Ron Parady

Field Journal

ANTH-1010-402-Sp15

In chapter 2 of this course, we were assigned to review a video of a certain anthropologist and

write a review along with answering a few questions. The subject I had picked is Margaret Mead and her

study of adolescents in American Samoa back in 1925. The means to study back then were primarily,

observation, interviews and just living with the people to become accustomed with their culture. As I

ponder today’s information highway called the internet, it amazes me the difference in ways to that we

research and receive information compared to long ago. The first week in working on this assignment, I

spent a great deal of time just getting acquainted with my subject and topic on the internet. It has

become difficult for me to remain natural, unbiased and unprejudiced while reviewing so many recent

articles pertaining to my subject. The level of strife, torture, murder and just plain hatred for anyone

that doesn’t believe the same as they do is unbelievable. I will try and keep my emotions out of this

report and field notes as I progress.

Notes and Dates:

01-14-2015, through 01-19-2015

Daily if not more than once a day, field research on the internet, reading articles that pertain to

my research of Muslims and their religion of Islam, their dedication and hatred towards the west. I have

watched several videos and read several articles pertaining to their beliefs and dedication to their

religion. In reading these my initial observation is that they have a “Mind Made Up” attitude that their

beliefs are correct and because of that dedication they will do whatever their Scriptures and

Mohammad teaches them. An interesting note is that they rely on the several interpretations and

meanings of what the scriptures say.” , ” Islam contains many schools of thought and there’s no one

single or simple source of interpretation on disputed points. Yet Islam has a strong consensus on much

of the faith that’s similar to the “magisterium” My feeling is that this is important because those of the

faith that are peaceful can see the peace throughout the verses, whereas those who foster hatred can

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get a whole different meaning. They try and use their Holy men to help interrupt, but doesn’t always

work. Keeping this in mind as I interact with those of various views will be beneficial. I’ve opted to keep

articles that can support my research separately and will interlace them throughout my findings as they

relate to a certain topic.

01-21-2015, Interview

Subject: Shuaib

Location: Utah Islamic Center

225 W. 90 S. Sandy Ut, 801-898-2670

Imamshuaib.din@gmail.com

Upon entering the Mosque, it’s required to remove your shoes, Mr. Shuaib, (Not Sure First or

Last) was a gentle, sincere, soft spoken man. He was there with his 2 sons that were reciting scripture

(Presumed) in Arabic, ages about 10-12, coming in I noticed the Clocks which represent the time prayers

should be offered to Allah (God). I thought wow 5, I knew they had daily prayer (wudu) rituals but didn’t

realize it was that many. I was told that prayer reminds them of

God and he is their master and they his servants. So they gladly

humble themselves before him. Before prayer they do a ritual

washing, which includes the feet, if they are not at home, they

perform this washing in a public restroom. I recall a few articles I

read not long ago where students of other faiths are upset that

these colleges are installing foot bath places for the Muslims to

practice their prayers. (See Here) The 1st Morning Prayer (Fajr), they get up before sunrise believing that

it takes sacrifice to get success. They prostrate themselves because to them prayer is both a spiritual

and physical experience, and it shows devotion to Allah. I asked him about the “Call to Prayer” that they

do, and yes they do it there. Prayers are always facing Mecca and here in their prayer room, they have a

type of alter which is where they should face. The kneeling carpet is also in strips and the purpose is so

that the rows of chairs or prayers can be perfectly straight.

The precise way in which everything needs to be exactly done, even with their Sharia Law

reminds me of the Christians during the time of Moses, where everything was spelt out exactly on how

to live the religion. They do believe in the Old Testament which could explain that, because that’s where

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you’d find some of the Law of Moses. He invited me to attend a prayer session on any Friday, their Holy

day, like Christians is Sunday, Jews Saturdays. I might attend one day at 1pm, that’s their biggest service

with up to 200 in attendance. They pass around boxes for collections, and those donations support his

family and the Mosque. We discussed lineage, Jesus Christ, the great prophet, he explained that they

believe Christ will return, put Governments back in order, which is part of his calling.

The bulk of my questions dealt with, Jihads and radicals, Sharia Law, Isis, Peace, He thought

most Muslims see both sides of the “We’re Peaceful” and “Convert or Die” attitudes sweeping the world

today. His main ideas on that though were it’s not the religion that is causing it, its man and his ideas on

those religious beliefs, as far as wars, and so on. He talked a lot how at the time of Mohammad their

we’re terrible wars between the tribes and it was Mohammed who brought peace and unity to the

nation, he claimed once Mohammed started to take over only 1700 lives we’re taken in war. Sharia Law

are just ways of life and not to see the horror of it like stealing take a hand ECT.

Observation: At the conclusion of the torn and interview, I had just felt that his true feeling we’re kind of

white washed. I sensed that he wasn’t about to lay his cards on the table to some stranger that he

wasn’t quite sure about. In closing he also made a comment how I could see that they weren’t making

any bombs there at that Mosque, it seemed out of place and maybe he was just trying to be funny,

wither way, I didn’t get the feeling of total trust from him.

01-21-2015, Interview

Subject: Faerouz Alsaffar

Location: SLCC

Where From: Iraq

Met subject last semester in a common class, became fast friends, knew she was familiar with

Islam and its teachings, moved to United States only 5 years ago, married, one child, reads writes in both

languages. Husband also from Iraq. She assures me that the religion of Islam is a peaceful religion. She

was raised Muslim and has a very strong opinion that anyone killing or doing what the reported Isis is

doing in Iraq is wrong. She stressed this more than once that to kill in the name of religion is not right.

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She went on in answer to my questions that after the war in her home country, things changed.

Terrible things were still happening, people dying, women being raped, people’s houses being taken

away from them. She said that most people didn’t know who were committing all the atrocities or why

they were still happening. At this point she said that all these crimes weren’t just committed by Muslims

and depending on who you’re talking to, you will get different answers, the extremists make us look bad

and the peach goers can make us look good. I pointed out though that the extremists are getting their

beliefs and feel they are doing right from the same scriptures as the peaceful ones, so there must be

something to it. Her exact words are as follows “ Your short answer about Sharia Is Islam a peaceful

religion?" there is no way I can give a short answer for that because I feel that I need to go over

everything about Islam or at least clarify certain points that you want to know about.” She then referred

me to a YouTube video to help me understand more about it. http://youtu.be/DZmyjplpC_M

Didn’t get the sense that she was to interested in the political and religious sides of her country,

but lived there long enough to know its customs and culture. Her being a woman I was very interested in

her views on the place of a woman in a Muslim country and how she felt as a wife there. Maybe I have

been contaminated by the main street news channels because every time a woman is shown of

depicted, she is always in her clothing for modesty,

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She was quick to tell me that she has never worn any of these examples and that maybe 40% of the

women in Iraq don’t, she lived a very normal life with regular clothing. This was a big surprise to me, like

I said I’ve only seen what has been projected on television, and the few I’ve seen here in the states all

wearing some form of Burka. She said though that her and others still had and showed respect for those

wearing the clothing, and was never harassed for not wearing it. She also spoke of peace and harmony

but didn’t know what has taken place since Isis has invaded her country and caused so much death and

pain.

Video review and opinion:

01-31-2015: Some great history points are made, but this is obviously a rebuttal to a few

previous talks picking on Islam and Muslims, the speaker comes off to me as being very arrogant, and

sarcastic in his comments. The previous speakers must have reference about all the hatred and violence

as a result of Muslims, so he counters with a quick history lesson on all the Christian caused deaths, but

what came to my mind is that most of the deaths related to religious persecution in our time are caused

by Muslims. He really attacks the 3 previous speakers in a very condescending way. His views are that in

every religion are the so called extremists who take their beliefs to the very extreme. But as he talks, he

mentions that the Koran does give reasons for war, bloodshed and violence, it’s almost like he’s saying,

were peaceful unless this happens, then violence ok okay with God.

The main point of his presentation in this video, is that the previous 3 speakers in their

presentations to scare the people of this big bad wolf, Islam, by using generalizations, miss quotes, and

the actions of a few extremists to say that all of Islam is like them in thought and goal, then it’s a mistake

and not right. He’s claiming the religion of Islam is peaceful, and don’t judge it by the few. I tried to

research why the debate of this speech concerning a vote on some topic, but couldn’t find anything. He

has a very valid ending few comments about judging the religion on the many not the few, but as I

mentioned earlier in this writing that it’s the few that are making such an impact, and the majority are

sideline watchers as we are to this whole mess. The majority are insignificant as to what is happening in

the Middle East today, and why is that? It’s because the majority isn’t making a difference either way,

they have become complacent and are letting the few dictate to the world what Islam stands for. If they

want a voice, they need to speak up and take a stand against those who are wrong.

Unannounced Interview:

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What luck, that same evening I had a gentleman (Maybe 23 Yrs old) come by my house to look

at a vehicle I had for sale, being from Saudi Arabia, I took the opportunity to question him. His

Government was paying his way to attend college here, and still he also proclaimed that Islam is a

religion of peace, and the radicals are just acting out their interpolation of how they see Islam and the

definition of the Koran. He said a lot of Muslims are frustrated at the way the news portrays all of them

as wanting to take over the world. Not sure if he has heard or read much about all that is going on.

3/4/2015: Wow, just today, another person thrown off of a roof top. I guess his crime is being gay.

As the article states “Militants fighting for the Islamic

State in Syria have thrown yet another young man to

his death from a building after accusing him of being

gay.” What’s interesting is the amount of people that

gather for these executions. It reminds me of the

Roman Empire and how they became so blood thirsty.

   

Another interesting article that showed up today in the Dessert News titled “Utah Muslims explain why they oppose all depictions of Muhammad.” It is interesting that this is the same man that I interviewed in the Center for Islam, at the start of this report. I also find it interesting that over the last 6 to 8 months that they worry more about someone posting a picture of Muhammad than speaking out against all the murders and things that are done to people.

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Here’s a local article I came across dated back in January titled, “Muslims say Utah provides a safe environment, Shared beliefs between Muslims, LDS may influence acceptance.” Quoting from the article it goes on to say:

Khadeeja Mosque in West Valley to celebrate the birth of the Prophet Muhammad and also to help youth retain their Muslim identity, even as the world mourns an apparent terrorist act born at least partially by intolerance.

Muslims tend to disproportionately become a key focus of media and other reports in the wake of extremist actions, he said. He has found that Utah has created an environment of understanding that allows for misconceptions of Islam to be corrected.

Imam Mehtar condemned the attacks, adding that people who fail to turn the other cheek when offended "become part of the problem."

"To be a Muslim, you know, you need to be a humanist," he said.

So Confusing

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The Meaning of IslamIslam is derived from the Arabic root "Salema": peace, purity, submission and obedience. In the

religious sense, Islam means submission to the will of God and obedience to His law.

Everything and every phenomenon in the world other than man is administered totally by God-made laws, ie. they are obedient to God and submissive to his laws, they are in the State of Islam. Man

possesses the qualities of intelligence and choice, thus he is invited to submit to the good will of God and obey His law, ie, become a Muslim.

Submission to the good will of God, together with obedience to His beneficial Law, ie, becoming a Muslim, is the best safeguard for man's peace and harmony.

Islam dates back to the age of Adam and its message has been conveyed to man by God's prophets and messengers, including Abrahim, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad.

Islam's message has been restored and enforced in the last stage of the religious evolution by God's last prophet and messenger, Muhammad.

The word Allah in the Arabic language means God, or more accurately, The One and Only Eternal God, Creator of the Universe, Lord of all lords, King of all kings, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful. The

word Allah to mean God is also used by Arabic speaking Jews and Christians.

3/6/2015: Interesting headlines today at an airport “Muslim woman arrested and handcuffed to a luggage cart at Miami International after ramming her car into a checkpoint and

screaming in Arabic that she had a bomb” I guess the reason for putting this in my research is that I can see an increase in what seems to be normal people acting in a terrorist type way.

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I’ve read a few writers say when defining what Islam, the word means as shown above, means submission, summit to Islam or suffer the consequences. I recently came be an author, who’s been writing about the infiltration of Islam into America, and how they’ve taken over other countries simply by numbers, and when they do, then laws start to change and other things to make the Muslims more at home. This Author just recently finished part 16 of his series. He makes a lot of good points; one who is interested in this subject ought to review his findings.

http://www.newswithviews.com/Wooldridge/frosty1013.htm

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2983901/Barbaric-ISIS-jihadis-string-bodies-hanged-soldiers-metal-frame-city-Syrian-troops-cruelly-paraded-streets-cages.html

http://www.barenakedislam.com/2015/02/18/why-did-barack-hussein-obama-make-the-famous-one-finger-isis-salute-at-the-african-leaders-summit-in-washington-d-c/

http://www.thecommonsenseshow.com/2015/03/07/the-global-genocide-against-christians-where-is-the-american-muslim-outrage/

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Iran and Iraq are two of only a handful of countries that have more Shias than Sunnis. While it is widely assumed that Iraq has a Shia majority, there is little reliable data on the exact Sunni-Shia breakdown of the population there, particularly since refugees arriving in Iraq due to theconflict in Syria or leaving Iraq due to its own turmoil may have affected the composition of Iraq’s population.The few available survey measures of religious identity in Iraq suggest that about half the country is Shia. Surveys by ABC Newsfound between 47% and 51% of the country identifying as Shia between 2007 and 2009, and a Pew Research survey conducted in Iraq in late 2011 found that 51% of Iraqi Muslims said they were Shia (compared with 42% saying they were Sunni).Neighboring Iran is home to the world’s largest Shia population: Between 90% and 95% of Iranian Muslims (66-70 million people) were Shias in 2009, according toour estimate from that year.Their shared demographic makeup may help explain Iran’s support for Iraq’s Shia-dominated government led byPrime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

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Iran also has supported Bashar al-Assad’s government in Syria, where only 15-20% of the Muslim population was Shia as of 2009. But the Syrian leadership is dominated by Alawites (an offshoot of Shia Islam). Under Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq, which was dominated by Sunnis, the country clashed with Iran.

The Sunni-Shia divide is nearly 1,400 years old, dating back to a dispute over the succession of leadership in the Muslim community following the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632.Despite periods of open conflict between Sunnis and Shias in countries such as Lebanon and Iraq, the two groups are not all that different in terms of religious beliefs and commitment. In Iraq, for example, both groups express virtually universal belief in God and the Prophet Muhammad, and similar percentages (82% of Shias and 83% of Sunnis) say religion is very important in their lives. More than nine-in-ten Iraqi Shias (93%) and Sunnis (96%) say they fast during the holy month of Ramadan.In some countries, significant shares of Muslims don’t even see the distinction between Sunni and Shia Islam as relevant. A survey of Muslims in 39 countries that we conducted in 2011 and 2012 found, for example, that 74% of Muslims in Kazakhstan and 56% of Muslims in Indonesia identified themselves as neither Sunni nor Shia, but “just a Muslim.” In Iraq, however, only 5% answered “just a Muslim.”On some religious issues, including whether it is acceptable to visit the shrines of Muslim saints, the differences between the sects are more apparent. For some, the divide is even exclusionary. In late 2011, 14% of Iraqi Sunnis said they do not consider Shias to be Muslims. (By contrast, only 1% of Shias in Iraq said that Sunnis are not Muslims.) Evenhigher percentages of Sunnis in other countries, such as Sunni-dominated Egypt (53%), say that Shias are not Muslims.

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