In 1929, a young Swedish librarian arrived in the Silk Road city of Kashgar. He was there to study a language and a people at the time both called “Turki,” which are now generally referred to as Uyghur. The librarian, Gunnar Jarring, would recount some decades later in his Return to Kashgar (Durham: Duke University Press, 1986) the vibrant and lively city, in which the local Turki population went about their daily business in ways that were inextricably intertwined with Islam. He does not use those exact words, but it is very clear from both his account and many of the texts he brought back to Sweden, that Turki and Islamic culture were inextricably intertwined to the point that one could not talk, or even think, about one of them without running headlong into the other. The version of Islam that Jarring describes was not one of highly-educated mollas trained in one of the great centers of Islamic learning (though they certainly existed, too) but one of people, and more precisely one of people going about their daily lives. (more…)
An Interview with Ahmad Hayaniz
Music often gives expression to human experiences that are difficult to communicate. In times of war and national crises, artists harness music as a tool for community empowerment and healing. With this starting point, fifth-year Arabic students at Indiana University spent the fall semester looking at how the role of music takes form during periods of civil wars in the Middle East and North African regions. Arabic Students Shems Al-Ubaidi and Audria Hettinger got to have a conversation with Ahmed Hayani, a musician from Aleppo well known for his Nasheed renditions. The Nasheed is a poetic tradition prevalent in the Muslim world that relies on vocal recitation to convey a lesson or a message to its audience. Ahmed has used this art form to convey themes of hope and resilience to his audience. (more…)
Fieldwork in Palestine…. by Lydia Zakel
I would like to preface this post by saying a few things. The first is that this story is taken from my fieldwork in Palestine and is solely my own point of view and experience. I’ve also changed people’s names so that they cannot be identified. Finally, I know this story can be seen as super privileged as so many Palestinians do not have the freedom of movement in the West Bank. Even in Bethlehem where I conducted my fieldwork, only 6 kilometers away from Al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, Palestinians in Bethlehem are unable to travel and visit these holy sites and city. Being able to go and see it with my American passport was such a privilege. The people I went with were Pakistani, Egyptian, and diasporic Palestinians who had passports that allowed them to travel to Jerusalem with me. This story is my experience and only my experience is taken as two excerpts from my fieldnotes. (more…)
Islamophobia through the eyes of a young Iraqi by Rose Hattab
As a first-generation Muslim and Arab woman living in post-9/11 United States, some of the mainstream discourse in America has been consistently packed with Islamophobic stereotypes and rhetoric. It is not a surprise that ever since the tragedy of 9/11, hate crimes towards Muslims and Middle Easterners in the United States have risen based on negative views from the media or stereotypes that have circulated. In the past years, many incidents have occurred towards Muslims, some even fatal and leading to the deaths of these innocent people. It has, unfortunately, been normalized to justify these horrendous actions as one committed because of hate towards someone’s beliefs or their appearance. The previous government administration alone appealed to much of the American public using this Islamophobic discourse that was guised under Donald Trump’s executive order of the Muslim ban in 2017. (more…)
Dena El Saffar on her listening practices by Ezgi Benli
“To really have the spirit of the Middle Eastern music, you shouldn’t be looking at a piece of paper, you know, you should be looking at each other or closing your eyes or looking at your instrument.”
Right before the pandemic, Dena and I were practicing for an upcoming Turkish concert. After our rehearsals, I often hang around and find myself in an engaging conversation with Dena. It was one of those days, Dena and I began to talk about Middle Eastern Ensembles, the differences between Western musical practices, and the practice of oral transmission, also known as meşk. (more…)
A Story from Muslim Indonesia By Puji Mudiana
Indonesia is the largest archipelagic country on the globe, laid along the equator in Southeast Asia. The culture is diverse, with over 300 ethnic groups and hundreds of traditional languages. Religious values abundantly influence our lives in Indonesia. We are practicing our beliefs, doing the services as manifestations of our faith regardless of our religion. Officially, we have the Ministry of Religious Affairs responsible for taking care of the six different beliefs, including Islam, Christian, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. We observe the holidays of those religions with countless rites and festivals. According to the National Education Law, our education aims to “develop learners’ potentials so that they become persons …. who are faithful and pious to one and only God.” The curriculum includes several hours of religious courses to be delivered in the classrooms from grade schools to higher education to achieve that goal. There, we both institutionalize and celebrate our beliefs. (more…)
An Interview with Ala and Yaman Hayani
Shems al-Ubaidi and Audria Hettinger, two seniors in Professor Iman Al-Ramadan’s course “Arabic Culture through Music” at Indiana University, met with Syrian artist Ala Hayani and his son Yaman Hayani to discuss Arabic music, their music, and how the war in Syria has impacted their lives as artists. Hayani and his family are originally from Aleppo, and following the outbreak of the war in 2011, they immigrated to Lebanon when Yaman was only four years old. (more…)
“A GEM FOR THE COMMUNITY”, THE ISLAMIC CENTER OF GREATER TOLEDO (ICGT)
“A GEM FOR THE COMMUNITY”, THE ISLAMIC CENTER OF GREATER TOLEDO**
“A gem for the community” was how Bill Hilt, a local teacher from Perrysburg City Schools described the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo (ICGT) during a pre-pandemic visit to their annual “International Festival” that has been running for almost 2 decades now. At this festival, cultures and food representing countries the members of this local mosque have heritage in are shared with their visitors. Some of these countries are Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Turkey, Indonesia, Pakistan, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Brazil, etc. There are also games to play, music to enjoy, animals to feed, and tours of the mosque! (more…)
FIRST GENERATION MOSQUE PRESIDENT?
FIRST GENERATION MOSQUE PRESIDENT?
We often hear the term “first generation” used in contexts such as the first-generation college graduate, first-generation American, or first-generation immigrant, etc. However, at the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo (ICGT), this term is used to define their former young female president Dr. Nadia Ashraf-Moghal, an emergency medicine doctor at Wood County Hospital in Bowling Green, OH. Having a female president at the ICGT is not new though. Chereffe Kadri was the one who started the trend and probably was the first female mosque president in the world at the time according to Dr. Nadia who happened to be the third consecutive woman holding this position so far. (more…)
“To live your life, you have to be a part of the community”: A Conversation with Dr. Abdel-Wahab Soliman
The Islamic Center of Greater Toledo (ICGT) is an integral part of the local northwest Ohio community. This religious institution does not want to be a space only for Muslims or only for religious worship. Instead, it sees itself as an institution that can bring together people from different backgrounds in a spirit of tolerance, respect, and understanding.