Questions on Islam

Please post any questions you might have for Zeyneb here (and bring them with you to class).

"Islam" by Richard Foltz

"Islam" by Richard C. Foltz was a fascinating article. Seeing that my research paper is on Islam, I found a lot of interesting and useful information in this essay. Seeing that 1.2 billion people around the world today identify with Islam on some level immediately shows that it is a global religion followed by many. Most people don't identify Islam as a religion that seems to be in touch with the environment, but this essay presently proves otherwise; Islam is very much an ecologically oriented religion. I like how Foltz made sure to define how he was going to use the word "Islamic" in his essay. The way he chose to define words gave me a lot of guidance on how I should be clear to use certain words in my essay and how I should make sure to define these words in the right context. Foltz described Islamic environmentalism as "an environmentalism that can be demonstrably enjoined by the textual sources of Islam". And then he went on to describe Muslim environmentalism, which "draws its inspiration from a variety of sources possibly including but not limited to religion." Foltz explores a lot of different aspects of ecology in Islam throughout his essay in an interesting and fascinating way so it was pleasant for me to read.

Zoya

Islam: An Overview

The entire reading was so interesting to me because I am doing Islam for my paper and because even though I grew up hearing various things about Islam, this article taught me numerous things that I have never heard before. In regards to the environment, I liked how Fazlur Rahman stated how, in Islam, the entire universe and its content are declared by the Quran to be Muslim, but whereas nature obeys God’s law automatically, humanity ought to obey it by choice. This brings up many issues about the complexity of the human mind and human action. I like how he said that nature doesn’t have a choice but humanity does. I guess this is why we have “good” and “bad” people and why heaven and hell also exist in this religion. Another very interesting fact I learned was how Rahman makes the statement about how Islam originated out of Arab roots, not Judeo-Christian roots. This is intriguing to me because I feel that most people, including myself, would say that because Islam is the third monotheistic, Abrahamic, religion that it originated out of the religions before it. According to Rahman, “Islam grew out of the problems existing in an Arab Meccan society.” The reading did a good job in discussing Sufism, which is very foreign to me. I liked how they were basically credited the spread of Islam because many were merchants and spread the religion in their travels. Also contributing to the spread of Islam was the Islamic acceptance of the Iranians. As an unrecognized nationality, acceptance of the Iranians was a huge thing for them, and many converted to Islam. One of my favorite parts about the article was the brief explanation about the expansion of Islam and the treatment of Muslims to non-Muslims. Rahman uses the word “jihad” here to describe how the Muslims just established Islamic rule. Muslim rule in conquered territories was generally tolerant and there was no policy to convert non-Muslims, “the purpose of jihād was not conversion but the establishment of Islamic rule.” Nowadays, we think of jihad as a religious war, mass killings of people because they aren’t Muslims, or suicide bombing in the name of God. That is obviously not how the word was originally intended to be used. Overall, I really enjoyed the article and all the information it had to offer.

Soraya

"Branching Out" by Fred Dobbs

The major theme of the second half of the Judaism reading was ecotheology. One passage that really interested me was, Zionist thinker, Aharon David Gordon’s. Gordon posed labor as combating the ecological crisis and bridging the gap between humanity and God. I really liked the statement about how the reconnection with the natural world will not be based on dominion as exploitation (as the relationship has been in the past) but on reunification through labor and how it culminates the union of the worker working with God and His creation. The section was interesting how it essentially made the case for Jews and wanting to save God’s beautiful earth, but then it closed with how nature is violent and unforgiving. I agree and disagree with this statement. I didn’t like how it sort of put nature down, because God controls nature and saying that nature doesn’t care about humans is like saying God doesn’t either. But also I agreed because, through the violence of weather and natural disasters, nature is communicating with humanity or God is communicating to humanity through nature.
“Branching Out: The Growth of Jewish Environmental Literature” reviewed by Fred Dobb discussed similar topics as the first reading. I found it interesting how Jewish law states that if an industry wants to pollute, it must provide compensation to everyone whom it affects. This shows the historical roots of Jewish environmental thought. In addition, eco-Judaism and classic midrashim (way of interpreting biblical stories) give the environmental crisis a new outlook. A story of the Messiah planting a tree provides metaphors for how we should treat the environment. Overall, like the first reading, this article opened my eyes to different aspects of the Jewish faith that I did not know. Through this eco-feminist movement we are able to gather a new insight on how Jews really view the environment.

Soraya

Judaism by Hava Tirosh-Samuelson

As I was reading, one passage that particularly stuck out to me was the one about Rabbinic Judaism and prayer. Rabbinic Judaism has a unique practice in which Jewish worshippers recite prayers over natural phenomena including the morning, the evening, a tree blossoming or even a storm. This is incredibly intriguing because despite the recitation of a prayer over an environmental entity, prayer does not place holiness on that entity. This seems ironic to me because the inherent nature of a prayer is to indicate holiness. Instead, prayer recognizes the power of God who brings about these changes and places an emphasis on Gods’ command over nature. I think this raises some severe problems for environment in that as Jews praise God for natural phenomena, they are able to over overlook nature and become disenfranchised with it. In my opinion, it would seem difficult for a true appreciation of nature as well as a commitment to preserve it to develop when there is a lack of admiration and understanding for it other than God’s command over it.

Another passage that caught my eye was the one regarding social justice and ecological well-being. The book suggests a reason for ecological degradation that “the corruption of society is closely linked to the corruption of nature. In both cases, the injustice arises from human greed and failure of human beings to protect the original order of creation.” This statement seems absolutely accurate and is visibly reflected in the world today, none more so than in big business. Large corporations are so motivated by profits that they are willing to exploit nature and degrade and destroy it. I absolutely concur that greed is a primary cause behind the destruction of the environment.

Chasen

Judaism: An Overview

I have not yet received the opening blog post for this reading, but wanted to open it up for you. Please leave your comments as normal.

Research Topics

Please list the religion you wish to study, your interviewees, and the place of worship you plan to attend below.