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Muslim Voices Indiana University

Mary in Islam by Dr. Aaron Ponce

Posted on by IU Muslim Voices

Kaptan Paşa Camii, mosque in İstanbul’s Üsküdar district (verse 3:37 above mihrab)

Few in Western societies are aware of the importance of Mary in Islam. The Virgin Mary, or Maryam (مريم) in Arabic and Farsi, Meryem in Turkish, is among the most revered women in the Islamic tradition. In comparison to Fatima, the daughter of Prophet Muhammad (SAWS), and other women figures in Islam including Khadija and Asiya, Mary occupies a unique position of both esteem and Qur’anic importance. She is the only woman mentioned directly by name in the Qur’an and has a whole sura (chapter of the Qur’an) named after her, sura 19. Overall, Mary is mentioned over thirty times in the Qur’an. This suggests her importance since often-mentioned figures in the Qur’an form the allegorical foundations of Muslim religious beliefs, and those mentioned most are often considered prophets of God (see below).

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The Deep-Rooted Ties between Portugal and Islam by Paige Benner

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“Mosque Central de Lisbon” | Author’s Personal Collection

Often when Americans think of Europe as a whole, they often associate Christianity and colonization. While this is often the case, there are beautiful cultures that lie within the minority of people in these areas. This concept is especially true in Lisbon, Portugal, a city I was lucky to study abroad in for the month of June this past summer. While I was there, the city’s architecture sparked my curiosity about Muslim culture in the region. Although Islam is no longer the most prominent religion in the area, the county as a whole still has strong reflections of its Islamic past, particularly in its language, cuisine, architecture, and agriculture. As past Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa so elegantly stated, “Islam is in Portugal’s soul”.

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Blended Thanksgiving by Lubabah Hassan

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Image Source: IslamiCity

I always get excited when November rolls around. Not just because of the autumn weather and the pumpkin spice, but because it’s time for one of my favorite holidays: Thanksgiving! 

My family has celebrated Thanksgiving for as long as I can remember, but our traditions have changed over the years. When I was younger, we lived in Massachusetts and many of our Thanksgivings were spent with extended family. My family is Bangladeshi American, so family traditions are very important to us. At those early Thanksgivings, our holiday traditions didn’t look much like the American Thanksgivings I heard that my friends were having. We ate traditional Bangladeshi food, and wore traditional Bangladeshi clothing, and spoke a lot of Bengali with relatives.  

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Whatever shape vase you pour Islam into, it takes that shape: Reconciling My Cherokee Heritage and My Muslim Identity by Sarina Asbury-Bagcioglu

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Ms. Sarina at Pow Wow with her sons [Author’s personal collection]
As a convert to Islam, or rather a “revert,” I have faced challenges navigating the metamorphosis of my identity that has been shaped by many factors, including my background, cultural traditions, and societal attitudes. In blending my Native heritage and Muslim faith, I have built a strong personal sense of self and connection with my immediate Muslim community and the broader society, while also honoring and embracing the values of my multiple cultures. Throughout my adult life, I’ve slowly worked to reconcile the lessons my mother instilled in me with the cultural heritage she wanted me and my sister to be proud of—the heritage we carried in our blood.

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“The ‘Phobias’ of Horror Pt.2: A Review of Muslim Representation in Midnight Mass” by Isaiah Green

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Image Source: WEB [Screenshot]
In this second blog I will discuss the hit Netflix original series Midnight Mass, from director Mike Flanagan, and how it incorporates Muslim beliefs as an integral part of the story. If you have not read my previous blog, I advise doing so as I discuss the concepts of analyzing post-9/11 horror stories there. If you choose not to, I would still like to give a spoiler alert: if you are interested in viewing this series, I highly suggest you do not read any further, as this blog will discuss significant plot points of the show.  But let’s go ahead and dig into the spooky stuff!

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“The ‘Phobias’ of Horror Pt.1: A Review of Muslim Representation in Sinister” by Isaiah Green

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Image Source: WEB [Screenshot]
It seems prudent to recognize a shift in the horror genre with post-9/11 productions integrating more Orientalist and Xenophobic storytelling as a means of creating fear for their American audiences. Throughout various films and series, these tropes found popularity in several sub-genres, such as home invasions, secret cults, and exorcist stories that began to embody a form of covert Xenophobia. As Travis Sutton and Harry M. Benshoff note, this genre took on cultural narratives of fundamentalism that framed conflicts in the Middle East “as a holy war” generating “paradigms of ‘us’ and ‘them’” as a critical element of portraying encounters of the “other” as horrific.[1] With a more analytical lens, one can see that many of the cultural aspects of Islamophobia that came from discussions of home security throughout US media inspired many horror films of the past two decades, such as the iconic 2008 home invasion movie The Strangers or the 2008 footage found flick, Cloverfield.

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“Jewish and Christian Women’s Use of Islamic Law and Courts in Persia during the 7th cen. CE” by Lindsay Ruth

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Plate with king hunting rams | Sasanian | ca. mid-5th–mid-6th century CE
[Source: The Metropolotan Museum of Art: Public Domain]
Beginning in 636, an Arab Muslim army set out to conquer one of the most important empires of the ancient world, the Sasanian Persian Empire. The religiously diverse population experienced new rulers, a new elite class, and even a new religion taking over the once-Zoroastrian dominated former world power.[1] Since the conversion of subjects was not originally a main goal of the Arab rulers, one of their main challenges was how to balance the various religious communities in Persia and their laws. Persia also had sizeable communities of Jews and Christians. Interestingly, there is evidence from this time on the ways in which Jewish and Christian women used Islamic Law to gain rights they may not have had in their own religious laws. This blog post will give a few examples from Late Antique Persia that show this inter-religious court shopping was occurring and popular amongst women.

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Roots Run Deep: Celebrating a Rich Linguistic Heritage by Sofia Herrera

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Source: ISPU [IslamInSpanish Dallas Community Celebrating Eid Al-Fitr with traditional Latino customs and food]
HISPANIC—from the root word Hispania, it refers to the regions of Iberia, and ultimately the language there, too. Is the Spanish language the main unifier for those with Hispanic heritage? Much of the food, music, and culture of Latin America originate from three different continents and centuries of cultural diffusion under colonization—and Spanish remains the common language. For one month in the United States, we celebrate “Hispanic” heritage, a label that is inherently linked to Imperial Spain, which colonized the majority of Latin America up until the countries’ respective independence days in the early 19th century. In discussions of hispanidad, I want to emphasize an overlooked part of Hispanic heritage in this shared language. Instead of focusing on a violent aspect of history and the losses that come with it, let us instead celebrate a time and place where culture and language were exchanged without repression, and the legacy it holds for Hispanics, Muslims, and individuals of both identities today. 

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Al-Mawlid Al-Nabawi: A Global Celebration of the Prophet Muhammad’s Birth by Dr. Attia Youseif

Posted on by IU Muslim Voices

Image Source: Adobe Stock [Education License – Standard Image]
Mawlid al-Nabi, also known as the Prophet Muhammad’s Birthday, is an annual celebration that holds deep religious and cultural significance for Muslims across the globe. The term “Mawlid” comes from the Arabic word “مولد,” meaning “birth,” and the full expression “Mawlid Al-Nabi” or “AL-Mawlid Al-Nabawi” translates to “the birth of the Prophet.” Observed on the 12th day of Rabi’ al-Awwal, the third month of the Islamic lunar calendar, this day is marked by festivities, religious activities, and communal gatherings that reflect the reverence and love Muslims have for the Prophet Muhammad, who is regarded as the final messenger of God.

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Hui (Chinese-speaking) Muslims in China by Jing Xu

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This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license [Wikimedia Commons].
China’s Hui population, numbering around 10 million, is a unique ethnic group that practices Islam and is dispersed across various provinces such as Ningxia, Gansu, Xinjiang (also referred to by many as East Turkestan), Shanxi, Shaanxi, Yunan, Tibet, Hebei, and Inner Mongolia. Notably, this group also extends beyond China’s borders, with a presence in Central Asia, where they are known as Dungan. Despite their Islamic faith, the Hui predominantly speak Chinese and share physical characteristics similar to those of Han Chinese. They were recognized as one of the five major ethnic groups in the early Republic of China. The Hui, as an ethnic group, was officially “recognized,” “classified,” and “solidified” by the government post-1949 with the establishment of the People’s Republic of China.

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