Islam
The chapter on Islam has been the hardest for me so far to
understand. When I do hear the
word Islam I can’t help but think of the words 9/11, Osama bin Laden, and the
attack on the United States.
As I read further about “Women and Men in Early Islam” had
me a bit confused. There seemed to
be some controversial as to how women are treated. According to the debates with the Quran, did “it’s teaching
release women from earlier restriction, or did they impose new limitation” (p.
314)? As I continue reading, at a
spiritual level Quran stated explicitly that women and men were equals, but at
a social level Quran viewed women as subordinate, especially in marriage. According to our readings, Quran gave
women control over their own property and in the early Islam women played
public roles and were able to pray in mosques, and didn’t have to be veiled nor
did they have to be in secluded.
But lower-class women didn’t have the “luxury” of seclusion. So what does this really mean? If you were wealthy you were treated
better and if you were poor you weren’t?
Again, I don’t understand Islam at all.
MASAI
The Mongol Empire was way more exciting and interesting to
read and learn about. First the
Masai of East Africa had no large states or chiefdoms, nor did they have
pastoral or agriculture. Matter of
fact, they felt that felt that farming was seen as demeaning. They were seen as arrogant, aggressive
and lazy, and unwilling to do hard work such as cultivation. At an early time of their history, they
actually had raised sorghum and millet to later abandoning it sometime before
18th and 19th centuries. The Masai would interact with settled people and allowed
outsiders into their society. The
funny part that I thought were so called “two-faced” was that they called
hunters “poor people without cattle,” but yet, they had to depend on hunter and
farmers for animals skins, bows, and arrow, shield, and most of all honey,
which was used for ritual ceremonies. Since Masai had military success, they encourage farmers to
adopt elements of Masai, like their hairstyle, cattle terms, and name for High
God, long spear and practice of drinking cow’s mild before battle. It seems they also “adopted elements of
Masai military organization” (p. 341)
Breakout: The
Mongol Empire
I am not sure how I feel about these people. I read very good things about them and
then not so good things about them.
One thing I know is that they formed the greatest “land-based empire in
history their breakout from Mongolia in the 13th century” (p.
341). Their population was to my
surprised just around 700,000.
They had no major culture, nor did they have no new religion. More interesting is that they did not
try to spread their ancestor worship to others. Ruler even went to religious specialist, shaman to see if
they could foretell their future.
It be more interesting if there were more about what these shaman said
and if any of what was said came true.
The Mongol culture as of today is confined to Mongolia. Before Temujin (known as Chinggis Khan)
thought the Mongols were unstable tribes and clans always feuding. He was recognized as “universal
ruler.” He setbacks marked
outer limits of Mongol Empire, such as difficulty penetrating the tropical
jungles of Southeast Asia, he failed the invasion of Jan in 1274 and 1281 and
was defeated by Egyptians. By the
end of his life he says, “I have accomplished a great work uniting the whole
world in on empire” (p. 345). What
made all this work was it was very organized and discipline. Also the loyalty to his men made a big
difference too. Chinggis Khan
wrote “I eat the same food and am dress in the same rags as my humble herdsmen”
(p346). This was the first I have
heard a leader with step down at his herdsmen level and be at their side or in
front of the killing zone line.
No comments:
Post a Comment