Final Paper Outline

Part 1: History of Islam’s relations with the West.

• Source: (“Islam and the West in World History.”)
• Start letter to Senator Jefferson Sessions of Alabama (Republican party)
• Quotes made by General Mattis.

Part 2: Why France?

Speak about the 3 most recent attacks within the past 2 years.

• Bataclan
• Bastille Day (2016)
• Charlie Hebdo attack

Reasons why France has become an “easy” target

• France has a history of violence in its encounters with the Middle East and North Africa and a domestic Muslim community with long experiences of discrimination and feelings of exclusion from French society.
• Their proximity to other countries that are breeding grounds for Islamic Jihad.
• France’s prisons have become a recruiting ground for extremists.
• And the French radical right is growing in influence, stoking tensions through rhetoric that is often anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim.
• Recruiting in younger Muslims because they feel isolated and cannot find a place within their religion.
• Jihadist groups find fertile ground for recruitment in France and Belgium due to those states’ staunch secularism “coupled with a sense of marginalization among immigrant communities, especially those from North Africa,” according to the report from the Soufan Group. “Against this sense of alienation, the propaganda of the Islamic State offers an attractive alternative of belonging, purpose, adventure and respect.”

Why General Mattis’ tweet has merit because there are so many different ways that Jihadists’ are making their way into France that it is a concern and especially because they are finding this recruitment within the muslim youth.

Sources:

(http://time.com/4407810/nice-attack-france-target-jihadists-terrorism/)

(http://www.wsj.com/video/uncommon-knowledge-james-mattis-on-radical-islam/47490AA7-F78C-4D29-B5FB-44650CF558AB.html?mod=e2fb)

(http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/france-top-target-terrorists-article-1.2712405)

The hijab, headscarf or veil whatever you chose to call it, has over time has caused great conflict around the world, but why? The French view this piece of attire which is simply a part of religion, as a threat. Thats why in over 30 cities wearing a hijab has been banned in most settings including school. Not every woman chooses to wear a hijab, but overtime it has become a symbol of resistance against those trying to get rid of Muslims culture.

In France the hibaj is viewed negatively. It is a symbol of Islams refusal to conform to France’s ‘ways’ of all being the same. Although the french entail that all citizens are equal and the same; to be the same one must not stand out from the rest. The hijab makes it very easy to stand out and for a religious purpose which many don’t like.

France has a long history with Muslims referring to religion, I believe that the problems people have with the hijab are just unsolved tensions that have been going on forever. The hijab is also seen as a symbol of suppression of women. That women are usually covered and have ‘no choice’ unlike the women in Europe.

Wearing the veil in public places especially schools is seen as a religious influence on everybody around you, which is technically a violation. I believe that people are seeing the hibaj as an easy target to continue to remove people from their religion and trying to conform everybody to be the same.

ar Sir,

Congrats on your new position in taking over Algeria. Algeria was previously controlled by the Ottoman empire was is known for its architectural culture and most importantly city life. The religion here is mainly Muslim, the lay out of the city has lots to do with the religion.  For everything to run smoothly you must stick to the norms, try not to change anything or the people will become very upset.

Let me lay out a map of the city for you so you can get an idea. It is broken up into two cities, upper and lower. The lower city was filled with military and commercial head quarters. This is where officials and diplomats are housed because of the closeness to the harbor. The upper city is made up of about 50 small neighborhoods, filled with people and merchandise, many of the houses have windows and doors that are out of sight from the street, make sure to respect peoples privacy. The architect plays a big role and is amazing to those who have never seen it upon arrival.

Gender plays a big role in the society, there are separate public spaces and streets that belonged to men and domestic spaces for women. This prevents physical contact and make the women stay at home.  This is very important you keep this in place or it will disrupt the entire city from what they know. Getting into the Casbah and everything behind it, the myths and unknown started from three major factors, gender, mystery and difference. The Algerian women are seen as the key symbols of the colony cultural identity. My best advice to you is don’t mess around with what the norms are and listen to the people and respect their culture.

Good Luck!!!

Letters of Lady Wortley Montagu

“I know no European court where the ladies would have behaved themselves inso polite a manner to a stranger.” (58)

This shows that the writer is surprised how friendly the Turkish are in welcoming her compared to what other Europeans are like. The writer is not used to such a welcoming invite like the one she got in the wealthy town of Sofia.

“When she saw this second husband, who is at least fifty, she could not forbear bursting into tears. He is a man of merit and the declared favourilteof the sultan but that is not enough to make him pleasing in the eyes of a girl of thirteen” (65)

Here they are talking about an arranged marriage of a 13 year old girl and a 50 year old man, which is horrible but part of the culture and the lifestyle. This man was high up and it would be considered a big deal for the girls family for him to marry her, even at the age of 13.

“It would be too tedious to tell your ladyship the various dreossesand turbans by which their rank is distinguished, but they were all extremely rich and gay to the number of thousands that, perhaps there cannot be seen a more beautiful procession.” (67)

The wealth of a person can be seen in their clothing and jewels easily.

“’Tis very easy to see they have more liberty than we have, no woman, of what rank so ever being permitted to go in the streets without two muslins, one that covers her face all but her eyes and another that hides the whole dress of her head, and hang half way down her back and their shapes are also wholly concealed by a thing they call a ferace with no woman of any sort appears without.”(71)

This shows the culture and attire for the women, the only thing that is allowed to show is their eyes. No matter what rank or wealth they might have, nobody broke that form of attire.

“Upon the whole, I look upon the Turkish women as the only free people in the empire.” (72)

She says this because the women basically have nothing to worry about if they do everything correctly, wear the correct clothes they will never get in trouble. She makes it a fact that the ladies that are rich have all their money in their own hands and upon a divorce the man is obliged to give them money.

When visiting the Ottoman empire there are a few things to keep in mind. While the journey will be risky, fitting in will make it easier. First the land is much different and the fruits are flourished and fresh, the trade of meats and foodstuffs and beverages is very large. If you are a woman to fit in you should wear a veil and you must be covered everywhere, you will be easily noticed if you are wearing anything other than that. If you are a man you should wear a classic turban tight buttoned trousers with a silk waistband and sash and boot, carry some sort of knife.

The climate supposedly is good for your health and allows people to live to the age of seventy or eighty.

There are some slang terms to be aware of, first when buying and selling you need to know how to count coins: ne 1 dii 2 tire 3 kotra 4 pensi 5 gast 6 istat 7 teti 8 nandi 9 dhit 10.

Along with greetings the most common being “aye sendos enababi” meaning Hey, are you well?

The ones to be aware of if someone doesn’t like you are things like “hak mut” meaning eat shit.

When arriving you will notice there are people from all over and the locals have many different forms of income. Some being scholars, craftsman fisherman ect. The Ottomans encourage trade with with Christian Europeans and are very welcoming to do business with. Their religion is a huge part of life and you will be able to clearly tell with mosques everywhere and their prayers occurring five times a day throughout the city. Just as they are accepting of you, you must be accepting of them as well, although they may look and seem different they aren’t all that different when it comes down to it. Take advantage of all that the Ottoman has to offer to you whether it be the climate trade or different culture of all the people around you, don’t try too hard to fit in but be respecting to their culture and everyday life.

My visit to the Met:

Jerusalem exhibit:

I have never been to the Met and it was so beautiful I spent my whole night walking through all the museum and the Jerusalem one really stuck with me.  The amount of artifacts and documents they had was outstanding. Everything was so beautiful and kept in perfect condition. The images of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre caught my eye and I found it so interesting how the prayers held were spoken in Greek, Latin, Armenian, Syriac, Georgian, Coptic and Geez. I thought that really showed how many people from all over pilgrimed here.

Art of the Arab Lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia and Later South:

I chose to take pictures that I felt reflected the culture the best, i have photos of the carpets that were massive and laid from ceiling to floor with huge textiles that were eye catching. I also took a photo of the jewelry that were embellished with rubys diamonds and emeralds they were beautiful and intricate. I enjoyed learning about all the culture and selling small things that were part of everyday life.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/144269985@N06/albums/72157675208436816

The First Crusades gave the path and idea of Europe the Christians within it. The interactions between both Christian and Islam helped shape those ideas.  The Christians at the time had what they thought was an idea of the Muslims and Islam. “From Christian point of view, the victories of these non-Christians could mean only two things. Either Christianity was an incorrect religion that should be abandoned in favor of Islam or Christians were indeed correct in their religious choice but were being punished by an angry God” (Nirenberg 16.)

Prior to the Crusades there was no clear definition of Christians in Europe. In 1095 Pope Urban II received a plea from Byzantine Emperor Alexius I that Muslim invaders seized the Holy Land and now threatening the Byzantium. Because of this the Pope called upon the Latin Christians to march eastward asking for mercenaries to help the Byzantines in their wars.  The Pope gave a speech explaining to the people what was happening to those whose lands were invaded. “The sad news has come from Jerusalem and Constantinople that the people of Persia, an accursed and foreign race, enemies of God, have invaded the lands of those Christians and devastated them with the sword, rapine and fire. Destroying churches and mosques” (Rodriguez 57.) The first image on Artsor shows The Pope making a speech to the people, encouraging them to march to the east and help the Byzantine, saying God will forgive them of all their sins.

Pope Urban II’s request spread like wildfire and within months “armies raised by some of the most prominent western European nobles began their long march to the East” (Rodriguez 58.) These people, all tens of thousands of them included men, women, children and even the elderly who were to weak to fight.  This was the beginning of The First Crusade. The first crusade was much about establishing peace and unity in the West and aiding the Byzantium or conquering Jerusalem. Despite the violence there was a increase in the economy with trade from the East to the West. Newer and shorter trade routes were created. The transportation of the armies helped the merchant class prosper.

Muslims would refer to the Christians or members of these armies “firandj.” “Franks”, regardless of their actual provenance. The term came to signify “European” (Nirenberg 21.) The Crusade created social chaos within Europe and gave the church a great more deal of authority. The massacre that happened killing all men women and children made it now seem acceptable to kill and massacre any who seemed a threat to the Church. The fifth image on Artsor shows the gruesome events that took place during the battles, it shows a Turk being beheaded. The invaders were seen as “wild and untamed beasts who have merely the shape of human form” (Nirenberg 16.) The first Crusades in some ways shape the ideas of the Christians of Europe. Because of this crusade thousands banded together for one uniting cause, reviving the Holy Land, that gave them a purpose. Although their togetherness was built off violence and massacre it strengthened the Christians as a whole.

Sources:

Nirenberg, David. Neighboring Faiths: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism in the Middle Ages and Today. Chicago and London: U of Chicago, n.d. Print.

Rodriguez, Jarbel. Muslim and Christian Contact in the Middle Ages: A Reader. Toronto: U of Toronto, 2014. Print.

https://prezi.com/v7nujql1qjr7/history-of-islam/

Coming into this first project I didn’t know much about Islam at all, so as I read Islamic History: A Very Short Introduction I picked what I thought were the most important key points. I felt I focused a lot on the beginning of Islam, starting with the prophet Muhammad and his flee to Medina gaining followers and taking over lands before his death in 632 AD. I also brought up how things changed after Muhammad’s death, which caused a spilt within the religion over who the next succeeder will be. There was a choice between the four Caliphs named Abu Bakr, ‘Uman, ‘Uthman and ‘Ali.

I focused on how Islam grew economically with the help of camels and caravans for trade, I found it astonishing how economically wealthy Islam became in such a short period of time. Caravans and camels helped shape muslim towns into large cities expanding and flourishing the population and wealth. The caravans made for just easy and efficient trade routes and other things. The camels were able to with stand the rough climate going days with out food or water.

I chose to focus on the religion as a whole, concentrating on mosques and the huge role they play within the culture. People go to the mosque up to five times a day to pray some even eating and sleeping there.  The largest mosque in the world is unsurprisingly the mosque in Mecca where millions pilgrim to visit every year. Up to 800 million dollars are spent to build these massive institutions.  I also found the break down of the Jihad very interesting, being spilt into two different groups with different ideas based off it. One side getting a more violent idea than others, which today leads to suicide bombing and other things. The jihad actually translates somewhat as ‘striving’ to do something against someone. Although you may read about suicide bombings and possible terrorism, the Islamic religion is one of peace and worship. The five pillars of Islam are what every Muslim must fulfill in their lifetime. They include the testimony of faith, prayer which happens five times a day, giving Zakat which is supporting the needy,fasting the month of Ramadan and finally the pilgrimage to Mecca. What you come to understand after reading about the culture and religion is that Islam is a very peaceful religion. The Arabic word salaam meaning peace has the same root as the word Islam.

There was so much in the book to pick from but I tried to pick the most basic facts for someone to understand the growth and expansion of the religion. I did not focus very much on the wars that were fought in the very beginning because I felt the religion and culture was more important to show the growth and why Islam is second largest religion in the world with 1.6 billion followers. I feel I now have a good understanding on the beginning and growth of Islam and would feel confident explaining some of the major key points and events to someone who knows nothing.