Episode 410: You Still Don’t Know about Islam, Part 2

Transcript! (because accessibility is mandatory)

PDF transcript. Also available via our Buzzsprout page.

Shownotes! (because citations are political)

More HISTORY OF THE WORLD (RELIGIONS), Part 1 coming for you! On this episode, IRMF continues to relish being her expert-in-Islam self, and Dr. Debra Majeed talks to us about Black Muslim women, among other things.

The 101! (in which we did the professor-work)

Haven’t we already talked about Islam?

We sure have — in episodes 308, “Islam Is More than You Think It Is;” episode 105, “What Does It Mean to Be Religious?,” in which we talked about hajj; and episode 309, “Twitter, Jinns, and the Great Conjunction,” with Dr. Ali Olomi. And just last time in episode 409: “You Still Don’t Know About Islam, Part 1.” Good memory, you! But that’s the thing about Islam being the second largest religion in the world: there’s always so much more to know.

In this episode, we talked about Black, African American, and African Islams, because the world religions paradigm oh so obviously leaves out Africa (all of it) and classifies Islam as either Eastern or Western, which leaves out Africa, its inhabitants, and its descendants again. Which is to say: Black, African American, and African Islams are left out twice in this pernicious, omnipresent model.

Same basic lesson plan as always this season: knowing that religion is imperial helps us understand why Islam so often gets a raw deal within the world religions paradigm. And, as always, religious literacy requires us to know not just that Islam exists, but that Muslim practices vary among communities and change over time, place, and cultures.

Ilyse gave us some important background on how Islam doesn’t register as “African” or “Black,” both within the way religion is taught but also within how Muslims are seen globally; duh, nerds, this affects foreign policy, healthcare, laws around the world, among many other things.

 

Guest Expert! (because together we are a genius)

 

Dr. Debra Majeed is Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at Beloit College, and is a religious historian who makes the interconnection between religion, gender and justice central to her life’s work.

Her book, Polygyny: What it Means When African American Muslim Women Share Their Husbands, published by University Press of Florida (2016), is more than just fantastic.

She is a founder of Muslim Family Advocacy Project. She is certified as a Guardian ad Litem, or legal advocate for abused and neglected children. Dr. Majeed retired from Beloit in 2020; her contributions to social justice on the campus and in the wider community during her 21 years of teaching led the City of Beloit to proclaim January 21, 2011, “Dr. Debra Majeed Day.” She is, in short, a rockstar—and we are thrilled she joined us to talk about Black Muslim women, their leadership roles in Muslim communities, and how Muslim women are never a monolith.

 
 

Little Bit Leave It! (in which we leave you a little bit to remember)

Megan wants y’all to remember that Islam is literally everywhere, and no matter how much you know about Islam and Muslims, there’s always more to learn. And what’s more, she hopes we all learned both that Black Muslims exist (duh) and have for literal centuries, and that anti-Blackness has shaped how we think about Islam and Muslims both globally and here in the US.

Ilyse wants you to remember that Islam is plural and global. She also wants you to realize that we miss a lot of the Islams that happen in the world—historically, locally, contemporarily—because we do not take Africa or Black folk seriously (regardless of where they live). “We” here is white people but also white institutions: that’s education, of course, and also healthcare, law, housing, etc. That’s it. Islam is plural and global and Black and African and we do better when we know about the richness of the world.

 

If You Don’t Know, Now You Know! (in which we get one factoid each)

Ilyse taught us that Mary is in the Qur’an more than she’s in the Bible, AND that if you drew a circle around South and Southeast Asia, more Muslims would live in that circle than beyond it.

Megan brought us back to the US with a fact she learned from Dr. Kathleen Marie Foody. Did you know that the Halloween franchise, which irrevocably changed American horror, was produced by a Muslim dude? His name was Moustapha Al Akkad, and I WILL find a way to footnote him in my next book. Mark my words.

 

Homework! (because there’s always more to learn)

Megan, first and foremost, wants to thank our guest Dr. Majeed again, and also tell y’all to read her work: 

Beyond Dr. Majeed, Megan assigns:

  • Sapelo Square, which is an online resource edited by Su’ad Abdul Khabeer

  • Su’ad Abdul Khabeer, Muslim Cool (2017)

  • Half of Faith, ed. Kecia Ali. It’s a volume on marriage, divorce, dating, and relationships in American Islam, gonna rec the awesome and open access compendium, with contributions from so very many of our faves, including Juliane Hammer, Aminah Beverly Al-Deen, AND today’s honored guest, Dr. Debra Majeed. 

Ilyse assigned mostly work about African Islams.

 
 

Nerds of the Week! (because we love you for loving us)

Thanks for listening, rating and reviewing. This week’s nerd royalty are Pertusaria, a_j_l, & towatcher!!

 

Next up: “Christianity Beyond Whiteness”