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Response to “Infidel of Love” Reading

 

I decided to create a collage in response to reading Infidel of Love: Exploring Muslim Understandings of Islam, and particularly responding to the story of Salimata on page 13.  Salimata’s story comes up as a way of beginning a discussion on social justice and its important role in Islamic thought.  I was intrigued by the layering of images used in this brief story, and also by the fact that “[a]lthough many Muslims would question the motivations underlying Salimata’s acts of generosity,” this story is one which employs many important Islamic ideas (e.g. the pursuit of righteousness, generosity, and gratitude) (Asani 13).  As this story and so many in this chapter demonstrate, the ideals of Islam are drawn from the Qur’an, which urges humanity to remember God always, and to practice regular generosity in giving the zakat.  Yet many interpretations of the Qur’an are possible, as this text and its acceptance by some as praiseworthy and others as raising theological questions exemplifies.

I decided to split the collage into two segments, one a rough diagonal covering the upper right of the paper, and the other surrounding the lower left side.  A jagged brown line marks the sections, and symbolizes a sort of banquet table, in reference to Salimata’s cry, “‘Come, all of you! here! Eat!’” (Asani 13).  On the table (the upper-right section) are various images from the story: a symbol of barrenness, showing a stone with an empty circle in the middle like that of an empty womb; a fruit-filled heart for fruitfulness, a singing bird for the compelling image of Salimata’s laughter being like this creature’s “shining throat;” a person offering rice to symbolize giving and sacrificing; a food pyramid symbolizing health; smiling faces for happiness; a baby’s feet for barrenness transformed to fruitfulness; peace symbols; and bags containing “Lots of coins!” (Asani 13).  At the table as guests, surrounding Salimata (who is in the bottom left-hand corner) are Allah, who she knows to be with her as a result of her good fortune that day; the sorcerer who at any moment she could encounter in her acts of giving; and others from the market place that she invites to eat with her.

I chose to use images from Google for this collage, as it always fascinates me to see what images appear first for particular phrases or words.  I was pleased with what I found, and was able to locate images that resonated with my sense of the story as I pictured the images that it raised.  The references for these images I include below:

 

~ by strysko on February 19, 2012.

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