the end

I suppose I’ll add my “last post” along with the rest. This class wasn’t really what I expected, but it was a happy difference. It’s cheesy to say, but I do honestly feel that I’ve grown from this class. It has taught me how to view the world in a different way and has in many ways strengthened my spirituality. I’ve never considered myself to be a religious person, but I’ve always been very spiritual and this class helped to let that grow. As a brief commentary on our last class, I really did enjoy “Sent of a Woman” and I loved the message of the two contrasting character’s strong versus weak inner and outer shells. The final speech in the movie made by the colonel also made me think. It seems logical that for an ordered society to exist, we have to know who breaks the rules so that they can be appropriately punished, and the crime prevented. But when you consider the colonel’s argument, it makes sense that in such a circumstance, Charlie was the better man than George because he had integrity and was more brave, even though he broke the rules.

The Final Curtain Closes

I too felt the need to give one more post. Up until now, I have had to say that I hadn’t really had a class that I enjoyed my first semester at Elmhurst. This class and this teacher have definitely been a favorite so far (with the exception of or perhaps despite the fact that it started at 8 am). Not only did we watch some great (and disturbing) cinematic moments, we were able to connect everything to the Sufi perspective. The workload was never too overwhelming, hard sometimes to concentrate and just FINISH THAT DARN PAPER, but never more than could be handled. I think the class was just the right amount of lecture vs. discussion. I will be sad to be done with this class once school really starts. I say really, because with the exception of the papers, this class was learning without the stigma that is attached with school. I definitely learned some new perspectives of Islam that I hadn’t before, despite some world religion courses. Have fun at Columbia, Omer.

Final Post

The last day of class was definitely a little sad, but I feel it wrapped up the semester nicely.  I really enjoyed listening to the Qur’an in class.  Even though I did not know what the speakers were saying, it was a very calming experience and I could hear the devotion in the speakers’ voices.  I also liked the discussion on the concept of the veil and on the shell verses the core.  The idea that the outside appearance of someone or something distracts a person from its true essence is found in many works of literature and movies today, and learning about it from the Islamic perspective was very interesting.  Scent of a Woman emphasized this point and allowed me to gain a better understanding of it.

And, I agree with other posts; I wish the class was longer because I learned so much from the course.  Although I have studied Islam a little in previous classes, this class went beyond basic facts about Islam and forced me to think about deeper topics, like justice, love, and sacrifice.  Our class discussions also helped a great deal because others’ opinions forced me to think about different things from another angle and helped me become more accepting of others’ opinions.  This has been one of my favorite classes, and I would definitely recommend it to other students.

Final Post

I feel like I need to write this last post to finalize this course. Not going to lie, I’m a little sad it’s over already and second semester is starting, I wouldn’t mind if it was a whole semester course. I really enjoyed this class. It was a great combination of work and fun where I definitely learned a lot of new things and the work was at times challenging, but it was still always fun in class watching movies and in our discussions. At first I didn’t quite understand how watching all those films would do anything for learnng about Islam, but after having to write that first script for Cast Away, it really made me think more about the Sufis, and I came to realize this was a great idea! It was enjoyable and funny, yet still taught you something. I learned a lot about Sufis and Islam and I thought this class was a great experience. Thanks Omer!!!

The End

After I left class today I started to think about what’s been going on for the past month in class…duscussions, movies, etc.  I must say that this course has been the most eye-opening course that I have ever taken.  I really had no ideas about Islam or the Muslim culture.  After taking this introduction, I must say that I want to learn more.  I’m excited to get started reading Iqbal.  I’m most excited to share what I learned with my family; we enjoy religious-based discussions (that’s how my brother, sister, and friend spent early New Year’s!).  I also must say that after studying Sufis I really began to find the Islamic culture to be quite beautiful…music, poetry, dance.  Listening to the Qur’an being read earlier in class had a significant impact on me; it really made the presentation of God’s word truly beautiful and exciting.  I must say that I’m not quite ready for this course to be over.

Rumi and Dead Man Walking

In response to grapefruit217, I did not really find Rumi arrogant when I was reading Signs of the Unseen, but I did not read all of the discourses so I cannot say for sure.  I do think that he had a lot of interesting things to say, but I was a little confused by the reading.  I felt that Rumi contradicted himself a lot throughout the discourses, especially when discussing “veils” and humans’ desires and needs.  Rumi often stated that our earthly desires are what is holding us back from achieving union with the divine, which was seen in discourses two, nine, and thirty-one for example.  However, in other discourses, he would discuss how necessary our desires are because they are what keep us following God.  He also says that we would not be able to withstand God’s presence and beauty without the veils of things such as desires shielding us.  I’m not quite sure of the exact point Rumi was trying to make, other than a human’s needs both keep him connected to God and keep him away from God at the same time.  So, if we need these veils, what is the point of trying to rid oneself of earthly desires? 

Also, in response to the movie Dead Man Walking, I do agree that it is hard to distinguish what keeps a society just and what the true purpose of the death penalty is.  However, someone mentioned that he or she saw the death penalty as “the easy way out.”  At first, I disagreed with this statement because the person is not choosing to end their life; death is being forced upon him, which can be a very terrifying thing.  But, after thinking about it, I can see the other point of view as well.  By killing a person, he or she does not have to live with the pain of what he has done and only suffers for a certain amount of time.  Overall, I really liked the movie and it really made me think about many different issues concerning justice.

Also, I’d like to quickly say that I’m glad jkrbud is enjoying Tulip in the Desert.  I just got the book, but was unsure if I wanted to read it.  I’m definitely ready for a change in topic though so thanks for your comments!

Dead Man Walking

This is probably my favorite movie we watched so far because I thought the acting in this movie was amazing and I also really enjoyed our class discussion on justice and the death penalty afterwards. One of the big things that stood out to me in the discussion was the idea that the death penalty is more symbolic than necessary. It is meant to make people feel safe. There is no other huge reason to do it other than that because society could just as effectively, and more cost efficiently, keep these criminals in prison for life. The fact that they could appeal came up, but if their crime was really that bad that the death penalty is the other option, I doubt they will get out on appeal.

Granulatedsugar brought up a point that everyone dies eventually, did it really matter whether Matthew P. got put to death? I think it is still significant because they took the man’s life away before he had a chance to live to his fullest. He never got married, had kids, or grandkids. He was still a young man and had opportunities ahead of him. Yes, we all die eventually that is why we should live every day to its fullest, but I do not think that is a valid excuse for the death penalty.

The squeaky wheel gets the grease

I’ve reconsidered an opinion I had about ‘Dead Man Walking’. When I saw Helen reaching out to Matthew while his crimes were being shown, I thought of her as another of his victims, except spiritually this time: as a person who had been manipulated into giving love to someone who deserved, at the very least, scorn from all who laid eyes upon him. Killing is ultimately what got Matthew Helen’s love; in a sense, it gave him more love than he would’ve had in the life of loneliness and unhappiness he would’ve had if he’d never killed. Marx said that a million deaths are a statistic but one death is a tragedy; likewise, a million poor southern boys are a statistic, but the one who stands out as a killer is a tragedy, and that gets him attention — including, inevitably, the attention of at least one person who will give him the love he’d been missing and looking for his whole meaningless life. Because of that, it’s almost like he benefited from the murder because he didn’t suffer the unrelenting oppressive lovelessness and isolation that is the true punishment of being a murderer.

I was going to describe next how my opinion had changed from the above, but after putting it down on paper I’ve found that I can’t refute myself. So, in fact, I’ve re-convinced myself. Nevermind.

The Death Penalty

Sorry, my last post kind of fizzled out, but it got me thinking about this…

The thing that bothered me about the parents of the two teens who were murdered in “Dead Man Walking” was the fact that though they fully understood the pain of losing a child, they still wanted to take away somebody else’s child.  They wanted to take away somebody else’s family member.  I know I have never been in a situation where a family member or otherwise near one has been murdered, but I would like to think that I could still care about the other parties involved.  Anyway, the thing that bothers me about my sensitivity towards Matthew Poncelet’s mother and family is the fact that death is a reality.  What I mean by this is, Matthew Poncelet is going to die eventually, be it by lethal injection or not.  And when he dies, chances are there are going to be near one’s who have to suffer the loss.  All this is leading up to my thought that, why should it matter if Matthew is put to death or not?  I know this is a ridiculous and exaggerated question to ask, but I still think it is a legitimate stream of thought even if I carried it further then was necessary.  I don’t really know what I am getting at.  Any thoughts?

Re: The Concept of Justice

Being on death row did seem effective towards making Matthew admit his wrong doing.  What’s strange, though, is that Sister Helen, from this perspective, did very little towards getting Matthew to this point of admittance.  This is not to diminish her character.  What I am trying to say is that you really cannot change a person.  A person must change on their own.  Stated differently, you cannot force anybody to do anything they don’t want to do and expect it to be done with integrity.  A lot of the things that Sister Helen did, such as helping him with his final appeals, probably only deterred Matthew from facing the truth about himself and his past, though I guess these are examples of things she was doing not for his redemption.  I still wonder, though, what does it take for a person to take responsibility for their actions, and what does it mean as well.  Someone from my perspective would view the death penalty as the easy way out, not as taking responsibility.