Islam Many Muslims Are Proud

Islam

Many Muslims are proud to think that their religion, Islamism, was the least endangered by the passing of the centuries. The clash between tradition and modernity, the changing of society structures and the industrial revolution, all these factors have led to religious reforms. Tradition is very important to Islam, but the diversity of the people who share this religion is so big that even the pillars of this monotheistic religion are coming into question and feel shaken at some points in history. According to Seyyd Hossein Nassr, a billion two hundred million people have this religion in common (Nasr, p. 2).

Donna Lee Bowen and Evelyn a. Early have edited the book Everyday Life in the Muslim Middle East, a book that gathers short stories, essays and other testimonies and material destined to present the reader with a complex picture about the life of the diverse people of the Middle East that each have their own language and culture and civilization, but are tied by the same religion: Islam.

The Doum Tree of Wad Hamid, by Tayeb Salih is a story in the above mentioned book, about tradition, resistance to change, irreconcilable differences between the city and the village, ancient beliefs and their sublimation in the religion of Islam, hope for the future, human limitations and finally, about the sacred aspect of life.

The story teller in the short story nears the end of his account with the following observation: "What all these people have overlooked is that there is plenty of room for all these things: the doum-tree, the tomb, the water-pump, and the steamer's stopping place"(Salih, p. 168). Rulers and governments have tried countless times to unite those people who shared the religion of Islam, but failed. According to the philosophy this short story is sharing with the reader, politics will never succeed where the human being is failing to see itself in the middle of the universe, beyond its own selfish interests.

The story teller in this short story presents the guest he is receiving in his village in the spirit of the religion of Islam with the story of the doom tree in an attempt to let the rest of the world know that a small insignificant village somewhere in Sudan may be as important for the evolution of the human race as any other place in the world. In his story, the villager combines elements of ancient religions such as the veneration of natural elements with features of the religion of Islam, such as common prayers, the image of women, the horror of adultery or children out of wedlock. The doom tree is presented as a mythical eagle, an ancient idol, the river -- "a sacred snake, one of the ancient Gods of the Egyptians"(Salih).

People in this remote and stuck in time village have dreams about the past, some prophetic dreams and some other dreams that are yet to be interpreted. The efforts to reconcile modern life, represented by the city and tradition, represented by the village are seen through the lenses of religion. The villagers did not need the teachings of another preacher, and it seemed that every time when the government sent someone to bring something new in there, it was doomed to fail. On the other hand, the villagers thought they new and had everything already and this appears to be a mistake as well.

The water pump, the stopping place for the steamer, the new agricultural scheme and other symbols of the evolution of technology were rejected one after another, just as people who saw their religion endangered by modernity rejected everything that could have changed something in their way of thinking, remaining stuck in an age that had nothing to do with contemporary times whatsoever. Such people have developed thick skins, like the villagers in the story and thus they were the only ones who were still able to live under certain conditions: "At such a time no one who isn't well accustomed them and has become as thick skinned as we are can bear their stings"(p. 161).

These villagers, supporters of the tradition think of themselves to be in perfect harmony with the nature: "We and our animals are alike: we rise in the morning when they rise and go to sleep when they sleep, our breathing and theirs following one and the same pattern" (165).