8 DECEMBER 1, 2001
Smoke Signals
Thuough The Ees Of Islam
Tribal member Sarah Mohammed Farlow became a
in 1989 and calls the United Arab Emirates home.
Muslim
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continued fnom pneufous page . .
Either way, the Qu'ran and the Sunnah have
cultivated a remarkable brand of faith in Sarah
Mohammed Farlow, one that has never relented
in purpose, even in the wake of her divorce with
Fitaihi in 1993. Even after another marriage in
1995 that sadly ended four years later, Farlow
remains unshakable.
The Hajj (trip) last year to Mecca probably only
further cemented her devotion.
"Yes! Yes! Yes! I went," was her response
when asked whether she had engaged in the
Fifth Pillar of Islam, the obligatory pilgrimage
to the sacred city in Saudi Arabia?
"Oh my God, my God, my God." A glazed look
seeped over her eyes, which stared into nowhere,
while she recounted her experience.
"When we went there, I just started crying,"
she said. "The experience, I can't... things are
unbelievable.
"We did the to'af (walk) around the Ka'bah,"
she continued, in reference to the enormous black
cube that pilgrims are required to circle seven
times. "I thought: Sve're followers, we're obey
ing again.
Ironically, the Hajj demands uniformity and
both men and women opt for simple white gowns.
Many women opt not to wear their traditional
veils and gloves, the belief being that everyone
is equal in the eyes of Allah.
Tolerance, in actuality, is a virtue espoused
expressly by the Qu'ran, which makes the fric
tion that Muslims invariably encounter with
other faiths all the more confusing.
"God forbids you not, with regards to those who
fight you not for (your) faith nor drive you out
of your homes, from dealing kindly and justly
with them; for God loveth those who are just"
reads the Qu'ran in its 60th Sura (chapter). Like
wise Muhammad himself expressed "there is a
reward for kindness to every living thing."
The view of Islam as a tolerant religion, how
ever, is in a severe minority in this country, par
ticularly in light of what is known about the
Taliban, a Muslim government in Afghanistan
which forces women into subservience, often
through violent means.
"In Islam, the man and the woman are equal,"
she said. "But the man has his jobs and the
woman has hers. Women are allowed to do lots
of things, but they choose not to.
"How did that (the Taliban) come about? I
don't know," admitted Farlow. "They live in such
a different world over there."
Different, indeed, because the Islam that
Farlow has known not only condones respectful
treatment of women, but peace on the domestic
and inter-governmental front. Yet the Muslims
seen everyday on television and in newspapers
are not of that variety.
"What I want people to understand is that Is
lam is not about hurting people," she said. "Jihad,
the understanding is... I mean you just can't
start a fight and call it Jihad."
A Jihad, however, is almost exactly what many
Muslims in the Middle East find themselves in
volved in these days, especially following the
U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. Being Muslim,
Farlow told me she understood both sides.
Like many others, Farlow also suspects that
what happens to suspected terrorist leader
Osama bin Laden will not mark the end of anti
U.S. sentiment in the Middle East. Rather, she
said, as long as Americans remain uneducated
and apathetic about U.S. influence in the Middle
East and refuse to accept responsibility for the
hand the country has played in creating insta
bility throughout the region, the war between
Islam and America will continue.
"They're (middle easterners) tired of Palestin
ians getting killed," she continued. "They want
to know, why aren't th Americans helping them.
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Palestinians are poor. People should stop and
think about that."
Farlow said that by supporting one side, America
has earned the enmity of the other. "It's a sad
thing, cause a lot of innocent people are dying.
"When I went there, they thought all Ameri
cans were bad," she said. "What they saw on
Arabic TV was American women standing on
street corners. And so they thought all women
are standing on street corners here."
Just the same as Farlow must explain to Ameri
cans the true nature of Islam, conversely she
must explain to Muslims how people in the
United States really are.
"We, American Muslims, who go back and
forth, must do the same thing every time," she
said. "We tell them (Americans about Muslims
and Muslims about Americans) they are not all
bad. It's not like that.'"
Farlow, like many other Muslims, has found
herself on the defensive quite often while visiting
the U.S., enough at least to warrant an eagerness
to return to the Emirates. One of her friends, Ali
Nikoukar, an Iranian immigrant and a founder of
the Salman M-Farisi Islamic Center in Corvallis,
was helpful enough to invite me to Friday prayer
(Fridays are the holy days in Islam).
The Mosque, in true Muslim fashion, segre
gates worshippers by gender. Its walls don't line
up with the road or sidewalk because as a rule,
the eastern wall of a Mosque must face Mecca,
the direction Muslims pray in five times per day.
Thus the building is 17 degrees unparallel to
the street.
While photographing the Mosque, one mem
ber approached me with a rather dubious look
in his eye.
"What are you doing?" he asked, though not
in a threatening manner.
I explained the story about Sarah Farlow, and
how we thought having a Muslim Tribal mem
ber was a unique story and a rare opportunity
to have Islam explained. He nodded and told
me this was good, since he felt most papers were
offering very one-sided interpretations of Islam,
especially since September 11.
"I think it is a great thing you do then," he
said and shook my hand and walked off.
Nikoukar experienced his own discomfort fol
lowing September 11. According to Nikoukar, a
reporter from the Statesman Journal, evidently
of Jewish faith, called up his home and "gave
my wife a bad time." She was able to soothe the
enraged writer, and ultimately it would result
in a story defending Islam, as published soon
thereafter. But it was also, like some of Farlow's
experiences, a prime example of how alienated
some Muslims have felt since those attacks.
And Nikoukar, also like Farlow, sees no link
between the real practice of Islam and terrorism.
When asked about the possible reason behind
the attacks, he merely shrugged.
"I cannot say what their reasons are. I be
lieve the bombing of Iraq, for example. Maybe
it was their idea to show "America, how does it
feel? This stuff can happen to you,'" he said. "It
is an eye-opener for America. It can happen
here... innocents are killed."
And once again like Farlow, Nikoukar wouldn't
rule out the possibility that the attacks were a long,
winding and indirect result of U.S. foreign policy.
"Look at Osama bin Laden. He's our baby.
We educated him, we supported him when Rus
sia and Afghanistan went to war," he said, but
quickly pointed out that such would still not jus
tify September 11. "If he is responsible for this,
then nobody will respect him. That is not Islam."
Men like bin Laden, he told me; only further
kicking dirt on the reputation of Islam, especially
in the U.S., where a positive depiction of Mus
lims is virtually unheard of.
"Yes, I think you, the media, do not help much,"
he said. "You never read in the newspaper 'Ah,
a Muslim did great things!"'
And the killing of innocents, and more impor
tantly suicide, are actions not condoned by any
serious Muslim. k , ,
"I suppose people attach their causes to reli
gion," he said. "How does that compare with
Christian abortion bombers? When they attach
to a religion they can always drive farther."
And suicide? Nikoukar and Farlow shared the
same opinion: that no respectful Muslim would
ever think of it.
"There is no suicide in Islam," Farlow pointed
out. "When Judgment Day comes, that person
will relive their suicide for eternity. And when
you kill innocents, you are accountable for the
victims.
"That's not Islam," she added. D
F
'arlow returned to UAE October 26. She
wanted to be back in time for Ramadan;
the Muslim holy month when during
daylight hours they abstain from eating or
drinking. Such a strict dietary regimen would
presumably wear down even the most devout
of followers, but Farlow, like others, claims
she actually looks forward to it. Ramadan is
not only a time of physical restraint but emo
tional as well no arguing, no backbiting,
no sex, no bad deeds nothing impure.
Ramadan lasts more than four weeks.
In the Emirates, Farlow works for a charity
organization, primarily helping the poor and
homeless. Chris (Muhammad) provided her
very first grandson, Zubair, named after a
great warrior and companion of Muhammad.
Farlow found it ironic that her faith and
ethnicity shared a common cause land.
"We grow up and hear the white man this'
and the white man that,' and I look and say,
'can't you see?' We have been fighting for the
same thing, for so long," she said. "It's a mat
ter of land being taken away. We, Indians
and Muslims, have land well never see again."
But in Islam, she told me, one accepts fate,
because Allah has preordained everything.
"Whatever happens to you, everything is
written," she said. "We shouldn't ask why."
"Ma sha' Allah," she said, which usually
translates as 'Allah has willed it.' D
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