Blog #4

Posted by: rooster30 on: February 14, 2012

In: Uncategorized
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In the first half of class we continued discussing the life and journey of Muhammad. In particular we focused on his growing power and the ongoing conflict with the Quraysh. This marginalization changed completely after Muhammad and his followers decided to move to Yathrib – before moving he was regarded as a cult leader, but after he was viewed as a respected leader of society. It is interesting how the shift really changed the dynamic.

I find it fascinating to read about the origin of a religion and in what context it developed. The Story of the Qur’an discusses the scripture origin of Islam. Much of the first chapter reminded me about some discussions we had in the first or second class. When evaluating the Qur’an it is necessary to understand the the context of the stories in order to grasp what they intend to mean. A similar story in the Qur’an and the Bible may only differ by a small changes to the story and/or what aspect of the story is emphasized.

I saw Ali Soufan on the Daily Show last night. I am aware of him over the past year or so due his role in interrogation cases against suspected terrorists for the FBI. However, last night he mainly talked about the ethnic (mainly Turkish vs Persian) tension in and around Iran. I think this is an aspect of the region that many Americans are not aware of. In general I think that most Americans tend to view all Muslims as being a homogeneous group with identical beliefs and goals – and usually as Arab even though Indonesia is the largest Muslim country.

In response to jkdsc89316: In general, I agree with you that is better to get more information on a topic and not just rely on what is presented in the media. However, the media isn’t the only biased source. All sources are biased – there is no such thing as unbiased works. Even the authors of academic articles are approaching their topic with some element of bias – hopefully they aim to minimize it. Likewise, bias is even present when reading primary sources because we as the reader have our own biases. The best approach is just to search out the potential bias and keep that context in mind when evaluating a source.