Chronicles of a Muslim Woman

internet google

While receiving the headphones to follow our guide through the Vatican, I heard her colleague telling in Italian that she had a Muslim couple in her group. I didn't like what I heard. Why do I have to be attached to a social stigma because of my name? After all, the Vatican was, at one time, the epicenter of the Inquisition and of religious intolerance, and I was not concerned about the Catholic people that were in the group on that day, and not even with the Catholic friends I have. Why blaming the whole Muslim world for the sake of some few Muslim criminals?

As a matter of fact, when I speak as a Muslim, I am not interested in any kind of religious revival, or in converting others. I speak as a Muslim only to let the reader understand that indeed, mine is a single and individual voice, in the midst of a wider Muslim world, which is plural and diverse, and that it is precisely because of this, that there is beauty in it. What I really look forward to is Salaam. The Qur'an has inspired me in this direction as it says: God was bored in his solitude and decided to manifest itself, so it created the universe. Furthermore, it also says that, "wherever you turn, you will see God's Face". Thus, my "Muslimness" can be resumed as something like this: to live life in the pursuit of peace, through understanding and respect towards human dignity, and, if possible, to work together with believers and non-believers, in the direction of the betterment and uplifting of the human condition.

I do, as much as most of my readers, feel difficulty in understanding some Muslim societies, which are profoundly patriarchal and obsolete in their interpretations of the faith of Islam. However, as a social scientist, I do try to understand with a degree of objectivity the social phenomena at stake.

I ask myself what motivates knowledgeable individuals, with academic degrees, and reasonable financial resources, to become massive killers, further to justifying their acts as part of a religio-political ideology? (I do not know exactly why, but these thoughts remind me of Bush, and Blair, Aznar and Barroso, who have similar profiles, and yet, pursued the goal of going to war with Iraq, which for them was a "Just War" , not "Holy War", in spite of Bush having heard God's voice to go forward...) Well, but going back to the Muslims, which is what is being observed here, we need to understand what is it that motivates people with these profiles to kill themselves and other innocent people?

Social psychological studies on youth may provide some interesting analysis. Social Psychology on Youth explains how individuals of certain age groups are more keen on affirming their social identities through ideologies, and that they are more sensitive than others regarding matters of social and political equitability. They can be quite sensitive regarding political ambiguities. In fact, we saw millions of youngsters marching against the Iraq war in many European countries, and yet, their voices were not heard. Moreover, we see that politics also has to do with negotiation with friends and partners who were once enemies, and terrorists. Young people are aware of the politics of ambivalence, where some are protected and others neglected; they have difficulties understanding the geo-politics of international dominant powers; they are, particularly the Muslim youth, sensitive to humiliating episodes taped and photographed and diffused worldwide, such as those of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay. It must be difficult to understand why some people who make mistakes go executed while others who "were mistaken" walk around freely, giving highly paid conferences, in total impunity. Crime is crime, and there's no such thing as civilized crime versus barbarian crime!

With this argument I do not wish to justify terror or crime, by all means! What may be of concern to a young person may be a lack of ideological identification in ambivalent world politics. Muslims, in particular, who are more vulnerable to literalist interpretations of the sacred texts, may find in those interpretations, the counter-path to follow. This can either be because they are insufficiently informed about their faith, further to some kind of political and ideological disenchantment, or also, because they may also have experienced some sort of discrimination throughout their lives, as I did, while standing at the doors of the Vatican.

Thence, the solutions for preventing the Muslim kind of criminality are threefold: first, the community has to pay special attention to all religious propaganda spreading among youth; secondly, the secular normal education has to undertake knowledge and learning about Islam and Muslim societies and this has to be part of their regular curriculum. Learning about Muslim civilizations and their achievements throughout the world will pay a greater service to Muslims and non-Muslims, as both groups learn accurately and objectively about this religion; in open discussions, avoiding dogma, or fear, and preventing stigma. Thirdly, politicians need to re-think their role and responsibility as representatives of true democracies, if indeed they wish to build partnership with the civil society.

Faranaz Keshavjee

I recently went to Rome and visited the Vatican. Regrettably, did not see the Pope, but would very much liked to have had tea with Benedict XVI. I'd love to ask him whether he's had tea with any other Muslim, i.e., if he knows them well, or if he spends time learning who the Muslims are or how they understand their faith. The Pope did talk about the immigrants last Sunday and he reminded the listeners that Jesus looked at all people as human beings, above all things, and thence that we should respect them. However, I wonder, if the Pope himself spends time with them, to learn and respect otherness, to integrate difference, managing prejudices. I believe this to be a difficult task. Not only for Christians, but also for the Muslims themselves. One does not love naturally the Other; one is taught to deconstruct prejudices and integrate otherness. This should happen from early ages of childhood, both in school and in the family or community.

I keep myself some fabulous memoirs of the Vatican. It's wealth, sumptuous arts and architecture, the frescos of Michael Angelo and Raphael; of art as the projection of power, or as contestation of power and corruption. One leaves the Vatican differently from when one enters.

One intriguing question had to do with the fact of the Vatican having opened its doors to the wider public approximately 20 years ago. What was its agenda? In the UK, Queen Elizabeth II had the Buckingham palace doors opened at a crisis time, just after Diana's death- the People's Princess - and after her total disengagement with the British monarchy. The people were angry and disenchanted with the institution. The argument put forward by the palace was finance, but it was really the social and political impact that was at stake. Regarding the Vatican, I wonder what crisis, if any, pushed the Vatican for showing off their wealth, culture and power?

This question led to think about religious revivalisms in the contemporaneous world. Throughout the whole visit I was led to learn about the Papal monarchy and power. I had difficulty finding Jesus. No mention of him. Well, of course, there were a few images... however, the revered ones were of the Popes - Jesus representatives. In "islamology" we would call them the caliphs, with a State of their own, with their own laws, and taxes, further to the authority of recognized religious knowledge - thus, they would be the caliph-ulama! Very similar to Muslim clergy that influences governments, only locally.

For those who proudly recall the separation that happened in Christendom, between the religious and the secular, I find the Vatican an interesting and puzzling phenomenon. From this place, religious laws will expand to the Catholic world and become globalised, not as juridical state laws, but as ethical frameworks for building on the laws of any Catholic country. The consequences even in secular societies can be so deep and widely spread that you may find women's role as backwards in Germany as in the most remote and backwards Muslim jurisprudence systems in some societies. To have a clearer idea I recommend the article on the Herald Tribune about laws that control and underestimate women's role in society for more than 500 years! Alas! Don't we all have glass ceilings?!

Through the sumptuous corridors, and temples, I looked for my beloved Prophet Jesus. The sufi and mystic leader, who shared his piece of bread with the needed; who protected and enhanced women; who made miracles out of love and compassion... there He was, small, hanging from the cross, in the middle of big saints, and fat cardinals, in the middle of enormous columns, and paintings, of gold, of mummified priests, and other worldly wealth.

The Pope's power and laws are central do this small state, and yet, affect the whole Catholic world, whom seem to have forgotten its founder and central element - Jesus. Likewise, among Muslims, Islam, a word that appears as much as 7 times in the Qur'an, compared to the hundreds of times the concept of Allah (God) appears, has become the central element in the Muslim faith. The big Jihad of a Muslim nowadays has become "Islam", whereas, in the beginning it meant really the battle in the direction of one's inner Self, which is eager to be reunited with God.

We live and spread, both Christians and Muslims, a religious revival, but of a different kind: that which has given up on essence and is more keen on showing off the glorification of the form.

fotos de luz - internet

When school holidays came, I had this much expected visit from my Israeli friends and their children. We have cherished this friendship for 14 years since the time we started our doctorate studies in Cambridge, UK. Them being Jewish and we as Shia Ismaili Muslims we exchanged presents for Hannukah and for Imamat Day, and we also got into the spirit of celebrating the birth of Jesus, for various reasons, but more importantly, for the factual evidence that while living in European Christian societies, we - as Jew and Muslim, would not be together at this time of the year if it wasn't for the celebration of the birth of Jesus. We chatted on the meaningful facts of our religious identities and still had a great deal of learning about traditions, education, values, and the future of our children. Those who are used to reading my posts know exactly that, by stating this as a fact, I do not intend to minimize the role that Prophet Issa had in our own understanding of Islam, which was enormous and deeply formative of the religion I practice.

As the Old Year was closing its days, and as Europeans, we also joined our Christian and agnostic friends in our building to welcome the New Year. We blended into the common traditions and had extended to all our friends and loved ones the best wishes for 2010. Through mobile phones and internet we were linked to the world and the world was in our hearts, minds and prayers.

However, and perhaps because I am more exposed and challenged to think about the troubled and conflicting identities, I worry about the present and future of human relationship, especially that which fears the Other - the unknown, the less visible, yet real, and not necessarily demonising. To make this point clearer, I will use Azim Nanji's story, which I found in a enlightening article : "Some wise men who are seated around the square on a pleasant summer evening, doing what wise men do - exchanging presumed wisdom and trying to solve at the same time the problems of the world! While they are seated on this bench they see a young woman walking in front of them, going to and fro and obviously looking for something she has lost. Eventually they enquire what it is that she is looking for and she replies, "It's an earring". They ask "Do you know exactly where you lost it?". "No, I don't know where I lost it", she replies. Perplexed at the response, the wise men ask, "Why are you looking for it just in this space, walking back and forth?" And she says "Because it's the only place where there's a lamppost."

Azim Nanji is concerned about the "single lamp" from where we look at Islam, and that we should look for other "islams" under other lights or which are less visible. I would add to that thought that we should also build a world recognizing our common humanity. Furthermore, that in this process we are bound to find differences, and that's what's really interesting and beautiful about creation. The history of humankind has many a times shown that it is in difference, and through it, that human beings have managed to overcome the challenges of life, of economic failures, social disenchantments, science responses, and the overcoming of natural disasters. More than anything, I wish 2010 marks the beginning of a decade where we engage in a respectful and dignifying common humanity.

unesco.org

"The fear of the unknown" is the basis for "demonizing the other". The fear of difference disappears as we invest in education for a pluralistic society. Pluralism should not be just tolerated, but rather appreciated as human richness. Hugo Franco's article in this weekend paper mentions that the process of demonizing the other starts at very early ages. Furthermore, that children fight for the cause of religion, being the Muslim the enemy of Christians and of people in general.

I worry about this Europe that is becoming increasingly racist and xenophobic and which, resists in its ignorance towards the other. Portugal is unfortunately, becoming the same. Read the comments in my blog and you will see I am not exaggerating.

On a recent occasion, while discussing similar issues with my children, I recalled the Holocaust, and referred them to the book about "The boy in the stripped pyjamas". I told them of how close in time we were of the dreadful events. My daughter, who's 12, found the story a very sad one, and not appropriate for the time of the day, or the age of her younger brother, who's 6. She was concerned about him having bad dreams. It was late in the afternoon, I know, and perhaps she was right. But then, if you miss the time, the opportunity to say things which are important, or if they become trivial among children's games, maybe, one misses out the opportunity to teach, to remind them of the things we should avoid happening again. I have to confess tough that I got tired that day, for having to answer to many urgent but pertinent questions my son was eager to learn. His was the concern about human cruelty, and if there is punishment for those who do wrong; or even if paradise and hell exist...

The faith I try to teach is of humanism and of humanitarian conduct. The religious books they have, produced at the Institute of Ismaili Studies, in London, teach them about unity in a cosmopolitan coexistence.

I wish my kids to grow in a secular world where having faith or not, would not be a problem. I do my best to educate them at the highest standards, and with the best instruments of learning, with only one condition: that they may use this knowledge and education to serve those in need with generosity and humility when it is in their time and capacity.

In a Europe that is more and more racist and xenophobic, it is urgent to ask some important questions: What is good education? What ethics and morals do we want to teach children about when encountering the other? Which principles of the Judeo-Christian culture, which form the basis of the European Consitution, will the Portuguese use to educate their children? What kind of society will the next generations be like? Who should be accountable for educating for the good, or the evil? It is time to think.... It is time to teach pluralism.

PS: For those who think churches are not allowed in Muslim spaces, please, have a good look at these marvels

Mawlana Rumi

internet google

Religions are not the main cause of humankind's hardships. It is in their interpreters that we find absolutisms, power battles, the bipolarity in between Good and Evil, "Truth" and "Sin", dominant and dominated peoples. It was in this kind of context that Prophet Muhammad met with the excluded Christians, who chose paths of love and faith, running away from a certain kind of orthodoxy. He had long conversations with them, in search of faith, reason, an looked for a way out of ignorance. The teachings about Jesus conveyed by these Christians who adopted the Arab culture, informed the thinking and spirituality of Arabs and Muslims in profound and unknown ways.

Mawlana Rumi (XIII cent), for example, a Sufi poet, still an acclaimed mystic worldwide, wrote various poems about Jesus. We hear that there is a Christian church in Shiraz - Iran, where one can find a verse of Rumi, carved in stone above the main door, saying the following:

Where Jesus lives, the great -hearted gather.

We are the door that's never locked.

If you are suffering any kind of pain,

Stay near this door. Open it.

In another piece of his Masnavi, Rumi writes about "What Jesus runs away from"

"The son of Mary, Jesus, hurries up a slope

As though a wild animal were chasing him

Someone following him asks, 'Where are you going? No one is after you'. Jesus keeps on, saying nothing, across two more fields. 'Are you the one who says words over a dead person so that he wakes up?' I am. ' Did you not make the clay birds fly?' yes. Who then could possibly cause you to run like this?'

Jesus slows his pace.

"I say the Great Name over the deaf and the blind, they are healed. Over a stony mountainside, and it tears its mantle down to the navel.

Over non-existence, it comes into existence. But when I speak lovingly for hours, for days, for those who take human warmth and mock it, when I say the Name to them, nothing happens. They remain rock, or turn to sand, where no plants can grow. Other diseases are ways for mercy to enter, but this non-responding breeds violence and coldness toward God. I am fleeing from that.

As little by little air steels water, so praise dries up and evaporates with foolish people who refuse to change. Like cold stone you sit on a cynic steals body heat. He doesn't feel the sun.

Jesus wasn't running from actual people.

He was teaching in a new way".

After all, civilizations do not clash. This is a nice example of the ways in which they intermingle and humanism evolves. The only clash we know is when societies are unable to integrate the needy, the powerless and the hopeless in their priority agendas, while spreading the seeds of violence and intolerance.

http://www.brasilescola.com/sociologia/o-brasil-varias-cores.htm

I do not feel any kind of pleasure to call someone ignorant. I would however, expect some humility from those who know very little, and despite this, make citations from the Qur'an, or from common-sense knowledge, mostly distorted, fallible, and uninformed. I would like my readers to understand that I can only expect from them, what I demand from myself: to look for credible knowledge, to read as much as they can, to do some good research, to reflect upon this, keeping the critical eye, and then make humble statements. That is a wonderful legacy of modern science. Being trained intellectually in this al-gharb (West), I do my best to follow modern epistemology.

I am concerned when people ask whether mine is a better religion than others. I am more in line with the pluralist view of the Qur'an, where diversity and cosmopolitan ethics guide human life. I am more in tune with the vision of a society where all have equal status and respect, because of their difference, even if that means having no belief in any God.

The Qur'an reminds me of the following:

Say oh Muslims: We believe in Allah and that which is revealed unto us and that which was revealed unto Abraham and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes, and that which Moses and Jesus received, and that which the Prophets received from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and unto Him we have surrendered. (Q: II;136)

For each We have appointed a divine law and a traced out way. Had Allah willed He could have made you one community. But that He may try you by that which He hath given you (he has made you as you are). So vie one another in good works. Unto God you will return, and He will then inform you of that wherein you differ. (Q:V; 48)

We should not fear to build our societies together. Each one in our own ways of belief or creed. We are together in the ways of morality and common ethics and from that which unites us in our differences; it is from here that we should bring in a world of balance, equity, brotherhood.

The fear that some, gladly only a few Muslims, want to impose on all of us (and I include myself among those who fear absolutisms, of all kinds) cannot be generalized to a universe of 1,2 billion Muslims who are mostly worried and occupied with education, prosperity, the politics of their countries, and quality of life. Perhaps, inspired by these "ayats" (divine signs) we could vie in works that would contribute to the betterment of the human condition. Most probably, the unhappy, the unfortunate would be less... and less attracted to the voices of fundamentalisms.

The missionary who introduced Shia Ismaili Islam and Sufism in Eurasia

internet

In my academic experience Claude Levi-Strauss's social anthropology was that which shaped my eye towards otherness. Among many other, he argued on the irrationality and ignorance about the Other. He de-mystifies it, explaining that there is no correlation between difference and exotism or savagery. He influenced a discussion that lasts until our days, on ethnocentrism, and on imposing our stereotyped representations about others; he opened a road to post-orientalism. Although having contributed to a new paradigm of social and human thought, his science was left to a handful of a modern intellectual elite. Unfortunately, we continue to look at the Other in fear, as exotic, and with a feeling of civilizational superiority. However, what makes this an interesting story is that this Other does not live across the globe anymore; he is a neighbor from across the street. Many times, he is our next-door neighbor. And that is his home.

My commentary makers send me "home" sometimes. I wonder where "home " is?! Is there a land for the Muslims? Or for the Christians; or for any faith groups, for that matter?! Or being Muslim means simply to lead a life, wherever you are, according to principles of an ethical framework of Salaam?

How do you make peace? Very simply by knowing ourselves mutually deeper and better. Knowing for example, that a Muslim does not do Islam the whole day. That she is equally occupied with things similar to the rest of the people. Mainly, that they wish for a quality of life, as any other Christian, Jew, atheist or agnostic. With one important difference that we should appreciate: a Muslim bows down towards divine Creation, and she sees in human beings, in nature, in life experience, the ayats (signs) of God. Thus, when a Muslim says that she does not separate faith from world, this means that it is that same faith, driven by a cosmopolitan ethics, that is projected in his worldly life, spiritually, intellectually and professionally. To link faith and world is to accept that it is faith that stimulates you to lead a worldly life, and that the world is an inspiration to faith, through reflection, thinking, and learning.

One of the millenary missionaries of Shia Islam , who converted most of Central Asian peoples was Nasir Khusraw (d.XI cent.). He used to preach that in order to know God one should know more; much more. I say, if not, then it is difficult to observe God's ayats in humanity.

A Mozambican boy shows his XXI century automobile

Faranaz Keshavjee

Yesterday the Mozambican people went for elections. Their economy has improved in the recent years, and although it has left the status of " the poorer country in the world", the Mozambican newspaper today reveals a total estimate of 270 thousand people who will "experiment dramatic food insufficiency".

Poverty and wealth, although can be clearly estimated, it can also be a relative thing. As an example of this, the media report "Grande Reportagem" produced by Cândida Pinto, and presented on channel SIC, showed among others, a family of 4 orphan children, where the eldest, a boy of 15 years, looked after the rest of them, being the youngest only 4. After their daily shores, the thing that most amuses them is football. The 4 year old' dream is to have a proper new ball. At the end of the interview the journalist asks a final question: what is that which you miss most. The eldest boy replies: "I miss...; well, no, I do not miss a thing. Not a thing. Yes. There's nothing I miss!"

Publico newspaper mentioned yesterday that this was a land occupied by the Portuguese for 470 years! It became independent in 1975. One could say that it was the people's choice, that they wrote the lines of their own destinies and outcomes; however, it is not fair to say that they had time enough to build neither their present nor their future of prosperity. It takes a lot of time, years even, to build bridges, dams, highways. It only takes a couple of seconds to destroy all this. After the years of a war for Independence, what knowledge, what resources, or infrastructures have the Portuguese left in a country where the natives new well how to serve their masters and were many a times treated as sub-humans?

Through the villages I travelled last year, in the deep steppes of Mozambique, when the AKDN invited Publico newspaper to look at their work, one can still listen to people cry about lack of water infrastructures, a simple well, so they can avoid a barefoot walking for 30 to 60 kilometers carrying the water buckets on their heads!

What do they miss then? They miss Portugal and Portuguese help and support. They need their time and knowledge, to help construe more comfortable environments, more just and well-balanced realities; ultimately, they need to be compensated for the 470 years they were dominated. In a very simple but extremely important word : they need hope.

"As-Sallaam" means peace. However, I dwell in the ambiguity of wanting to "fight", to "battle", to make a Jihad for peace: in the world, in between human race, and within our own selves. In complex situations, one needs to listen, in order to understand. In conflict situations, it is urgent to understand the weaker, those who have lost hope. It is necessary to make their voices heard. If and when my writing suggest some sort of harshness or bitterness, it is because assertiveness is necessary, and it is also necessary to remember that some things hurt, especially when we invert the subject position. Thence, it is always peace what I try to say, do and wish, through stories I tell, the poems I transcribe, and through facts of the daily lives.

I need to justify to my regular readers of Publico the reasons for having stopped making "my Jihad" in the newspaper PUBLICO.

I left the newspaper mainly out of censorship. The opinion Editor at the time had the bad finger of touching and changing wording and cutting parts of my text which were products of my own opinion. That which made the real difference and which discouraged my continuation of the writings, was when he cut the expression: "what happened in Gaza was genocide". Can anyone in the modern democratic world understand this?! The context of the time was not favorable to my dear friend, and director of the newspaper, José Manuel Fernandes. I did not find the support I may have needed. However, I am all grateful and recognizant of the fact that he was the first media responsible who led pluralism of voices come into the Portuguese high-caliber newspaper. To him goes my warmest best wishes for his trust and friendship.

I now salute Expresso newspaper, namely Mr. Henrique Monteiro, Mr João Garcia, and my friend Luisa Meireles, for the generosity and sense of opportunity in making EXPRESSO even more richer and plural; for making bigger what was already grand. Thanks to the wonderful and creative team of the blog editorial, for their immense generosity and support. I am already enjoying the experience.

To my readers:

I have been looking at all your comments and would like to say thank you to all who read my blog and who think and reflect upon it. Although the spectrum of questions and comments are wide and deep, varied and diverse, it is my wish to be able to respond to most of them in the writings I will be producing.

At last, I managed to visit one of the most wonderful places of the mediterranean medieval history - the Granada of al-Andaluz. That was a time when humanism and cosmopolitan ethics drove prosperous governments, in their intellectuality, the arts, and in the social interactions of varied peoples and cultures.

Interesting things to learn: for example, that in the most sumptuous courtyards of the Shiite Nizari Caliphs, human building and constructions had to intertwine with nature in a harmonious way, and never should they conflict. Meritocratic knowledge was part of the conviviality between the people and the aristocrats.

In one of the most beautiful courtyards of those palaces - the one with the lions - which are now being carefully refurbished, the fountain was fed with water which drew out of the lions' mouths, in a kind of engineering that had to be pleasant to the ears.

The sound of water was there to inspire the walker and lead him or her into contemplation. Perhaps, they meant to contemplate the grandeur of this universe; of civilisations that were gradually silenced, through neglect or envy, in all of the European modern historiography. The twelve lions, said the guide, were not built by the Nizari Shiite Caliph; they were a present offered by his Minister, who was a Jew, and who wished to embellish a paradise garden with the Jewish mythology of the 12 Judaic tribes! A nice way of sharing the joy and life pleasures with our neighbours, despite their differences.

Alhambra receives 7 thousand visitors per day, from all over the world! Their heritage is carefully looked after. His Highness the Aga Khan - the leader of 20 million Muslim believers living all over the world - gave this site an award of architecture. The guides are highly trained in knowledge about this time of the Spanish history.

All these facts are more than enough to understand that only a leader such as José Luis Zapatero, born and bred in such a cultural environment, which integrated so well the Other, could have had the brilliant idea of, right after the 11th of March events, suggest the institution of an Alliance of Civilizations at the UN, instead of shouting the Bushian "death to al-Qaeda!". Too bad, no one thought about giving him a Nobel Peace Award!

*A Salaam means peace