{"id":243,"date":"2012-05-07T09:36:32","date_gmt":"2012-05-07T09:36:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/sabinaceric\/?p=243"},"modified":"2012-05-07T09:38:26","modified_gmt":"2012-05-07T09:38:26","slug":"reflection-essay-for-the-love-of-god-and-his-prophet-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sabinaceric\/2012\/05\/07\/reflection-essay-for-the-love-of-god-and-his-prophet-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Reflection Essay: For the Love of God and His Prophet"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr. Ali Asani\u2019s course, Culture & Belief 12: Fort the Love of God and His Prophet<\/em>, provided an insight introduction into the many, albeit sometimes misunderstood, meanings of Islam\u2014culturally, politically, and theologically speaking.\u00a0 Particularly with the growing interconnectedness of people and cultures in the world, it is critical, for Muslims and non-Muslims alike, to view and understand the many merits of Islam as a religion as exactly such\u2014an amalgam of different beliefs, perspectives, and experiences.\u00a0 While sometimes these perceptions become conflicted, it is the process<\/em> by which Islam is personally understood that gives meaning to its ideology, which, above all else, connects its followers through the unifying thread of belief in a single God.<\/p>\n

Critical to this, as Professor Asani points out in his book, Infidel of Love: Exploring Muslim Understanings of Islam<\/span>, \u00a0is a religious and cultural literacy that is \u201cimportant for humanity and how people understand each other\u201d (Asani, 4). \u00a0\u00a0A person\u2019s\u00a0description of Islam, \u201cwhether he or she is Muslim or not, is based on what he or she has subjectively experienced, perceived, read or been taught\u201d (Asani, 6).\u00a0 As such, it is critical to consider religion as being necessarily contextualized in a human history which is constantly changing (Smith, 16). \u00a0Religion is thereby never fixed\u2014instead, \u201cit is unstable, dynamic and always changing and evolving, strongly influenced by and influencing the milieu in which it is situated\u201d (Smith, 10).\u00a0 Thus, while some consider religious tradition to be \u201cdivinely inspired,\u201d Smith writes that it is rather: \u00a0\u201ca part of this world; it is the product of human activity; it is diverse, it is fluid, it grows, it changes, it accumulates. It crystallizes in material form the faith of previous generations, and it sets the context for the faith of each new generation as these come along\u201d (Smith, 12).<\/p>\n

With this understanding, religion becomes open to the various human contexts in which it is situated, observed, and practiced.\u00a0 Asani writes that such a contextualized approach to understanding Islam emphasizes its multiplicities:<\/p>\n

Religion is a phenomenon that is embedded in every dimension of human experience. Its study, therefore, requires multiple lenses through which to understand its multivalent social\/cultural influences. This approach challenges the assumption that human experience can be studied accurately through discrete disciplinary lenses (e.g. political, economic, cultural, social, etc.) and instead posits an approach that recognizes how these lenses are fundamentally entwined (Asani, 15).<\/p>\n

As such, any study of religion, and Islam in particular, should recognize the variety of interpretations and practices with which it is associated and that \u201cmany Muslims, most of whose understandings of their religion are restricted to their specific devotional and sectarian contexts (Sunni, Shii, etc.), are astonished when they become aware of this diversity\u201d (Asani, 18).<\/p>\n

The six creative projects I have completed for this course rely on precisely such an understanding of Islam\u2014a religion that is comprehended and experienced in many ways.\u00a0 Just as numerous religious movements and divisions exist, from the most liberal to the most conservative, so do personal perceptions of the role of religion in one\u2019s life.\u00a0 Islam, as such, grants a certain autonomy<\/em> to the individual to interpret and devote himself in a distinctive form\u2014to understand Islam within one\u2019s own artistic medium. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0While this should certainty establish a sense of ambiguity on the \u201cmeaning of Islam,\u201d it is precisely this which makes Islam a beautiful religion.\u00a0 It is, above all, a certain unity that transcends any such opacity, a belief that that God is One, that there is only One God, and that he glorifies life.<\/p>\n

Throughout the course, we have learned about various artistic mediums through which Islam, and beliefs in and experiences of its ideology, may be expressed. Through the use of literature, music, movies, architecture, calligraphy, and dance, \u00a0Islam is experienced and understood uniquely by its observers.\u00a0 Within my projects, I utilize different elements of the course and the artistic mediums discussed in order to represent my own understanding of Islam\u2019s diverse beauty.\u00a0 While each creative response features a distinct form of art, and a different layer of religious meaning, the harmony of these experiences combined is the central principal of my project\u2014it is the coalesced belief in Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful, that unites the belief in Islam across every kind of border.<\/p>\n

In the first project, \u00a0Recitation of Surah Al-Fatiha<\/em>, I perform the first chapter and one of the most recited verses of the Qur\u2019an.\u00a0 The seven verses, | In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful | \u2028Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds | The Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful | \u2028Owner of the Day of Judgement | Thee (alone) we worship; Thee (alone) was ask for help | Show us the straight path | The path of those whom Thou hast favoured; Not (the path) of those who earn Thine anger nor of those who go astray |,<\/em> \u00a0are a prayer for Allah\u2019s guidance and have a critical role in the Salaat, or daily prayer.\u00a0 Typically, Muslims recite the Surah AL-Fatiha seventeen times a day, at the beginning of each prayer.\u00a0 \u00a0As Islam and teachings of the Qur\u2019an historically began as an oral tradition, the sacredness of Qur\u2019anic recitation is one that has remained symbolic throughout the Islamic world.<\/p>\n

An important form of dhikir<\/em>, or remembrance of God, experiencing recitation allows Muslims to achieve a higher level of spiritual connection with God.\u00a0 The 40th<\/sup> Hadith reads: \u201cRecite the Quran as long as your hearts are united with it, and when you differ then arise from it\u2019 is a command to this reciting, for it calls for reciting as long as the heart is accepting and the mind alert, and the soul responsive, and if not, postponement is best\u201d (Renard, 26).\u00a0 Within my recitation of the Surah Al-Fatiha, I employ one of two primary styles of recitation\u2014Mujawwad.\u00a0 Mujawwad incorporates dramatic silences and the elaboration of certain syllables and\/or vowels (maad<\/em>).\u00a0 Specifically, I employ maqam<\/em>\u2014which is the Arabic term associated with different \u201cmoods\u201d of recitation.\u00a0 Throughout, I use techniques of huzn,<\/em> or sadness, in my voice to show the longing for God that is experienced through recitation.<\/p>\n

In the second project, entitled The Light of Muhammad<\/em>, I was inspired by several of Professor Asani\u2019s discussions as well as readings on the prophet Muhammad throughout the course\u2014particularly those in Week 4, including Marie-Rose Seguy\u2019s \u201cThe Miraculous Journey of Mahomet\u201d and Zeren Tanindi and Siyer-i Nebi\u2019s \u201cAn Illustrated Life Cycle of the Life of Muhammad and its Place in Islamic Art.\u201d Through this project, I seek to illustrate the figurative role of Muhammad for Islam\u2019s follower\u2014one that is considered a light, or noor<\/em>, for the Islamic community.\u00a0 \u00a0Yet as there are many interpretations of the precise meaning of this phrase\u2014for example, some claim that the Prophet is the light, while others claim that \u201cBy Light He means Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace), through whom Allah has illuminated the truth, manifested Islam, and obliterated polytheism; since he is a light for whoever seeks illumination from him, which makes plain the truth\u201d (Jami\u2019 al-bayan, 6.161)\u2014Muhammad is a guiding force for most Muslims in the world, and the feature which most saliently separates Islam from other religions.<\/p>\n

To create this sense of guidance, or light, that Muhammad emanates, I used a collection of tea candle lights with which I spelled out his name in Arabic.\u00a0 I was careful to do so, however, in a rather abstract fashion\u2014to represent the sometimes ambiguous, infinite ways in which we understand Muhammad and his role in the teachings of everyday Muslim life.\u00a0 To emphasize the role of Muhammad as a personal leader for the spiritual and the various meanings he represents, I took photographs of the candle arrangement from diverse angles.\u00a0 This allows us to remember Muhammad as a core part of the Islamic faith, yet one which we can understand individually depending on the particular \u2018angle\u2019 of Islam that we take.\u00a0 Lit, the flame of the candles is a reminder of the powerful and eternal light of Muhammad.<\/p>\n

In the third project, Wooden Block Calligraphy<\/em>, I focus on the importance of Arabic, or Islamic, calligraphy. \u00a0The post itself, and the photographs attached, concerns the wood-inscription of the Qur\u2019anic phrase: Bismillah al rahman al Rahim.<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0 In translation, the final product reads: \u201cIn the name of God, most Beneficent, most Merciful.\u201d Critically, the phrase itself is considered to be representative of one of the major pillars of Islam\u2014which pronounces belief in the one God, Allah.\u00a0 Within the Qur\u2019an, every chapter except for the ninth begins with this exact phrase, totaling 114 times in appearance\u2014and serves as a reminder to its readers of the importance and will of Allah.\u00a0 As such, most Muslims will often say this phrase before embarking on daily routines such as eating, or significant events in their lives.\u00a0 As Yasin Jibouri explains, the merits of reciting this phrase include the protection of a person from hell (interestingly, the verse is comprised of nineteen letters, \u201cthe same number as the number of the keepers of the gates of hell\u201d) and the help of Allah in completing any work or task.<\/p>\n

The making of this particular wooden block (which I completed in Sarajevo during the summer of 2011) is representative of the importance not only of the recitation of this phrase, but of the need to be constantly reminded of it by holstering the block inside of the household.\u00a0 Throughout this course, we have been taught the many differences between different sects of Islam and the diverging interpretations that have come of the Qur\u2019an.\u00a0 Yet this simple phrase, Bismillah al rahman al Rahim, <\/em>remains one of the most critical and meaningful for all Muslims of the world, and is in a way the ideological tie that binds all Muslims together.<\/p>\n

In the fourth project, Islamic Architecture: The Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque<\/em>, I draw on the debate on Islamic art, and particularly the readings by M. Frishmann and H. Khan,\u00a0The Mosque, and M. Sells, \u201cErasing Culture: Wahhabism, Buddhism, Balkan Mosques.\u201d\u00a0 Following the reading of these articles and Professor Asani\u2019s lectures this week, I was reminded of a very particular mosque in Southeastern Europe\u2014Begova Djamija (formally known as the Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque) in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.\u00a0 Begova Djamija is often considered to be the most important Islamic structure in the country, \u00a0and is the largest and most visited Islamic building in the Balkans.\u00a0 However, as Michael Sells notes, it\u2019s pre- and post- war construction have often times been debated.<\/p>\n

Built by the Ottomans in 1531, Begova Djamija encompasses beautiful ornamentation and over 50 large windows that produce a great sense of light and space.\u00a0 The main architect and financier of the mosque, Gazi Husrev-beg, wrote in his memoirs: \u201cI built the mosques, the bridges, the inns for travellers, and my vakuf is the finest that will ever be known. They will say, in the time to come, that Gazi Husref-beg turned Sarajevo village into Sarajevo town.\u201d \u00a0During the Bosnian War of 1992-1995, however, Begova Djamija had become a target for Serb artillery and shelling.\u00a0 As a result, it was heavily damaged and much of the exterior of the almost 500-year old mosque was destroyed.\u00a0 In 1996, however, it was renovated with foreign help\u2014particularly from the Syrians and Saudi Arabs.\u00a0 Prominently, Sells has criticized the renovations as being too influenced by Wahhabism.\u00a0 For example, before the reconstruction, most of the interior of the mosque was very intricate\u2014with many complex colors and design schemes.\u00a0 With the new renovations, however, most of the walls are purely white, and much of the detail and color have been taken out.<\/p>\n

As the debate over\u00a0 these changes continues, however, and Bosnia engages in a type of re-birth of Islam, it will remain critical that Bosnia, and Bosnians, retain and build their own \u201cIslamic identity.\u201d Through 2010, most of the financiers and architects of Bosnia\u2019s Islamic buildings have been foreign\u2014and while the financial help and architectural inspiration of other Islamic cultures are of course important components of any architectural design, Bosnia\u2019s post-war period should be seen as a time for Bosnian Muslims to recreate a post-war history of their own.\u00a0 Ultimately, the beautiful architecture of Begova Djamija reminds us of the mosque as being a sacred space for its believers\u2014one whose walls and ornaments hold a great deal of meaning.<\/p>\n

In the fifth project, Reflections in Water<\/em>, I focus on a Sufi understanding of Islam discussed in the Week 10 reading of Attar\u2019s Conference of the Birds<\/span>.\u00a0 A mathnawi, or epic poem, Conference of the Birds<\/span> describes the mystical journey of thirty birds on a quest to discover truth.\u00a0 A wonderful recount of Sufi tradition and lessons of patience and self-discovery, the poem concludes with the birds\u2019 finding \u201ctruth\u201d in their own reflection in a lake.<\/p>\n

In my response, I attempt to recreate the Sufi idea that God is not external or separate from the universe\u2014\u201ca totality of existence.\u201d\u00a0 As such, God is intrinsic to his believers and indefinitely tied to our inner egos.\u00a0 As Attar says to the birds, in order to truly experience Islam, one must abandon self and the establishment of religion.\u00a0 It is these conceptions that prohibit one from reaching the batin<\/em> and genuinely experiencing Islam.\u00a0 Attar explains to the birds that before reaching the truth, one thinks of God as being veiled and intangible.\u00a0 However, after the journey of truth\u2014symbolically undertaken by the birds in this story\u2014we are able to feel a connection with God that draws on a higher plane of reality, or haqiqa<\/em>.\u00a0 Reaching this state of enlightenment, we become aware not only of God\u2019s existence as internal to us, but can experience him as one<\/em> with us.<\/p>\n

I focus on this more controversial aspects of Attar\u2019s poem\u2014when the birds look into a lake to find only a reflection of themselves (and not the mystical Simorgh).\u00a0 I chose to focus on this concept in my creative response particularly because of the many meanings it can hold for readers of this poem.\u00a0\u00a0 I used a flat, black bowl in which I spelled out \u201cAllah\u201d in Arabic using water.\u00a0 I then used a solid, white clay coloring pencil to repeat the same inscription beneath<\/em> water that I poured into the bowl.\u00a0 The color pattern used\u2014black, white and translucent\u2014is meant to represent the distinct ways in which we understand God (as within us, as external or internal to us, and as unified with us).\u00a0 In the fourth picture shown, I photograph myself as a reflection in the pool.\u00a0 Through the collage of pictures shown, I let the water dissipate for several hours, until the writing became blurred.\u00a0 While slightly blurred, the word also becomes more prominent on the black surface as time passed\u2014this is indicative of the type of journey undertaken in Attar\u2019s poem and the \u201ctruth\u201d of Allah we find with such enlightenment.<\/p>\n

Finally, for the sixth project, Tahwid: God is One<\/em>, I incorporate what I view to be the unifying force of my projects herein displayed\u2014the Dairah<\/em>, or circle, of Islam.\u00a0 Throughout the semester, we have learned about the symbolic nature of circular concepts in Islam\u2014that everything in existence is made of circles, including the sun, moon, stars and our lives.\u00a0 As such, we are reminded that we both come from Allah and will ultimately return to Allah.<\/p>\n

This simple concept, that everything in life somehow repeats and becomes circular, becomes critical to understanding Islam in the different contexts herein described.\u00a0 In my response, I use a variety of clay-made colors to inscribe Bismillahi <\/em>in a circular fashion.\u00a0 I use grays, browns, blacks, and greens to convey the way in which nature is tied to Islam, smearing of the colors to represent the ultimate unity that Islam gives to its followers. I give dimension to the words, as displayed in the second line of photographs, \u00a0in order to illustrate the varying multiplicities through which we understand Islam as a religion, and the personal perspective through which we may become enlightened. \u00a0\u00a0Finally, the word Allah<\/em> is most prominently inscribed in the middle of the circle, with the Alif<\/em> running through both the middle of the word and the dairah<\/em> itself. This is meant to represent the notion that it is Allah, despite various conceptions and understandings of Islam, who is the guiding force that unites all Muslims in their belief.<\/p>\n

Thus, whether Sufi, secular, conservative or other, Islam as a tradition and as a religion ultimately unifies its believers with the simple notion that Allah is One and it is he, through his creation and existence, who gives meaning to humanity.\u00a0 However we may understand religion and the many perspectives and expressive mediums from which we can draw, the ultimate goal is similar for believers\u2014a true understanding of God.\u00a0 This \u201ctruth,\u201d as I attempt to illustrate through my creative responses, is a personal understanding\u2014a journey each individual believer must undergo in order to reach his or her own enlightenment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Ali Asani\u2019s course, Culture & Belief 12: Fort the Love of God and His Prophet, provided an insight introduction into the many, albeit sometimes misunderstood, meanings of Islam\u2014culturally, politically, and theologically speaking.\u00a0 Particularly with the growing interconnectedness of people and cultures in the world, it is critical, for Muslims and non-Muslims alike, to view […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4532,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sabinaceric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sabinaceric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sabinaceric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sabinaceric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4532"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sabinaceric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sabinaceric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":247,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sabinaceric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243\/revisions\/247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sabinaceric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sabinaceric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sabinaceric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}