Historical Structures of Muslim Society

Throughout the article, three main points or necessities are discussed for the foundation of a humane society. The three necessary components found throughout not only Islam but through the whole of society are partial control, the principle of free movement, and the principle of
cultural heteroglossia. The principle of partial control similarly represents that no one power has complete dominance over the rest of the world so to speak. This is much like today's society as it consists of core states, semi-periphery states, and periphery states with institutional forms of governing.The second principle of free movement allows for people in co-existing in society can act as a lawyer then a house builder, or any other profession. Along with this came "border" which do not necessarily compatible with "umma." In other words that monarch's or rulers would have absolute control over free movement, which again in today's society has rules, yet not always followed in the overall scheme of things. The last principle is Heteroglossia which is constitutes as complex. It refers to believers of the same religion having one ideal and set of code, when in reality they have a multitude of believes all following the same religion. This definition is again applied in today's society, especially in the USA. The USA has a primarily protestant and catholic orientation. Although these religions follow many of the same believes, there is still variation throughout the same religion. The ultimate question posed in the article is do these three principles collaborate to form principles utilized in a humane society. My opinion on this matter is Yes, these principle are still in effect today. These three principles from examples of present day United States proves that the principles are necessary and important in forming a humane society, whether presented in these terms or not they are fundamental properties of human society.

Facts, Bias, and Wikipedia

(this post is for extra credit)

Firstly, the argument that all facts spring forth out of opinions seems strange. As I write this, it is a fact that a few seconds ago on my computer screen I read these words: "all facts are based on opinion" (but then again it is possible that Descartes' demon is playing tricks with me). This statement (that facts come from opinions) can be translated into the phrase: all (objective) facts are subjective. But this is a paradox because the purported argument is a universal fact.

Moving forward, a better argument in my opinion would be to say that the interpretation and presentation of facts can be (and very often are) subjective and founded on opinion. That is, the fact that water is H2O is an objective truth (or, if you object due to linguistic reasons, it is a truth that the object me exists), but how the mind interprets and presents this fact depends on the subject, not the water.

Concerning Wikipedia, I do think that many articles are biased to some degree. Some articles are flagged by Wikipedia administrators and regular editors alike as being too biased. Wikipedia makes a strong effort to ensure that its articles cite credible sources, that facts and sources are verifiable, and that articles are free from original research (which could be very biased indeed).

In brief, there are some articles on Wikipedia that contain material that is open to interpretation. For example, an article about a certain nation's political economy with the conclusion, "thus, free markets are necessary and best for a democratic and peaceful society" is certainly biased. However, Wikipedia makes an effort to suppress such assertive and bold statements, but the problem is that Wikipedia is always a step behind.

*I made this example up. Hopefully no such sentence is on Wikipedia.

-Stefan Larson

Leo Africanus- Part 4 and the Economist Articles

The last section of Leo Africanus deals yet another turn of events for Hasan. Hasan takes a new wife Maddalena who was a practicing nun. She receives permission from the Cardinal to be pardoned from the convent and from there, both she and Hasan marry and are blessed with a son. Shorly after, Hasan’s friend, the Pope, dies and his replacement Pope Adrian takes office. Pope Adrian employs a very conservative and sort of tyrannical approach with the people. He orders all men to shave their beards and puts strict prohibitions on the types of literature the people are permitted read. Hasan defies the new Pope’s orders refusing to shave his beard and reading materials that the Pope did not approve of. Following such transgressions, Hasan is arrested and imprisoned. Pope’s Adrians extreme conservatism fosters resentment from his people and his poisoned. Hasan is granted a pardon from the Cardinal and he and his family are free to settle down in Tunis.

The articles in the Economist were quite interesting and provided a non-bias perspective of the Arab World and the issues that concern them as a people and as part of the greater international stage. The first and second articles deal with the political turmoil that the Arab world currently faces. The first article highlights reasons for the political unrest. The division amongst the different nations and sections of the Arab world, the ongoing strife with Israel and the autocratic political approach that uses repression tactics to maintain power are emphasized as the three most glaring causes for the political stagnation in the Arab world. The second artlicle then discusses how the United States (mainly as a response to the Sept. 11th attacks) tries to advocate democracy as a way of quelling the instability and perceived danger that exist in the Arab world.

I really like Leo Africanus, but I found the economist articles more interesting. I was unaware of the many strides that nations in the Arab world have made in modernization. Immunizations, nutrition and healthcare was discussed as some of these improvements. I also found it extremely interesting that there the literacy rates pretty equal among the Arab population despite socio-economic status and are a lot higher than some of the rates that currently exist in “developed” nations. I enjoyed reading about this area of the world because so much of our current politics centers around the Middle East and yet all we hear is one-sided discussions through the media.

Leo Africanus- Part 3

In this part of the book, Hasan’s suffers some misfortunes as well as some triumphs. His wife Fatima and their son die during delivery and Hasan is heartbroken but resolute. At the same time, he is called into the Palace to discuss the death of Zirwali who was murdered. Although Hasan maintains that it was not he that committed the murder, he is sentenced to a two year exile. He leaves with a grand exit but loses his treasures and his guards and the guards were stricken with illness and passersby took the loot. Hasan then finds himself in Cairo which was a beautiful city, but he finds that many of the people there are stricken with a pathological epidemic that is threatening the Muslim foothold in Cairo.

One of the most interesting parts of this section is how Hasan is captured by Italians and taken back to Rome. There he is given to the Pope as a diplomat. Hasan’s intelligence and views on religion are highly regarded by the Pope and they develop a friendly relationship between them. The Pope baptizes Hasan into the Roman Catholic faith and he is then known as Leo. What I find most interesting is that Hasan allowed himself to be converted to Christianity. My question is did Hasan’s upbringing, meaning his father having two wives, one Muslim and one Christian exert any influence on his friendship with the Pope and his eventual baptism?

Leo Africanus- Part 2

The readings this week discuss Hasan’s development into becoming a man. His grandmother’s death, his sexual encounter with a slave, his marriage and then his leadership role that he assumes in the caravan once his uncle passes away. There are two parts of the story that captured my attention the most. The first was his sister’s engagement to Zarwali. Although Zarwali was a terribly abusive man, Muhammed was extremely happy and willing to let his daughter enter into a marriage that would certainly include physical and mental abuse because of the wealth of the suitor. Hasan’s maturity and moral values speak volumes as he goes toe to toe with his father and fights for his sister to be let out of her engagement. When Hasan wins this battle, it not only symbolizes his rite of passage from a boy to a man, but it endears the audience to the nobility of Hasan’s character. The second thing that captivated me was the caravan. We discussed in Before European Hegemony, the concept of markets and the need for security as traders travelled along to markets in different places. Caravans were a way in which to provide such security. The reason why this is so interesting to me is that this narrative gives such a vivid illustration of what those caravans were like with the guards and animals and merchandise all travelling together.

I really enjoy this book for a number of reasons but one reason is because it implements the ideas and concepts that we learned from previous parts of the course (e.g. caravans, religious wars) and uses the story of Hasan to relate them to the audience in a much more humanistic , descriptive and interesting way. My question pertains to the engagement of Miriam. Thinking about a movie that I’ve seen in recent years in which a woman was being physically abused but pressured by her mother to stay in the relationship due to the man’s wealth and status, I wonder how much pressure family’s truly exert on their children to marry someone of their liking. In today’s society, are there still parents like Muhammed that would try to force their children into a marriage based on wealth despite their child’s happiness and/or safety?

Leo Africanus- Part 1

This book is a narrative account of a boy’s life growing up in the ancient city of Grenada. The story begins with the boy’s parents Muhammed and Salma who are engaged. Upon learning that Salma is unable to conceive, Muhammed finds a Christian slave, Warda, with whom to procreate. Salma is extremely unhappy with this turn of events and seeks a potion to enhance her fertility. Salma succeeds and is rewarded with a son, while her husband’s other wife, Wards bears a daughter. Salma pleases her husband with the birth of their son.

The story centers on primarily on themes of religion, war and gender roles. Grenada is a religiously diverse city that is home to people of the Muslim, Christian and Jewish faith. Because religion was a major reason for persecution and warfare in that era, the story of Muhammed, Salma, and Warda coexisting in a polygamous union despite disparate religions is quite interesting. What I found most interesting however is the role of women and the value that society placed on them. The first example we have of women’s inferiority is Muhammed’s ability and desire to find a new wife because his first wife was infertile.

Although this is not surprising to me, I find it very upsetting that women have been treated subserviently throughout history. Women’s inferiority is such a pervasive concept that is unfortunately still a problem that exists in today’s global society. The second example of this is the fact that male infants were seen as blessings while girl infants were not. This perspective is again very pervasive and is a large reason why the practice of infanticide exists. Again none of this is very shocking to me as it is not new to me. However women in many other cultures have improved their status within society and the same legal rights as men. With that in mind consider the oppression and honor killings that Muslim women are subjected to currently, do you think that their position in their society has improved at all since the 15th century or has it remained largely the same?

Extra Credit Wikipedia

I believe Wikipedia is biased. I am not a fan of the idea that virtually anyone could go into an article and edit it. There have been many occasions on Wikipedia where people lied and placed myths on wiki pages. Also, celebrities are subject to lies and false details about their lives over wiki. I see why and understand why Wikipedia is not a valid source for educational papers and homework assignments. I am NOT a fan of Wikipedia, simply because of our assignment.

Extra Credit

Wikipedia is biased. I agree with someone who stated earlier that all facts are based on opinion. I think some articles can be clearly more biased than others in Wikipedia, it all depends on the article. But they are all biased to a certain degree. The only good thing about Wikipedia is that any number of people can edit an article. This makes it so that an article is not completely from one view point or one opinion, but yet it is still biased.

Extra Credit

I believe that it is hard to say if Wikipedia is bias in general. I believe that it heavily depends on what topic that is being discussed. Some topics in general are easier to be objective than others. For example, if someone were to do an article on an artist they maybe more inclined to talk about their particular feelings for the artist. I feel like the articles we are doing for class are easier to be objective. Even though I do think that when writing about anything it is hard not to put your own opinion, I do think in certain topics it is easier for it be kept to a minimum. So in short i think that Wikipedia may have some biases in it that is only because it is hard to write without biases and certain articles may have fewer or more subjective views depending on the article.

Blog 11

Part 1:

In the end of the book Hasan marries Maddalena. This was a very unique because she was a Nun and had to get special permission. Not long after Hasan and Maddalena have been married she gives birth to a little boy. That's when events begin to turn for the worse. The current Pope dies and a new Pope takes over. His name is Pope Adrian. Pope Adrian did not like artists and non-believers. One day Hasan was caught with a pamphlet that went against the Pope and was sent to jail. Pope Adrian was poisoned and was then replaced by the Cardinal. When Hasan was released, Maddalena, Hasan, and their son tried to move back home.

Part 2:

I found it interesting that the Nun was able to get special permission to get married. I believe that this was interesting to me because I am not familiar with the Catholic religion so I did not know that she could even get permission to get married.

Part 3:
Did you like how the book ended? Why or Why not? If you did not like the ending what do you think would be a more fitting ending?

Extra Credit

Wikipedia is biased. If anyone thinks this research is objective, well they are wrong. All facts are somehow based on an opinion or perspective. Wikipedia is especially biased because those editing are arbitrarily choosing facts they think are relevant, while discarding other facts.

Example: Christopher Columbus discovered America. This is a "fact" often reported in scholarly sources, as well as Wikipedia. However, what about thousands of years before then, when Mongols possibly arrived first, etc...

My point is, all reported factual information most likely has a counterargument. Do not take Wikipedia, more over any encyclopedia, as absolute fact.

End of Leo Africanus

In this week's reading we ended the book Leo Africanus. The end of the book follows the same form as the rest of the book.Things start going well for Leo then all of a sudden something negative happens.

Leo marries a Maddalenna who is from a nunnery. In order to marry Hasan she had to recieve special permission. Soon after shes gives birth to a baby boy. After the pope passes away a new pope arises and is much more conservative than the previous Pope. his name was pope adrian and he was not supportive of artists and non-believers.

Leo gets sent to prison because he was caught with a pamphlet that went against the Pope. While Leo was in jail someone poisoned the pope. The Cardinal replaces him and Hasan and his family attempt to move back to Tunis.

I liked the fact that the book ended on hope. Leo was finally able to settle down with a wife and child and things seemed to come full circle. After all of the series of unfortunate events this conclusion was needed for readers not to leave this book with a sense of hopelessness.

I found it interesting that the pope was viewed as an evil dictator instead of a man of God. The pope of our time has no say in what humans do to their bodies, whether they shave or not. I just don't understand what the duties and the roll of the pope was in this book.

My question is do you think people took what the pope ordered seriously because of God's wrath or the Popes?

The "Arab World"

The Economist's Special Report on the Arab World is at the same time enlightening and disturbing. The overall tone is that the Arab World, (if you can even call it one world) is rapidly changing, yet also stagnating. The Arab population is younger, (the majority of Arab people are under the age of 25), more educated, and more urban than ever before, yet they are ruled by presidents who have been in power since before they were born. Imagine a president claiming to be "freely elected" for 28 years as Hosni Mubarak, the president of Egypt does! And in this climate of youth, increasing international interest, political corruption and nearly constant warfare, reform is imminent. But lasting reform has to come from within. The Bush Administrations attempt to force democracy into the Arab world, "lies in tatters" as one author of the article suggests, and many Americans feel. And many Arabs seem to feel the same way, as Hossam Bahgat, a director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights says, "What we learnt from the Bush years was that reform was our own business."

One major point of the report that I found particularly interesting was the description of the Arab world. Its easy to lump the region together into a neatly packaged "world" yet the reality is far from unified. Even within countries, the people are fractured and on the brink of warfare. This stems from the practically arbitrary division of nations after the European colonial era, and the nature of the Arab peoples. The nearly constant bloody warfare doesn't help either. Approximately 1 million Arabs have died violently since 1990, and all of this death must leave deep psychological scars. Beyond that, the "Arab" is such a loosely defined term, to Americans it is anyone from the itself vaguely defined Middle East. But to "Arabs" themselves, it is a term they may never even describe themselves as. It is not connected to a region, to a religion, to an ethnic group, or even a language, as not all "Arabs" speak Arabic, and it is so varied in dialect that Arabic speakers from different regions may not even be able to understand each other.

I found these readings incredibly informative, and easy to read (if you didn't read the Economist, I STRONGLY recommend it.) In addition to all of these thoughts, I've started to consider my own misconceptions about the Arab World. I never would have imagined how young, and rapidly growing the population is, and I was completely unaware of just how many civil wars/revolutions there were in the Middle East. If we, as a nation are so deeply invested and involved in a region, how can we be so ignorant of the true situation? I consider myself relatively aware, but I suppose the more you know, the more you realize you don't know...

Leo Africanus

In this week's reading we concluded Leo Africanus. This section followed the same formula as all the other sections. Leo gets things going well for himself and all of a sudden he gets into trouble again.

Leo marries a woman, Maddalena, who is from a nunnery. She had to received permission from the Cardinal to leave before she was able to marry Hasan. Soon after shes gives birth to a baby boy. Around this time the Pope passes away. This is not a good thing for Leo. A new Pope replaces his him and is much more conservative than the previous Pope. The new Pope, Pope Adrian required people to shave, and is less accepting of non-believers and artists.

Leo gets sent to prison because he was caught with a pamphlet that went against the Pope. Apparently Leo was not the only one that didn't really like the Pope because while he was in jail, the Pope was poisoned. The Cardinal replaces him and soon after Hasan and his family attempt to move back to Tunis.

I guess my question is do you think the Pope had too much power. Does anyone else find it slightly ridiculous that someone can command you to shave a certain way?

Americans are not Mongols, you fool.

Nader Fergeny is both correct and inaccurate in his analysis of U.S. intervention in the Middle East, especially as it relates to Iraq. He claims that the Americans are the Mongols of the 21st century. While it is true that we are an outside invader that has taken control of the heart of the Middle East and ‘conquered’ Iraq’s capital of Baghdad. However, there are stark differences to these two invaders. The Mongols come to conquer the Middle East because of its vast wealth and position in the world as a crossroads between East and West. The cities in the region, namely Cairo and Baghdad, were presumably the most wealthy and influential of the time. Today this is not true by a long shot, these are not centers of world economy or policy even if they have large populations they eminence is but a shadow of the past. At this point some might argue that the wealth that we are after is access to the oil market but I would ask that person, is your gas any cheaper today that it was before the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan or the 2003 invasion of Iraq? Out interests and foreign policy in the region does include oil but we do not wish to take it as our own like colonizing powers in the past would have done. We have a threefold policy in the Middle East: 1- security of Israel 2- containment of radical Islamic Terrorism 3- access to oil. These goals have been largely unchanged for decades, only the substitution of containment of radical Islam for the containment of Communism is different.

Back to the Mongol comparison, the success of the Mongol invasion was based on their superior military tactics. Ok, checkmark for the US led invasion of the region; however, the method of achieving victory could not be more different. The Mongols attempted the wholesale slaughter of the Middle Eastern cities population and was largely successful in urban areas. The U.S. stands on high moral grounds in that we do not promote large scale civilian casualties. They do happen but when we are at fault the people responsible are held accountable. This does not happen in authoritarian regimes.

The end of Leo Africanus

This weeks reading took us to the end of the book and through articles from the Economist. The end of Leo Africanus seemed to follow the same chain of events that Hasan has been put through in every section so far. Just when things seem to be going all right for the poor guy something happens and he is thrust back into turmoil. The happiness in this section is that Hasan finds a new wife after she leaves the nunnery with permission from the Cardinal and they have a son. Hasan enjoys a close relationship with the Pope and therefore, everything seems to be working out well in his life for once. Then, in a sudden turn of events, the Pope dies and is replaced by a far more conservative Pope who tells everyone to shave their beards. When Hasan goes against the Pope by refusing to shave his beard and possessing a pamphlet with information not endorsed by the Pope, he is thrown in jail. Upon the poisoning of the Pope Hasan receives pardon from the Cardinal and relocates with his family to Tunis.

We then turned to the articles from the Economist. These articles do a fair job at explaining the modern Arab world by showing how the area is governed and highlighting the major crisis which is the conflict over Israel. Along side this crisis the articles do a good job at discussing the different types of people in the area and how they all coexist even though they may not be of the same religion or general culture at all.

I always enjoy a good Economist article, especially those that focus on an area of the world or a topic with which I am not familiar. I also enjoyed the fact that Leo Africanus closed with Hasan finally being able to settle down with his family after so much strife in finding a way through the maze he was set in as a small child. The only question I have is, how did the Pope have so much power over so many people? I am Catholic and I can say from experience the the Pope has a say in what we do religiously and has some sway as to what we do in our daily lives because it is based on our beliefs but I can not image the Pope ordering every man to shave his beard and having that actually happen. Perhaps this is because the world was far more condensed at the time so regulation of decrees was far easier than it is today but it is still a puzzling occurance.

End of Leo Africanus

In the final parts of Leo Africanus, we see many somewhat surprising changes in Hassan’s life. Another woman is introduced into the story, who was formerly practicing to be a nun. She asks the cardinal if she can be excused from the program. Upon her removal from the program, Hassan is asked to marry her.

Following this – the Pope, who Hassan had built quite the relationship with, passed way. Pope Adrian, who is much more conservative in his ways, takes over; and things do not go down between him and Hassan. Pope Adrian decrees that every man must shave their beard, and Hassan refuses. Hassan, among other things done in rebellion, is caught with a pamphlet protesting against the current Pope and is jailed. Pope Adrian is later poisoned, and Hassan is released, and a new Pope takes reign. Eventually, Hassan receives help from a friend – Hans – and is able to make a return to Tunis.

We then moved onto articles focusing on the Middle East/Arab World. I found the articles on the Middle East very interesting. The first article discussed the recent stagnation in Arab politics and predicted a revolution in the very near future. Arab society has been progressing in recent years and modernizing. Bamyeh’s article discusses the three principles of the Muslim world: partial control, free movement, and cultural heteroglossia. He states that in order for these principles to function properly, no authorities can impose orthodoxies on the people. He also says that the authoritarian states in the modern Middle East would not be a possibility if the Islamic system was not affected by Western colonists.

I overall enjoyed Leo Africanus, and hope to read future stories like that in the near future. And as always, reading about the Middle East is quite interesting to me.

Leo Africanus 4

In this section, Leo begins to settle after meeting his new wife Maddalena, whom he met through the pope. She was a convert from the nunnery who was with child. The pope dies and a new one takes his place. The new pope is less accepting of non-believers and artists. Many artists take refuge in Tunis, but Leo is arrested for having a pamphlet that goes against the pope. During the year he is is jail, the pope dies and is replaced and Leo's wife leaves him for Persia. Leo then finds his life long friend and travels.

I found it strange how different the popes were. I couldn't believe that one of the popes believed art to be blasphemy. If this idea had caught on, or that pope had stayed in power longer, our world would be in a completely different place. And I'm really glad that it didn't. It was also interesting to read about how the pope called for every man to be clean shaven. Leo did not want to submit to such requests, putting himself and his family in danger. It's a strange concept to me that facial hair could get you into legal trouble. These are the small peepholes into a different life that make me want to learn more but also make me thankful for the freedoms we have now.

I also found the article to be extremely interesting, especially reading about Al-Qaeda's tie into the Arab world. I enjoyed reading the predictions of the future for the Arab world in the article (including a non-violent revolution).

Leo Africanus 3

In this section, Hasan's father dies and his wife, Fatima, dies during childbirth. Hasan is banished from the area for supporting his brother who is the alleged murderer of Zarwali, the man his sister married. He is exiled and sent as a slave with the Italians. Pirates bring him to Rome, where Hasan meets the pope and develops and intimate relationship. The pope treats Hasan as a son and is concerned with his education. They have discussions about things like church and state, and eventually Hasan is baptized by the pope under the name "Leo Africanus", giving us the title of the book.

It was most interesting to read about the development of the relationship between the pope and Hasan. It is strange to me that they even met, never mind developed such a relationship. I wonder what would have happened if Hasan were never exiled. It was interesting to see Africa for the first time as a part of the system and to read about the role of slavery in society. I could not imagine having an arranged marriage and wonder if people thought it was at all wrong or unfair at the time.

Leo Africanus 2

In this section, Hasan grows into an adult. Many events happen that bring Hasan into adulthood including the death of his grandmother. This was interesting to read about because I never knew about all the traditions of death and death as a celebration. After someone dies, there are six days of mourning, twenty more days before three last days of mourning. Hasan's first experience of school was after his grandmother died when his Uncle decides he is ready. At school he meets his first friend Huran. Hasan's sister was also engaged to be wed to a bad man. We read about the hardships that come with arranged marriages as we see that there was little for Hasan's sister to do in her situation. After having to flee from Spain to Morocco when the Castilians take over, Hasan goes to Timbuktu with his uncle, where his uncle eventually gets sick and dies. Hasan falls in love with a girl named Hiba while working as a communicator and diplomat at the caravan, or mobile community. But Hasan does not marry Hiba and marries his cousin, whom his uncle wanted him to marry, and is expecting a daughter.

It was interesting to read about the concept of caravans. They were basically cities along the highway. I also would like to find out more about the celebrations after someone dies. I have always known that I would rather have a party than a funeral. I agree that life should be celebrated at death.