Speakers

Tuesday Gulnar Hussain joined us to talk about women in Islam. I thought she did an excellent job, and her presentation was thorough and informative. I loved that she tied her own experiences into the general information, and thought she did a great job of balancing the two. I found it especially interesting that unlike many other people I have heard or read about that chose to immigrate to the United States, Ms. Hussain came here expecting that she would return soon to live with her and her husband's family. In some ways it is quite a romantic story: She came to the US to be with her husband who was attending graduate school, and also fell in love with Kalamazoo. It was cool to here that even someone with from somewhere as incredible as Pakistan found our little city the perfect place to settle.

Ms. Hussain also talked about how she came to wear the hijab, and that it wasn't something she had always done, but found herself wanting to do after her studies of the Qur'an. In Arabic, the hijab is not just a head covering, but the entire modest dress of Islamic women, covering everything but the hands and face. When Ms. Hussain told us that her daughter had begun to wear the veil, I missed whether or not she said hijab. I wonder if she has begun wearing the hijab or just the veil. I also wanted to know what her reasons were when she said that if it were her choice, her daughter would have waited to start wearing the hijab/veil. Did she think she was just too young, or perhaps she should study Islam more before she does? I wish we would have had more time at the end of class to discuss this, as well as all the other questions I am sure many people would have asked.

I thought that this class session was quite informative and enjoyable. I only wish we would have had more time! The fact that we didn't even have time to really hear from both of our speakers or ask many questions was a bit frustrating. All-in-all, however, I think everyone learned a lot, and I am looking forward to our discussions tomorrow!

Oh! And don't forget to reserve your seats!!

http://www.islamfortoday.com/hijabcanada4.htm

Professor Mustafa Mirzeler

I thought that Prof. Mirzeler did an amazing job on Tuesday of explaining Turkey, honor killings, and the head scarf dilemma there. I loved seeing all of the images of Turkey that he put into the power point, and I was impressed that he put so much effort into it at the last minute to give us a great presentation. His passion for his country was impressive, and it was heartbreaking when he spoke about not wanting to go back because of the changes that have occurred there.

The part of his talk that I found most compelling- as did the rest of the class- was his discussion of the honor killings in Turkey. I found myself completely absorbed in his story of his family and the decision they had to make about his sister. It was terrible to listen to the pain he went through as the family tried to decide what to do. I kept wondering, how would his life be different if he would have had to go through with it? Would he have had to remain in Turkey? Faced punishment despite being ten years old? I can't imagine he would have achieved everything he has if he would have had to participate in the killing of his sister. It really made me think about the pressures a community can put on its members.

The thing that astounds me about honor killings is not that a family could kill one of its members- although it is heinous and incredible to think about-  but that the community could want such a thing to happen. Families will go to extreme measures to protect the ones they love, and if that means sacrificing a member to protect all the rest, maybe that is what has to happen. It is easy for us to say that they could just ignore it or leave, but for a family that has nothing but a few possessions and maybe a little bit of land, leaving may be impossible. That leaves the community to blame. If any family can be dishonored, can become a victim of a rape or divorce or anything, then why not stand up as a community and say we don't want this to happen anymore? That you don't want to kill your neighbor? Would other people in the community come after you and your family? Everything about this blows my mind!