Tears to Rushdie's Eyes

Spectator and the Muslim. Actually, this is my buddy Peter innocently staring while a man prays in the background. There seemed a tension in al-Azhar, between us "tourists" and those who merely came to pray. al-Azhar is perhaps the most prominent Islamic center in Egypt, and one of the most revered in the world. These photos are from a few days ago, again, I need to go study more for my finals...

Two hours later, I think I have studied enough.

Today was the final for my class in Quranic Readings. While refraining from diving into the frightening details, our professor initially told us we were to have a class debate on the existence of a god according to the Quran. Yes, our final exam was to be whether or not god exists. As you can imagine, that didn't fly so well with us. After two weeks of toil, she finally succumbed to our arguments, and agreed to a written final of her choosing. Personally, I think it's a cool idea, but other people, respectfully enough, were like "wait a second, we have 90 minutes to prove whether god exists?!?!" Our teacher was often stubborn, and whenever we scratched beneath the surface of the Quran, she failed to grant us adequate answers or explanations, resorting to "god said so," and "I am not forcing you to believe it." Fierce debates about the circumambulation of the Kabbah and "true North" within the solar system, along with evolution, martyrdom and the hijab ensued. The class was volatile and unpredictable at best. Thus, we decided we would wage one final effort for the final. We armed ourselves with excerpts from The Satanic Verses, photocopies from physics textbooks we took from the library, articles from The Lancet and other medical journals, Darwin's Origin of Species and all the statistics we could get our hands on. Never were we so determined to prove that god does not exist, or, allow me to re-phrase that--that the Quran does not sufficiently provide evidence substantiating the existence of a god. Or, at the very least, demonstrate to her she needed to do a better job of explaining Islam, supporting facts and whatnot. That sounds awful, but, interestingly enough, the key figures of our conspiracy were two Muslim guys in our class, and those with the most firm belief in god were more vocal and involved in the collaboration than anyone else, primarily out of the disgrace they felt she was condemning Islam to in her simplicity and their disgruntlement in its presentation. At the end of the day, I guess it was not about the existence of a god, but about emphasizing the sensitivity, respect and open mind one must use when broaching the topic. I think we effectively fueled an uprising in an otherwise quiet course.

Students who in any way "challenge" their teachers are an anamoly, and susceptible to the wrath of the professor. Here in Egypt, and in fact, in much of the world, students are expected to simply regurgitate precisely what their teacher has told them. Almost verbatim on exams. However, our teacher Dahlia had the misfortune of encountering fifteen students accustomed to an American system of education--creativity, originality, Socratic methodology, free discussion, refuting and undermining what your teacher might say. At least that is what I would like to think the differentiating factor is, yet most definitely for the fifteen of us, who were stunned and disturbed by the moral and intellectual high ground our teacher presumed she stood atop, and her presumption of the absence of objection. And through no fault of her own. She was merely never exposed to alternative styles of education. She is a wonderfully kind person, clearly committed to teaching the Quran and a devote Muslim. But the friction of students and teachers from different schools of educational thought is difficult to overcome.

As for the other pictures of mosques...they provided a wonderful, independent venture into Islam. Mosques are one of the few, remaining places devoid of the touristic packaging. Very much a grassroots, mix and match affair of vistation. Most were practically empty when we visited, with a few men praying, and many actually asleep along the perimeter. Never any women. We were of course required to wear a veil in al-Azhar, and all other mosques require women to wear these green cover-alls if they arrive indecently attired. Women are provided a small, cordoned-off area to pray, for fear they will attract and distract men. Most pray at home, one of Muhammed's Hadith said it is best women, especially with children stay home to pray on Friday. And thus the tradition continues.