Voices of Islam (133 page)

Islamic dietary and marital laws facilitated the mingling of religious groups and permitted close social and economic interaction. The practice of Islam in distant places did not require the construction of hermetically sealed enclaves. A spirit of curiosity and openness to knowledge, ideas, and the products of different cultures is attested by the vast expansion of trade and urbanization in Muslim history. This exposure to the wider world and the economic infl it fostered made developing Muslim cultures porous entities that absorbed infl from the cultures around them. The mingling of cultures in the modern era of globalization continues this trend. However, today, it unfolds in an environment of political decline among Muslims who are under the threat of an engulfi wave of cultural dominance by Western forms. As Abdullah notes in the article, ‘‘Islam and the Cultural Imperative,’’ the tolerance of earlier times has been supplanted in some Muslims by the perception that a single cultural model must be shored up by rigid imitation if Islam is to survive. For example, among immi- grants and converts to Islam in the United States, this cultural ambivalence affects issues such as youth education and the participation of Muslims in civil society. The process of ‘‘re-centering Islam’’—a term used by Richard W. Bulliet in describing Muslim cultural development—is far from complete, whether among Muslims in Western countries or among Muslims in majority Muslim countries.
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The Pilgrimage

The Hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam, a once in a lifetime journey of pilgrim- age to Mecca during the Hajj season. It is not a part of daily life but is a special occasion for those who fulfi this obligation. Integral to daily life, however, is the
desire
to perform Hajj, a Muslim’s consciousness of not

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having fulfilled this duty, or a longing to repeat the experience. Hajj repre- sents the constantly renewed consciousness of a larger geographic space that contains the entire Muslim community, and it is reinforced with every prayer performed facing the Ka‘ba in Mecca. The existence of this universalistic pillar of the religion prevented Islam from becoming a religion of separate- ness. To the contrary, every Muslim renews her outward orientation through praying for and imagining the Hajj journey, and each actual journey to distant Mecca reinforces the unity and connectedness of the Umma. The Hajj reinforces universal Islamic practices; carries knowledge, ideas, and technolo- gies far and wide; maintains communication and travel infrastructures; and maintains a vision of unity that persists to the present day. The past 50 years have seen a tremendous increase in the number of participants in the Hajj, especially in the number of women who perform Hajj.

MUSLIMS AS CITIZENS OF NATIONS AND OF THE WORLD

Relations between and among nations and their citizenry exist at a differ- ent order of magnitude than those among individuals, but they belong to a realm of collective responsibility that touches everyone. National and international relations impinge on daily life through their impact on local populations and infl awareness in a media-saturated and globalized world such as ours. As voters, taxpayers, and participants in decisions great and small, individual citizens bear the responsibility to inform themselves and to work toward justice. The expression ‘‘think globally, act locally’’ sheds light on the impact of such issues on daily life. Making the effort to work for justice and avoid harm to the greatest degree possible is preferable in Islam to remaining ignorant and unaware. In the words of the Qur’an, ‘‘On no soul does Allah place a burden greater than it can bear. It gets every good that it earns and it suffers every ill that it earns’’ (Qur’an 2:286).

The daily life of Muslims is shaped by a variety of factors beyond geo- graphic or cultural diversity. The Palestinian
Intifadas,
the Afghan and Gulf Wars, and the American Muslim community’s feeling of crisis and doubt following the atrocities of September 11, 2001, have all had an impact on the daily life of Muslims in the United States. Centuries earlier, the long- term effects of the Crusades, the Spanish Reconquista, and the expulsion of Muslims from Spain created watersheds in attitudes that must have been similar, although these events may not have impinged as rapidly on the consciousness of Muslims as today’s media dictates. The historian Steven Runciman, writing about the Crusades while witnessing World War II in Britain, described these effects: ‘‘Even more harmful was the effect of the Holy War on the spirit of Islam
.. .
. The savage intolerance shown by the Crusaders was answered by growing intolerance amongst the Muslims.’’
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Although the Crusades happened generations ago, the expectation that the

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collective body of Muslims must have ‘‘gotten over it’’ by now presupposes that more constructive relations have erased such memories. What came later, however, were just as bad, if not worse. Attitudes about the cultural and racial superiority of the West have been woven deeply into global educa- tion and communications. The very term ‘‘civilization’’ was contested in its application to other cultures and races, and the study of history in the educa- tion systems of modern nation-states became a platform for promoting Western civilization as being synonymous with world civilization. Were such attitudes the possession of only a few educated elites, they would have had less of an impact. However, universal education in the West has made such attitudes more pervasive, a situation in which ignorance of Islam has flowed back and forth between mass education and mass media in an endless loop.

It is not surprising that bitterness has followed two centuries of Western colonization and domination over Muslim regions, dividing them into nations according to the desires of outside powers. Frustration has only increased among educated as well as uneducated Muslims because of the con- tinuing disputes over countries and their resources, and by the portrayal of Muslims as ‘‘anti-Western,’’ a term assumed too often to be synonymous with reactionary political tendencies and antimodern ideas. In Europe, the atmosphere in the half-century since World War II has been marked by tur- bulence as colonialism declined and Muslim immigration increased. For Afri- can American Muslims in the United States, the additional insult of slavery’s legacy is another factor. Muslims are affected by such developments in their view of themselves, in their choices of how to rear their children, in their choices of education and living space, and in the choices to socialize or live in relative isolation from their neighbors.

There is another side to this story, however. The past century has also seen Muslims’ daily presence in the West for the first time in the history of both civilizations. Non-Muslim neighbors, schoolmates, colleagues at work, and families of individuals who have converted to Islam all are beginning to expe- rience Muslim culture on a more intimate basis. In the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States in particular, Muslim culture is no longer as distant and exotic as it once was, as each culture samples from the other. A sense of exhilaration and optimism has resulted from this encounter on both sides, even against a backdrop of negative imagery in many sectors of the mass media. Muslims are witnessed engaging in daily prayer in the work- place and at school, observing the Ramadan fast, giving charity, and living according to Islamic precepts. To the dismay of many Muslims, their coreli- gionists are now seen to suffer from domestic violence and family dysfunction like people in any other community, and social service providers now serve Muslim communities along with those of the majority. Religious and secular charities, political organizations, and professional groups have witnessed Muslims’ generosity and civic values. During the past decade, major

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newspapers, national news magazines, and television networks have increased their coverage of local Muslim affairs, in contrast to earlier coverage of Islam as mainly a foreign policy story. The increase in positive portrayals of Muslims in print, in educational materials, and online has been countered somewhat by the efforts of groups who think it is in their interest to discourage Muslims’ input in education about Islam in schools and the media and to challenge positive coverage of Islam. Despite such moves, however, public school systems in the United States have written religious accommodation policies that now allow Muslim students to perform their daily prayers, wear distinctive Islamic dress, and enjoy release time to celebrate their religious holidays.

How one lives, whether as a member of a minority or a majority, in a small Muslim community or a large one, and how one is perceived by one’s neighbors profoundly affect daily life and the education of a new generation of Muslims. Acceptance by neighbors, schoolmates, and colleagues helps determine how Muslims dress, how they name their children, and whether they are comfortable living among the larger population or clustered in ethnic or religious enclaves. Muslims are entering professional careers in all occupations and making their impact on the cultures of the nations where they live.

Relations with the Natural World

At the outward reaches of the matrix of a Muslim’s responsibility is the individual’s relation to the earth and ultimately to the universe. To Muslims, God revealed the outlines of natural laws and the mysteries of creation. He celebrates them in revelations that have stimulated many generations of thinkers and scientists. God teaches that the natural order was provided for His creatures. Stewardship of the environment, both the natural environ- ment and that built by humans, is a commonly invoked concept in the Abrahamic religions, and it fi expression in Islamic sources in ways that affect individual decisions and daily acts. The creation of the human being as the vicegerent of God (
khalifat Allah
) on earth implies a degree of mastery conferred upon humankind but also of awesome duty. Together with the gifts of language and knowledge, this concept frames the responsibility of the human being toward the environment. An important verse in the Qur’an describes the paradoxical nature of the human condition, which is simultane- ously honored but fraught with danger: ‘‘Lo! We offered the trust unto the heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they shrank from bearing it and were afraid of it; but the human being assumed it. Lo! He has proven to be a tyrant and a fool’’ (Qur’an 33:72). However, this indictment of humankind does not negate the promise of humanity in Surat al-Rahman (The All-Merciful):

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Al-Rahman!

He it is who taught the Qur’an. He it is who created man.

He it is who taught him to understand.

The sun and the moon follow courses exactly planned. The plants and the trees bow in adoration.

He raised high the firmament and set up the weighing-pan So that you will not exceed the mean.

Establish measure with justice and cheat not in the balance, For it is He Who spread out the earth for all creatures.

(Qur’an 55:1–10)

Another translation of verses 7–9 in the above passage captures a different nuance: ‘‘And the sky He hath uplifted; and He hath set the measure, that ye exceed not the measure, so observe the measure strictly, and do not fall short thereof.’’ Surely such lofty language surrounding the Qur’anic verses about balance and justice cannot refer merely to the accurate weighing of vegetables in the marketplace! Clearly, the verses that follow these later on in the Sura encompass what is in the earth and beyond. ‘‘Oh company of jinn and men, if you have the power to penetrate the regions of the heavens and the earth, then penetrate (them)! You will never penetrate them save with (Our) per- mission!’’ (Qur’an 55:33). Modern environmental science has shown us that nature is balanced in highly complex and unsuspected ways and that human activity in a spirit of conquest has upset the balance of nature. The integration of economic and political spheres in modern life has moved the responsibility for the stewardship of the earth into every household. Thus, decisions about what products to use and to avoid, how to dispose of trash, and how ordinary daily actions affect the environment are within individual purview, however small the immediate impact. As a community, Muslims have lagged behind in such environmental awareness, but the tools of understanding the envi- ronment and the consequences for individual and collective responsibility are present in the sacred texts of Islam. Both high-level scholarship and popular consciousness-raising on this subject are fi underway within the Muslim community.

THE RETURN OF THE DAY

Returning home each day, a Muslim greets the inhabitants of the house and expresses thanks for her safe return. After taking food accompanied by a blessing, she performs the sunset and evening prayers. Reading the Qur’an, she contemplates God’s forgiveness and seeks guidance for the day’s prob- lems and her plans for the future. When she retires for bed, she performs an invocation first made by the Prophet more than 1400 years ago: ‘‘In Your

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name, Oh God, I die and I live.’’ When she wakes up, she says, as did the Prophet, ‘‘All Praise is due to God, Who makes us live after He makes us die and unto Him is the Resurrection.’’
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Sound relations with oneself, the family, the community, the world, and the environment are described in Islamic teachings as instrumental in achiev- ing the very purpose of life. The Qur’an describes this mutual responsibility in the following verses:

The believers, both men and women, are protectors one of another. They enjoin what is right and forbid what is evil. They observe regular prayers, practice regular charity, and obey Allah and His Messenger. On them will Allah pour His mercy, for Allah is exalted in power and Wise.

(Qur’an 9:71)

Let there arise out of you a band of people inviting to all that is good, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong. They are the ones to attain felicity.