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My evening walk was lit by the new crescent moon of the month of Ramadan. All over the world Muslims are fasting from food, water and other sins like lying and thinking badly of others. I was thinking about everyone everywhere who is going without, either because they must or because it will make them better. Blessed Ramadan!
Like years past, I have been collecting and sharing stories about Muslim people and culture this Ramadan month. This year, in keeping with my theme of Claiming My Super Powers and Calling My Allies, I focused on Muslim heroes. I found some really interesting stories about people from all over the Muslim world and throughout time who embody the ideals of being a hero - being the best they can be in service of others. I hope you are as inspired as I have been.
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No list of Muslim heroes can start anywhere except with the prophet Muhammad. Muslims will all agree that Muhammad is a hero because he is the seal of the prophets, the last voice of god on earth. Islam, no matter what fundamentalists may do in it's name, is a religion of equality, justice and compassion. Muhammad was very clear that his followers should treat women fairly in matters of inheritance and daily life and that a percentage of all wealth should go to the poor. He was revered, even in his early life, for his trustworthiness in business and gentleness with children. Ramadan mubarak!
A Timeline of the Prophet Muhammad by PBS
An American Sufi take on the Prophet Muhammad as a Hero
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"What ever I know, I owe solely to my assiduous reading of books of the ancients, to my desire to understand them and to appropriate this science; then I have added the observation and experience of my whole life." Abu al-Quasim al-Zahrawi was a physician who lived and worked in Al-Andalus, the medieval Islamic civilization in Spain. His encyclopedia of medical knowledge was the first to describe many surgical techniques including delicate procedures to remove tonsils, extract bladder stones, using catgut for stitches and techniques to reduce mortality rate during childbirth. The Latin translations of his work, usually with the name Albucasis, were influential well into the modern age. He blended thorough study of ancient texts with scientific observation of patients and a deep respect for human life to change the face of medicine in the Western world forever. He is one heck of a Muslim hero.
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"My aim is to show that those governments that violate the rights of people by invoking the name of Islam have been misusing Islam." In 1969 Shirin Ebadi became the first woman to become a judge in an Iranian court. She served as a judge in various courts in Tehran until the Islamic revolution in 1979 when she, along with all other women judges who had come after her, were made clerks in the courts they had previous presided over. She began writing about her opposition to these so called Islamic laws and when she regained her law license in 1992 she began representing disenfranchised women, children and other victims. Threats to her life sent her into exile but she continued working for human rights in Iran and in 2008 was awarded with a Nobel Peace Prize for her work. She has inspired growing human rights movements in Iran and continues to speak against the despotic government she says is using Islam against people. Ms. Ebadi's story shows me how even something we think of as monolithic like "Iran" has a past, a future and a diversity of ideas and values. She's a hero to me!
Dr Ebadi was once asked if she had a message for Muslim women. “Yes,” she replied. “Keep on fighting.”
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In late 2009 Fatma Iktasari and Shabnam Kazimi dressed up as men and snuck into Tehran's Azadi stadium to cheer on their national team as they played a World Cup qualifying match. In Iran, women may watch women play in all women audiences, but are not allowed to watch men play. The movie Offsides showed a fictionalized account of just such an act of political dissidence but I couldn't find any news of what actually happened to Fatma and Shabnam. I hope they are safe and cheering on Iran as they head to the Brazil for the world cup next summer.
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Can you name a world queen fought and vanquished many foes to protect her homeland's economic and trade interests? Who never married but ruled under her own power for decades? Built earthen fortifications that protected her people and are still in use today? Earned the honorific "A woman as capable as a man"? Became the inspiration for Xena Warrior Princess? The correct answer is Queen Amina, a 16th century leader of the Islamic Hausa people of Northern Nigeria. Legends are still told of her today and multiple universities bear her name. She is a national hero in modern Nigeria and kinda kick-ass all around.
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On July 20th, 1969 the crew of the Apollo 11 became the first humans to walk on the moon. When Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor was a 9 years old his father showed him a poster of Neil Armstrong to motivate the young Malaysian to literally reach for the stars. "He was a remarkable person who opened the pathway to space exploration" says the man who became the first Malaysian in space when he spent 11 days aboard the ISS in 2007. When people dismissed his dream of becoming an astronaut due to his nationality, he studied to become an orthopedic surgeon, knowing science was the key to space travel. While aboard the ISS he performed experiments on cancer cells, bacteria and lipid crystallization. Like so many astronauts, he saw the earth differently from space "Seeing how small and how tiny the Earth is from space made me realise that we are actually insignificant. There are millions and millions of galaxies out there, and it saddens me that people are killing each other and destroying the earth and killing the environment." He has spent the years since his spaceflight working to inspire young Asians to study science and space. "You must dream big, believe in yourself and be very vocal."
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"I think Afghanistan is not a jungle, with lions everywhere to scare people. There are human beings living in this country. The people of Afghanistan are braver than the rest of the world." There are brave people everywhere but Sosan Firooz is one of the bravest I've heard of. The 23 year old Afghani woman raps about her beloved homeland and the tragedies her people have faced in recent years. It is very frowned upon in Afghani culture for women to sing, especially in western clothes and sans headscarf as Sosan does in her YouTube video and her uncle has cut ties with the family. Her father, however, acts as her secretary and bodyguard whenever she leaves the house. Her ultimate goal? To help her family out of poverty and see her country get back on its feet. I wish I were half so brave! Sosan is a hero of mine
Watch the Upworthy video here!
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"It’s a good thing that we have people from all faiths and all cultures that come here. And we all support one Constitution, one Constitution that upholds our right to equal protection, one Constitution that guarantees us due process under the law, one Constitution which says that there is no religious test for elected office in America" said Keith Ellison when he became the first Muslim elected to the US Congress and made it clear that he would take his oath of office on a Koran rather than a Bible. In the years since he made that oath (on Jefferson's own Koran, no less) he has worked to protect the rights of Americans (staunchly pro-choice, active in credit reform legislation, support of American Muslims and environmental issues) and of people all over the world. He is one of the first congressmen to visit Gaza, has spoken openly against the war in Iraq and was arrested for publicly speaking out against the Sudanese government's actions in Darfur. Keith Ellison is an American Muslim hero who loves his country, works hard on progressive issues and believes in the values of tolerance and diversity.
Mr Ellison converted to Islam in college. "I can't claim that I was the most observant Catholic at the time [of my conversion]. I had begun to really look around and ask myself about the social circumstances of the country, issues of justice, issues of change. When I looked at my spiritual life, and I looked at what might inform social change, justice in society... I found Islam."
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It might be said that almost all violence is caused by a lack of love. Ameena Matthews saw this when she made her own reputation as a young gang member in Chicago, driven there by poverty and violence in her own family, and she sees it now as a Violence Interrupter working with Ceasefire, a non profit in those same Chicago neighborhoods. Every day she steps into violent conflicts, “I get in and I stop the transmission of violence from one person to another. May it be through conversation, may it be through taking that person out of the conflict, maybe off the block, going to get them something to eat, and then talk about the conflict. And how to address it in a different manner so it won’t result in a homicide, so it won’t result into some jail time, so it won’t result into an innocent mother, baby sister being shot or killed." In other words, she loves them. Matthews' faith is a cornerstone of her life, giving her the strength to go out on the streets and love the young people so in need, to love her own children and family and to love herself enough to do this painful and difficult work. Her love isn't a gooey, saccharine kind, but a tough, demanding, expecting kind of love and she is a hero of mine. And she totally told off Stephen Colbert... how heroic!
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Some Hafiz for your Saturday:
Out of a great need,
we are holding hands and climbing.
Not loving is letting go.
Listen,
the terrain around here
is far too dangerous
for that.
Hafiz is a 14th century Persian poet out of the Sufi tradition. His poems continue to be well known, memorized and recited throughout the world. Go, read more here.
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"I have decided that I am free, independent, self-reliant, and that no one can have control over my life and what I do. I am not going to allow anyone to bring me down or simply tell me that "I can't", because I can and I will, Just watch me! " says 23 year old Alaa Al-Eryani, a Yemeni who studied film and television in Malaysia before coming back to her home country to work with Save the Children. She is a staunch feminist who writes and works tirelessly to free herself and other women from societal norms that "teach us to not get harassed instead of teaching men not to harass us." She shines light on the plight of child brides, of women oppressed by their own expectations and the societal tragedy of failing to educate half the population. What makes Alaa a hero of mine is her positive spin on feminism and radical self determination. She insists that she will do what she wants, not that others should stop doing what they are doing. "I'm going to walk down the street and no matter how many men throw awful words at me, I won't care. I'm going to make my own decisions and choices without the permission of a man.... I am free, and I will fight for women's freedom until we are equal to men."
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Ramadan mubarak!
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Read more! Read all my Father's Moon posts from late summers past, and check out all my writings on Ramadan, too.
