below. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222673/original/file-20180611-191978-1k404w9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222673/original/file-20180611-191978-1k404w9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222673/original/file-20180611-191978-1k404w9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222673/original/file-20180611-191978-1k404w9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222673/original/file-20180611-191978-1k404w9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222673/original/file-20180611-191978-1k404w9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222673/original/file-20180611-191978-1k404w9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A candlelit vigil to remember two Tibetans who self-immolated in Tibet, in Dharmsala, India, in 2012.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Buddhist monks have burned themselves to death, most famously in <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/01/19/self.immolation.history/index.html">Vietnam</a>, but also in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/04/world/asia/china-tibet-self-immolations.html">Tibet</a>, to draw attention to violence and oppression. And within Hinduism, there is a tradition of ascetics fasting to death after they gained enlightenment. Then there are the ancient Hindu traditions of <a href="http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195399318/obo-9780195399318-0082.xml">“sati”</a>, where the wife dies on her husband’s funeral pyre, and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/jauhar">“jauhar”</a>, the ritual self-immolation of an entire community of women when they were certain of defeat in war and consequent enslavement. </p>
<p>What unifies all these examples is the idea that there are principles or goals that are more important than life itself. And so, self-sacrifice is not suicide: letting go of life because of faith is different, from letting go of life because of lack of hope.</p>
<h2>Rethinking suicide</h2>
<p>While striving to emphasizing the sacredness of life, it’s most certainly the case that traditional religious prohibitions against suicide provide little comfort to those who contemplate taking their own life, not to mention to the loved ones who will be left behind.</p>
<p>The good news is that today, there are more and more <a href="https://www.speakingofsuicide.com/resources">resources for talking about and preventing suicide</a>. In particular, world religions have become more sympathetic and nuanced in their understanding. <a href="https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/depression-and-suicide-resources/">Jews</a>, <a href="http://www.ncpd.org/sites/default/files/National%20Federation%20for%20Catholic%20Youth%20Web%20Resources%20for%20Suicide.pdf">Catholics</a>, <a href="http://muslimmentalhealth.com/news/?p=549">Muslims</a>, <a href="http://www.andrewholecek.com/suicide-from-a-buddhist-perspective/">Buddhists</a> and <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/internet/Facebook-launches-suicide-prevention-tools-in-India/article14424072.ece">Hindus</a> have all established extensive outreach programs to those who suffer from suicidal thoughts. </p>
<p>Such efforts recognize that God especially loves those who suffer in the darkness of depression. Suicide then is not an act that calls for divine punishment, but an <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/suicide-rates-are-30-percent-1999-cdc-says-n880926">all-too-common</a> threat that calls us to reaffirm hope in life as a precious gift given by God.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/98067/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mathew Schmalz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Most religions have a fundamental belief that all human life belongs to God.
Mathew Schmalz, Associate Professor of Religion, College of the Holy Cross
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/87890
2017-12-05T12:06:03Z
2017-12-05T12:06:03Z
Nigeria set to pass a law against mob lynching. Will it make a difference?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197149/original/file-20171130-30912-1oofw4z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Nigerians don't trust the police and often resort to mob justice. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Afolabi Sotunde</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>“Ole, ole!” (thief, thief!) is all that needs to be shouted in Nigeria before large crowds gather to beat, and often burn, the accused to death. Although there are no official statistics on the prevalence of mob lynching in Nigeria – referred to as jungle justice – media reports suggest it’s a regular occurrence. A 2014 <a href="http://www.noi-polls.com/root/index.php?pid=293&ptid=1&parentid=66">survey </a>revealed that 43% of Nigerians had personally witnessed a lynch mob attack.</p>
<p>Despite <a href="https://theconversation.com/vigilantism-is-flourishing-in-nigeria-with-official-support-86867">some Nigerian vigilante groups</a> holding the potential for success, execution style jungle justice clearly poses a threat to the rule of law and due process. The brutality of the methods used, and the fact that victims may be innocent and merely in the wrong place at the wrong time, has led to <a href="https://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/12/jungle-justice-disregard-rule-law/">widespread condemnation</a>. But the perpetrators are rarely arrested and prosecuted. In fact, security officials themselves are sometimes implicated in <a href="https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/08/nigeria-recorded-40-extra-judicial-killings-2016-rights-group/">extrajudicial killings</a>.</p>
<p>A new bill being put through the Nigerian parliament aims to change this. The anti-mob lynching act recently <a href="http://www.nassnig.org/document/download/9065">passed its second reading in the Senate</a>. It now needs to clear a third reading before being signed off and passed into law. This is expected to happen in the new year.</p>
<h2>The extent of jungle justice</h2>
<p>Alleged offences that draw mob lynching in Nigeria range from serious crimes such as murder, armed robbery, rape and kidnapping, to petty theft, homosexuality, blasphemy and even witchcraft. </p>
<p>A case that shocked the country involved the necklacing of four male students from the University of Port Harcourt - known as the <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/26/world/africa/nigeria-mob-justice-duthiers/index.html">Aluu four</a> - in 2012. After being falsely accused of theft, the four had tyres doused in gasoline thrown around them and set on fire. The incident took place in Aluu, Rivers State in south Nigeria. </p>
<p>The brutal attack was filmed and circulated on social media, drawing widespread condemnation from the public. This led to the arrest of 12 people, and three, including a police officer, were subsequently <a href="https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/07/aluu-four-police-sergeant-2-others-sentenced-death/">sentenced to death</a>.</p>
<p>More recently, in 2016, a homosexual was <a href="https://www.nigerianbulletin.com/threads/7-most-gruesome-jungle-justice-cases-in-2016-photos.226510/">beaten to death</a> in the south west Ondo State, and nine people were <a href="https://www.nigerianbulletin.com/threads/7-most-gruesome-jungle-justice-cases-in-2016-photos.226510/">burnt alive</a> in Zamfara State in the north west for insulting Prophet Muhammad. A man was <a href="http://dailypost.ng/2016/11/08/man-lynched-stealing-motorcycle-ebonyi/">lynched in Ebonyi State</a>, south east Nigeria, over the theft of a motorcycle.</p>
<p>Mob lynchings have continued to appear in the news this year. Lagos has been featured regularly, with <a href="https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21712099-why-criminals-prefer-cops-mob-suspects-are-beaten-and-burned-jungle">several incidents</a> linked to alleged theft and kidnapping. Widespread fear over the Badoo cult saw numerous accusations of witchcraft <a href="https://guardian.ng/news/ikorodu-residents-on-edge-over-attack-by-badoo-gang/">resulting in deadly jungle justice</a>.</p>
<p>Children are not excluded from the horrors of mob lynching. In 2015, a child said to be <a href="https://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/11/lynching-7-yr-old-boy-residents-fume-want-perpetrators-brought-book/">as young as 7 </a> was necklaced, again in Lagos, for attempting to steal garri (cassava flour) from a trader. Young children <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooXBMU_06vg">accused of witchcraft</a> are also often targeted, sometimes by their own families.</p>
<p>This is not a complete list; Nigerians often resort to mob lynching as they view the police and judicial system as <a href="http://www.noi-polls.com/root/index.php?pid=293&ptid=1&parentid=66">corrupt and inefficient</a>.</p>
<h2>So what does the new bill aim to do?</h2>
<p>The nature of mob violence can make it difficult to charge offenders under the laws that cover murder and assault. The <a href="http://www.placbillstrack.org/upload/SB109.pdf">new bill</a> seeks to change that. It defines lynching as:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Three or more persons acting in concert for the purpose of depriving any person of his life without authority of law as a punishment for or to prevent the commission of some actual or supposed public offence. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Alongside lynching, the bill covers mob action that results in severe bodily harm, and riotous assembly causing destruction of property. A person found guilty of instigating any of these three criminal offences will be punished by imprisonment for life or not less than 25 years. </p>
<p>The bill stipulates that a security officer who fails to make reasonable efforts to prevent an attack, or to apprehend a perpetrator, will be punished by up to five years imprisonment or face a fine of up to N500,000 (USD$1400). A security officer who takes part in, or conspires to an extrajudicial attack, would be guilty of a capital offence. Those who have failed at prevention would be subject to dismissal and 15 years imprisonment.</p>
<p>These punishments could act as an excellent deterrent. However, the success of the bill will depend on police and judicial implementation. A legal system unable to deal with crime resulting in jungle justice may be unable or unwilling to prosecute the latter. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, the emphasis on security officer complicity is promising, and formal recognition will allow tracking and prevention.</p>
<h2>A global problem</h2>
<p>Mob lynching is not unique to Nigeria, nor to Africa. Nigeria is also not the first country to try and pass an anti-lynching bill. </p>
<p>Up until the mid-1900’s, <a href="https://lynchinginamerica.eji.org/">African-Americans</a> were commonly lynched in southern USA. Attempts were made to pass the <a href="http://www.naacp.org/oldest-and-boldest/naacp-history-anti-lynching-bill/">Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill</a>, but it was always halted by Southern congressmen in the Senate. In 2005, the Senate <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/14/politics/senate-issues-apology-over-failure-on-lynching-law.html">formally apologised</a> for this failure.</p>
<p>More recently, after a <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/04/27/india-cow-protection-spurs-vigilante-violence">spate of vigilantism</a> in India, the country has pushed for an a new <a href="http://stopmoblynching.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Masuka-05072017-PK.pdf">Protection from Lynching Act</a>, referred to as MaSuKa. This would make lynching a specific, non-bailable offence, punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment and a fine of 5 lakh (USD$7770).</p>
<p>The MaSuKa also compels security officers to preemptively identify attacks and to intervene without delay. Failure to do so would result in discharge and punishment for dereliction of duty. When a lynching does happen, a charge must be laid within three months or a review committee will investigate, and the respective state must compensate the victim’s family.</p>
<p>Although the proposed new law has support from 11 of India’s political parties, the ruling <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2017/07/india-epidemic-mob-lynching-170706113733914.html">Bharatiya Janata Party has complicated its passing</a> in parliament.</p>
<p>Conversely, there is little doubt that Nigeria’s anti-mob lynching bill will be passed. With police and judicial support, it could provide an important precedent for countries struggling with mob lynching and official indifference.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87890/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Nigeria is on the verge of passing a law to criminalise rampant mob lynching. Other countries have tried to do this and failed.
Leighann Spencer, PhD Candidate in Criminology, Charles Sturt University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/84042
2017-12-01T00:41:25Z
2017-12-01T00:41:25Z
Who are the Baha'is and why are they so persecuted?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197179/original/file-20171130-30931-mb6d9m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Entrance to the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh, burial place of the founder of the Bahá’í faith, near Acre, Israel.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://news.bahai.org/legal">Bahá’í World News Service © Bahá'í International Community</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Baha'is are among the most persecuted religious minorities in the world.</p>
<p>In Iran, where the religion was founded, universities <a href="https://www.iranhumanrights.org/2017/09/iranian-bahai-students-offered-university-enrollment-in-exchange-for-renouncing-their-faith">refuse to admit Baha'i students</a>, <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/14/bahai-cemetery-iran-destroyed_n_5323286.html">Baha'i cemeteries have been destroyed</a> and the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei <a href="http://www.reuters.com/investigates/iran/#article/part1">has confiscated properties from Baha'i families</a>. Baha'is have also been discriminated against in <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/04/yemen-bahai-community-faces-persecution-at-hands-of-huthi-saleh-authorities/">Yemen</a> and in <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-egypt-bahai/bahais-in-egypt-fight-for-recognition-as-people-idUSL2757830620070221">Egypt</a>.</p>
<p>At the same time, the Baha'i faith has spread around the globe. There are more than 100,000 local <a href="http://www.bahai.org/national-communities">Baha'i communities</a> in places as diverse as <a href="http://www.cnn.com/style/article/bahai-temple-chile/index.html">Chile</a>, <a href="http://www.news.bahai.org/story/1190">Cambodia</a> and the <a href="https://www.bahai.us/">United States</a>.</p>
<p>On the 200th anniversary of the birth of Baha'u'llah, the founder of the Baha'i faith, the question remains: What is the reason for their persecution?</p>
<h2>Baha'u'llah and the Babi movement</h2>
<p><a href="https://oneworld-publications.com/baha-u-llah-pb.html">Baha'u'llah</a>, whose name means “Glory of God” in Arabic, was born in Tehran in 1817. Baha'u'llah’s father was a minister in Iran’s government, which supported Shi'i Islam as the state religion. As a member of Iran’s nobility, Baha'u'llah was offered a government position. Instead, he <a href="http://www.kalimat.com/resurrection.html">joined a new religious movement</a>, started by a young Iranian, known as the Bab.</p>
<p>The Babi movement called for revolutionary social changes and <a href="http://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=25087">championed women’s rights</a>. Quite controversially, the Bab claimed that his teachings were a revelation from God and <a href="http://www.bahaibookstore.com/Selections-from-the-Writings-of-the-Bab-P7293.aspx">predicted</a> that a new prophetic figure, or manifestation of God, would soon appear.</p>
<p>In 1850, the Bab was charged by Shi'i religious officials with heresy and was put to death by firing squad. Subsequent public protests and mob violence <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Bahais-of-Iran-Socio-Historical-Studies/Brookshaw-Fazel/p/book/9780415356732">claimed the lives of thousands of his followers.</a> </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197176/original/file-20171130-30937-1alqghf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197176/original/file-20171130-30937-1alqghf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197176/original/file-20171130-30937-1alqghf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197176/original/file-20171130-30937-1alqghf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197176/original/file-20171130-30937-1alqghf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=586&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197176/original/file-20171130-30937-1alqghf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=586&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197176/original/file-20171130-30937-1alqghf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=586&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In Acre in northern Israel, a former prison city of the Ottoman Empire, the barracks where Bahá’u’lláh was imprisoned starting in 1868.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://news.bahai.org/legal">Bahá’í World News Service © Bahá'í International Community</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As part of its crackdown on the followers of the Bab, the Iranian government incarcerated Baha'u'llah. He was kept in an underground prison in Tehran, which Baha'u'llah describes in his writings as filthy, dark and “<a href="http://www.bahaibookstore.com/Epistle-to-the-Son-of-the-Wolf-P8480.aspx">foul beyond comparison</a>.” </p>
<p>The government released Baha'u'llah in 1853, and <a href="http://theisispress.org/book-b220.htm">exiled him to Baghdad</a>, then part of the Ottoman Empire. It was during this exile that he publicly announced the establishment of the Baha'i faith. Indeed Baha'u'llah claimed to be the manifestation of God that the Bab had foretold and gained a large following. </p>
<p>Ottoman officials later moved Baha'u'llah to the prison city of Akka in Palestine. He remained there until his passing in 1892. Today, Baha'u'llah’s shrine, now in Israel, is an important pilgrimage site.</p>
<h2>Baha'u'llah’s teachings</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197189/original/file-20171130-30931-1l7yxo5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197189/original/file-20171130-30931-1l7yxo5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197189/original/file-20171130-30931-1l7yxo5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197189/original/file-20171130-30931-1l7yxo5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197189/original/file-20171130-30931-1l7yxo5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197189/original/file-20171130-30931-1l7yxo5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197189/original/file-20171130-30931-1l7yxo5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Metal pen nib belonging to Bahá’u’lláh.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://news.bahai.org/legal">Bahá’í World News Service © Bahá'í International Community</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Baha'u'llah’s <a href="http://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah">writings</a> form the foundation of the Baha'i faith. Throughout his life, Bah'u'llah penned over 100 volumes in Arabic and Persian. About a dozen of these have been translated into English and other languages. </p>
<p>His most well-known book is <a href="https://oneworld-publications.com/the-hidden-words-of-baha-u-llah-pb.html">“The Hidden Words,”</a> which is composed of short poetic statements that get to the heart of his spiritual and ethical teachings. </p>
<p>A primary theme of Baha'u'llah’s teachings is achieving world peace through the establishment of unity, justice and equality. Therefore, <a href="https://oneworld-publications.com/the-baha-i-faith-pb-1056.html">Baha'u'llah’s teachings</a> specifically advocate for racial unity, gender equality, universal education, and harmony of science and religion. </p>
<p>Baha'is, for example, embrace interracial marriage and education for girls. In fact, the first school for girls in Iran was established by the Baha'is. </p>
<p>Baha'is were nonetheless subjected to persecution, as some Muslim clerics perceived their faith to be a heresy. For most Muslims, the prophet Muhammad was the last and final prophet.</p>
<h2>Establishment of the Baha'i faith</h2>
<p>Despite the persecution, the Baha'i faith has attracted millions of adherents around the globe for its ability to transcend nationalism, racism and the like.</p>
<p>Baha'u'llah’s followers disseminated his teachings in the Middle East and beyond. His son and successor, Abdu'l-Baha, traveled to Europe and the United States to <a href="http://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9781137032003">spread the faith</a>. </p>
<p>Baha'u'llah <a href="http://www.grbooks.com/george-ronald-publisher-books/academic-books/bahai-ethics-vol-1-1308657144">encouraged Baha'is</a> to cooperate with their governments and engage with the followers of all religions in a spirit of fellowship. Yet Baha'is in Iran, who are the largest non-Muslim religious community, continue to face persecution. The majority of Baha'is, however, <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/religion/religion-general-interest/introduction-bahai-faith?format=PB#ZrOxiHuKuyDYLyjE.97">live in the global south</a>.</p>
<p>For many, the Baha'i faith is one of the most <a href="http://connect.customer.mheducation.com/products/connect-for-molloy-experiencing-the-worlds-religions-6e/">universal religions</a>. Summed up in Baha'u'llah’s words:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“<a href="http://www.bahaibookstore.com/Tablets-of-Bahaullah-Revealed-After-the-Kitab-i-Aqdas-P6196.aspx">The Earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens</a>.”</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84042/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Zackery M. Heern does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The Baha'i faith originated in Iran and today has 100,000 communities across the globe, including the United States. Here is their history.
Zackery M. Heern, Assistant Professor of History and Middle East Studies, Idaho State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/80949
2017-08-29T01:27:01Z
2017-08-29T01:27:01Z
Why Muslims celebrate Eid twice a year: 6 questions answered
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183635/original/file-20170828-1612-1wnyyra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C12%2C2029%2C1293&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Muslims saying Eid prayers.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/iioc/2143824090/in/photolist-4grEdj-97qcDA-7m6S5M-azpJNa-8UmW5w-4gnAcc-4gnztg-4grBjN-4gnA7i-4grBpG-4grBuW-4grBAW-azsps9-7k8Cpz-4gnxTP-8TRk2k-4gnAke-azpLgZ-4grEns-dnYEaC-8Utw7d-8Uw7He-azsr4y-4grEsu-8Suuxc-dnYy78-dnYySF-dnYyF4-7kcwPJ-8U9xPG-94EVPR-8U6tFD-dnYDbA-dnYENS-dnYxGR-dnYzoK-dnYF1G-8U9xSW-M987uB-gQTHth-gUszJc-LbN59b-M62wcY-M9829B-M1YgT2-LGrXGu-M62uhA-LGrZjC-M62uab-M984jD">IIOC Masjid Omar AlFarouk</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Editor’s note: At sundown on June 28, Muslims all over the world celebrated one of the principal festivals, Eid al-Adha. Earlier in April, Muslims celebrated Eid al-Fitr. Scholar Ken Chitwood explains the two Islamic festivals.</em></p>
<h2>1. What is Eid?</h2>
<p><a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Oxford_Dictionary_of_Islam.html?id=6VeCWQfVNjkC">Eid literally means a “festival” or “feast” in Arabic</a>. It is celebrated twice a year as Eid al-Adha, (pronounced eed al-Ahd-huh) and Eid al-Fitr. </p>
<h2>2. Why is it celebrated twice a year?</h2>
<p>The two Eids recognize, celebrate and recall two distinct events that are significant to the story of the Islamic faith. </p>
<p><a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Oxford_Dictionary_of_Islam.html?id=6VeCWQfVNjkC">Eid al-Fitr means “the feast of breaking the fast.”</a> The fast, in this instance, is that of <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-ramadan-is-called-ramadan-6-questions-answered-77291">Ramadan</a>, which recalls the revealing of the Quran to Prophet Muhammad. </p>
<p>Eid celebrations can last up to three days. In many countries with large Muslim populations, it is a national holiday. Schools, offices and businesses are closed so family, friends and neighbors can enjoy the celebrations together. Saudi Arabia has announced a <a href="https://www.khaleejtimes.com/region/saudi-arabia/saudi-arabia-announces-16-day-eid-al-adha-holiday">16-day holiday</a> this year for Eid. In Turkey and in places that were once part of the Ottoman-Turkish empire such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Azerbaijan and the Caucasus, <a href="http://oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1342?_hi=0&_pos=4734">it is also known as the, “Lesser Bayram”</a> (meaning “lesser festival” in Turkish). </p>
<p>The other festival, <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Oxford_Dictionary_of_Islam.html?id=6VeCWQfVNjkC">Eid al-Adha, is the “feast of the sacrifice.”</a> It commemorates the end of Hajj, an annual pilgrimage by millions of Muslims to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia that is obligatory once in a lifetime, but only for those with means.</p>
<p>Eid al-Adha recalls the story of how God commanded Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Ismail as a test of faith (the story is of Abraham and Isaac in the Hebrew Torah and Christian Old Testament). The story, as narrated in the Quran, describes Satan’s attempt to tempt Ibrahim so he would disobey God’s command. Ibrahim, however, remains unmoved and informs Ismail, who is willing to be sacrificed. </p>
<p>But, just as Ibrahim attempts to kill his son, God intervenes and a ram is sacrificed in place of Ismail. This story has institutionalized the ideal of sacrifice in Islam and continues to be commemorated each year. During Eid al-Adha, Muslims slaughter an animal to remember Ibrahim’s sacrifice and remind themselves of the need to submit to the will of God. Eid al-Adha is <a href="http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e740?_hi=0&_pos=2592">also known as the “Greater Bayram</a>.” </p>
<h2>3. When are they celebrated?</h2>
<p>Eid al-Adha is celebrated on the <a href="https://www.oupjapan.co.jp/en/node/2191">10th day of the 12th and final month in the Islamic calendar.</a></p>
<p>Eid al-Fitr is celebrated on the <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=ry_aBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT175&lpg=PT175&dq=islam+the+straight+path+eid+esposito&source=bl&ots=OpTvV-P-BD&sig=vO86ofKfVTFj4ZZdz2iCg2-s1P4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiR-qaVlbzVAhWHs1QKHW53AiQQ6AEIWTAM#v=onepage&q=islam%20the%20straight%20path%20eid%20esposito&f=false">first day of the 10th month in the Islamic calendar</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/browse/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2">Islamic calendar</a> is a lunar calendar, and dates are calculated based on lunar phases. Due to this, the Islamic calendar year is shorter than the solar Gregorian calendar year by 10 to 12 days. </p>
<p>Thus, Ramadan and Eid “rotate” through the Gregorian calendar and can be celebrated during different seasons in the Southern and Northern hemispheres. In 2017, for example, Eid al-Fitr was celebrated on June 25. In 2018, the date for Eid al-Fitr will be June 15. For Eid al-Adha, the date this year is September 1. In 2018, it will fall on August 21. </p>
<h2>4. What customs are common during the two Eids?</h2>
<p>Eid al-Fitr features two to three days of celebrations that include <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Islam.html?id=L31e4m2GUTwC">special prayers</a>. People greet each other with “Eid Mubarak,” meaning “Blessed Eid.” Gifts are given out to the poor before the morning prayers. In addition, Muslims are encouraged to forgive differences and let go of grudges. There are a multitude of other practices that vary from country to country. </p>
<p>On Eid al-Adha, <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Hajj.html?id=EK5MqskDYC0C">pilgrims in Mecca reenact Ibrahim’s rejection</a> of Satan’s temptation. During the pilgrimage, Muslims cast stones at a pillar, which represents Satan. In remembrance of how Ibrahim was given a ram to sacrifice as a substitute for his son, they proceed to sacrifice animals such as goats, cattle, sheep or camels. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534637/original/file-20230628-15-559n37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A large number of people gathered around a black structure, the Kaaba." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534637/original/file-20230628-15-559n37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534637/original/file-20230628-15-559n37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534637/original/file-20230628-15-559n37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534637/original/file-20230628-15-559n37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534637/original/file-20230628-15-559n37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534637/original/file-20230628-15-559n37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534637/original/file-20230628-15-559n37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Muslim pilgrims circumambulate the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest site, located in the center of the Masjid al-Haram, Saudi Arabia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/muslim-pilgrims-circumambulate-the-kaaba-islams-holiest-news-photo/1161809345?adppopup=true">Ashraf Amra/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Those unable to go on the pilgrimage <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Islam.html?id=L31e4m2GUTwC">visit mosques and even family gravesites.</a>.</p>
<h2>5. What is the spiritual meaning of sacrifice during Eid al-Adha?</h2>
<p>The sacrifice represents how, like Ibrahim, pilgrims and practicing Muslims worldwide are willing to give up <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=L31e4m2GUTwC&source=gbs_similarbooks">even their most precious possessions</a>. </p>
<p>Charity to the poor is a highly emphasized value in Islam. <a href="http://quranexplorer.com">The Quran says</a>, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“believe in Allah and his messenger, and give charity out of the (substance) that Allah has made you heirs of. For those of you who believe and give charity – for them is a great reward.” (57.7)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So, as part of this practice, only around a third of the meat is consumed by the family or group of friends; the rest is given to the poor and needy. </p>
<p>Furthermore, the sacrifice of animals too is carried out <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/introduction-to-islam-9780190467487?cc=us&lang=en&">through specific instructions</a> that minimize their suffering. This is part of the moral obligation of Muslims. </p>
<h2>6. What are some of the modern-day challenges?</h2>
<p>With more than two million arriving in Mecca these days, the pilgrimage presents a <a href="https://tradearabia.com/index.php?/news/MISC_290820.html">logistical challenge</a> for countries providing meat for the sacrifice. Saudi authorities strive to <a href="https://www.thenational.ae/world/flash-freezing-takes-care-of-surplus-meat-from-haj-sacrifice-1.310668">find alternative methods</a> of preserving, distributing and dealing with the vast amount of meat that comes from the animal sacrifices. </p>
<p>In the U.S. <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/09/12/eid-al-adha-muslims/90261968/">Muslims consume halal meat</a> – that is, meat that has been prepared by adhering to the rules – but they are not allowed to perform the sacrifice themselves. Food laws require that meat be acquired from certified butchers who follow standard federal and halal rules. However, some Muslims might send money to their friends and relatives in other countries to help fund a sacrifice.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/80949/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ken Chitwood does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Muslims throughout the world will celebrate the holiday of Eid al-Adha (Festival of Sacrifice) beginning this Friday evening. Here’s an introduction to this important feast.
Ken Chitwood, Senior Research Fellow, Muslim Philanthropy Initiative at IUPUI and Journalist-fellow, USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture, University of Southern California
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/78216
2017-05-24T02:20:39Z
2017-05-24T02:20:39Z
What is the Shia-Sunni divide?
<p>Tensions between Sunnis and Shias have been flaring up, with several incidents of violence reported in recent months: Most recently a suicide bomber killed at least 29 people when he blew himself up at the <a href="http://religionnews.com/2017/08/02/blast-at-shiite-mosque-in-afghanistan-kills-dozens/">largest Shiite Muslim mosque</a> in Afghanistan’s Herat province on Tuesday, August 1. </p>
<p>Earlier in June, the <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2017-06-07/iranian-media-shooting-at-parliament-wounds-security-guard">Islamic State claimed responsibility</a> for two attacks that claimed at least 12 lives in Iran. Iran is a Shia Muslim majority state often in tension with Sunni states and <a href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/islamic-state">extremist groups</a> like the Islamic State or al-Qaeda. </p>
<p>As a scholar of Islam and a public educator, I often field questions about Sunnis, Shias and the sects of Islam. What exactly is the Shia-Sunni divide? And what is its history?</p>
<h2>History of divide</h2>
<p>Both Sunnis and Shias – drawing their faith and practice from the Qur’an and the life of the Prophet Muhammad – agree on most of the fundamentals of Islam. The differences are related more to historical events, ideological heritage and issues of leadership. </p>
<p>The first and central difference emerged after the death of Prophet Muhammad in A.D. 632. The issue was who would be the caliph – the “deputy of God” – in the absence of the prophet. <a href="https://books.google.de/books?id=O36yXxCMiQIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=islam+a+brief+history&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false">While the majority sided with Abu Bakr,</a> one of the prophet’s closest companions, a minority opted for his son-in-law and cousin – Ali. This group held that Ali was appointed by the prophet to be the political and spiritual leader of the fledgling Muslim community.</p>
<p>Subsequently, those Muslims who put their faith in Abu Bakr came to be called Sunni (“those who follow the Sunna,” the sayings, deeds and traditions of the Prophet Muhammad) and those who trusted in Ali came to be known as Shia (a contraction of <a href="https://books.google.de/books?id=9HUDXkJIE3EC&pg=PA16&dq=Shiat+Ali+Esposito+Islam&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Shiat%20Ali%20Esposito%20Islam&f=false">“Shiat Ali,” meaning “partisans of Ali”</a>).</p>
<p>Abu Bakr became the first caliph and Ali became the fourth caliph. However, Ali’s leadership was challenged by Aisha, the prophet’s wife and daughter of Abu Bakr. Aisha and Ali went to battle against each other near Basra, Iraq in <a href="https://books.google.de/books?id=1nNjDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT130&dq=history+of+islam+battle+of+the+camel&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=history%20of%20islam%20battle%20of%20the%20camel&f=false">the Battle of the Camel in A.D. 656.</a> Aisha was defeated, but the roots of division were deepened. Subsequently, Mu’awiya, the Muslim governor of Damascus, <a href="https://books.google.de/books?id=1nNjDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT130&dq=history+of+islam+battle+of+the+camel&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=history%20of%20islam%20battle%20of%20the%20camel&f=false">also went to battle against Ali</a>, further exacerbating the divisions in the community. </p>
<p>In the years that followed, Mu’awiya assumed the caliphate and founded the Ummayad Dynasty (A.D 670-750). Ali’s youngest son, Hussein – born of Fatima, the prophet’s daughter – led a group of partisans in Kufa, Iraq against Mu’awiya’s son Yazid. For the Shias, this battle, known as <a href="https://books.google.de/books?id=egGgUM_YdL8C&pg=PA8&dq=the+battle+of+karbala&hl=de&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwidyvaAvobUAhViIJoKHbmsBZQQ6AEIQTAF#v=onepage&q=the%20battle%20of%20karbala&f=false">the Battle of Karbala, holds enormous historical and religious significance.</a></p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170634/original/file-20170523-5799-1pzvnhn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170634/original/file-20170523-5799-1pzvnhn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170634/original/file-20170523-5799-1pzvnhn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170634/original/file-20170523-5799-1pzvnhn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170634/original/file-20170523-5799-1pzvnhn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170634/original/file-20170523-5799-1pzvnhn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170634/original/file-20170523-5799-1pzvnhn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An Iranian Shiite Muslim mourns after covering herself with mud during Ashura rituals in Iran.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Hussein was killed and his forces defeated. For the Shia community, Hussein became a martyr. The day of the battle is commemorated every year on <a href="https://books.google.de/books?id=6VeCWQfVNjkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Ashura+Oxford+Encyclopedia+of+Islam&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi1xvn2wIbUAhUFFywKHaBlAakQ6AEISzAH#v=snippet&q=Ashura&f=false">the Day of Ashura</a>. Held on the tenth day of Muharram in the Islamic lunar calendar, scores of pilgrims visit Hussein’s shrine in Karbala and many Shia communities participate in symbolic acts of flagellation and suffering.</p>
<h2>Leadership disagreements</h2>
<p>Over time, Islam continued to expand and develop into evermore complex and overlapping societies that spanned from Europe to sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa to Asia. This development demanded more codified forms of religious and political leadership. </p>
<p>Sunnis and Shias adopted different approaches to these issues.</p>
<p>Sunni Muslims trusted the secular leadership of the caliphs during the Ummayad (based in Damascus from A.D. 660-750) and Abbasid (based in Iraq from 750-1258 and in Cairo from 1261-1517) periods. Their theological foundations came from the four religious schools of Islamic jurisprudence that emerged <a href="https://www.academia.edu/2310961/The_background_and_formation_of_the_Four_Schools_of_Islamic_Law">over the seventh and eighth centuries</a>. </p>
<p>To this day, these schools help Sunni Muslims decide on issues such as worship, criminal law, gender and family, banking and finance, and even bioethical and environmental concerns. Today, <a href="http://www.brill.com/products/reference-work/yearbook-international-religious-demography-2017">Sunnis comprise about 80-90 percent of the global Muslim population.</a> </p>
<p>On the other hand, Shias relied on Imams as their spiritual leaders, whom they believed to be divinely appointed leaders from among the prophet’s family. Shia Muslims continue to maintain that the prophet’s family are the sole genuine leaders. In the absence of the leadership of direct descendants, <a href="https://books.google.de/books?redir_esc=y&hl=de&id=B0OL5Z8S-V0C&q=imamate#v=snippet&q=imamate&f=false">Shias appoint representatives to rule in their place</a> (often called ayatollahs). Shias are a minority of the global Muslim population, <a href="http://www.brill.com/products/reference-work/yearbook-international-religious-demography-2017">although they have strong communities</a> in Iraq, Pakistan, Albania, Yemen, Lebanon and Iran. There are also different <a href="https://books.google.de/books?id=5h2aCgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=denny+islam&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjvoPmbwYbUAhWKjiwKHWK1CMQQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=Twelvers&f=false">sects within Shia Islam</a>. </p>
<h2>Differences masked during Hajj</h2>
<p>Other disputes that continue to exacerbate the divide include issues of theology, practice and geopolitics.</p>
<p>For example, when it comes to theology Sunnis and Shias draw from <a href="https://oneworld-publications.com/hadith-pb.html">different “Hadith” traditions</a>. Hadith are the reports of the words and deeds of the prophet and considered an authoritative source of revelation, second only to the Quran. They provide a biographical sketch of the prophet, context to Quranic verses, and are used by Muslims in the application of Islamic law to daily life. Shias favor those that come from the prophet’s family and closest associates, while Sunnis cast a broader net for Hadith that includes a wide array of the prophet’s companions. </p>
<p>Shias and Sunnis differ over prayer as well. All Sunni Muslims believe they are required to pray five times a day, but Shias can condense those into three. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170631/original/file-20170523-5782-1o7pzq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170631/original/file-20170523-5782-1o7pzq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170631/original/file-20170523-5782-1o7pzq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170631/original/file-20170523-5782-1o7pzq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170631/original/file-20170523-5782-1o7pzq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170631/original/file-20170523-5782-1o7pzq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170631/original/file-20170523-5782-1o7pzq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, when both Shia and Sunni Muslims come together to pray.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/aljazeeraenglish/5175696974/in/photolist-8TmNoJ-pUn3E-TFF5iw-b28wFk-8TwBJr-8UeRy7-hhsunS-8SWbdP-4qY7mM-4GsGdi-8TCUEX-hhssws-8Tz1tf-9Wtc2d-8TvDnr-7m6S5M-8SZhyQ-h4zTbi-8TzJJj-7AUpkM-8VZVMs-hhu1NN-4j3Dty-5R5Xod-8UbLax-b28voc-4HBpax-5KXLR-8TyDvy-8SWcnr-8TkxKF-hhswGG-dZNDGX-kAeFMP-hhrD6A-8TvKzV-9Wtanw-8U9pyc-9WqMr8-9Wqzxa-8TvHvx-8TyFsS-8Tikfx-9Wtz7J-wdAZ-9WqAJ8-8Tz4sU-8SZgWf-9Wt689-8SZgF1">Al Jazeera English</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>During the Hajj – <a href="http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e771">the pilgrimage to Mecca, held annually</a> and obligatory for all Muslims once in a lifetime – it may seem that these differences are masked, as both Sunnis and Shias gather in the holy city for rituals that reenact the holiest narratives of their faith. And yet, with Saudi authorities overseeing the Hajj, there have been tensions with Shia governments such as Iran over <a href="http://www.alterinter.org/spip.php?article4502">claims of discrimination.</a> </p>
<p>And when it comes to leadership, the Shia have a more hierarchical structure of political and religious authority invested in formally trained clergy whose religious authority is transnational. <a href="https://books.google.de/books?id=5h2aCgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=denny+islam&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjvoPmbwYbUAhWKjiwKHWK1CMQQ6AEIJjAA#v=snippet&q=clergy&f=false">There is no such structure in Sunni Islam.</a></p>
<p>The greatest splits today, however, come down to politics. Although the majority of Sunni and Shia are able to live peacefully together, the current global political landscape has brought polarization and sectarianism to new levels. Shia-Sunni <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2013/06/08/sectarianism-and-the-politics-of-the-new-middle-east/">conflicts are raging in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon</a> and <a href="https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-19-062165-0">Pakistan</a> and the divide is growing deeper across the Muslim world. </p>
<p>This historical schism continues to permeate the daily lives of Muslims around the world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/78216/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ken Chitwood does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
There have been several attacks on Shia mosques in several parts of the world. At its heart is the centuries’-old sectarian Shia-Sunni divide.
Ken Chitwood, Ph.D. Candidate, Religion in the Americas, Global Islam, University of Florida
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/77291
2017-05-23T03:48:31Z
2017-05-23T03:48:31Z
Why Ramadan is called Ramadan: 6 questions answered
<p><em>Editor’s note: Mohammad Hassan Khalil, professor of religious studies and director of the Muslim Studies Program at Michigan State University, answers six questions about the significance of Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting.</em></p>
<h2>1. Why is Ramadan called Ramadan?</h2>
<p><a href="https://pluralism.org/ramadan-and-eid-al-fitr">Ramadan is the ninth month</a> of the Islamic lunar calendar and lasts either 29 or 30 days, depending on when the new crescent moon is, or should be, visible. </p>
<p>The Arabic term Ramadan <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=hVpmIJAFVo0C">connotes intense heat</a>. It seems that in pre-Islamic Arabia, Ramadan was the name of a scorching hot summer month. In the Islamic calendar, however, the timing of Ramadan varies from year to year. This year <a href="https://www.islamicfinder.org/islamic-calendar">Ramadan will begin at sunset on March 11, give or take a day depending on when the new moon is sighted</a>. An Islamic year is roughly 11 days shorter than a Gregorian year.</p>
<h2>2. What is the significance of Ramadan?</h2>
<p>Ramadan is a period of fasting and spiritual growth and is one of the five “pillars of Islam” – the others being the declaration of faith, daily prayer, alms-giving and the pilgrimage to Mecca. Able-bodied Muslims are expected to <a href="https://pluralism.org/islamic-practices">abstain</a> from eating, drinking and sexual relations from dawn to sunset each day of the month. Many practicing Muslims also perform additional prayers, especially at night, and attempt to recite the entire Quran. The prevailing belief among Muslims is that it was in the final 10 nights of Ramadan that the <a href="https://pluralism.org/i%E2%80%99tikaf">Quran was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad</a>.</p>
<h2>3. What is the connection between soul and body that the observance of Ramadan seeks to explain?</h2>
<p>The Quran states that fasting was prescribed for believers <a href="http://www.islamicity.org/quransearch/">so that they may be conscious of God</a>. By abstaining from things that people tend to take for granted (such as water), it is believed, one may be moved to reflect on the purpose of life and grow closer to the creator and sustainer of all existence. As such, engaging in wrongdoing effectively <a href="https://pluralism.org/ramadan-and-eid-al-fitr">undermines the fast</a>. Many Muslims also maintain that fasting allows them to get a feeling of poverty and this may foster feelings of empathy.</p>
<h2>4. Can Muslims skip fasting under certain conditions? If so, do they make up missed days?</h2>
<p>All those who are physically limited (for example, because of an illness or old age) are <a href="https://sop.washington.edu/wp-content/uploads/Ramadan-and-Medications.pdf">exempt from the obligation</a> to fast; the same is true for anyone who is traveling. Those who are able to do so are expected to make up the missed days at a later time. One could potentially make up all of the missed days in the month immediately following Ramadan, the month of Shawwal. Those unable to fast at all, if they are financially able, are <a href="https://www.islamicity.org/5331/islamic-legal-rules-of-fasting">expected to provide meals</a> to the needy as an alternative course of action.</p>
<h2>5. What is the significance of 29 or 30 days of fasting?</h2>
<p>By fasting over an extended period of time, practicing Muslims aim to <a href="http://aboutislam.net/shariah/refine-your-heart/advice/ramadan-training-spiritual-endurance">foster certain attitudes and values</a> that they would be able to cultivate over the course of an entire year. Ramadan is often likened to a <a href="http://www.srilankaguardian.org/2010/08/holy-month-of-ramadan-and-quran.html">spiritual training camp</a>. </p>
<p>Besides experiencing feelings of hunger and thirst, believers often <a href="http://doi.org/10.1080/07420520802397301">have to deal with fatigue</a> because of late-night prayers and pre-dawn meals. This is especially true during the final 10 nights of the month. In addition to being the period in which the Quran was believed to have been first revealed, this is a time when divine rewards are believed to be multiplied. Many Muslims will offer additional prayers during this period.</p>
<h2>6. Do Muslims celebrate the completion of Ramadan?</h2>
<p>The end of Ramadan marks the beginning of one of two major Islamic holidays <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=J6JlAgAAQBAJ">Eid al-Fitr</a>, the “festival of the breaking of the fast.” On this day, many Muslims attend a religious service, visit relatives and friends and exchange gifts.</p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of an article originally published on May 22, 2017.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/77291/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mohammad Hassan Khalil does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Muslims observe a monthlong fast for the holy month of Ramadan. A scholar explains the religious observance and its spiritual significance.
Mohammad Hassan Khalil, Professor of Religious Studies and Director of the Muslim Studies Program, Michigan State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/75026
2017-05-02T02:37:18Z
2017-05-02T02:37:18Z
Blasphemy isn’t just a problem in the Muslim world
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/167385/original/file-20170501-17281-jjxivz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Stained glass window depicting a heretic in the Cathedral of Saint Rumbold in Mechelen, Belgium.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/512300215?size=huge_jpg">Heretic image via www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ireland’s state police recently concluded their investigation of comedian Stephen Fry, who stood accused of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2017/may/07/stephen-fry-investigated-by-irish-police-for-alleged-blasphemy">criminal blasphemy</a>. </p>
<p>In an interview that aired on Irish public television, Fry had described God as “capricious, mean-minded, stupid,” and “an utter maniac.” And Ireland’s Defamation Act of 2009 clearly prohibits the <a href="http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2009/act/31/section/36/enacted/en/html#sec36">“publication or utterance of blasphemous matter.”</a> Yet on May 8 the police closed the case, explaining they’d been <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/stephen-fry-blasphemy-ireland-probe-investigation-dropped-police-gardai-not-enough-outrage-a7725116.html">“unable to find a substantial number of outraged people.”</a> </p>
<p>The mild resolution to this incident stands in stark contrast to <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/uk-pakistan-facebook-religion-idUSKBN16Z2GB">recent news</a> <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-blasphemy-idUSKBN17F1ZL">out of Pakistan</a> – which has seen a <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/pakistan-blasphemy-int-idUSKBN17M1NS">spike in blasphemy-related violence</a> – and Indonesia, where the outgoing governor of Jakarta was just sentenced to two years in prison for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/20/ousted-jakarta-governor-basuki-tjahaja-purnama-jail-blasphemy-indonesia">speaking irreverently against Islam</a>.</p>
<p>The Irish case is also a timely reminder, though, that anti-blasphemy laws are hardly unique to the Muslim world. According to the Pew Research Center, nearly <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/07/29/which-countries-still-outlaw-apostasy-and-blasphemy/">one-fifth of European countries</a> and a third of countries in the Americas, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150717041904/http:/laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-46/page-155.html#h-89">notably Canada</a>, have laws against blasphemy.</p>
<p>In my research for a <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/blasphemous-modernism-9780190627560?cc=us&lang=en&">new literary study of blasphemy</a>, I found that these laws may differ in many respects from their more well-known counterparts in Muslim nations, but they also share some common features with them.</p>
<p>In particular, they’re all united in regarding blasphemy as a form of “injury” – even as they disagree about what, exactly, blasphemy injures.</p>
<h2>The hurt of blasphemy</h2>
<p>In dropping their investigation of Stephen Fry, for example, the Irish police noted that the original complainant does not consider himself personally offended. Therefore they’ve <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/stephen-fry-blasphemy-ireland-probe-investigation-dropped-police-gardai-not-enough-outrage-a7725116.html">determined</a> he is “not an injured party.”</p>
<p>In the Muslim world, such injured parties are often a lot easier to find. Cultural anthropologist <a href="http://anthropology.berkeley.edu/people/saba-mahmood">Saba Mahmood</a> says that many devout Muslims <a href="http://fordhampress.com/index.php/is-critique-secuar-paperback.html">perceive blasphemy</a> as an almost physical injury: an intolerable offense that hurts both God himself and the whole community of the faithful.</p>
<p>For Mahmood that perception was brought powerfully home in 2005, when a Danish newspaper published cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad. Interviewing a number of Muslims at the time, Mahmood was “struck,” <a href="http://fordhampress.com/index.php/is-critique-secuar-paperback.html">she writes</a>, “by the sense of personal loss” they conveyed. People she interviewed were very clear on this point:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The idea that we should just get over this hurt makes me so mad.”</p>
<p>“I would have felt less wounded if the object of ridicule were my own parents.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The intensity of this “hurt,” “wounding” and “ridicule” helps to explain how blasphemy can remain a <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/02/pakistan-shrine-murder-blasphemy-170206103344830.html">capital offense</a> in a theocratic state like Pakistan. The punishment is tailored to the enormity of the perceived crime.</p>
<p>That may sound like a foreign concept to secular ears. The reality, though, is that most Western blasphemy laws are rooted in a similar logic of religious offense. </p>
<p>As historians like <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/01/obituaries/01levy.html">Leonard Levy</a> and <a href="https://www.brookes.ac.uk/hpc/staff-and-students/academic-staff/?uid=p0070929&op=full">David Nash</a> have <a href="https://www.uncpress.org/book/9780807845158/blasphemy/">documented</a>, <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/blasphemy-in-the-christian-world-9780199255160?cc=us&lang=en&">these laws</a> – dating, mostly, from the 1200s to the early 1800s – were designed to protect Christian beliefs and practices from the sort of “hurt” and “ridicule” that animates Islamic blasphemy laws today. But as the West became increasingly secular, religious injury gradually lost much of its power to provoke. By the mid-20th century, most Western blasphemy laws had become virtually dead letters.</p>
<p>That’s certainly true of the U.S., where such laws remain <a href="http://www.bu.edu/ilj/files/2014/05/Aswad-US-and-Blaspemy.pdf">“on the books” in six states</a> but haven’t been invoked <a href="https://www.uncpress.org/book/9780807845158/blasphemy/">since at least the early 1970s</a>. They’re now widely held to be <a href="http://www.bu.edu/ilj/files/2014/05/Aswad-US-and-Blaspemy.pdf">nullified by the First Amendment.</a></p>
<p>Yet looking beyond the American context, one will find that blasphemy laws are hardly obsolete throughout the West. Instead, they’re acquiring new uses for the 21st century.</p>
<h2>Religious offense in a secular world</h2>
<p>Consider the case of a Danish man who was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/23/world/europe/denmark-quran-burning.html">charged with blasphemy</a>, in February, for burning a Quran and for posting a video of the act online.</p>
<p>In the past, Denmark’s blasphemy law had only ever been enforced to punish anti-Christian expression. (It was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/23/world/europe/denmark-quran-burning.html?_r=0">last used in 1946</a>.) Today it serves to highlight an ongoing trend: In an increasingly pluralist, multicultural West, blasphemy laws find fresh purpose in policing intolerance between religious communities.</p>
<p>Instead of preventing injury to God, these laws now seek to prevent injury to the social fabric of avowedly secular states. </p>
<p>That’s true not only of the West’s centuries-old blasphemy laws but also of more recent ones. Ireland’s Defamation Act, for instance, <a href="http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2009/act/31/section/36/enacted/en/html#sec36">targets any person</a> who “utters matter that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion.”</p>
<p>With its emphasis on the “outrage” blasphemy may cause among “any religion,” this measure seems to be aimed less at protecting the sacred than at preventing intolerance among diverse religious groups.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/167387/original/file-20170501-17307-tfg2vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/167387/original/file-20170501-17307-tfg2vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167387/original/file-20170501-17307-tfg2vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167387/original/file-20170501-17307-tfg2vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167387/original/file-20170501-17307-tfg2vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167387/original/file-20170501-17307-tfg2vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167387/original/file-20170501-17307-tfg2vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Illustrations of prophecy: particularly the evening and morning visions of Daniel, and the apocalyptical visions of John (1840).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/126377022@N07/14577102519">Internet Archive Book Images. Image from page 371.</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The law itself has caused outrage of a different sort, however. Advocacy organizations, such as <a href="http://atheist.ie/">Atheist Ireland</a>, have expressed fierce opposition to the law and to the example it sets internationally. In late 2009, for instance, Pakistan <a href="http://atheist.ie/2016/01/irish-blasphemy-laws-are-five-years-old-today/">borrowed the exact language</a> of the Irish law in its own proposed statement on blasphemy to the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. </p>
<p>Thus, Atheist Ireland <a href="http://atheist.ie/campaigns/blasphemy-law/">warns</a> on its website that “Islamic States can now point to a modern pluralist Western State passing a new blasphemy law in the 21st century.”</p>
<h2>Blasphemy in modernity</h2>
<p>That warning resonates with the common Western view of blasphemy as an antiquated concept, a medieval throwback with no relevance to “modern,” “developed” societies.</p>
<p>As Columbia University professor <a href="http://english.columbia.edu/people/profile/412">Gauri Viswanathan</a> puts it, <a href="http://press.princeton.edu/titles/6250.html">blasphemy is often used</a> “to separate cultures of modernity from those of premodernity.” Starting from the assumption that blasphemy can exist only in a backward society, critics point to blasphemy as evidence of the backwardness of entire religious cultures.</p>
<p>I would argue, however, that this eurocentric view is growing increasingly difficult to sustain. If anything, blasphemy seems to be enjoying a resurgence in many corners of the supposedly secular West.</p>
<p>The real question now is not whether blasphemy counts as a crime. Instead it’s about who, or what – God or the state, religion or pluralism – is the injured party.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/75026/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steve Pinkerton does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
A recent case of comedian Stephen Fry being accused of blasphemy is a reminder that blasphemy laws are not unique to the Muslim world.
Steve Pinkerton, Lecturer in English, Case Western Reserve University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/51804
2016-02-18T19:19:57Z
2016-02-18T19:19:57Z
Why is Islam so different in different countries?
<p><em>The rise of Islamic State has led to much speculation about the group’s origins: how do we account for forces and events that paved the way for the emergence of the jihadist group?</em></p>
<p><em>In the fourth article of our series on the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/understanding-islamic-state">historical roots of Islamic State</a>, Aaron Hughes explains the amazing regional variation in Islamic practice to illustrate why Islamic State appeared where it did.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>No religion is unified. How Catholicism, for example, is practised in rural Italy differs from the way this is done, say, in New York city. Language, culture, tradition, the political and social contexts, and even food is different in these two places. </p>
<p>Such geographic differences are certainly important in Islam. But also important are the numerous legal schools and their interpretations. Since Islam is a religion predicated on law (sharia), variations in the interpretation of that law have contributed to regional differences. </p>
<p>Also significant in the modern world is the existence of other religions. Malaysia, for example, has a relatively <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Malaysia">large percentage of religious minorities</a> (up to 40% of the population). Saudi Arabia <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Saudi_Arabia">has virtually none</a>. </p>
<p>This means Malaysia has had to develop a constitution that protects the rights of religious minorities, whereas Saudi Arabia has not. And it’s why Islam is so different in these two countries.</p>
<h2>Schools of thought</h2>
<p>There are historical reasons for this variation. Despite popular opinion, Islam didn’t appear fully formed at the time of Muhammad (570-632). There were huge debates over the nature of religious and political authority, for instance, and who was or was not a Muslim. </p>
<p>It’s similarly misguided to assume that a unified teaching simply spread throughout the Mediterranean region and beyond. </p>
<p>How Muhammad’s message developed into the religion of Islam — complete with legal and doctrinal content — took centuries to develop and cannot concern us here. </p>
<p>What <em>is</em> important to note, however, is that his message spread into various (unbordered) regions. Modern nation states would only arise much later. And each of these areas was already in possession of its own set of religious, legal and cultural traditions.</p>
<p>The result was that Islam had to be articulated in the light of local customs and understandings. This was done, in part, through the creation of legal courts, a class of jurists (ulema; mullas in Shi`ism), a legal code (sharia) and a system of interpretation of that code based on rulings (fatwas).</p>
<p>Many local customs arose based on trying to understand Muhammad’s message. And these customs and understandings gave rise to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_schools_and_branches">distinct legal schools</a>. </p>
<p>Although there were originally many such schools, they gradually reduced to four in Sunni Islam – Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi`i and Hanbali. While these four schools all regard one another as orthodox, they nevertheless have distinct interpretations of Islamic law. Some of their interpretations are more conservative than others. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111278/original/image-20160212-29175-9bxy0z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111278/original/image-20160212-29175-9bxy0z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111278/original/image-20160212-29175-9bxy0z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=725&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111278/original/image-20160212-29175-9bxy0z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=725&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111278/original/image-20160212-29175-9bxy0z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=725&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111278/original/image-20160212-29175-9bxy0z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=912&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111278/original/image-20160212-29175-9bxy0z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=912&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111278/original/image-20160212-29175-9bxy0z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=912&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are also a number of such schools in Shi`i Islam, as you can see from the image above. </p>
<p>The four Sunni schools are associated with distinct regions (as are the Shi`i schools). The Maliki school, for example, is prominent today in Egypt and North Africa. The Hanafi is in western Asia, the Shafi`i in Southeast Asia and the Hanbali (the most conservative) is found primarily in Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf states. </p>
<h2>Fundamental differences</h2>
<p>All this legal and local variation has produced different interpretations of the religion. But despite such regional and legal diversity, many Muslims and non-Muslims insist on referring to Islam and sharia as if they were stable entities.</p>
<p>An example might be illustrative of the extent of the differences within Islam. Many non-Muslims are often surprised to learn of the cult of saints, namely the role Sufi saints (Sufism is Islamic mysticism) have played and continue to play in the daily life of Muslims. </p>
<p>A Sufi saint is someone who is considered holy and who has achieved nearness to God. Praying to these saints and making pilgrimages to their shrines is a way to, among other things, ask for intercession. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/110759/original/image-20160209-12831-18iukny.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/110759/original/image-20160209-12831-18iukny.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/110759/original/image-20160209-12831-18iukny.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110759/original/image-20160209-12831-18iukny.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110759/original/image-20160209-12831-18iukny.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110759/original/image-20160209-12831-18iukny.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110759/original/image-20160209-12831-18iukny.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110759/original/image-20160209-12831-18iukny.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although these practices are not unlike the role and place of saints in Catholicism, in Islam they are much more localised. And this locally varied cult of saints played and continues to play an important role in Islamic religious life from Morocco in the West to Pakistan in the East. </p>
<p>Devotion to the saints is believed to cure the sick, make fertile the barren, bring rain, and so on. Needless to say, such devotion is often frowned upon by more fundamentalist interpretations. </p>
<p>While most legal schools are content – albeit somewhat bothered – by such practices, the conservative Hanbali school forbids cults like this. Its adherents have, among other things, destroyed tombs of saints in both the premodern and modern eras. They have also been responsible for the destruction of shrines associated with Muhammad’s family, such as the shrines and tombs of Muhammad’s wife. </p>
<p>The Hanbali school, backed by the wealth of the Saudi ruling family, has also tried to make inroads into other areas. Those associated with this legal school, for example, have built madrasas (religious seminaries) in regions traditionally influenced by other legal schools of thought. </p>
<p>Most fundamentalist movements in Islam, including Islamic State, have emanated from such ultra-conservative elements. The Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, for instance, are influenced by the more conservative elements of Hanbali ideology, even though they exist in a predominantly Hanafi legal environment. </p>
<p>The goal of many of these groups, sometimes referred to as Wahhabis or Salafis, is to return to what they imagine to be the pure or pristine version of Islam as practised by Muhammad and his earliest followers. They often have strict interpretations of Islam, strict dress codes and separation of the sexes. </p>
<p>Today, there are more than one and a half billion Muslims worldwide, making Islam the second-largest religion on the planet after Christianity. But it is a rich and variegated religion. And this variation must be taken into account when dealing with it. </p>
<p>Most importantly, the variation cannot be papered over with simplistic slogans or stereotypes. That women are not allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia but are in places like Malaysia tells you something about this variation.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This article is the fourth in our series on the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/understanding-islamic-state">historical roots of Islamic State</a>. <a href="http://bit.ly/UnderstandingIS">Download our special report</a> collating the whole the series.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/51804/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aaron W. Hughes does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Since Islam is predicated on law, variations in the interpretation of that law – along with geography and distinct legal schools – have all contributed to differences in the religion.
Aaron W. Hughes, Philip S. Bernstein Professor of Jewish Studies, University of Rochester
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/52155
2016-02-15T19:21:12Z
2016-02-15T19:21:12Z
Understanding Islamic State: where does it come from and what does it want?
<p><em>Since announcing its arrival as a global force in June 2014 with the declaration of a caliphate on territory captured in Iraq and Syria, the jihadist group Islamic State has shocked the world with its brutality.</em> </p>
<p><em>Its seemingly sudden prominence has led to much speculation about the group’s origins: how do we account for forces and events that paved the way for the emergence of Islamic State?</em></p>
<p><em>In the article kicking off <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/understanding-islamic-state">our series on the genesis of the group</a> below, Professor of Modern Middle Eastern History James Gelvin cautions against easy answers. It’s a logical fallacy, he adds, to think that just because one event followed another, it was also caused by it.</em> </p>
<p><em>Far better to look at the interplay of historical and social forces, as well as recognising that outfits such as Islamic State often cherry-pick ideas to justify their ideas and behaviours.</em></p>
<p><em>Our series attempts, in a dispassionate way, to catalogue many of the forces and events that can arguably have played a part in creating the conditions necessary for these jihadists to emerge. We have tried to spread the net wide, but we make no claim to being comprehensive or having the final word on the origins of Islamic State.</em></p>
<p><em>Over the next two weeks, a selection of religious studies scholars and historians – modern and medieval – from around the world will bring their expertise to our discussion of what led to the most notorious jihadist group in recent history.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>How far back in history does one have to go to find the roots of the so-called Islamic State (IS)?</p>
<p>To the <a href="http://vm136.lib.berkeley.edu/BANC/ROHO/projects/debt/oilcrisis.html">oil shock of 1973-74</a>, when Persian Gulf oil producers used the huge surplus of dollars flowing into their coffers to finance the spread of their severe interpretation of Islam?</p>
<p>To the end of the first world war, when the victorious Entente powers sparked resentment throughout the Arab world by <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-25299553">drawing artificial national borders</a> we hear so much about today? </p>
<p>How about 632 AD, the date of the <a href="http://www.cyberistan.org/islamic/death.html">death of the Prophet Muhammad</a>, when the early Islamic community split on who should succeed him as its leader — a breach that led to <a href="http://origins.osu.edu/article/tradition-vs-charisma-sunni-shii-divide-muslim-world/page/0/0">the Sunni-Shi'i divide</a> that IS exploits for its own ends?</p>
<p>The possibilities seem endless and would make for an entertaining variation on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Degrees_of_Kevin_Bacon">Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon</a> parlour game (which suggests any two people on earth are six or fewer acquaintance links apart) were the subject not so macabre. </p>
<p>But to look at any and all historical phenomena through a simple string of causes and effects is to ignore the almost infinite number of possible effects that might follow from any one purported cause. </p>
<p>It also opens the door to one of the most pernicious logical fallacies historians might commit: <em>post hoc, ergo propter hoc</em> (after this, therefore because of this). So rather than tracing the rise of IS to one or more events in the past, I suggest we take a different tack.</p>
<h2>A long line</h2>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109578/original/image-20160129-27177-1e6zxr8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109578/original/image-20160129-27177-1e6zxr8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=688&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109578/original/image-20160129-27177-1e6zxr8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=688&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109578/original/image-20160129-27177-1e6zxr8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=688&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109578/original/image-20160129-27177-1e6zxr8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=865&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109578/original/image-20160129-27177-1e6zxr8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=865&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109578/original/image-20160129-27177-1e6zxr8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=865&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Muhammad Ahmad, one of a long line of self-professed redeemers of the Islamic faith.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Ahmad#/media/File:Muhammad_Ahmad_al-Mahdi.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>IS is an instance of a phenomenon that recurs in most religions, and certainly in all <a href="http://www.britannica.com/topic/monotheism">monotheistic religions</a>. Every so often militant strains emerge, flourish temporarily, then vanish. They are then replaced by another militant strain whose own beginning is linked to a predecessor by nothing more profound than drawing from the same cultural pool as its predecessor.</p>
<p>In the seventh century, there were <a href="http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195390155/obo-9780195390155-0047.xml">the Kharijites</a> (the first sect of Islam), a starkly puritanical group that assassinated two of the early caliphs. Like IS, the Kharajites thought they knew best what and who were truly Islamic, and what and who were not.</p>
<p>In the 18th century, there were the followers of <a href="http://www.britannica.com/biography/Muhammad-ibn-Abd-al-Wahhab">Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab</a>, a central Arabian preacher whose followers included <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_bin_Saud">Muhammad ibn Saud</a>, the founder of the Saudi dynasty. Believing that the worship of saints and the construction of mausoleums were impious acts, ibn Saud’s army destroyed sites holy to both Sunnis and Shi‘is in Arabia and present-day Iraq, much as <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/02/isis-destruction-of-palmyra-syria-heart-been-ripped-out-of-the-city">IS targets sites from antiquity</a> today. </p>
<p>During the 19th century, <a href="http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Muhammad_Ahmad">Muhammad Ahmad</a>, a member of a religious order in what is now Sudan, proclaimed himself mahdi (redeemer of the Islamic faith), just as <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-27801676">Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi</a>, inventor and leader of IS, recently proclaimed himself caliph (leader of the Islamic faith) — a more prosaic position. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Khartoum">Ahmad’s army overran Khartoum</a>, where it massacred a British-led garrison and beheaded its commander.</p>
<p>Between Muhammad Ahmad and al-Baghdadi there were many, many others.</p>
<p>While tempting, it would be a mistake to believe that each militant group “gave rise to” the next (although later militants have sometimes drawn from or been inspired by their predecessors). That would be the equivalent of saying that <a href="http://www.britannica.com/topic/Zealot">the ancient Zealots</a> (a Jewish sect that fought the Romans) gave rise to militant Israeli settlers on the West Bank, or that <a href="http://www.history.com/topics/crusades">medieval Crusaders</a> gave rise to abortion-clinic bombers. </p>
<h2>The right stuff</h2>
<p>From time to time (it’s impossible to predict when), some figure emerges in each tradition who puts his own spin on that tradition. To be successful, that spin must capture the imagination of some of that tradition’s adherents, who then try to put it into practice. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109589/original/image-20160129-27159-1ewvj2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109589/original/image-20160129-27159-1ewvj2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109589/original/image-20160129-27159-1ewvj2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109589/original/image-20160129-27159-1ewvj2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109589/original/image-20160129-27159-1ewvj2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109589/original/image-20160129-27159-1ewvj2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109589/original/image-20160129-27159-1ewvj2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A newspaper featuring former al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ali Jasim/Reuters</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some spins, such as that of contemporary <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-wahhabism-in-saudi-arabia-36693">Saudi Arabia’s Wahhabis</a>, have sticking power. This is not because they are somehow “truer” than others, but because those who advocate for them are better able to mobilise resources – a core group of committed followers, for instance, military capabilities, or outside support – than others. Most do not.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-27801676">Al-Baghdadi</a> is one such figure (as was al-Qaeda founder <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-10741005">Osama bin Laden</a>). His spin melds together three ideas that come from the Islamic tradition. </p>
<p>The first is <em>khilafa</em> (caliphate). Al-Baghdadi believes that Islam requires a caliphate — governance in accordance with Islamic law over territory that’s under the authority of a caliph (a righteous and knowledgeable descendant of the prophet). </p>
<p>When <a href="http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/100620153">his forces took over Mosul</a> in the summer of 2014, al-Baghdadi proclaimed himself caliph and burnished his credentials for the job by changing his name to Caliph Ibrahim al-Quraishi al-Hashimi. The last two names signify he’s a member of the tribe of Muhammad and a descendant of the prophet.</p>
<p>The second idea al-Baghdadi brought into the mix is <em>takfir</em> – the act of pronouncing Muslims who disagree with IS’s strict interpretation of Islamic law to be apostates, which makes them punishable by death. This is the reason for IS’s murderous rampages against Shi‘is; rampages that even al-Qaeda central finds counter-productive, if not repugnant.</p>
<p>Resurrecting the concept of <em>takfir</em> was the idea of <a href="http://www.cfr.org/iraq/profile-abu-musab-al-zarqawi/p9866">Abu Musab al-Zarqawi</a>, founder of al-Qaeda in Iraq. His strategy was to use the concept to tighten communal ties among Iraq’s Sunnis by mobilising them against its Shi‘is, thus making post-American-invasion Iraq ungovernable. </p>
<p>Al-Baghdadi has gone one step further, finding the concept useful in his effort to purify the territory of the caliphate which, he believes, will soon stretch across the Islamic world.</p>
<p>Finally, there is <em>hijra</em>, the migration of Muslims from <em>dar al-harb</em> (the abode of war, that is, non-Muslim majority countries) to <em>dar al-Islam</em> (the abode of Islam) – just as Muhammad and his early companions migrated from Mecca to Medina, where they established the first permanent Islamic community. </p>
<p>IS wants a great incoming of Muslims into the caliphate. This is both because it needs skilled administrators and fighters and because it considers emigration from “non-Muslim territory” to “Muslim territory” a religious obligation. </p>
<h2>A dangerous distraction</h2>
<p>According to some commentators, al-Baghdadi brought a fourth idea to the table: <a href="http://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250080905">an apocalyptic vision</a>. They base this on the name of IS’s glossy magazine, Dabiq (the site in northern Syria where, Islamic tradition has it, the Battle of Armageddon will take place), articles in the magazine and propaganda videos.</p>
<p>It’s not too much of a stretch to attribute an apocalyptic vision to IS — after all, just as every monotheism is prone to militant strains, all are prone to apocalyptic visions as well. Nevertheless, I remain unconvinced that the concept represents a significant part of IS’s worldview. </p>
<p>Whatever the future may hold, IS, like some <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/06/end-of-world-7-october-ebible-fellowship">apocalyptic Christian groups</a>, has proved itself so tactically and strategically adept that it has obviously kicked any “end of days” can well down the road (roughly the same distance al-Qaeda kicked the re-establishment of the caliphate can).</p>
<p>Further, much of the IS leadership consists of hard-headed <a href="http://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/mideast-crisis-iraq-islamicstate/">former Iraqi Ba‘th military officers</a> who, if they think about an apocalypse at all, probably treat it much as Hitler’s generals treated the purported musings of Nazi true believers – with a roll of their eyes. </p>
<p>Foregrounding IS’s apocalyptic worldview enables us to disparage the group as irrational and even medieval – a dangerous thing to do. If the recent past has demonstrated one thing, it’s that IS thrives when its adversaries underestimate it.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This is the first article in our series on the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/understanding-islamic-state">historical roots of Islamic State</a>. <a href="http://bit.ly/UnderstandingIS">Download our special report</a> collating the whole the series.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/52155/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James L. Gelvin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
How far back in history does one have to go to find the roots of the so-called Islamic State? The first article in our series on the genesis of the terrorist outfit considers some fundamentals.
James L. Gelvin, Professor of Modern Middle Eastern History, University of California, Los Angeles
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.