I was watching "Inside Mecca", a documentary about the Islamic pilgrimage that Muslims make to Mecca. The pilgrimage and subsequent days of worship is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. You would expect such a large and awesome religious gathering to inspire feelings of acceptance and peace from the gatherers. However, this documentary shows that not even religious gatherings are immune to prejudice or segregation.
Watch from 6:33 - 9:12 and then 33:33 - 35:20.
It is important to note that only Muslims are allowed into this religious gathering. Earlier in the documentary, it is stated that 80% of Muslims are converts. However, the woman from Texas is a victim of some racial profiling. As seen in the video, some Muslims there still expect to see an Arab muslim, and have a difficult time adjusting to seeing a white muslim. Earlier in the video, she tells how she needed to have extra documentation to prove that she was Muslim to sign up for the pilgrimage, since her name doesn't sound like a Muslim name.
The Muslim from South Africa also feels out of place because of his race. At the Hajj, the travelers are divided into sleeping areas by the region that they came from. The black man from South Africa also endured many comments because of his race, so he decided to worship in another region's area because he fit in better though. We had watched a video in class and had talked a little about the segregation that just happens in certain areas - how the whites band together in one neighborhood, the Latinos in another area, etc. Interesting to see how that "natural" segregation happened even at this religious event.
Monday, October 3, 2011
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It is interesting to see that though the people as a whole believe in brotherhood and sisterhood so deeply and yet there exists racial distance between the people. The thought that came into my mind was not so much of the racism that these two people experienced, but the profiling, fear and demeaning of the Muslim people. Since the war on terror, many people, including myself at times have become a little more cautious about accepting people with different beliefs who express them in other ways than I do. The Muslim religion is beautiful and the basic principles that these pilgrims join together at Mecca to discover and promote are those that would create world peace. The experience of these pilgrims in particular show the imperfection of the person in social issues, however, they are able to sometimes override the segregating desires and join together in peace and love. I hope that I at least will stay open to people and accept them for who they are, regardless of race, color or what not. -Tyra Pomazal
ReplyDeleteIt must be different for the white, Texas woman to have all these comments made to her. As a white person she's probably never had racist comments made to her. I'm impressed though that neither she or the South African man made a big deal about it. They didn't over react. Their faith in their religion is so strong that not even the discrimination or racism received would stop them from staying. In the early history of the LDS church many people left the church because of minor disputes. Most of the disputes weren't as bad as this story. It would be very easy for the woman to no longer want anything to do with Muslims because she lives in Texas, but her desire to be there is stronger. She has certainly never gone through anything like that before and neither have I. I wonder what I would do in her place. Would I be as patient as her?
ReplyDelete-Parker Dunn