RUQAYYAH KAREEM'S HEAVILY WESTERNISED SCHOLARLY CRAP - The Case for "Fictional Islam"
"Teach Muslims worldwide Arabic before you speak of "fictional" Islam, or Saudi this, Saudi that, you damn fool! Saudia is CIA-ISRAEL occupied Arabia, and like Qatar and Kuwait, Saudia is just another Western military base!
This morning, I am not particularly in a very good mood." BAFS
RUQAYYAH KAREEM
The Case for Fictional Islam
‘Those
people don’t read!’* I heard an administrator at Texas A&M
University blurt out. He was speaking about people in Qatar. He was
wrong of course; Qatar has a literacy rate of over 96 per cent, above
Australia, but below the Gaza Strip.
The
administrator may not have known this. (Who is that damn administrator?) So what was the reasoning behind
this opinion? Where did the idea that ‘those people don’t read’ come
from? What the administrator was actually referring to is the reading of
fictional literature or reading for pleasure. This is where you most
often find a discrepancy between what is viewed as literacy and what is
read. For the administrator the acquisition of knowledge was embedded in
the act of reading fictional literature and from that perspective he
concluded that the Qatari population just does not read.
In
the traditional Islamic perspective the universal concepts of knowledge
are viewed in terms of the sacred versus the profane. The weight of any
acquisition of knowledge is measured against these two values. For some
Muslims, sacred knowledge – Qur’an, hadith, and religious text – allows
one to maintain a connection with the Creator. By contrast, profane
knowledge in the form of fiction, in particular speculative literature,
such as science fiction, fantasy and comic book literature, moves one
away from the Creator and towards worldly pursuits. Of course, there is
no religious basis for such a separation, unless you conflate fiction
with the act of lying. Fiction, particularly science fiction, fantasy
and comic books, represents a concrete way to encourage reading,
writing, and imagination that can spur creativity and innovation in all
areas of learning for Muslims. Through fiction, the reader and the
writer can also bridge and strengthen both branches of knowledge. As an
educator whose research and teaching is grounded in American Islam (Holy shit!), I
use what I refer to as fictional Islam in much of my pedagogical work.
So
how do we encourage Muslims to acquire not just sacred knowledge but
all knowledge? The Prophetic tradition is the ideal starting point. The
injunction to seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave is a common
saying you hear from Muslims all over the world. The Prophet Muhammad
enjoined his followers to ‘seek knowledge even if it is in China’, thus
encouraging the seeking of knowledge beyond the spiritual realm. Muslims
are told to contemplate, think, learn, comprehend, and examine
everything around them. As the social scientist Anas Al-Shaikh argues,
knowledge, education, and the acquisition of learning for Muslims,
reinforce ‘the values of humanitarianism, morality, citizenship,
peaceful coexistence, revulsion of racism and discrimination, acceptance
of the “other”, (???) and is married to actively taught skills of critical
thinking and awareness’. So how does that square with the reluctance to
read fiction we have seen in Muslim countries?
As
with most problems in the world, one can view this particular issue as
one of power. Unsurprisingly, the imagination is seen as a challenge to
those whose authority lies in religious dogma, the power of
interpretation, and understanding. The notion of sacred versus profane
knowledge can and is being used to stifle any attempts to read ‘for
pleasure.’ In many Muslim societies, reading science fiction and fantasy
are seen as profane and therefore not only useless but harmful to those
trying to elevate their understanding of the Creator. In some Muslim
countries, such as Saudi Arabia (?) and Iran (?), this literature is regularly
banned; in others it is heavily censored.
Yet
the scientific invention and innovation of Muslim civilisation serve as
literary tropes in much of contemporary science fiction and fantasy
literature. Many of the instruments created by Muslims such as the
astrolabe, the quadrant, and the detailed navigational maps have helped
in the expansion of the literary heritage of science fiction, fantasy,
and speculative writing as a whole. The astrolabe and the quadrant have
been staples within popular science fiction television shows and movies
such as Star Wars, Star Trek, and Dune. The use of
the astrolabe and the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Gamma Quadrants as
spaceship monikers demonstrate the longevity of these early inventions
and their importance as tools of discovery.
Another
science fiction trope, time travel, also has roots in Islam. One of the
greatest examples of such paranormal travel is the account of the
Prophet’s ascension from Jerusalem to Paradise while sitting in the
Great Mosque in Jerusalem. For Muslims, these ideas were neither strange
nor foreign. Yusuf Nuruddin, who teaches African Studies at the
University of Massachusetts Boston, suggests that the Prophet’s
ascension is an example of what he calls the science fiction motif – a
belief system that stimulates the imagination. Nuruddin also argues that
some of the stories in Arabian Nights, for example, ‘The City of Brass’ and ‘The Ebony Horse,’ are early examples of science fiction mixed with fantasy elements.
Contemporary
Muslim writers often draw on these early prophetic parables and
religious stories in developing their science fiction and fantasy
narratives. Donald Moffitt’s Crescent in the Sky (1990) and A Gathering of Stars (1990)
are early examples of science fiction about Muslims where a longing for
the glory of Islam undergirds the plot. Moffitt’s novels portray an
Islam that has spread throughout the known universe, but lacks a single
leader, a Caliph. In order to claim leadership of this interplanetary
empire, the person must travel to Mecca, a venture fraught with danger
and intrigue. The journey from the planet Mars to Mecca represents the
obligation that all able-bodied Muslims must accomplish at least once in
their lifetime. Another interesting, and earlier, example is The Book of Strangers (1972)
by Ian Dallas, who later transformed into the Sheikh Abdul Qadir
as-Sufi. Dallas’s story is set in a technologically advanced world where
the distribution of information is controlled by a computer. The main
character is a university librarian who has control of the information
and discovers a series of Sufi/religious writings that sets him off on a
journey to find what is missing in his life. His travels eventually
take him to North Africa where he meets the former university librarian
who provided the impetus for his inner transformation. Dallas
incorporates his personal journey to Islam in this story, while noting
that technology and spiritual enlightenment are not conflicting but
offer mutual benefit.
How
can educators use science fiction, fantasy, and comics as a pedagogical
method? What can this method offer in terms of new approaches to the
study of Islam? The answers are multiple. Science fiction (SF) provides a
means for the telling of stories from perspectives that confront our
assumptions and stereotypes, and push for a new dialogue about race,
privilege, and power. SF, like its sister literature of fantasy, can
engage readers with its foundational use of imagination, nightmares,
dreams, the unexplainable and the impossible. Fictional Islam (?) offers
opportunities for educators to expand pedagogies and skills that
encourage critical thinking, communication, and innovation; and for
exploring themes within the human condition that allow others to ‘walk a
mile in my shoes’ without judgment. As a device for
thought-experiments, it offers fertile opportunities for cultural study
and understanding. Literature, films, music, and games inspired by Islam
can challenge students to revise old assumptions, discuss controversial
topics, voice their opinions, and to write fearlessly. Students can
develop critical thinking by exploring the variety of perspectives and
the complexities of Islam, an act possible only if students understand
that no complex issue can be understood thoroughly in a binary
framework. Knowing how to research the diverse Islamic practices in
Muslim societies requires, among other things, that students identify
authentic resources, understand search strategies that go beyond Google,
develop analytical and interpretive skills that can also provide
valuable and enduring proficiencies. A unique and creative way for
students to develop cross-cultural understanding within the framework of
science fiction would be to create their own characters and dialogue in
the genre.
Indeed,
educators have begun to take advantage of science fiction, fantasy, and
comics as pedagogical tools in the Muslim world. (HOLY SHIT!) A number of workshops
and conferences have been held both in the West and the Muslim world to
promote the idea. The Middle East Film & Comic Con in Dubai and the
Sindbad SciFi conference at the British Museum in London are good
examples of the acknowledgement that this genre has transnational
opportunities for education, collaboration and conversations.
Another example is Yatakhayaloon – or the League of Arabic SciFiers – set up by the Saudi Arabian computer engineer, writer, and entrepreneur, Yasser Bahjatt. Yatakhayaloon (‘They
are imagining’) is based on the belief that science fiction and science
are intrinsically linked. As the renowned science fiction writer Isaac
Asimov once said, ‘true science fiction could not really exist until
people understood the rationalism of science and began to use it with
respect in their stories’. In collaboration with another Saudi writer,
Ibraheem Abbas, Bahjatt has written a wonderful science fiction romance
novel called HWJN (Hawjan). It tells the story of the
relationship between a jinn and a human being and the numerous obstacles
they face. The human society of HWJN has abandoned the teachings
of Islam and is mired in magic and sorcery while the Jinns follow the
Qur’an and are much more rational. All this has been too much for the
Saudi authorities. In 2013 the Saudi Commission for the Promotion of
Virtue and Prevention of Vice halted sales of HWJN, while they
decided whether or not to ban it for blasphemy and promoting devil
worship. The investigation may have been spurred by rumours that the
book was ‘leading teenage girls to experiment with Ouija boards’.
Although the Saudi authorities stopped short of banning HWJN, the Kuwaitis and Qataris announced they would do so. The success of HWJN shows
that despite the presumption of our Texan administrator, there is a
thirst for fiction in the Muslim world. (They cannot digest truth or act upon it and they THIRST FOR FICTION!!!???) Before the book came to the
attention of the Saudi religious authorities, it had sold 25,000 copies
and shot to the top of the Saudi bestsellers’ list. As Bahjatt said of
the official reaction to HWJN, ‘I expected the noise, as we
realized from monitoring Saudi social media that schools started
complaining from the fact that students are reading HWJN all the
time at school. So I did expect that schools would start banning the
book as it was disturbing the class day. But we never expected that
teachers and schools would start rumours about the content of the book
without even reading it. And, unfortunately, it is still banned in
Kuwait and Qatar, and most bookstores are still afraid to put it back on
shelf in Saudi”.
But
to ban such works of science fiction is appallingly short sighted. It
is also being totally blind to their utility as a pedagogical tool that
can further discussions about real world issues and assist in finding
concrete solutions to problems of racism and xenophobia that plague our
societies. Consider, for example, Steven Barnes’s two novels Lions Blood and Zulu Heart from
his Insha’Allah series. These novels confront the issues of racism head
on – but by inverting the convention. Set on an alternative world where
the Africans and Asians are the enslavers and the slaves are from
Europe, (head on ???) these novels are uncanny in their reflections on current events
throughout the Muslim world. The stories main characters are two
children, one a Muslim and the son of the most powerful leader of
Bilalistan, Kai ibn Rashid, and the other an Irish slave boy, Aidan
O’Dere who has lost his village and most of his family to the slave
trade. Barnes’s stories are particularly concerned with what was once
called Ancient Africa, an Africa that encompassed the regions that in
our postcolonial world are now considered part of the Middle East. The
overarching desire to find relief from constant strife, patronage, and
dependence on an inhumane enterprise forces readers to confront and
challenge assumptions about the systems of slavery. Barnes uses Islam to
mitigate some of the harsh realities of race and racism, power and
privilege that underpin our twenty-first century knowledge of slavery.
He pushes this ‘so called’ humane characteristic throughout the
storylines and emphasises that Islam’s view of slavery was not
race-based nor was it an impediment to advancement within society. The
slaves on Dar Kush are treated well, families remain intact, and not
only are they allowed to practice their religion, the plantation
maintains a grove that the slaves use as their sacred ground. The whites
are given their freedom in Bilalistan when they fight for their
masters, as did many blacks who fought on the Union side of the American
Civil War. The struggle for the freed fictional slaves is how to find
their place, recover their culture, and establish communities that
prosper in a black dominated world. As Kai and Aidan mature they discuss
the need to abolish slavery, the humanity of whites, and the religion
of Islam and Christianity; they speak as equals. Aidan forces Kai to
understand what slavery does to people who are enslaved and to the slave
owners, speeches that could have come from the mouth of Frederick
Douglass or any anti-slavery advocate. His views on Islam mirror
Douglass’s statements on the Christianity of slave traders. Aidan, Kai,
and Babatunde’s characters recreate many of the discussions and debates
regarding the legitimacy, ethical and moral aspects of slavery and the
slave trade that were ongoing within the Muslim and non-Muslim
communities in this alternative world, and mirror the debates that
occurred in the Americas. Their discussions echo the words spoken by
abolitionists, pro-slavery figures, and former slaves. The novels
straddle both the world of fantasy and science fiction literature,
employing both genres in ways that push us to rethink commonly held
beliefs, makes us uncomfortable, to think critically about slavery and
question the long term impact of slavery and the systemic effects of the
peculiar institution.
These
issues are central to countries throughout the Middle East and Africa,
but are not discussed, not least in Egypt, with its dual identity –
African and Arab. What Barnes’s novels and the current state of affairs
throughout the world impress upon us is the time-honoured truism that it
is often the actions of individuals rather than groups that provide the
spark for change, impacting and altering the lives of thousands.
Instructors can use these two works to confront notions of identity and
oppression, issues that are connected to current world events. What is
the impact of colonialism and imperialism on the conquerors and
conquered in this alternate universe? The novels offer multiple
conversations about gender roles, polygamy, colonial and postcolonial
impacts on societies, religious tolerance, and even maritime laws!
G. Willow Wilson’s graphic novel Cairo, which speaks to and advocates tolerance, and recent work on the new Pakistani American superhero Ms Marvel which
seeks to ‘normalise’ the Muslim experience in a pluralistic view of
America, can also serve as excellent educational tools. Both stories
introduce the public to the diversity of characters, plots, and
storylines within Islamic traditions. Studying Cairo can provide
an excellent opportunity to discuss current events and controversial
subjects such as Muslim/Jewish relations as well as the
Israeli/Palestinian conflict from a historical and contemporary point of
view. Interestingly, the novel offers insights that speak to the
Europeans, Americans, and Arabs currently travelling to Syria and Iraq
to become fighters with ISIS, in the character of Shaheed, a
Lebanese-American who travels to Egypt to become a suicide bomber. Cairo attempts
to present these ideas wrapped up in a story that includes fantasy
elements including a Jinn who is key to the storyline. This lively book
can provoke difficult but necessary conversations that require someone
who can lead these discussions with an understanding of history,
economics, and the ideas of ‘nation building’ within Islam.
Gender roles (LHBT???) in Islam can be unpacked with the help of Wilson’s comic book superhero Ms Marvel and
other works by Muslim and non-Muslim writers. For example, how many
people know of Roquia Sakhawat Hussain (1880–1932)? Hussain was a
prolific writer and social worker in undivided Bengal in the early
twentieth century. Most famous for her efforts on behalf of gender
equality and other social issues, she established the first school aimed
primarily at Muslim girls, which still exists today. Her book, Sultana’s Dream is an early work of feminist science fiction, involving a utopian male/female role-reversal. Sultana’s Dreamwas first published in 1905 in a Madras-based, English language periodical the Indian Ladies Magazine,
then as a book in 1908. Too often male and female writings that feature
Muslim women characters tend to, unfortunately, perpetuate the
stereotypes of submissive, oppressed, and ‘veiled/silenced’ persons, but
many of the newer stories challenge that narrative, offering more
nuanced and opposing views. Saladin Ahmad’s Throne of the Crescent Moon (2012)
includes a female warrior/shape shifter as one of its main characters,
Larissa Sansour’s experimental films and art installations such as
Nation Estate feature female leads, and The 99, a comic book
series created by Kuwaiti Naif Al-Mutawa, includes a number of heroic
Muslim females. The work of writer, poet, and storyteller Pamela Taylor
is also a valuable source for discussion of Muslim women, poetry
writing, and activism. Taylor has written books for children and
presents storytelling performances using stories from various Muslim
communities including Palestinians, Americans, and Turkish cultures.
Her 50 Fatwas for the Virtuous Vampire has been celebrated for its humour and imagination.
Fictional
Islam can also give rise to interesting assignments to spur the writing
of poetry. Using the effects of global warming as a backdrop, students
can examine the African American poet and musician, Jalaluddin
Nuriddin’s epic poem Beyonder. Nuriddin is one of the founding
members of The Last Poets, an iconic group of poets and musicians that
evolved out of the Harlem Writers’ Workshop in New York in the late
1960s. His poem is considered a masterpiece of art and spoken word
poetry; ahead of its time in detailing an apocalypse brought on by man’s
destruction of the environment. The notion that technology is the
panacea for all our ills is proposed through the creation of an android
called Sir Mankin (kin to man), but to no avail, the world is lost.
Another poem worth tackling in the classroom is the Persian epic The Shahnameh,
currently available as a series of comic books and graphic novels.
Written by the poet Ferdowsi between c. 977 and 1010, and consisting of
some 60,000 verses, it details the mythical and historical past of the
Persian empire from the creation of the world until the Islamic conquest
of Persia. Students can compare the stories throughout this poem with
other works of fiction and poetry. For example the well-known children’s
story Rapunzel (Rapunzel, Rapunzel let down your long hair) is actually
from a story in The Shahnameh, the romance between Zal and Rudaba.
Numerous
other subjects, such as politics and politicians, Sunni and Shia
distinctions and similarities, can be studied with the help of fictional
Islam. The choice of content must be determined in light of the desired
outcomes of course, but there are countless ways in which supplemental
works portraying Muslim peoples through film, comic books and graphic
novels, literature, games, and other discourses can be integrated into
many syllabi. Indeed, there is no shortage of resources and
opportunities available to assist in teaching about Islam. There are
websites, film festivals, book fairs, conventions, and conferences that
now feature prominent Muslim science fiction/fantasy writers and
critics. A recent celebrated work is Frankenstein in Baghdad by
Iraqi novelist Ahmad Saadawi, which won the International Prize for Arab
Fiction. The novel, a mixture of science fiction and horror, offers a
fresh take on the Frankenstein story as well as a critique of the
American invasion of Iraq. It tells the story of Hadi al-Attag, a man
who stitches together body parts of those killed in explosions in the
Iraqi capital. The monster thus created come to life and begins a
revenge campaign against those responsible for the deaths. This is an
excellent example of how fictional Islam can illuminate a subject from a
very different but also deeply historical and multicultural
perspective.
To
truly appreciate the educational value of science fiction, fantasy, and
comic book literature will take time and commitment. We must continue
to emphasise the connection between science fiction and scientific
inquiry in the Muslim world: an interest in science fiction will spark
an interest in science, and vice versa. An education that exposes Muslim
societies to fictional Islam can shape a positive and viable future for
Muslim societies.
Today Friday 2nd of September 2016 at 9:00
A piece of "scholarly" CRAP!
BAFS
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