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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Concerns Rise as More Study Islam Abroad |
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| Abd_al-Rashid |
| 10/25/02 at 01:11:36 |
| [slm] This post is inspired by the following NPR [url=http://search.npr.org/cf/cmn/segment_display.cfm?segID=151732]report[/url] "NPR's Libby Lewis reports on the growing number of young American Muslims who travel abroad to study Islam. Some experts fear that the Islamic militants will try to recruit these American students for terrorism. But Muslim scholars say the motive of the students is pure and until more Islamic schools are offered in the United States, more American converts will continue to travel abroad to increase their Islamic knowledge." I'm interested in going to Yemen, and already some brothers have told me "be careful, that's where John Walker went" and I'm like ;-) Seriously, my purpose is to increase my knowledge of Islam and Arabic, and I would like to be in an environment where adhaan is heard, salaat is established, and sunnah is followed. I'm not going there expecting to find the Islamic state, Yemen just like any other Muslim country has its sects and problems. Sister Jannah and others who have studied abroad, what is your take? [wlm] |
| Re: Concerns Rise as More Study Islam Abroad |
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| jannah |
| 10/25/02 at 03:18:40 |
| [wlm] hmm I don't get it.. we're terrorists here, we're terrorists there.. If we convert to Islam we're terrorists, if we go to school abroad we're terrorists...ergo if we are in any way shape or form muslims who have anything to do with islam, we're terrorists. --------- Anyways about studying abroad.. It is a life-defining experience. It is an amazing experience. You will never be the same after. You will meet some of the best Muslims on the face of the earth. You will have that feeling of living Islam, of being able to walk to the masjid for fajr and seeing other ppl doing the same, being stuck in a traffic jam with a million other people trying to go home in time for iftar, of feeling normal wearing hijab, not being afraid to pick up someone's kid and give them a kiss.... That's the good side, but what I tell people here who are interested is that it isn't an easy experience. You're living in a third world country. It's nothing like living in the US. You have to deal with the frustration of inefficiency, corruption, bureacracy. Most likely under a dictatorship. Everyone gets sick. Some get hospitalized or have to go to doctors in a FOREIGN country. The power goes out all the time, there is a water shortage, you have to collect your water at certain times. It takes careful planning to fit in a shower (takes a couple hours to warm up and if u live with other ppl it's a game of strategy and timing). It also isn't easy living without technology, and without your family and friends. AND it should only be undertaken by serious serious students of knowledge. Because it will be a bad experience for you if you don't really really want it. Now the majority of ppl asking me about going away just want to do something Islamic.. to get more into their deen and stuff. In that case, I suggest they go Umrah or Hajj. Go to Aalim. Join a halaqa regularly. Study some books. Listen to a tape set. Don't go abroad to study right now until you really know that is your goal. And for beginners or new converts I wouldn't suggest it either, because there are very few English medium halaqas or places for Islamic knowledge in English and it takes about a year to learn Arabic well enough to be able to understand classes all in Arabic. And to study fiqh and stuff in Arabic for real it takes minimum of 2+ years. So when you get there all you do is Arabic.. with maybe some tajweed with tutors. Or you go to a staterun Islamic school which teaches foreigners Islam and Arabic, and you are taught 'one type of islam' whatever the state has mandated as the authorized curriculum. Many of the scholars over there tell people unless you're staying in Syria for 2-6 years -- leave because you're more needed here. Now I know all that sounds really discouraging to some ppl, and who knows.. maybe someone who just decides to up and go one day will gain benefit just from living in a Muslim country for a little while. But I just want people to think about it hard. I honestly believe that you can learn Arabic in this country if you have the drive, dedication and discipline. You don't need to go to a foreign country. And going for a summer and stuff is like a nice experience, picking up some Arabic phrases and words is nice too, but in the long run how will it help the ummah? How will it help YOU? I've seen people there who are like 'on vacation' or something, 'a break' and then they go back to their life when they go home. I honestly don't know if it helped them Islamically. On a personal note I went for a very short period of time and I regret not really getting the benefit out of staying there a longer time. But it has given me a taste of what it is like to understand Arabic.. a tease so that I keep pushing myself now and have that as a realistic goal. Would I go back. Definitely, but not for a summer unless I thought of it as a vacation. It would be for a year or more. And we really need those kind of people who go abroad for years and become scholars and come back and teach. There is no comparison to the Islamic knowledge you can learn there to what is offered here. So if you can dedicate yourself, make going abroad part of your plan for Islamic education, go. Ah and as for the NPR report, do people get recruited for terrorism while they're abroad? It never happenned to me or friends or anyone we knew of, so I don't know. In those countries you're very careful not to appear "too Islamic" either, because of what happens to "too Islamic" people. You also are under watch from the local gov't and spies to make sure you're not a terrorist or spy or something else. Kind of ironic huh. I think what the US gov't is really afraid of, is that students will go abroad and get a different view of the world and most likely sympathize and learn the views of the majority of ppl living in those Islamic countries, who for the most part have extreme dislike and animosity for the US and its policies (with good reason.) Hope this too long wandering post helps :) At least maybe start up a discussion? I think KZA and some other ppl on the board have also gone abroad? |
| Re: Concerns Rise as More Study Islam Abroad |
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| UmmZaid |
| 10/28/02 at 12:40:15 |
| [slm] I second everything Jannah said... One thing I tell women who want to make hijra (for study or life) is that yes, you have to bring your Islam with you, but don't keep it locked up. It is true that you have to be realistic about un Islamic cultural practices, crime, etc., but there are a LOT of muhajirs (speaking from personal observation) who come over here with the idea that they are *so* much more Islamic than the people, that *they* alone have the true Sunnah, and the people are just innovators who aren't worthy of the true Islam. Sort of looking down on the native people, and I've seen them treat / talk to / talk about native citizens in a way unbecoming of a true Muslim. IME, these people miss out on a lot. As for the NPR report... well, it's amusing how there are reports now linking every major convert ethnic group to some type of terrorism, and then this is linked to people going abroad. How many Americans and other western Muslims come to study in Yemen? Hundreds, perhaps. How many make it into the news? One? This is the same with Malaysia, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Syria, and Pakistan. It's my experience, and my observation, that Americans and other Westerners who come over here to study stay far, far away from politics. For one thing, it can land you in hot water with the host country, and most people who sacrifice what you sacrifice to come here don't want to risk it with activities that may cause them to be deported. For another, serious study takes serious time. |
| Re: Concerns Rise as More Study Islam Abroad |
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| Abd_al-Rashid |
| 10/29/02 at 01:01:15 |
| [slm] Alhamdulilah may Allah reward the sisters for their excellent replies. I will make istikhara for this, but it's ok I grew up in a third world country too ;) We would have to fill buckets with water so when the water went out we could shower. And crime, got robbed at gunpoint twice. So the sacrifice is not really an issue. I look it more in the sense of wanting to be among believers. Like when I went to the MSA conf. in Philly I was like I'm gonna move out here. As we were driving through the city all I saw was halal shops and brothers in thobe and the brother driving is telling me there's like 40 masajid there. I was taking arabic before but the dunya got a hold and I haven't gone back. Right now I could have a 4th grade conversation (how are you, whats ur name where u from hows everything etc) and my goal is to be fully fluent. But it's like english when I was in Venezuela they teach english in school but u don't really learn it, then I came here and learned it in 6 months. [wlm] |
| Re: Concerns Rise as More Study Islam Abroad |
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| jannah |
| 10/29/02 at 01:24:12 |
| [quote]We would have to fill buckets with water so when the water went out we could shower. [/quote] Bro.. for a time we were filling up 2 liter bebzi bottles with water and using them to take showers!!! May Allah make your path easier inshaAllah! Let me know and i'll send you details of contacts and stuff! [wlm] |
| Re: Concerns Rise as More Study Islam Abroad |
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| ibnasabil |
| 11/04/02 at 02:57:07 |
| Bismillah 'ir Rahman 'ir Rahim. [slm] [quote author=UmmZaid link=board=madrasa;num=1035522696;start=0#2 date=10/28/02 at 12:40:15] [slm] there are a LOT of muhajirs (speaking from personal observation) who come over here with the idea that they are *so* much more Islamic than the people, that *they* alone have the true Sunnah, and the people are just innovators who aren't worthy of the true Islam. Sort of looking down on the native people, and I've seen them treat / talk to / talk about native citizens in a way unbecoming of a true Muslim. IME, these people miss out on a lot. [/quote] I noticed this unfortunate flaw in my own myself when I worked overseas for a year recently. I was quick to question practices in the new environment that struck me as unIslamic so that I would not have anything to do with them. Sadly, I found it difficult to avoid these not having come to study Arabic and not being able to approach my circumstances with the critical distance that would have been the filter of an Arabic speaker. Unfortunately, I didn't have anybody around who really knew me and could put me straight on the matter, and give me much needed perspectival adjustment, i.e are you kidding, these people grew up speaking Arabic; these people have been walking to the Haram since they learned how to walk, and so on. I wonder what could be the cause of such an obviously flawed viewpoint. Could it be one's self compensating for the lack of friends and moral/emotional support in the new environment, and the fact that much had to be overcome and left behind in order to arrive? How can it be avoided? One thing that I would add to this discussion for the brother's sake would be the following: Whatever the purpose of your travel, purify your intention before embarking, and be focussed about your purpose. For example, I went to an Arab country for a year hoping for many of the elements of a Muslim environment that you mention, and these are to be appreciated for sure; however, I didn't learn any Arabic because my intention was not pure and focussed enough. Consequently, I became wrapped up in my job. As Umm Zaid says, serious study takes serious time, so make sure that you give yourself that time. Ideally, your intention for travel should be exclusively for study so that there is nothing in your intention to corrupt your purpose insha Allah. In any case, it's obviously a good idea to talk with a scholar of the subject that you wish to study beforehand so you can get a more learned perspective and to have a reliable contact in the target environment, preferably one who can help guide you in the field of your choice. Allah knows best. |
| 11/04/02 at 03:00:49 |
| ibnasabil |
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