In Week 4 we read about ‘Isra and Mi’raj which refers to Prophet Muhammad’s Night Journey and Ascension. This is believed to have been a physical and/or spiritual experience (depending on the interpreter) by the Prophet Muhammad in which he travels from Mecca to Jerusalem on Buraq, a big horse with wings and a human head, and then ascends through the heavens where he meets past prophets (such as Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Adam, etc.) and ends up in the presence of God. It is believed that he didn’t directly see God but was in His presence. It was narrated that Abu Dharr said: “I asked the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), ‘Did you see your Lord?’ He said, ‘ He is veiled by Light, how could I see Him.’” (Narrated by Muslim, al-Eeman, 261).

From several artistic illustrations of the Mi’raj (Ascension) we looked at in class in addition to the narration by Abu Dharr above, we can see that there is an association between God and Light in Islam. For example, in one of the artistic depictions we looked at in class of Prophet Muhammad’s ascension (Mi’raj), Prophet Muhammad is in prostration in the presence of light, and this light is meant to symbolize the presence of God. The foundation of this connection between God and divine light is emphasized in what is known as “The Light Verse” which refers to verse 35 in Surat An-Nur (Chapter 24). This verse is understood to be an allegorical verse since it’s very difficult to try to interpret it literally.

For this reason, I decided to visually represent this beautiful verse in a video. In the video I used lots of symbolism for a couple of reasons. First, in Islam, human beings cannot try to depict God because He is beyond our imagination. Second, the meaning of the verse itself is ambiguous thus leaving it open for interpretation by the reader/listener. For example, when God refers to His Light, is He referring to light as we perceive it or is His Light a metaphor for something else? This is just one of the many questions one may ask themselves when listening to this verse.

Some examples of my uses of symbolism are: the Sun to represent God’s Light, the light bulb to represent “the lamp within a glass”, and the road to represent God’s guidance to His Light. I also tried to leave some clips up for the interpretation by the viewer because at the end of the day, everyone may look at the video and see something different. Hope you enjoy the video!

Here is the link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7lwQ42kBy0&feature=youtu.be

I hope you enjoyed it!

Best,

Aly

Link to my drawing (rotate counter-clockwise): https://imgur.com/fZlCHXB

In Week 5 we read about the different communities of interpretation within Islam. This was explained in detail in the reading Diversity in Islam: Communities of Interpretation by F. Daftary. To explain briefly, in Islam there are two major “sects”: Sunni and Shia. Daftary refers to them as “communities of interpretation” rather than “sects” because they agree with each other fundamentally on the message of the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad  (i.e. salat, zakat, shahada, etc.), but their differences arise in different interpretations of the same scripture (Quran) and hadith (Prophet Muhammad’s sayings). The division between the Sunnis and Shias occurred after the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632 AD when the Muslims were deciding who should be the first caliph (or successor to the Prophet). Sunnis believed that Abu Bakr should be the first caliph as he was one of Prophet Muhammad’s closest companions and was a older than the other companions being considered. On the other hand, the Shias believed that the future caliphs should only be people from Ahl al-Bayt (“Family of the House”), meaning that they must be related by blood to the Prophet. For this reason, they believed Ali, the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law, should be the first caliph and not Abu-Bakr. In fact, the term Shia is short for “Shiat Ali” which translates to “followers of Ali”.

Over time, there were more divisions within the Sunni and Shia traditions, which are commonly referred to as “schools of thought”. There were also other sects in the late 7th century, such as the Khawarij (which initially supported Ali then rejected him), but these sects have disappeared over time. In addition, there are the Sufis who focus on the mystical side of Islam (Sunnis and Shias can also be Sufis). For this creative assignment I chose to focus primarily on the division between Sunnis and Shias and the different schools of thought within them since almost the entire Muslim population will fall into one of these two groups.

I decided to depict the different communities of interpretation in a “Treasure Map” in which the treasure is God/Paradise. Starting from the top of the page we see that there is only one path. This symbolizes the idea that prior to the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632 AD, all Muslims were on the same “path” in terms of their beliefs/rituals/practices since they would simply follow the guidance of the Prophet. But as we follow this single path, we soon notice that the path diverges into two separate paths. This divergence symbolizes the split between the Sunnis and Shias which as explained above, was due to the disagreements regarding who the first Caliph (or “successor”) should be to the Prophet Muhammad.

Now if we follow the path on the left, the Sunni path, we see that this path eventually diverges into four more different paths which are meant to symbolize the four different Sunni schools of thought (Shafi, Maliki, Hanafi, Hanbali). In addition, on the right path, the Shia path, we also notice that it diverges into three paths which represent the three different schools of thought within the Shia tradition (Zaidi, Ismaili, Ithna Ashari).

At this point when we follow each of the different paths through the forest, we notice that they all converge again into one path which leads to the treasure. This is supposed to symbolize the idea that although each of these different divisions or sects of Islam disagree on certain theological or historical beliefs, they are all still a part of Islam and hence will still lead the believer or follower to God/Paradise regardless of the path taken.

Thanks for reading!

Best,

Aly

My first creative response is in response to our Week 3 readings and movie screening of Koran by Heart regarding “Quran Recitations”. I decided to create an audio file of Surah Al-Fatihah (the first chapter in the Quran which translates to “The Opening”) but instead of it being recited by a single individual, I edited it so that each ayah, or “verse”, is recited by a different individual (listed at the end of this post). I did this to try to represent or symbolize the emphasis on the Quran as an oral text/tradition, and the diversity amongst reciters in Islam.

The first idea which is portrayed in this audio file is the emphasis on the orality of the Quran in Islam. As Kristina Nelson explains in The Sound of the Divine in Daily Life, “For the Quran must be heard, not merely read. As the word of God transmitted to the Prophet Muhammad, it is considered to be the actual sound of the Divine, the model of perfect beauty, and a testimony to the miracle of human and divine interaction.”  From this quote it is evident that the Quran is viewed as an oral text before a written one, and it is for this reason that I decided to leave the recitation of Surah Al Fatihah as an audio file rather than a video with subtitles of the English translation. Furthermore, this idea was also made very clear in the film Koran by Heart where we saw children and their parents from all around the world, who didn’t necessarily speak or understand Arabic, dedicate their entire lives to the memorization and recitation of the Quran with their ultimate goals of becoming huffaz (plural of hafiz – someone who has memorized the entire Quran).

Moreover, in the film Koran by Heart and in the reading The Quran in Indonesian Daily Life the diversity in Islam amongst reciters is made very clear. In Koran by Heart we see children from Uzbekistan, Maldives, Egypt, Senegal, and many more countries. In the reading The Quran in Indonesian Daily Life we see how women are highly regarded in Indonesia today because of their abilities of reciting the Quran. Therefore to symbolize this diversity I included Mohammed Al Barak (recites the second verse) and Jennifer Grout (recites the sixth verse) to represent all the children and women in the world who are practicing to become huffaz.

Below is the order of the reciters and information about them:
1) Fahad Al-Kandari – More information about him: http://en.islamzoom.com/Kuwait/fahd-al-kandari/fahd-al-kandari-56.htm
2) Mohammed Al Barak – No information found
3) Abdullah Awad Al-Juhani – More information about him: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullah_Awad_Al_Juhany
4) Yasser Al Failekawe – More of his work: http://www.assabile.com/yasser-al-faylakawi-255/yasser-al-faylakawi.htm
5) Jennifer Grout – American singer who converted to Islam. Here’s an article with more information about her: http://gulfnews.com/life-style/music/jennifer-grout-says-she-s-converted-to-islam-1.1279489
6) Yasser Al-Dosari – More information about him: https://www.facebook.com/notes/makkah-madinah-live-recitations-invite-others-now/biography-of-yasser-al-dosari/124526467608376/

Best,

Aly