Today has been interesting. Two different types of interesting, but interesting, nonetheless.
First, I got up this morning (didn't have water...again...as I think I may have mentioned in my last post) and went to a Qur'an study group. There are several ladies here who are American, but have made their lives here and all of them have converted to Islam. They are all quite nice women and it was interesting to see how much they knew about Islam and their perspective on it as native Westerners.
I was treated very well, they called me sister and were warm and welcoming. (Aside: I've used like eight Ws in that sentence. Geez.) I felt pretty comfortable during the study, mostly because I wasn't asked a whole lot of questions about what I thought. Which was fine with me because as much as I have a passion for religious study and as much as I have studied Islam, I am no expert and I'm in no way qualified to really talk about it in depth. Plus, they were studying the Qur'an text in Arabic. No, they weren't speaking Arabic during the study (unless it was to say scripture), but the study was of the Arabic text, the true text of the Qur'an.
They were talking about one particular ayah, verse, in sura four called "The Women," or in Arabic "Surat An-Nisa." Verse 34 of this sura talks about women and their husbands and how husbands should relate to their wives in time of strife. Pretty much. I'm not even going to get into the specifics because that verse is soooo full and has been examined over and over and still there is talk about it (in general in the Muslim community, the ummah). I got excited about this because I remember greatly discussing this verse in Professor Kaltner's classes and some of the same things we discussed there came up in today's study. Shoutout, Professor K!
After Qur'an study, I was invited to go with the ladies to a gathering they were having for a couple of the women who were finishing their studies at the University of Jordan. That's when the day got interesting. There was a small program and one of the ladies who was graduating told her story of her life and how she came to be a Muslim. Long story short, I felt extremely uncomfortable. I kept seeing eyes look at me every time the lady talked about her life leading up to her converting. (I will gladly discuss this matter more in depth with anyone offline as I do not think it would be appropriate to go into all of the detail here.) When I got home, I immediately felt more able to relate to how my Muslim brothers and sisters feel in the States and I feel a lot more compassionate to us all. And that is all I have to say about that.
Annnnnyway, the interesting-ness continues...I got back home and I had water! Yes!! I was so excited about that! I waited a while to get in the shower and all and when I went in, lo and behold, there was no water...AGAIN. I called my boss and she called my apartment building's manager. Needless to say my boss was NOT happy. I mean, neither was I, but she was even more upset. And when another of the girls who works here told me that I was the ONLY one in the building without water, my boss was even more mad. Like, exponentially more.I'm guessing that since I'm the only one affected by this water situation, the root of this problem is not Jordan's water shortage. Finally, two hours later, I have water again. Here's to hoping it stays on and I don't have this issue again. Like the aforementioned story, I will be more than happy to talk about this situation more fully...Offline. :)
Finally got a good shower in, so I'm going to relax a bit. Hopefully Arwa and I will go out into the city again and talk about plans for our birthdays since they are a day apart...and in four and five days, respectively! Until next time, salaam,
jMed
First, I got up this morning (didn't have water...again...as I think I may have mentioned in my last post) and went to a Qur'an study group. There are several ladies here who are American, but have made their lives here and all of them have converted to Islam. They are all quite nice women and it was interesting to see how much they knew about Islam and their perspective on it as native Westerners.
I was treated very well, they called me sister and were warm and welcoming. (Aside: I've used like eight Ws in that sentence. Geez.) I felt pretty comfortable during the study, mostly because I wasn't asked a whole lot of questions about what I thought. Which was fine with me because as much as I have a passion for religious study and as much as I have studied Islam, I am no expert and I'm in no way qualified to really talk about it in depth. Plus, they were studying the Qur'an text in Arabic. No, they weren't speaking Arabic during the study (unless it was to say scripture), but the study was of the Arabic text, the true text of the Qur'an.
They were talking about one particular ayah, verse, in sura four called "The Women," or in Arabic "Surat An-Nisa." Verse 34 of this sura talks about women and their husbands and how husbands should relate to their wives in time of strife. Pretty much. I'm not even going to get into the specifics because that verse is soooo full and has been examined over and over and still there is talk about it (in general in the Muslim community, the ummah). I got excited about this because I remember greatly discussing this verse in Professor Kaltner's classes and some of the same things we discussed there came up in today's study. Shoutout, Professor K!
After Qur'an study, I was invited to go with the ladies to a gathering they were having for a couple of the women who were finishing their studies at the University of Jordan. That's when the day got interesting. There was a small program and one of the ladies who was graduating told her story of her life and how she came to be a Muslim. Long story short, I felt extremely uncomfortable. I kept seeing eyes look at me every time the lady talked about her life leading up to her converting. (I will gladly discuss this matter more in depth with anyone offline as I do not think it would be appropriate to go into all of the detail here.) When I got home, I immediately felt more able to relate to how my Muslim brothers and sisters feel in the States and I feel a lot more compassionate to us all. And that is all I have to say about that.
Annnnnyway, the interesting-ness continues...I got back home and I had water! Yes!! I was so excited about that! I waited a while to get in the shower and all and when I went in, lo and behold, there was no water...AGAIN. I called my boss and she called my apartment building's manager. Needless to say my boss was NOT happy. I mean, neither was I, but she was even more upset. And when another of the girls who works here told me that I was the ONLY one in the building without water, my boss was even more mad. Like, exponentially more.I'm guessing that since I'm the only one affected by this water situation, the root of this problem is not Jordan's water shortage. Finally, two hours later, I have water again. Here's to hoping it stays on and I don't have this issue again. Like the aforementioned story, I will be more than happy to talk about this situation more fully...Offline. :)
Finally got a good shower in, so I'm going to relax a bit. Hopefully Arwa and I will go out into the city again and talk about plans for our birthdays since they are a day apart...and in four and five days, respectively! Until next time, salaam,
jMed
2 comments:
Will be very interested to hear more about this when you get back to LR in the fall. Hang in there, JMed.
Glad that you are enjoying the Qur'an study group but what type of questions do they ask you? Also I see you mention Verse 34 of this sura talks about women and their husbands and how husbands should relate to their wives in time of strife. Just as the Arabic work Islam means “submission,” to the will of God. It’s odd that you’re the ONLY one in the building without water.
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