Filed under: Religion
ISLAM
The beloved Prophet Our blessed Messenger Greatest of Prophets
Who brought us the Word Showed us the way Elucidated the mysteries
Beneath the desert sun From the humble ground Within the shaded forest
To deliver us to the Almighty To Heaven Of the divine purpose,
Alhamdulillah! Praise be to Allah Allahu Akbar
In peace we may forever lie. Your Word is our command. I submit to thee.
The chosen one, Muhammad
Conduit of God,
Delivered from Mecca
His sacred plan
in His holy name
I surrender.
Professor Asani writes: “The story of Islam is not one story but many stories involving peoples of many different races, ethnicities, and cultures, professing conflicting interpretations. To acquire a correctly nuanced understanding of Islam and its role in Muslim societies, crucial questions one should ask include: Which Islam? Whose Islam? In which context?” Professor Asani’s contextual/cultural approach discussed during the first lecture recognizes the idea that Islam is not one monolithic, all-encompassing idea. By bringing every person and organization under the term Islam, there are almost necessarily inconsistencies that arise within the term. While some may call these “contradictions”, as different people who claim to be Muslims have opposing interpretations of the Quran and expressions for their beliefs, these differences are directed and/or rooted in the same belief system.
My poem seeks to explore the idea of the “varieties” of Islam. The poem is titled “Islam” and its verses are in praise of Muhammad, inspired by the Sindhi and Urdu poems of week 4. The structure consists of four stanzas, which can be seen as four different poems, set horizontally to emphasize their juxtaposition to one another. While each stanza uses different words, the themes and ideas are very similar. (For example, some words, such as “Muhammad” and “Prophet” are used in the same horizontally adjacent line.) Notably, the poem also evokes different settings, such as the forest and Mecca. The effect is that the reader can see that each stanza says essentially the same thing in a different way. While I don’t attempt to resolve the debate regarding the contradictions inherent in the Islamic faith, I do seek to emphasize the idea of unity in Islam without disregarding differences in interpretation and practice.