Middle East

Middle East:

Last Monday, I found myself in Dearborn, Michigan, after an interview I had in Detroit. I knew that my blog schedule showed that I had to focus on the Middle East, and I couldn’t have been in a better place to do it. Dearborn is said to have the largest Middle Eastern populations outside of the Middle East. Here, it is not uncommon to see woman wearing the hijab (head scarf) accompanied by long bearded men.

My Step Mother, who works for the Dearborn School district often tells me about the Islamic community in her school. I asked her one time, do conservative Muslim girls go to prom? Her answer: “Absolutely!” She explained that they often wear the same big colorful dresses many other typical girls wear. They might find classy ways to cover their arms and hair, but they still go. They have fun; they dance, but there is one major difference. In many cases they are not allowed to have dates. Instead, they often go with their favorite group of female friends.

I had chosen this day to cover the Middle East because it was the first of two days of Mawlid, the day many Muslims Mohammed’s birthday. Muslims around the world celebrate this holiday in different ways (http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/mawlid-2014-muslims-observe-prophet-muhammads-bday-photos-1432088). The holiday itself is fairly controversial, Mohammad never celebrated his birthday nor did he encourage others to do so.  For this reason some sects of Islam disapprove of the celebration.  

Movie:

My favorite movie taking place in an Islamic country is “Persepolis”. The animated feature takes place in Iran. The young girl finds herself in the middle of Iran’s Islamic Revolution. The once modern country quickly gained fundamental Islamic. All the sudden she finds that she has to wear the hijab in school, is being taught fundamental ideas, and that alcohol is being banned. She often lands in trouble when she does not follow all the new rules now imposed on her by a country that has always been her home.

Book:

If your knowledge of Islam is limited, one of the books that is the most comprehensive about the religion is “Mohammad: A Story of the Last Prophet” by Deepak Chopra. It tells the story of Mohammad without being preachy about the religion itself. The goal of the book is informative. It is not trying to convert anyone. The book even helps explain some of the darker and more controversial views of the religion. It does not go into how to treat woman or why some Muslims treat woman like they do. It does go into Muhammad’s marriages, the support he got from his first wife, and the trails he had to go through, throughout his life.

Food:

 I found myself in a small Lebanese restaurant in Dearborn, called Shawarma place. From outside, it did not look like anything special, but the décor on the inside was pleasant. I ordered myself Chicken Shawarma. The meat had been marinated well and there was a lot of it. It came with salad, rice, and baba ghanouj. The Fattoush salad which had a strongly vinegar rich dressing was topped with pitta chips, and the rice was seasoned well. Baba ghanouj is a creamy dip with eggplant as one of its ingredients.

I wanted to bring some food home for my husband, so I ordered to go a similar plate of Shawarma meat, with hummus, a paste made from chickpeas. I also ordered stuffed grape leaves (rice wrapped in pickled grape leaves).

Work Cited:

Chopra, Deepak. “Muhammad: A Story of the Last Prophet”. Copyright: 2010

Harrison, Connie. Personal Conversation. 2012.

“Mawlid 2014: Muslims Observe Prophet Muhammad’s B’day”. International Business Times. Published: 13 January 2014. http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/mawlid-2014-muslims-observe-prophet-muhammads-bday-photos-1432088 . Retrieved: January 14, 2014.

Paronnaud, Vincent. Satrapi, Marjane. “Persepolis”. Copyright: 2007.

 

Pictures by: Arvind Jujare