Index cards were distributed and we were asked to write down our answers to several true\u2013false questions about Islamic beliefs. These questions served to uncover stereotypes that we might have. Many of us evidenced some surprise as we shared our answers and received accurate information. Danya Wellmon read a passage from the Qur’an.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Background Information on Our guest speakers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Tazim Kassam<\/strong> is professor and chair of the Department of Religion at Syracuse University. Her research and teaching interests include gender, ritual, devotional literature, and the cultural heritage of Muslims in South Asia. Tazim has written a book about Hindu\u2013Muslim ideas expressed in the song tradition of the Isma’ili Muslims of the Indian subcontinent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cjala Surrat <\/strong>is a graduate of\nSyracuse University. Formerly the public information officer for the Redhouse,\na multicultural arts facility, Cjala currently is involved in public relations\nand theater instruction for the Community Folk Art Center and is director of\nthe Muslim Sisterhood Youth Group at the Islamic Center of Central New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Irum Hussain<\/strong> earned her doctor of chiropractic\ndegree from New York Chiropractic College. She has worked with public and\nprivate organizations in inner-city New York and rural Pakistan to improve\nhealth conditions through education. She is personally and professionally\ncommitted to integrating wellness into daily life and is the sole practitioner\nin the Syracuse area specializing in the unique needs of women and children\nfrom a holistic perspective. Irum is of Pakistani descent, was born in Kenya,\nand grew up \u201call over the world.\u201d She currently resides in the Hawley\u2013Green neighborhood\nof Syracuse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Tazim Kassam<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Tazim, a Shi’a Isma’ili Muslim, said that WTB has taken quite a risk by asking a scholar to discuss pluralism in Islam! It is a tall order to make sense, in a short time, of the different divisions that have developed over many centuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tazim attempted to\nprovide a framework in which to view the differences from a historical\nperspective. The word sect<\/em> is\nproblematic and not an appropriate term to describe the differences in the\nIslamic tradition. The word is more applicable in the context of the Christian\ntradition, which uses terms like orthodox<\/em> and heterodox<\/em> and, in the past, excluded certain sects as\nheretical. In their earliest written materials, Muslims spoke of different\nfirqah, or groupings, that might have divergent views about a particular issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tazim said it would be better to think of divisions in Islam by comparing them to the parts of a tree. The roots, shared by all the groups, represent a common belief in the Qur’an as revelation and in Muhammad as prophet. The trunk of the tree represents the development of tradition that then separates into various branches. One might think of Islam as organic and beautiful like a tree, with its integrity and wholeness centered in its common roots. The branches lead to different understandings of the Qur’an and of the Prophet Muhammad\u2019s teachings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The word Qur’an<\/em> comes from the verbal root q-r-a, meaning \u201cto recite.\u201d The Qur’an is a compilation of recitations that were experienced by the prophet as revelations from God and that were brought together and collected into this single volume within a short time after his death. Tazim discourages her students from reading the Qur’an from beginning to end because unlike the Bible, which contains a narrative, the Qur’an progresses from the longest chapters to the shortest chapters, a style that students can find confusing and frustrating. Moreover, just as a preacher or a professor often repeats ideas, so too the Qur’an has many verses that are repetitive. Tazim recommends Kenneth Cragg\u2019s book, Readings in the Quran, <\/em>which arranges the verses thematically. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Qur’an contains terms that are self-referential; that is, the Qur’an describes itself. Examples include hidayah, which means guidance; risala, message; and furqan, the criteria communicated in the revelations about how to distinguish truth from falsehood, good from bad. The Qur’an provides guidance, a path toward God, and helps Muslims determine their own thoughts and actions. Islamic teachings do not differ from the teachings of other religious traditions in terms of basic morals, ethics, caring for others, honesty, humility, and the sacredness of life whose source is other than self. Many verses in the Qur’an talk about death, and in doing so they show that life is something that is created. These verses illustrate the importance of humility (we are humbled by the knowledge that we were created by God), of accountability (we are accountable to God who created us), and of faith (we have faith in God who created us).<\/p>\n\n\n\n In explaining the\nbranches of Islam, Tazim said that even in Prophet Muhammad\u2019s lifetime, the reception\nof his messages differed. All prophets bring messages of justice and social\nconscience, and many are critical of their society. Initially, Muhammad wanted\nto throw himself off a mountain when he began receiving revelations; he thought\nhe was possessed. At first he did not preach, and when he finally did, he was\nridiculed and rejected and had to leave Mecca. Differences of opinion continued\nafter he began teaching. People would often ask him to explain his teachings\nand the Qur\u0384anic recitations. Even after he died, discussions and debates\ncontinued, shaped by the society in which the people lived. <\/p>\n\n\n\n One Islamic orientation\nwas linked to existing practices. The word sunnah <\/em>means\n\u201chabit\u201d or \u201cusual practice.\u201d The people of sunnah, or the Sunnis, tried to\nfollow the traditions of their forebears. They considered the question, \u201cWhat\ndid Muhammad do?\u201d They remembered his teachings and practices, called hadith,\nand maintained an exoteric orientation based on a collection of memories about\nthe prophet\u2019s actions and example and on consensus within the community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Interpretation of verses of the Qur’an required an application of intellect. Ali, Muhammad\u2019s cousin and son-in-law, was recognized as a person who could interpret the Qur’anic messages. Indeed, Prophet Muhammad sent his followers to Ali for explanations and religious knowledge. Sunni and Shi’a developed as separate groups more than a century after the prophet died. But among all Muslims, a focus on the Qur’an continues from generation to generation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There is a variety of interpretations even within the Sunni or Shi’a branch of Islam. The Shi’a Isma’ili tradition is esoteric and looks to the inner meaning. Many Sufi ideas come from Shi’a, with an intention to return to the spirit or spiritual path. Shi’as put significance on constant interpretation from generation to generation according to the times. They consider Ali to be the first Imam, who guides them, and then his descendants to be subsequent Imams. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In order to understand differences, it is important to bear in mind that interpretations and practices have had historical influences. Muslim traditions have been shaped, in part, by the culture, political context, and languages that existed at the time. One example might be Islam in the United States, where African-Americans, having lived through slavery and the civil rights movement, have a different understanding of democracy as a result of their experiences. One of the most important books on the position of women in Islam was written by an African-American Muslim woman, Amina Wadud, herself a convert to Islam; she authored two books on the interpretation of gender in the Qur’an. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Another example\npertains to the requirement for prayer five times a day. This obligation is\nviewed differently within various branches of Islam. In the Sufi tradition,\nwhere every moment is meant to be a sort of prayer, the five daily prayers are\nviewed as outer rituals. All the branches of Islam that exist today have derived\nfrom historical experience, making it difficult to answer questions like, What\nis the position of Islam on, for example, organ transplant, divorce, etc.?\nThere are many views.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Shi’a orientation requires that there be someone in every generation to interpret the Qur’an. Isma’ili Shi’as accept the current Aga Khan, a lineal descendant of Ali, as the 49th Imam. Every Imam interprets the Qur’an and the prophet\u2019s message in response to a changing world. The Imams have concerns for those who suffer and for providing a connection between spirituality and an intellectual understanding of faith. The current Imam has focused on helping and serving others; Tazim emphasized that the activities of the Aga Khan Foundation and Network are open to everyone, regardless of race, religion or nationality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cjala Surrat<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Cjala, a native of Syracuse, shared that her journey into\nIslam did not begin with a single profound moment. Rather, her realization that\nthis was the right path for her came after much reading and many discussions\nabout Islam with others. Raised as a Buddhist, Cjala had to read children\u2019s\nBible stories in order to become familiar with the Bible! In high school, as students\nshared their faiths with each other, Cjala felt that Islam was not right for\nher. That changed in college, however, when she met a woman who introduced her\nto the masjid. A while later, Cjala told Imam Kobesi (of the Islamic Society of\nCentral New York) that she wanted to make her shahada, or profession of faith;\nthe ceremony was scheduled for the next day. That evening, however, the imam\nphoned her to say that if she truly felt drawn to this, she should not wait a\nmoment longer to pronounce her intention. The experience was extremely moving.\nHer mother, though, had serious reservations about Cjala\u2019s conversion to Islam and\nwas particularly disturbed about her decision to wear hijab. Now, ten years\nlater, they have come to a greater understanding about these issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cjala met her husband, and within a month they came to a mutual\nagreement, found a common moral code, and were married. Cjala stated, \u201cMost of\nmy life has been about being present or being a presence in the world. I try to\nhave proper morals, proper ethics.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n The most difficult moment for Cjala occurred as a result of the\n9\/11 attacks, when she was working at H&M. Her manager asked her to leave\nthe store, and she has chosen to believe that this was out of his concern for\nher safety. She chooses to be unafraid and to engage people and answer their\nquestions at every opportunity. People often ask her questions about Islamic\npractices, such as, \u201cCan Muslim women work?\u201d \u201cAre Muslim women allowed to\ndrive?\u201d She feels that WTB\u2019s \u201cJourney to the Tent of Abraham\u201d was an excellent\nopportunity for non-Muslims to visit the masjid and have some questions\nanswered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Cjala\u2019s husband is from Cambodia, where there were very few\nMuslims as a result of the brutality of the Khmer Rouge. Cjala has found that living\nwith her mother-in-law has been quite a learning experience! She has looked at\npictures, recognized some of her own misperceptions, and come to realize that in\nCambodia, there are a great deal of spirituality and culture mixed in with\nIslamic traditions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Cjala shared some of her travel experiences in London and\nZimbabwe. In the latter, because many others looked like her (Cjala is\nAfrican-American), they assumed she could speak with them in their own\nlanguage. Cjala finds it a moving experience to pray in the masjid, where so\nmany from different ethnic traditions can be praying together, shoulder to\nshoulder. She feels there is an inherent moral code within Islam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Irum Hussain<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Irum\u2019s grandmother and mother were born in Kenya, as was\nIrum. Her grandfather was brought to Kenya from Asia to work on the railroad.\nRacial tensions between Africans and Asians exist in Kenya even today, and\nAsians were in solidarity with each other. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Irum\u2019s father, a doctor, eventually moved the family to Saudi\nArabia. The Saudi Arabian government had mandated that women must wear hijab as\nwell as niqab, a face veil. Her mother hated this, so on Sundays the family\nwould go to an isolated spot at the ocean where her mother could remove her\ncoverings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following their stay in Saudi Arabia, Irum\u2019s family moved to\nNew York City. There, in that very cosmopolitan environment, the children were\nexposed to many ethnicities. They remained in New York City until Irum was 13,\nwhen they moved again, this time to Bath, New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Their years in Bath were very difficult for the five Hussain\nsiblings. Being the only Muslim family in this tiny, upstate New York village,\nthe Hussains faced a great deal of racism and discrimination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Irum attended the State University of New York (SUNY) at\nBinghamton, and it was there that she met her husband. There, too, she made a\ndecision to wear hijab. Her mother was furious, having been through her own\nstruggles in Saudi Arabia. Irum remembers 9\/11 as being an exceedingly\ndifficult time for her. Her mother, concerned for Irum\u2019s safety, tried again to\ndiscourage Irum from her recent practice of wearing hijab. Irum continued, however,\nand today her mother is more accepting of her decision. Following 9\/11, Irum\nfelt that each Muslim needed to become a spokesperson explaining Islam to others,\nand that Muslims needed to be doing more interfaith work. Irum, like Cjala, advises\na youth group at the masjid. Three Muslim women represented different experiences of Islam. One is a scholar researching Isma’ili Muslims of the Indian subcontinent; she offered insights into the diversity within both Sunni and Shi’a Islam. Another was born in Kenya of Pakistani ancestry and moved with her family to the U.S., where she has encountered repeated discrimination. The third is a native of Syracuse, an African-American raised as a Buddhist, became Muslim, and married a Muslim from Cambodia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7876,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[16,43],"class_list":["post-7523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-programs","tag-islam","tag-pluralism",""],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7523"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7523\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8877,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7523\/revisions\/8877"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"