Lindsay and Katelyn's experience on JUA DAY 2

Who: Katelyn and I and our JUA group

What: We traveled today to Boston University to visit with the Islamic Society Group. They were a group of individuals who were both born and raised Muslim and converted. There was one woman who talked to us about her ideas of her religion. Her perspective and ideas were different from the woman who we talked with at the Cambridge Mosque. We noticed that she was not wearing a head scarf so we asked her if she saw that as a sin. She said, “Yes, it is a sin, but that is not who I am. I do wear it when I go to the mosque and pray, but I don’t wear it around because I don’t want to put on a show. I’m not ready. I would rather wear it when I was ready with meaning and full knowledge of it than to wear it and not fully respect it.” We thought this was interesting because the woman from the Mosque said that it was a BIG sin to not wear and she does extra prayers each day asking for forgiveness for all the times she did not wear it.

Where: Boston University, Boston, MA. We went into their prayer area within the campus.

When: December 19, 2007; second day of J.U.A. Temperature was very cold, sun was out.

Why: We went to visit this group to, again, learn and educate ourselves about the Islamic culture and how they feel in America. We asked many questions about the religion itself and how they feel, if anything, living in “this society”. They gave us very detailed thoughts about how they live. They, again, taught us about their holidays and how they celebrate, which is very different from us Americans. There is no alcohol or such involved in their celebrations. They were very open and let us tell them about what we thought about the Muslims as a whole and were very thoughtful.

Ryan and Aaron's experience on JUA DAY 2

Today we did two things. We went to the Islamic Society at Boston University and we went to the Museum of Fine Arts. At the Museum of Fine Arts we looked at Islamic art and saw how it differed from the rest of the art in the museum. We noticed that in most of the art there was gold plating on it. So if there were many vases, pots, and pictures in which the writing on it would be in gold. At BU we met with the Islamic Society and it is basically for the Muslims who attend BU. It gives them a chance to pray, celebrate, and meet amongst each other. While we were meeting with them they told us about their experiences in as well as out of school. For instance, one of the members names was Osama, and he told us about his experiences in an Islamic school, and then going to a public school. Then another member was Alex an he let us know that he just converted to Islam two years ago. He let us know the reasoning behind converting, and how his life has changed. Alex also told us about his life before and after converting.

Katelyn's, Jae Ro, and Jay Kim's experience on JUA

Who: Our J.U.A. group walked through Boston today and visited some Mosque’s


What: There were two different Mosque’s; Roxbury Mosque and the Islamic Society of Boston Mosque. We talked with an Islamic woman who answered all of our questions very thoroughly and taught our group a lot about the Islamic society. We watched a prayer that was neat to see because it is very different from the religion that we are used to, Christianity. She said that she did not “hate” us. They do not look at American’s like we look at Muslims. She told us that there are bad people in every culture and then there are good people in each culture, which was eye opening because Muslims do have a lot of good people that we do not acknowledge.


Where: Roxbury, MA and Cambridge, MA. The Roxbury Mosque is the biggest mosque in the Northeast and it has caused a lot of controversy. Reason being that people are worried about where the funding has come from and when the public thinks of Muslims and Islam, they think terrorists.


Why: To learn and get educated about the Islamic culture and why they practice like they do. We asked many questions that implied the questioning of why the we thought that the Muslims hated us. Again she told us that they do not hate us. There are many people in the Islamic culture that do, but most of them are good people. She also told us that she encounters a lot of discrimination that hurts her feelings. She said, “I would rather have them ignore me and act as if I wasn’t even there, then to say mean some about me.”


When: December 18, 2007; First day of J.U.A., temperature was FREEZING Started out about 11:00 am and got back to the Hostel around 3:30 pm.

Lindsay's experience on JUA

The first day here we visited the mosque of Roxbury in Boston. We went there and it was closed but we still got to look around the mosque and notice that it was going to be the biggest one in the Northeast. Just looking at it from the outside it was very interesting. From there we got back on the T and traveled to Cambridge and went to the Islamic society of Boston. We talked to a lady Fatima the way that she greeted me and the other girl in my group was very different compared to the way she greeted the guys because she is only aloud to touch 5 guys in her family and everyone else is considered a stranger to her. I feel that she felt more comfortable around us that she did around the guys because we each had the chance to watch them pray where the guys went and watched the guys and Katelyn and I went and watched the girls. She told us that there are some circumstances that she is allowed to sit out and not pray one which was when a woman has there period. Also you are allowed to sit in a chair if you have a reasonable excuse like for example the lady that gave us the tour had a broken foot. She answered many questions and I think that she was very happy to have a group of students like us because she was very helpful and answered a lot of our questions we had for her. She was very nice and I think that she respected us as Americans to come and talk to her because it’s know that Americans hate Muslims and Muslims hate Americans but she told us that she didn’t hate us because there are good and bad people in every culture. Which I respect that very much. I never really thought about the Muslim life or anything like that until I joined the group “why do they hate us.” Today I learned a lot that I never thought I would learn

Aaron's experience on JUA

Today we visited a mosque in Cambridge which was called the Islamic Society of Boston. We first went to a mosque in Roxbury which is supposed to be the largest one in the north east, but we didn’t get a chance to go in because it was closed. We talked to a lady who worked at the mosque and she gave us a brief history of the Muslim religion. We learned how they pray, how many times a day they pray, the religious clothing they wear, and many other things. She answered a bunch of questions we had about Islam and Muslims, such as what age do the women have to wear the hijab, what kind of food do Muslims eat is it different from what we eat, etc. We also questions got a chance to watch people pray and hear their call to prayer.

The lady who gave us the tour also answered our question of “why do they hate us”. She let us know that the Muslim community does not hate us. It is a political thing and not so much a religious thing. She said that the Muslims that crashed in to the World Trade Centers do not account for the whole population of Muslims.

Ryan's experience on JUA

Today was very interesting and informative day in Boston. First, our group visited the Roxbury Mosque, the largest Mosque in the Northeast. It was amazing to see a building to see such a large building made out of mostly bricks. We weren’t able to go inside today, but we learned all about how people go there to worship and pray to Allah.

After that, we visited the Islamic Society of Boston in Cambridge. We talked to a Muslim woman from Morocco, who gave us a lot of information on the religion as well as the culture. We asked her about our group’s theme, “Why do they hate us?” She assured us that she as well as most of the Islamic religion did not hate us, and it was the small group of terrorists that did. She also told us about how they pray and how often they pray. Next, she made sure she answered our questions to the best of her ability, and let us witness a prayer session. She made it so that the girls and boys in our group were separated, because that is how Muslims have to pray.

In conclusion, aside from the frigid walking around, I enjoyed our first day in Boston very much. I feel as though I have already learned a lot of information to answer the question “Why do they hate us?” Tomorrow, hopefully we can end our Junior Urban Experience in a bang and learn some more about the Islamic religion.

What is Islam?

Since our group has decided that the "they" to whom we wish to address in our question is people of Islamic faith, we must gain an understanding of their culture and beliefs. This understanding will serve two purposes. First, we can ask better, more in depth questions. Secondly, it will set us apart from the typical "us" - the American who can't tell his Shiite from his Sunii.

Watch this video! On our two-day journey, we will be visiting the Boston University Islamic Society. This is something they put together to spread knowledge of their faith.



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Welcome

Welcome!

We are here to answer a question. Actually, we are going to Boston to answer a question. The name of our group is "Why do they hate us?" but that is far too simple. In order to do some true investigation and experiential learning we must expand our question beyond our small community scope.

Right now, lives are being lost and billions spent to protect Americans from the increasing threat of terrorism. In this time when men, women and children around the world have been filled with hate and a desire for the destruction of the U.S., it is appropriate that Americans begin to ask, "Why Do They Hate Us?"

But who is "they?" It's not as if there's one group or solidified block of people united by experience, creed, or ethnicity that has decided to eliminate the United States. One of the great questions associated with the War on Terror is "Who or what are we trying to fight?"

Depending on what answer America discovers to these questions, the course of human lives, governments, and whole economies will be directed toward war, peace, or something in between. We need to do some investigation!