Al Bayan - Spring 2008

bayanAL

SPRING 2008Northwestern UniversityMuslim-cultural Students AssociationFunded by the Student Activities Fee

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who deserves theMUSLIM VOTE?

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Letter from the Editors

Inside Islam

Interest-free banking?

COVER: Who will win the Muslim vote?

Somali refugees in Chicago

Muslim chic

Muslim love

Reel time Islam

The cultural aesthetic

Islam in the newsOur favorite things

Where is the moderate American Muslim voice?

The voice of the young, educated,thoughtful,open-minded and spiritual Muslim?

This question inspired us to revamp Al Bayan from a community newsletter to a campus-wide magazine and to give our voice a public position and the power to inform.

We are placing our beliefs and opinions into the public sphere so you can learn about our culture and traditions and see how they shape, and are shaped by, the modern world.

This issue marks the beginning of a quarterly magazine that will hopefully stimulate conversation about little known but fascinating topics, such as Islamic Finance or the more mainstream and nationally pertinent subject of the Muslim vote in the upcoming Presidential elections.

We hope you enjoy reading Al Bayan and that you are motivated to examine our perspective with a welcoming and unbiased eye, as we welcome you to our world.

Peace be upon you,

Saba Berhie and Sabrina SiddiquiMedill 2008

letter from the editors

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aamna anwersabahat adilakif irfansarah mummachris oustwanishiraaz rahmanmokaram raufsara suleimancassie witten

saba berhiesabrina siddiqui

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Food, fashion, spontaneous fun? There’s a lot you’re missing beyond the veil.An outsider’s guide to all those McSA events you thought were for members only. By Cassie Witten

INSIDEIn the fall they welcome us back to school with a pithy speaker always relevant to the current state of the world and during Islam Awareness Week (known to us insiders as IAW) they educate campus on all the modern issues of this century’s most controversial religion. These aside there are a host of more culturally and even spiritually centered events that can leave the average, curious but non-Muslim student feeling uninvited. Well all you terrified kids out there…you don’t know what you’re missing.

Let’s start with the fancy parties: Ramadan and Eid Dinners and Spring Brunch. Sound like a headscarves-only-no-plus-one-allowed event to you? Wrong you are!

Think instead exotic food you’ve never tried but shouldn’t go another day without, star-studded, dressed to kill threads, enough sequins to

blind the flashiest drag queen and pictures, pictures and more pictures! These dinners are centered around religious holidays, yes, but they are in no way exclusive and are instead eye opening looks into what turns out to be a universal activity: eating with as many friends as you can fit in one room. With entertainment ranging from speakers expounding upon the Prophet Muhammed’s teachings to local rappers performing on the trials of a day-long fast, anyone can find something to appreciate.

Even when they aren’t spending a night as Northwestern’s gliterrati, Muslims have the food thing down, so you need to make your first contact. The easiest entry point is an iftar. This daily occurrence during Ramadan – when Muslims break their fast – is your best shot. After respectfully waiting near the shoes and coats in the back for the evening prayer to finish, grab a plate and dig in. These guys haven’t had a bite to eat or drop to drink since dawn, and they get to gorge on Pita Inn, wouldn’t you be in the mood to make new friends? The spring bonfire and the talent show are also both similarly low-key events to test the Muslim waters. S’mores, funny skits and – if you’re very lucky – a smooth-moving Korean who already knows the rules of McSA crashing, are just a few of the things to expect.

Finally after you’ve made enough contact to earn your stripes as a proxy Muslim you will undoubtedly be invited to one or more of these non McSA sponsored but essential NU Muslim experiences: midnight birthday celebrations; mocktail parties; and maybe even a welcome-back-from-Hajj party (any excuse for a Bennison’s cake right?). These traditions take the place of Deuce nights, date parties and keggers for a Muslim, but for the well-rounded individuals we all strive to be, isn’t variety the spice of life?

There are a few caveats you should know about so you don’t expose yourself as a novice in Muslim crashing. They travel in packs. You think three’s a crowd? Try thirty. Always hit up the ATM - this crowd moves in style, so a night out will typically include dinner at Cheesecake Factory, P.F. Chang’s or Grand Lux Cafe and plenty of $$$. And finally, bank in extra time, desi (the colloquial term for Indians and Pakistanis) standard time rules the day and is as reliable as an atomic clock only set 45 minutes later than everyone said to meet, that and an occasional prayer pit stop. If you can keep these things in mind, need a little more glitter in your life and want to see what those events they DON’T quarter-sheet for are like, here is your guide. Try something new next year.

It’s not what you think! Her glass is filled with a Muslim-friendly mocktail. // Saba Berhie


With an estimated global market value of $400 billion, Islamic finance has enough capital to entice some of the biggest players in the banking world. Industry giants such as Citi (C) and HSBC (HBC) have already added products to their portfolios that align with the structure of Islamic financial models. But there are some questions that garnered interest and increased popularity do not answer, namely the meaning of Islamic finance as well as its impacts.

Much like its religious counterparts, Islam renders a government responsible to guarantee its citizens sustenance in the form of food, clothing, shelter, medical

care and education. Some believe that part of this mandate is to not take advantage of debtors through usury (interest over a lawful amount) or other means that would cause excessive hardship. It is this very restriction on usury, and the broader idea of limiting investment to ethical businesses, that forms the basis of modern Islamic finance.

But a financial system without any form of usury means running a bank without interest. To accommodate legal restrictions while catering to a modern, capitalist society, Islamic finance has developed a number of products based on equity and rent schemes, as listed below.

interest-free banking?An explanation of the Islamic method of finances without interest fees. By Akif Irfan

The expansion of Islamic finance is a culmination of a number of factors, certainly with the meteoric increase in oil prices at the forefront, as massive amounts of capital have accumulated in wealthy oil states that are predominantly Muslim. Another is the scrutiny and criticism of Middle Eastern investment in the West, encouraging many wealthy Arabs to invest locally rather than in unfriendly foreign markets.

But some industry pundits remain skeptical about Islamic finance. Critics worry that the prohibition against interest in Islam is open to interpretation, and that Islamic banking is simply interest by another name and seeks to benefit from people’s religious insecurities. Regardless, its growing market value means that where the battle of the banks for market share is concerned, Islamic banking will be a force to reckon with for years to come.

MudarabahA partnership in which a financier provides capital to an entrepre-neur. Any loss is borne by the financier, and any profit is shared between the partners in a pre-agreed ratio.

MusharakahA form of permanent equity investment in which the bank’s share is reimbursed over time. This is a popular loan for house mortgages and other fixed as-sets.

MurabahaA kind of credit which allows cus-tomers to acquire goods without taking out interest bearing loans. To make this possible, the bank buys an item and then sells it to the customer on a deferred basis.

Many banks worldwide now offer Islamic financial services, including CIMB bank in Malaysia. // flikr.com


who will win the muslim

vote?Peek into the minds of Muslim voters. By Chris Oustwani,

Shiraaz Rahman and Mokaram Rauf

The 2008 Presidential Election is one of the most highly contested presidential elections in American history. While John McCain has secured the Republican nomination, the Democratic nomination is anything but decided. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton remain locked in a competitive and bitter struggle for their party’s nomination, a fight Obama is projected to win.

But which box will the 2.5 million Muslim Americans check at the ballot box this fall?The Pew Research Center undertook the first nationwide random survey of Muslim Americans

and discovered that 63% associate themselves with the Democratic Party. But the decision made at the ballot box will be more complicated.

The American Muslim community consists of two major groups: immigrants and native born, a group that is mostly African-American. The interests of these two groups heavily overlap but in certain instances, like personal finances, Muslim immigrants tend to be more content and hopeful than the African-American bloc.

One of the most pressing issues at home, civil rights, has not been specifically addressed yet. The open violation of civil rights in airports, schools and workplaces has become a mundane sight for the Muslim community in the post-9/11 world and in many ways has isolated the community from the American mainstream. The opinions and attitudes of candidates towards this problem will be carefully monitored in the upcoming months.

It is important to remember that although Muslim Americans do share many of the same concerns, it would be incorrect to assume that this group’s beliefs are uniform regarding fiscal policy and social issues like abortion laws and gay rights. The beliefs for these issues are as diverse as the range of Muslim Americans in characteristics including ethnicity, socioeconomic status and personal interpretations of Islam.

But through our research, we hope to offer you a glimpse of some of the thoughts that may be racing through a Muslim’s head at the ballot box this fall.


“Muslims in America areextremely dissatisfied with the current President and Republican party and crave change.

Hillary R. ClintonClinton’s goal to promptly remove troops from Iraq

plays to her advantage with Muslim voters, however, her support of America’s aggressive involvement in Middle Eastern politics coupled with her bellicose threats to Iran are warning signs of an unpopular foreign policy in the eyes of most Muslims.

For the native born Muslim community, the main concerns Clinton and the other candidates will have to address are many of the same problems that the African American community at large faces across America: affordable health care and housing, inadequate schooling and unemployment. Clinton’s universal health care plan calls for insurance companies to take on a more active role by lowering premiums through market competition. Tax credits for eligible families are supposedly enough to cover the potential premiums associated with the different health plans available. This may be a feasible option but only if the American unemployment situation improves, and so far Clinton’s employment stimulation proposals seem inadequate.

Clinton can potentially strike the right chord with Muslims with her education reform program that includes establishing after-school programs, hiring qualified teachers, rewarding schools and teachers that excel and increasing university financial aid offerings.

- - -John McCain

The American Muslim’s dissatisfaction with the Bush presidency means hesitation about another Republican presidency; however, McCain’s record reveals his differences.

As a Vietnam War veteran McCain understands how war is fought and its accompanying horrors. He was one of the only leading politicians who spoke out against the atrocities at the Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq. Because of such failures in Iraq, McCain was one of the first politicians to call for the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld, former Secretary of Defense.

McCain’s willingness to compromise with political opponents can play to his advantage with Muslims. He has a history of working with Democrats, teaming up with Russ Feingold to craft a campaign finance reform bill, with Ted Kennedy to craft an immigration reform bill and with Joe Lieberman to craft a climate change bill.

McCain’s recent announcement to remove most troops from Iraq by 2013 will court Muslim voters, but he faces other challenges in his connections with Muslims. He has angered Muslim groups by refusing to stop referring to terrorists as “Islamic Extremists.” A quick Internet search will also reveal a video where he gleefully and insensitively parodies the Beach Boy song “Barbara Ann” by singing “Bomb Iran.”

McCain wants to offer refundable tax credits for people

to purchase private healthcare plans in lieu of a government mandated healthcare plan. This may be positive for those Muslims unimpressed by the Democrat’s more broad – and expensive – healthcare strategies or negative for those who believe in a nation’s obligation to insure all citizens.

- - -Barack Obama

Obama’s vision and embodiment of change strongly appeals to Muslim Americans dissatisfied with the status quo of government in this country and foreign policies towards Palestine, South Asia, and the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Barack Obama represents a departure from this in several ways: he is African-American, his father is a Muslim Kenyan, and he spent a portion of his childhood in Indonesia - the largest Muslim country in the world. It is

not surprising that Muslim Americans think he might be able to sympathize with many of their viewpoints and requests.

But he may not be as ideal as he seems at first glance on issues pertinent to Muslims. Firstly, Obama has given no indication that he will alter United States policy towards Israel. In fact, he has reiterated America’s steadfast

support of Israel in practically all of its actions, a position maintained by all three candidates. Secondly, Obama has attempted to counter claims of his inexperience, particularly in foreign policy matters, by asserting his strong resolve in a somewhat misplaced manner.

Obama’s humble beginnings as a community organizer in cities like Chicago and extensive experience in socioeconomically diverse communities are very attractive to Muslim voters. Partially as a result of these experiences, Obama has asserted himself as one of the most liberal members of the Senate, and there is no reason to believe his policy lines will change much if he is elected President.

Obama’s nonmandatory health care strategy includes a national plan that also attacks the costs of health care. This can attract Muslim voters interested in a less costly solution for the problem of millions of uninsured Americans.

- - -- - -- - -

One thing is certain through this complicated picture: Muslims in America are extremely dissatisfied with the current President and Republican Party and crave change. The candidate that is best able to recognize that the belligerent and domineering attitude cultivated by the American government is a step in the wrong direction for our nation will increase his or her chances of winning the presidency and improve America’s image at home and standing on the international stage.


Safia Mire anxiously waited for night when she lived in Mogadishu. Darkness was a cloak of safety. It was only then that the bone shattering shelling and gunfire would cease for the day. Mire lived by the warlord workday: dawn to dusk.

Mire is ruled by a more conventional workday in Chicago. She pulls out the stone propping open the door of her Albany Park Store, Tawakal Imports, and drives home to her family.

Mire’s smooth coffee colored skin is only faintly lined. It doesn’t tell the tale of a widow who has lived through a war, four children and the cultural bungee jump she took 11 years ago when she sought refugee status in America. She wears a black hijab, an Islamic head covering, that cups her head and drapes to her knees.

The hijab, dotted with silver studs down her chest symbolizes her Somali and Muslim heritage and when she realized I too was Somali and Muslim she urged me to wear a hijab.

Mire gestured to my hair, “my own daughter, Hibo, doesn’t cover but you must to be identified as a Muslim.”

Mire came to America after a sister already living in Chicago sponsored their mother. Her mother was then able to sponsor a pregnant Mire and her three young children. She lived in Somalia after the dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted by warlord Mohamed Aidid. The world watched this dire situation through our televisions while Mire looked through her front door.

Only friends and customers peek through the door of her store. An

Arab woman in a hijab walks in and Mire exchanges greetings with her, “Assalamu Alaikum.” The woman orders three jilbabs, long loose dresses that Mire sells for $45 each.

The store is tightly packed with traditional Islamic clothes and accessories. Tasbeeh beads in blue and orange, the Muslim counterpart of the rosary, hangs against a wall next to Pashmina scarves. Small bottles of musky perfume are lined up on the counter. A display of dangly earrings with cowry shell detail entices the impulse buyer with the sign “five dollars only!”

Mire also sells the popular children’s tennis shoes that convert to roller skates. A young Caucasian man in an Abercrombie t-shirt walked in to pick up a pair.

somali refugees in chicagoSomalia’s raging conflicts over the past 16 years have displaced over 1 million people. Some of those

people, like Safia Mire, standing among colorful abayas in her Albany Park shop, have found a home in Chicago. By Saba Berhie

The mish-mash of traditional and American goods in Mire’s store is like her own family. She has nostalgic memories of pre-war Somalia while her kids say, “I’m American, I don’t want to go back.”

Mire said, “they see Somalis on TV and say ‘they’re starving, I don’t want to go back’”

Mire’s support system in Chicago was World Relief, one of five refugee resettlement organizations in the city. “They brought us beds, blankets, took us to the Social Security office and to the doctor,” Mire said.

People like Mohammed Abdurahman helped Mire and her family find English as a Second Language (ESL) classes and a safety net. Abdurahman works for another resettlement agency, Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Ministries and was a Somali refugee himself. He has a PhD in soil chemistry but doesn’t work with semi-arid agriculture anymore. He uses his degree to help refugees with health problems or Somali descent put down new roots in Chicago.

The Chicago Interfaith office is down the road from The Aragon Ballroom, a Chicago concert hall. I’ve been to the Aragon for a Death Cab for Cutie concert and never knew that less than a block away there was a man who lived on the same block as my own mother in Mogadishu.

The office is on the fourth floor of building that houses a Starbucks and Bridgeview Bank. The suite has a central receptionist desk with a creeping vine that curls up to the ceiling. There are many offices jutting off the entry. A poster in the entry has a woman in a red hijab with the slogan “A New Home, A New Life” next to her smiling face.

The receptionist pages Abdurahman and I hear his raspy voice through the thin walls. He comes out to meet me and we sit in his office. He wears a multi-colored embroidered kufi and a collared shirt with jeans.

We talked about our families in the way two people from the same country converse, trading facts and tidbits. He has two sons who are interested in physics and math. He realized he knew my family.

“Your mother is Asli?” Abdurahman said, “I know your uncle Mohammad! I taught him in Somalia.”

He told me I looked like I was from the Abdisalaam family, something that made me glow. I always thought I looked too ethnically ambiguous.

We both repeated that this world

was too small, who would have thought Asli’s daughter would find his contact online and interview him. We continued with the interview, but now we were connected through ties 30 years old.

Abdurahman explained the convoluted process of being a refugee.

There are two types of refugees: economic and political. Economic refugees flee their country for a better life while political refugees flee because they’re persecuted for their race, status or gender and are under the protection of the United Nations.

The next step is to find a durable solution for the refugee. Voluntary repatriation is the most likely scenario. “For example, northern Somalia is relatively peaceful so a lot of people from that part of the country voluntarily go back.” Abdurahman said. “(However) if a woman has been raped and says ‘My country’s peaceful but the guys who raped me are still living in the same neighborhood’ she won’t be repatriated.”

If repatriation isn’t an option, local integration is the next step. “Refugees flee Somalia, go to Ethiopia, Kenya or Djibouti. But these are small poor countries. How can they keep them and feed them if they can’t feed their own children?” Abdurahman said.

Refugees are also distributed like pollen spores, traveling across oceans and land for resettlement in a third country. “Countries that are really taking people by planeloads are usually Canada or the United States.”

After 9/11, however, this process became much more stringent and the wait to enter America ranges from five-to-fifteen years. “People linger and sit in a refugee camp for that long even if they have a relative here,” Abdurahman said. 400,000 refugees a year came to America before 9/11. Now the figure is close to 70,000.

Abdurahman stressed that if you have no relatives in a particular country then your placement is arbitrary. There are resettlement groups called Voluntary Agencies or VOLAGs that work in conjunction with different state departments to place refugees around the country.

These cases are connected with a resettlement agency that takes care of rent for the first few months, food and basic support. Interfaith caseworkers and volunteers take them to mandatory medical testing, place them in English classes, and sign up their children in schools.

“Refugees are very resilient, they are very good at learning things. We show them (around) for the first month or so, that’s the hardest part.” Abdurahman said.

Refugees don’t lounge as wards of the state. A refugee has to be placed in a job within four months. Steady employers of refugees include hospitals, parking complexes and downtown hotels.

Most of the Somalis in Chicago are single male cabdrivers with families in other states, Abdurahman said. There are about 300 Somali refugees here but the number changes quickly. A lot of them move within a year to places like Minnesota, the most popular state for Somalis, where rent is cheaper and a more dynamic Somali community exists.

Abdurahman told me about a man in Wilmette who donated his house when a group of 15 refugees were coming. The rent for his home in this affluent neighborhood was about $3,000 per month and he gave Interfaith free reign over his house for four months, donating approximately $13,000 for rent and utilities. Five area churches came together and helped furnish the house in one day.

“I will challenge any person and ask them to learn Somali or Amharic within three months and get a job. That’s what the refugees do.” Abdurahman said.


“There are two types of refugees: economic and political.

Mire waits on customers in her shop. // Saba Berhie

MUS

LIM

chic

Fashionistas live for the thrill of watching gorgeous Hollywood celebrities walk down the red carpet before an award show in their stunning and often revealing designer gowns. But as of late, celebrities like Jennifer Lopez, formerly infamous for her scandalous green Versace dress, have discovered the hijab. Now, don’t jump to conclusions just yet. J-Lo did not convert to Islam. But she did rock a tightly wrapped glittery, silver designer headscarf to match her mid-thigh length, silver Biba dress at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards. These turbans, as they are called in the fashion industry, have popped up all over Hollywood. Eva Mendes, Katie Holmes and even Prince have all been spotted in these Eastern-inspired trends, sold for around $700 by high-end designers like Prada and Ralph Lauren. Granted these celebrities’ ensembles don’t exactly embody the way Muslim women traditionally wear hijab, but since when has veiling those long, flowing locks been a popular style on the runway and city streets? A closer look at popular Western trends at Northwestern University reveals an often overlooked, yet undeniable Muslim, Middle Eastern and South Asian influence on the world of fashion.

Fashion fusion: The influence of Middle Eastern and South Asian culture on international trends. By Sara Suleiman


Believe it or not, those black and white checkered scarves warming the necks and faces of dozens of students on campus come from a much farther place than the local Urban Outfitters clothing store. Traditionally called kaffiyehs, this politically-infused fashion statement hails from Palestine, simultaneously representing both the support of the Palestinian solidarity movement and a posh protection from the winter cold.

Weinberg sophomore Anisa Rahman bought her kaffiyeh from a Palestinian store in New York and has worn it since the beginning of the school year. Although she loves the look of the scarf, she thinks the symbolism behind the threads is what matters most.

“I wear [the kaffiyeh] in support of the Palestinian cause and try to get across its politically charged meaning,” Rahman said.

McCormick junior Mohanned El-Natour’s scarf was passed down from his father. Ever since he pulled it out for the Unity Fashion Show back in January, El-Natour has been notorious for sporting a kaffiyeh that covers nearly half of his face. He owns both a black and red scarf and explains that color variations typically indicate different regions in the Middle East. Like Rahman, El-Natour likes the political aspect of the style.

“People in my dorm have noticed [the kaffiyeh] and have asked me, ‘Doesn’t that mean you’re pro-Palestinian?’” he said. “I don’t think they treat me differently or anything based off of it, but it just lets them know where I stand.”

Mohanned El-Natour’s kaffiyeh is swirled around his neck as he lounges in front of Deering Library. // Saba Berhie

Bangles are another trend that has been clamoring for attention in the fashion world and against classroom desks. Usually worn in large numbers, these ring-shaped bracelets, ranging from thin to wide and from gold to silver, are typically worn by women in India. But lately stores like Bebe and Arden B. have adopted this South Asian style.

Beyoncé and Drew Barrymore, who wear some of the most glamorous accessories in the world, have been seen stacking their bangles all up their forearms. But these trends are not exclusive to Hollywood.

Weinberg freshman Huda Almanaseer loves her medium-width, silver bangles, despite their “annoying sound when they clank together.” She bought them over her winter break at a small jewelry store in Florida for around $30.

“There are so many styles that originate from that part of the world, and we don’t really ever notice,” Almanaseer said. “When I first got these [bangles], I was really just thinking more along the lines of how cute they look.”

Huda Almanaseer rocks a gold embroidered chiffon scarf and rearranges her sparkly silver bangles. // Saba Berhie

For many young Muslim women, keeping up with the latest fashion frenzy while still fulfilling traditional Islamic obligations can be a difficult, yet fundamentally important task, especially for those wearing hijab. It is possible, however, to responsibly reconcile the East and West. At least that is what hijabis like McSA Co-President Dana Shabeeb believe.

Shabeeb exemplifies this convergence not only through her kaffiyyeh hung up on her dorm room wall or her bangles resting beside a High School Musical key chain, but also through her affinity for designer headscarves. She owns over a hundred hijabs in a wide variety of colors and brand names to help her coordinate a classy outfit. Her favorite is a black and beige signature Coach scarf.

“I really think that with a little effort, Muslims can maintain our religion while still looking cute, and likewise,” Shabeeb said, “the West can learn from our styles, too.”


modern love


A silent gaze after the weekly gen-eral body meeting, in the dusky Nor-ris Big Ten Room, can carry an entire conversation between blinks. The pings of incoming text messages are covertly returned under classroom tables and on Sheridan Road. Flir-tatious conversations online, time stamped at four in the morning, segue a friendship into the grey zone with inside jokes and affectionate names. A group of friends get together at their apartment to watch The Office, and two may couple off on the couch, holding hands under a blanket.

Although many scholars believe Islam disallows pre-marital romance, we view these surreptitious gestures as the markings of a young genera-tion redefining the notion of romance in Islam and breeding new-age Mus-lim courtships.

The college-age Muslim American has grown up in an era of extreme divorce rates and encouragement of romantic relationships and casual ex-perimentation. These cultural norms do color, to different degrees, the way young Muslims may view love or rela-tionships. A complete rejection of the Western system of dating is possible, but a new standard is more likely to emerge: a mish-mash of values from both of the ideologies that shape the young Muslim American.

The reality of young love and at-traction varies from the literalist and authentic Islamic paradigms, in which love is seen as a seed that can grow after a couple has gauged compatibil-ity and gained family approval.

The route for some is Islamic “dat-ing,” a courtship with marriage as the only intention. With phone con-versations and chaperoned outings

at the park, mutual respect can blos-som into admiration and then love for these couples.

Preemptive measures to avoid a contradiction to Islamic teachings in-clude separation of the sexes, official-ly at the weekly McSA general body meetings, and the push for marriage at an early age to control the desire for sexual and emotional companion-ship.

Unofficially, the young Muslim sets a personal standard and decides whether he or she is comfortable with bowling nights in a mixed gender group or dinner dates at Cozy Noodle, knees knocking under the table. For some, there is no doubt that it is prop-er to uphold Islamic teachings of love and courtship. Unexpected emotions and attraction are either consciously avoided or dealt within the frame-work of a potential marriage.

For many of us, however, these decisions are not so simple. In order to consider marriage, love is an es-sential ingredient. And in order for this feeling to develop, a foundation between two people must be created before the ultimate commitment can even be entertained.

So we choose to create our own line.

At the library studying organic chemistry with a young man whose smile and dark brooding eyes you just can’t stop thinking about. Or buying coffee at Café Ambrosia for a young woman whose sense of humor, even while painting the rock in zero degree weather for Islam Awareness Week, never wilts.

And we hope, that he or she may be the one.

We share our opinion of the culture of romance for the Muslim college student. By Saba Berhie

and Sabrina Siddiqui

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reel time islamAs Hollywood churns out a growing number of films based on conflict in the Middle East, the cinematic

portrayal of Muslims seems increasingly black and white. By Sabrina SiddiquiA large group of young men sit in an underground location in Northern Africa and listen in silence as a tall, bearded lecturer educates them on their religious duty: to unite and rebel against the forces that suppress them and to eliminate any individuals who may impede their progress in spreading the decree of their faith. His sermon is met with shouts of takbeer, loosely subtitled as a form of praise to Allah.

The young men are suicide bombers, the lecturer is their leader, and the scene is from the 2007 film Rendition, a well-made yet puzzling film that tackles the subject of suicide terrorism and juxtaposes it with the United States government’s practice of racial profiling and detainment of many suspected terrorists who have no wrongdoings other than having the wrong name at the wrong time. The film follows the plight of Anwar El-Ibrahimi (Omar Metwally), a businessman of Egyptian heritage, mistakenly held and tortured by the CIA for alleged involvement in terrorist activities.

On one hand, Rendition is as timely as any subject pertaining to terrorism, criticized foreign policy and what the last seven years have turned into the most controversial religion in the world. But it is simultaneously a quintessentially Hollywood depiction of right versus wrong, a film that – despite its noble intentions – can at best be grouped into the film industry’s revived fascination with Islam and the Middle East.

‘Revived fascination’ is used because Hollywood actually discovered the Arab terrorist in the late 80s and early 90s. If a group of drunken Arab kidnappers were out to trigger a nuclear explosion in the 1988 film Frantic, then the 1992 adaptation of Tom Clancy’s novel Patriot Games depicted its terrorists

U.S. authorities detain suspected terrorist Anwar El-Ibrahimi (Omar Metwally) in the 2007 thriller Rendition. // Courtesy of New Line Cinema


as a motley crew of Arab descent. In James Cameron’s pre-Titanic days he directed True Lies (1994), where Arnold Schwarzenegger played a secret agent on a mission to take on a Palestinian terrorist fraction named Crimson Jihad.

Hollywood alone cannot be held accountable for plastering politically relevant issues onto the big screen, however, what stands out is the spate of Middle Eastern-crazed releases in the years since 9/11: The Sum of All Fears (2002); Syriana (2005); Babel and United 93 (2006); and The Kingdom, The Kite Runner, Lions for Lambs and Rendition (2007).

Although not all of the films offer a one-note portrayal of Islam and the Middle East, nor are they all focused solely on the conflict with terrorism, the films are a shining example of Hollywood’s obsession with cashing in on sensitive themes that perhaps do more damage than they do tell a story. Even when they do offer more

neutrality and less propaganda, the films ultimately succeed in instilling a constant sense of fear.

Which begs one, simple question: Are the subjects of these films truly necessary? Indeed there are suicide bombers. Lots of them, spanning a number of nationalities and faiths. Many believe they are fulfilling a greater, religious duty. But it is also true that terrorism is an act of people, not religious law. And somehow this message does not come across clearly enough in Hollywood’s on-the-surface interpretation of the American/Middle Eastern dynamic.

Because as Rendition closes and innocent, El-Ibrahimi returns to his suburban home where his wife and child eagerly await, what does the average audience member really take away? The plight of those misunderstood individuals locked away in Guantanamo Bay, or the daunting, bearded man teaching a group of young boys to kill.

The Islamic tradition has always regarded writing and the forms text can create with the highest esteem. The primary reason for this pertains to the importance of the Qur’an among Muslims, as well as the language in which it was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in Arabia in the seventh-century. Reverence for God and the beauty He created were prized in Islamic art.

Repetitive, geometric patterning, popular in many forms of Islamic art, was modeled off of organic, flowing forms seen in nature, and in many cases was thought to be


the cultural aestheticA beginner’s guide to Islamic calligraphy. By Sabahat Adil

Muhammad ‘Izzat al-Karkuki’s composition takes the shape of a boat as it floats on the surface of the page. // Courtesy of the Dar El Fenn Arab Art Dictionary

imbued with God’s divine creative force without straying into the dangerous world of Christian iconography.

Artists sought to physically beautify the words of God, thus many early pieces of Islamic calligraphy focused on verses from the Qur’an, elaborately creating the name of God. There are a number of chapters in the Qur’an that begin with a series of indecipherable letters, such as Ya-Sin. This constant, humbling reminder that God alone is omniscient is echoed in the ornate twists and turns of the calligraphy used to depict these same letters, still veiled in mystery.


“In contrast to the way militant zealotries of other religions have been perceived, there is a broad conviction, especially among many

conservative American Christians, that the inner logic of Islam and fascism go together.”

“Mr. Wilders [Geert Wilders, member of Dutch Parliament] says he detests Islam but not Muslims. ‘I believe the Islamic ideology is a

retarded, dangerous one, but I make a distinction,’ he said. ‘I don’t hate people. I don’t hate Muslims.’

“Kill, fight, shoot - This is a misinterpretation of Islam.”’ >

>“The grave predicament we face in the Islamic world is the virtual lack of approved, theologically rigorous interpretations of Islam that clearly challenge the abusive aspects of Shariah.” >

>

“Just as Americans frequently change jobs, leave marriages, and switch religious affiliations, American Muslim women choose to love, and sometimes leave, the head scarf.” > slate.com

“While these informal meetings happen, the concept of dating for fun simply does not exist in Islam. Any potential match is judged,

pursued, or abandoned based on marriage potential.”>christiansciencemonitor

the new york times

the boston globe

the wall street

journal

the new york times

OUR FAVORITE THINGS The editors dish about why they get up in the morning

Asma likes the Wave Swinger

at Navy Pier, Conan O’Brien

and Matt’s Cookies.

Saba likes the band she & him, sparkling mojiteas at

Argo Tea, short stories by Hari Kunzru and gray nailpolish.

Amina likes pandas, sour candy and winning the

war of wits.

Sabrina likes iced

cappucinos, 4-inch heels and

picking up languages and

handbags from her travels.

Faces of McSA

We would like to thank:Buffet Center for InternatIonal and ComparatIve StudIeS • muSlIm-Cultural StudentS aSSoCIatIon •

mcSa alumnI/SenIorS • medIll SChool of JournalISm • mIddle eaStern StudIeS •

multICultural Student affaIrS

Documents

Al Bayan - Spring 2008