Out of all the assigned readings I found the one on Prophet Muhammad to be the most interesting.  It is a great contrast to see Muhammad’s characteristics compared to those of Jesus I know being raised a Christian.  With the similarities they share there are also huge differences.  I enjoyed especially reading about Muhammad’s journey to Medina to spread his message and his interaction with the tribes of the area.

I read an article in The New York Times titled “Some in Egypt Turn Their Anger on Islamists, and Syrian Embassy Is attacked”.  Protestors in Cairo verbally assaulted Islamists, saying they are too accommodating to the military leaders of the new government.  After a few bottles were thrown the encounter only last 30 minutes until someone attempted to attack the Syrian Embassy.  Having only read this article it is hard to see who is all right or wrong, but there is always a better way to resolve a problem them throwing bottles and attacking an embassy.

In response to 195theo I recently read similar articles of discrimination towards Muslim women and their head scarves not only in France but a lot of Europe.  Head scarves are a integral part in Muslim tradition and no one should force you to not wear one if you desire.  These stereotypes and discriminatory acts were also shown in My Name is Khan as well. I agree the world would be a much better place if everyone was educated and was not ignorant to the world’s religions.

I took a history class a few semesters ago that related to Islam and the Middle East and unfortunately I feel like a lot of what my professor taught, contradicts what the readings have to say.  In that class our professor told us that Islam was a violent religion, a “religion of the sword” and that the prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) was a “no-nosense” type leader who cut peoples’ heads off if they didn’t convert. I as well as the rest of my class thought this was obviously preposterous and I’m glad that the real accepted version of Islam is presented as peaceful and that the prophet was a peaceful leader and won people over with his compassion, not threatening sword.  Needless to say I disliked that professor and class that taught exactly the opposite of what Islam, the Quran, and the Hadith teach.

In response to Bounthcy’s post from the previous week about ghosts and jinns, I think my cat may be a jinn. There’s an old wives tale that claims that male cats are jinns.  There can be bad or good jinns however, so I think that my cat is a good jinn.  Whenever my family prays, he comes and prays with us.  He wakes the family up for morning prayers and during Ramadan, he’d always leave around evening time; I think he might be a cat Imam or something like that.  We have a lot of random cats in our neighborhood and I’m pretty sure he’d lead them in prayer or preach or do something of the sort. He’s a good cat and is very religious so I really believe he may be a jinn.  Some jinns appear in front of humans and some don’t, but as compared to the bad ones. I feel like the good ones are more apparent.

On a related animal note, I recently saw an ABC video clip about how scientists have proved that ants have a complex communication system and can speak with each other. The clip posted on YouTube by Islamic Research Foundation pointed out that in the Quran, in  chapter 27 titled “The Ants” 1400 years ago, God  told the readers of the Quran(us) that ants can speak to each other.  Not only till now is the rest of the world figuring this out using “modern” technology. The link to the video is as follows http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjMBre9Yuxg&feature=youtu.be

I really liked the readings on the Prophet Muhammad out of all the readings that were due for this week’s class. They were really interesting especially after reading on some other figures like Jesus and Abraham in the past. Muhammad had qualities about him that were not the same as many others, a major one being his level of education and just his background in general. It’s not quite like any of the others. It was interesting that there is so much I do not know about, even though I thought I did.

I have a friend who recently learned about Islam. She has began to read on it and learn more about it. One thing she mentioned is how different it is than what she had first believed or heard. She found many parallels to her own religion and found it interesting that they were so similar yet many people don’t think so. Many people don’t realize, in general, how similar they really are. She has continued her reading and learning more about the topic.

In response to thethingstheycarried728: I also agree. I went to a public school where the religious holidays I celebrated were not given off. So of course, I would miss school on those days and for the times that we had a test that day I would have to find time somehow during my packed schedule to take a makeup test. Similarly, I would usually have to bring food from home because I wouldn’t really be able to eat much of the cafeteria food, except maybe pizza which gets tiring after a few days.

We were asked to read articles about Muhammad and I found them to be very interesting, as I have never been exposed to stories of a prophet like him before. To read about the beauty of the visions, and the hardship of his journey made me realize that I know very little about Islam. But I am very intrigued to learn more.

Islam is something that I have not been exposed to that often, as I said before there is a city  Michigan, Dearborn and Hamtramck, that have LARGE Arab Muslim population and to see the way the culture is there has intrigued me to understand more. As well as the significantly larger Muslim population, than I’m used to, in Loyola. I have not had exposure to much but I am looking forward to becoming more culturally aware of the religion, culture, and customs.

In response to snowmakesmehappy, I agree the connections between the religions is very confusing, but it is ever so exciting. I was not aware of all the minor differences and the significance of various biblical stories. I am also eager and interested to continuing to relate the religions together, to me that shows the truth between them. Though different there is truth in all of them which makes me respect religion in general, all the more.

So far, I have only read Chapter One of Hadith, but I really enjoyed it.  I found it interesting that the book opened with the quote, “Whoever has preserved one life, it is as if he has saved all of humanity” – Quran 5:32.  I am Jewish, and I have been taught an almost identical quote (“And whosoever preserved a single soul…, scripture ascribes [merit] to him as though he had preserved a complete world”), but one attributed to the Talmud, Sanhedrin 37a.  I think it is interesting that two religions can have an almost identical passage, but with a different source.

I think that I read the same newspaper article as confusedbanana19.   I think that shops should be able to sell whatever they want, but I also think that Barbie can have a bad influence on girls.  In the article that I read, there was a quote of a woman saying that her daughter preferred Barbies to the government approved dolls because the government approved dolls were “fat and ugly.”   Clearly, the only thing this girl picked up on in playing with her dolls is that size and shape are what matter most.

In response to chicagoiscold, I really identified with the comments about celebrating the holidays in a Christian-centric education system.  I can’t count the times where I have been docked points on quizzes, projects, or attendance for missing school for Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Passover, or other Jewish holidays.  Not only that, but when I went to junior high and high school (and didn’t live in my own dorm room), I had a hard time eating in school during Passover because  I couldn’t find an area of the school that wasn’t tainted with bread.

I greatly enjoyed both of the assigned readings for this week. I am Christian and know a lot about the disciples who followed Jesus. However, I enjoyed reading about the history of Muhammad because he was different than any prophet I know in my religion. The idea that he was a prophet called by a vision is an intriguing and romantic idea. Having never taken a world history course, I also found the period of late antiquity in history to be fascinating to read about.

Last week, I read in the news that Iran was banning the sales of Barbie dolls in their country. First of all, I’m surprised more countries don’t do this because Barbie dolls promote a ridiculous representation of women. Second, this made me think about how women are viewed in the Middle East. In my Women in Politics class last semester, I learned how many women in the Middle East wear a veil or burqa because of their religion. However, some wear it in protest because they aren’t instructed to in their religion.  I am interested in finding out what parts of the Islam religion promote these ideals for women.

Responding to snowmakesmehappy: I came from a very conservative, non-diverse high school. My town was mostly Caucasian and there were probably less than 5 African American kids in my graduating class of 135. Because of this, I was surprised by how many followers of the Islam faith I found when I came to Loyola. Snowmakesmehappy commented that many Muslim groups tend to keep together. However, I have made a lot of Muslim friends since coming to college and I’m glad to have gained this broader perspective of culture. College is all about meeting people with different viewpoints so I’m happy that Loyola has proven to be much more diverse than my hometown.

The article we were assigned to read really appealed to me and was very interesting. Even after regularly going to the masjid and having parents who held my hand throughout my whole experience with Islam, there was still much I didn’t know that was answered in this text. This is not to say that it was confusing. A lot of the material was previous knowledge I had acquired somewhere else before.

An issue present in Islam is pretty evident in Loyola. There are many Muslim students I know that go here and yet one would never think they are Muslim. Not to be judgmental, but they show a total disregard for their religion due to the hardships of student life. I know Professor Mozaffar is teaching an informal class on Monday afternoons regarding Islam and student life. Sadly, class was cancelled this week cause he probably overslept or something. I look forward to attending next week for sure.

To therealgretchenweiners, I was talking about the McDonald’s on Schaefer and Ford, if you know where that is. Past the Taco Bell. Also, I agree. I go down there every so often, usually about once a month, and see many individuals who are ‘Americanized.’ The food really is good, especially considering that most, if not all, of the food is Halal and permissible for Muslims to eat. 

The assigned reading for this week was a few chapters from The Cambridge Companion to Muhammad. One of the chapters discussed the Prophet’s hijrah: his journey from the city of Mecca to Medina. The chapter described the struggles the Prophet had in taking over Medina and spreading his message. It was interesting for me to read about the politics behind the story. Usually, what they teach us in Sunday school or at home is just about the journey and end result. This chapter taught me about the tribes that lived in Medina and how Muhammad had to work his way into each tribe when they were weakened by conflict, and then slowly gain a foothold through which to take over.

One of the things that these blogs have made me think about is how little many people know about Islam, and the reasons behind that. I remember early on in the year, someone had told me that they find it hard to talk to Muslim brothers and sisters because they tend to keep company among themselves. They would see one Muslim sitting in class, only to find him/her suddenly surrounded by two or three more. Sadly, I can say that I am also guilty of this. Upon arriving at Loyola, I have made more and more Muslim friends. I eat out with them, study with them, and walk to class with them. They are just the people that I see most often during my day, but I know that is a lame excuse. Maybe we Muslims can use this class as a way to break the mold and branch out a bit more.

I would like to respond to the people who are discovering the similarities between Islam and Christianity and Judaism. These similarities have always proved both exciting and confusing for me. It always makes me happy to know that the three religions are not as different as they appear from the outside. Many of the stories and histories are the same. However, growing up in a predominantly Christian society, I was most often exposed to tales of Christian theology. And while the stories are similar, they are not quite identical. I tend to find myself mixing up the Biblical and Qur’anic accounts of many stories about Prophets. Hopefully this class can help me discern the minor distinctions between each.

I really appreciated both articles we were assigned to read. Both were really eye opening into the aspects of God that permeate our lives daily. One God, Many Names was really eye opening about the histories of the names of God. I had never known that other religions besides Islam had multiple, distinctive names for God that spoke of His qualities. I also particularly liked the reference to how the Dywok tribe viewed God.For me, it was amazing how a religion so primitive shared such an important tenet of Islam.

This news is a little old but I was really excited when Tawakkol Karman received the Nobel Peace Prize this year. It was a huge step in recognizing the efforts for the Arab Spring. It was an even bigger step in recognizing the integral role Arab women played in the Arab Spring. I probably speak from a very biased view toward Muslim women but I really thought this years recipients were recognized for the proper reasons. I remember the year Obama was awarded the Noble Peace Prize and it really angered me because he didn’t actually do anything. I really felt that Tawokkol Karman, Leymah Gbowee and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf were all very deserving of the prize.

In response to daisysimple, I also really enjoyed the last bit of lecture on Thursday. Even though I come from an Islamic background I had never known how Judaism, Christianity and Hinduism had viewed Islam and how these faiths viewed each other. Although I come from an Islamic background I had never learned Islam like this, learning about the Islamic paradigms in this way is really eye opening.

I’m having a bit of trouble with all of the readings because I have NO knowledge about Islam. That being said, I feel like the first two articles that we read were semi-helpful in terms of identifying who Allah is. I didn’t know anything, but now I know more about the origin of his name, who he is, and a little bit about who his people are. Mercy seemed to be a key factor in living a fulfilling life in the eyes of Allah. This is a concept that I wish more people would embrace. I really enjoyed the bit of lecture last thursday. I know nothing about Islam or it’s history, so that was a good start. However, I’m probably going to need to get more knowledge during class time instead of through the readings, so I don’t feel lost when it comes to writing assignments.

I’m very curious to learn about the biblical patriarchs and prophets as they are portrayed in Islam. I want to compare and contrast their purpose and stories. I am also very curious to know what role Jesus has in Islamic theology. All of these questions make me curious about how people follow this religion. What the main practices are, how people dress, act, live, etc. These are some things that I hope to learn by the end of the semester.

In response to “chicagoiscold,” the point you raised about the issue around the Christian-centric education was very familiar to me. I always saw this issue as it related to the Jewish holidays, simply because I don’t know many religions and their holidays. However, now that you’ve explained the importance of some of the holidays and the problems relating to the lack of accommodations by schools, it seems wrong that in a country full of diverse races, cultures, religions, sexual orientations, so on and so on, that we haven’t figured out a way to accommodate everyone’s needs.