Sometimes during this year-long challenge I'll attempt to sort out difficult concepts related to Islam and at other times I'm going to deal with the more mundane side of being a Muslim. I would argue that this is actually, in fact, valuable because Islam, like all faiths, is a lived experience and thus it's not all thinking great thoughts. Often it's just trying to break your fast as graciously or at least as unobtrusively as possible. As I've written in the past, I don't actively publicize my faith at Champlain, partially because these are private matters (said the person who is blogging about them; although my blog is so poorly visited that it's essentially private) but I also don't want the students to judge any subject matter through that lens. This is especially true with my Dar al-Islam classes. My goal is that the students learn something about Islam or the Islamic world within the confines of the stated class goals, so I don't know if I particularly care whether they like or dislike Islam or the Islamic world, but I would hope that they would approach both topics with an open mind and now have their judgment clouded by their like or dislike of me. So, they shouldn't overlook the good points of Islam or the Islamic world because they like me, nor should they gloss over the bad points of Islam or the Islamic world because they like me. Anyway, I try and keep my personal faith on the down low as much as possible. Truthfully, I suppose this relates to all faiths, but few, at least in today's world, inspire more passionate feelings one way or another than Islam.
This bring me to the other night. It was the first night of the summer version of my Dar al-Islam class, and also about halfway through Ramadan. I had blown through the early dog days of Ramadan, but I was still definitely looking forward to 8:18 and the first drink of water since around 4:30 that morning. Unfortunately, the class didn't end until 9:00. Now, I could have made it until 9:00, which I did on the second class meeting with little trouble, but I decided to be creative on that first night. At around 8:13, while continuing to carry on discussion, I moved a couple of the tables aside to create space, and then told the students to sit on the floor. After a few puzzled glances (it was the first night after all) they all sat down. Then I distributed bottles of water and paper plates with dates in front of them, and asked, "OK, so what are we doing?" One of the students replied, "Wait, is this like a Ramadan thing?" One of them started to reach for a date but I stopped them and told them that it wasn't time yet, and then I asked, "How would we know when to start?" A half-hour earlier I had asked the students to download the Muslim Pro app on their phone (I've discussed the pros and cons of that app, and it's use as in the classroom, a few weeks ago) and they made the connection. After figuring out that we could eat and drink at 8:18 they, unknowingly, helped me break my fast. We then sat on the floor and discussed what they knew about Ramadan, which allowed me to set up the next week's discussions when we would be reading about it in Nasr's The Heart of Islam. It was either a great pedagogical experiment or a truly self-serving trick.
This bring me to the other night. It was the first night of the summer version of my Dar al-Islam class, and also about halfway through Ramadan. I had blown through the early dog days of Ramadan, but I was still definitely looking forward to 8:18 and the first drink of water since around 4:30 that morning. Unfortunately, the class didn't end until 9:00. Now, I could have made it until 9:00, which I did on the second class meeting with little trouble, but I decided to be creative on that first night. At around 8:13, while continuing to carry on discussion, I moved a couple of the tables aside to create space, and then told the students to sit on the floor. After a few puzzled glances (it was the first night after all) they all sat down. Then I distributed bottles of water and paper plates with dates in front of them, and asked, "OK, so what are we doing?" One of the students replied, "Wait, is this like a Ramadan thing?" One of them started to reach for a date but I stopped them and told them that it wasn't time yet, and then I asked, "How would we know when to start?" A half-hour earlier I had asked the students to download the Muslim Pro app on their phone (I've discussed the pros and cons of that app, and it's use as in the classroom, a few weeks ago) and they made the connection. After figuring out that we could eat and drink at 8:18 they, unknowingly, helped me break my fast. We then sat on the floor and discussed what they knew about Ramadan, which allowed me to set up the next week's discussions when we would be reading about it in Nasr's The Heart of Islam. It was either a great pedagogical experiment or a truly self-serving trick.
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