An American in Arabia

31.01.10

emmaru — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 22:13:07 +0000

As it turns out, I had no time to faithfully blog my experiences last semester. This semester I am taking a course titled “Myth and Sacred Journeys”. For our first paper we have to research a myth. I’m researching the myth of the veil in Islamic culture. I don’t intend to prove that the veil and the reasoning behind it is a myth in the sense of not being true. It is a very real truth for those that wear it. I am more interested in how it came into being and how it affects the lives of those who wear it.

Right now I’m doing my research for a 12-source annotated bibliography. I haven’t been doing much more than skimming the resources that I find, but what catches my attention is ” A man has the right to beat the women in his family. There is nothing you can do.” And it is almost enough to make me cry. To think that women are seen as so much less than a man that they can be beaten like cattle. I know that it is their culture. I know that it has been the way of things for centuries. But it still makes me sad. I have a feeling that there will be more tears and sadness before the end of my research.

09.09.2009

emmaru — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 20:51:53 +0000

Recently I have been reading “Islam: Its History, Teaching, and practices” by S.A. Nigosian. I’ve only just finished the introduction and the first chapter, but already I have thoughts and questions. Pardon the randomness as I attempt to lay them out.

“Islam” means “submission” and “peace”. Its essence is that submission to God results in peace of mind and soul.

Arabs believe that they are sons of Abraham through Ishmael, Abraham’s son by Hagar. They also believe that Ishmael was the son that Abraham was called to sacrifice, not Isaac.

The Ka’bah is a sacred, cube-shaped shrine in Mecca that contains the Black Stone. Apparently this stone was brought to Abraham by Gabriel and was so holy that it drew the pilgrims to Mecca by its pure white radiance, until human wickedness turned it black. So Mecca is considered sacred territory and (historically) Arab tribes are hesitant to attack it.

Nearby is the Zamzam well, where Hagar and Ishmael were given water.

I find it interesting when their own folk and religious stories mention the people, places, and events from other religions. I think we are all more connected than we choose to realise.

pg. 13 “…insisted the Islamic community accept the moral and social obligation of permitting ‘people of the book’ to live freely among them and under their protection, provided they accepted the Islamic social system and paid their taxes”. I am curious to learn what caused the change to the current view on other religions, and also to learn where jihad fits into all of this.

Other things that I find interesting:

they have 200 names for Muhammad, but only 99 names for God.
“peace be upon him” follows every mention of Muhammad, either by name or title.
“peace be upon him” also follows every mention of Jesus, Gabriel, and other prophets. They recognise other prophets “from” other religions, yet other religions fail to do the same.

So many, it seems, hate Muslims or Arabs. As of yet, I cannot find reason to do so. And I hope that I never do. The purpose of this study is to learn about their culture and theatre and, hopefully, to begin to educate people out of their ignorance and media-driven hate. A lofty goal? Yes. But the more I read and discover, the more passionate I become concerning it.

28.8.09

emmaru — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:34:38 +0000

When I think “Arabic”, I think “camels”. I think “sand”. I think of deserts, tents, black beards, and flowing tunics. I think in stereotypes. With all of this, and perhaps because of it, I chose to create a course for myself that would allow me to study Arabic Theatre. Of course, studying theatre means more than studying scripts and styles. It means studying history and culture. It means studying art and architecture, war and religion. It means studying everything about a people in order to better understand why they wrote the scripts they wrote, what those scripts tell us about the opinions of the playwright, what meaning lies hidden beneath the words, how the script should be performed, and more. This is what I wish to understand. How does the Arabic culture influence the plays that are produced, and how to the plays themselves reflect, even influence, the culture? If a play is popular, why is it popular? What does its popularity tell us about the people? I seek an understanding of what their playwrights wrote. I seek an understanding of their particular culture. I seek understanding over ignorance.