Without Meaning
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My response comes from Zia Sardar’s Reading the Quran. Sardar brings up the need to use reason to engage with the teachings of the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad on multiple occasions. When he visits madrasas in Pakistan, he is disturbed to find that teachers use violence and fear to instill unquestioned, dogmatized knowledge in the minds of their pupils and deemphasize. Sardar compares the use of the Quran as a stick to force others views on an individual and an ornament “on which to project all one’s prejudices and paranoia” (Sardar 9).
My response to this reading was one of anger, disappointment and fear. I was angry to confront how religion is manipulated to support those who desire power. My disappointment came from the recurring reality that islam is an ideology often torn away from its contexts. Put into practice, Islam becomes a warped set of tools for those with ulterior agendas. Ultimately I was fearful because the ethics derived from religion and culture drive us. We are fortunate that our ethics often emphasize the same things.
I wish I could be without blame. As Sardar emphasizes, how can we not use the intellect we have to engage with what we are taught? How can we be so proud as to believe our human minds are grand enough to understand the Absolute (7)? I tend not to realize the potential of “the masses” and help put them down by not expecting each individual to realize his or her potential and engage with the beliefs he or she holds. My submission portrays a person incapable of speaking her own truth as she perceives it because she is silenced by the unquestioned Truth of the Quran. This is portrayed with the phrase “bismillah ar-rahman ar-raheem” covering her mouth and effectively silencing her. The phrase means “In the name of God, the most beneficent, the most merciful,” and it is often said before starting an action or deed. It can become such a common phrase that Muslims forget its significance. Similarly, “insha’Allah” or “God willing” has become a go-to phrase for some in situations where the person is too polite to refuse a suggestion. The words we speak have the potential to be powerful. It is wasteful if we don’t allow them the weight they have. Going back to the picture, the person does not see with her own eyes, through her own experiences. She accepts hand-me-down interpretations that act as blindfolds to other realities. The ‘alhamdulliah’ on the blindfold in the picture comes again from the loss of meaning that repetition can lead to. She points to a decorative piece that says “iqra” or ‘read,’ referring to the Quran. It’s not enough to read. Ultimately, I want to empower this person. She has the ability to reason, to incorporate new experiences into her paradigm and alter it to reflect the world as it is. My submission is as she is, but in her mind lies dormant the unseen potential to change.
