ahlan wa sahlan

I’m currently listening to the Aladdin soundtrack as I write this. I know its not “authentic” Arab music but rather a Disney creation, but it still puts me in an “Arabian night” mood to write about my latest adventure to Cairo, Egypt! Since the spring semester starts later here in Krakow, my spring break fell on Easter. Luckily, my best friend Kay had a week off too so logically we had to go somewhere amazing and Egypt it was! Before going I imagined my trip would be full of touristy things (aka pyramids) as well as many opportunities to practice my Arabic! The trip lived up to both expectations however there was another element that made this trip quite unique, a lesson in the Islamic faith. Instead of telling you about all the “things” I did or saw I’ve decided to instead tell you what I discovered and learned on this trip! Note: These are observations and conversations I had with people, thus much of this is based on opinion and interpretation. Also, I myself am not a Muslim and thus I am only recounting what I saw/thought. That said, I’m not an expert on any of these matters.

Islam is currently the second-largest religion in the world (first-largest would be Christianity) but its main concentration is in the Arab World. Before this trip I must admit I was mostly ignorant about Islam. I had a very stereotypical view and only knew details such as women must be covered and they must pray 5 times a day. An extreme (and unfortunate) American view of Muslims is of uneducated, wife-beating, terrorists. Needless to say after spending a week in an Islamic country my view was changed and expanded. Now with any religion there is a difference between practicing and preaching and I was fortunate enough to meet many people with variety of views and interpretations. But first here is some very basic information for those who are not familiar at all with the Islamic religion. Islam means “surrender” which implies surrendering and following Allah (“God” in Arabic). There are five main pillars of Islam as well: Belief in only one God (Allah), Salat (prayer 5 times a day), Zakat (like a tithe), fasting during Ramadan, and Hajj which is a pilgrimage to Mecca however is not required if you do not possess the means to make such a journey. Another interesting fact is that “Allah” is also considered the God of the Jews and the Christians. The Islamic faith (specifically the Qur’an) is believed to be the continuation of the Bible. Apparently God sent Mohammad because people had distorted the words of His prophet Jesus to thinking he was the Son of God. However Mohammad is only a prophet and it is FORBIDDEN to worship him. Most importantly, Islam is not just considered a religion but a way of life. It shows one how to live a complete life in the best possible way.

Kay and I stayed at the “New Palace Hotel” during our stay in Cairo. It was a very cheap hostel and not on the nicest street, but in the end, it was this hostel that MADE our trip what it was (if you ever go to Cairo I DEFINITELY recommend this place). The hotel occupied the top two floors of a building in downtown Cairo and the best part was that it had a covered rooftop garden! The hotel is also the base for the small “Echo travel agency”. We got an AMAZING package that included several days with our own driver and guide (note: not an uncommon thing to have in Cairo). What we soon figured out though was that all the drivers, guides, workers, planners, managers, etc. at this hostel was like one big family. Everyone would meet up on the roof at night and smoke shisha, play pool, have dinner and just discuss life! This is how Kay and I met Dr. Ahmed. Dr. Ahmed was not only the owner of the hotel AND travel agency but his former profession was a doctor and Kay and I had reason to suspect he came from a family of money as well. Though when we originally met him our first night there we knew none of this except that somehow the conversation turned to Islam. We talked for hours and in the end Dr. Ahmed decided that our questions were profound and intelligent and offered to take us to meet a real Sheikh!

The following day after a very long tour of Islamic and Coptic Cairo we met up with Dr. Ahmed, clean and covered, to meet the Sheikh. When we arrived, there were many people in line to ask their own questions and seek guidance. When our turn arrived Dr. Ahmed came with to translate. The Sheikh could not look directly at us (we were “too beautiful” and he had to maintain his purity) however he was thrilled to be able to discuss Christianity and Islam with us. He kept reiterating that Islam was a religion of discussion and not of ignorance. He even went so far as to send one of the Sheikhs-in-training who was sitting in on the discussion out to buy us “bebsi” (Pepsi). As I mentioned previously, the Islamic faith still believes that parts of the Torah and parts of the Bible are God’s word. Thus the Sheikh was all too ready to flex his biblical knowledge for us as two Christians. Here are just a few of the questions we asked (responses are obviously paraphrased):
Question: “Why do you believe Jesus was a prophet and not the Son of God?”
Response: “Simple, God is all-powerful. It is not necessary for him to have a son, daughter, father, mother, or wife. Also, it does not make sense that God would send someone to save the people from their sins. He is God, only he can forgive people for their sins.”

Question: “What about Jesus coming as the Son of God to fulfill the Law? Making it so people could come directly to God with no need for sacrifices as Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice.”
Response: “Just as God sent Moses to set up the Law he sent Jesus as a prophet to complete the law and preach that the people no longer needed sacrifices. Jesus came with the message from God to be preached to all the people (not just the Jews) but people distorted it and put their faith in Jesus instead of God.”

Question: “Then do you believe Jesus was only man? Do you not also believe that he was immaculately conceived in the Virgin Mary?”
Response: “What was Adam created from? What was Eve created from? Is it not also possible for God to create life inside the womb of a woman from nothing? God, as The Creator, created Jesus but he was only a man and not God.

Question: “Why do you believe that Jesus did NOT die on the cross?”
Response: “Jesus did not die on the cross. In fact, when they pierced his side, water and blood came out proving that he was still very much alive. In addition, when Mary went to the tomb to visit him she was carrying oil. The only time you anoint a dead body is before burial, not after the body is entombed. The oil she was carrying was thus used to heal his wounds. In the end he ascended up to heaven to wait until the Day of Judgment. Then Jesus will come back to earth to destroy the anti-Christ. Mohammad the Prophet, in contrast, died naturally and thus he will never return and his message is complete.

Question: “Why did all the prophets come from the line of Isaac but only Mohammad came from the line of Ishmael?”
Response: “Abraham had two sons; Ismael and Ishaac (note: not a spelling error, they just say the names differently). Ishaac had a covenant with God and thus all the prophets (including Jesus) came from his line. However, God blessed and was with Ismael as well. When God saw the people distort the teachings of Jesus he remembered Ismael and his descendents. He saw that they were a very ignorant and fragmented group of people. Thus he sent Mohammad to enlighten these forgotten people as well as to complete the Word of God. Mohammad was the last prophet until Judgment Day.”

So obviously these are just a few of the questions we asked. The discussion ended on a good note, both sides agreeing to disagree, but I walked away with a better insight and understanding of the religion. Dr. Ahmed took us to dinner afterwards and explained that to him religion is a personal thing and that what it really comes down to is what you believe and feel is right in your heart. He explained that some Muslims are very strict with the rules, where as he followed the basics and only applied some of the strict rules that made sense to him. Sadly I still think the majority of the people we saw only practiced Islam as a tradition but were still very ignorant and even sadder, apathetic, about what they were actually professing.

Another interesting topic of conversation that we tended to focus on was that of Politics! Oh yes, being Americans many of the people we met were curious about what we really thought about George Bush, the War in Iraq, etc. I was always cautious about approaching the topic of politics because I didn’t want to find myself in a hostile situation in a foreign country. BUT I was pleasantly surprised to find the Egyptian’s opinions about these matters differed as much as a group of American’s would. Some believed that America was overreacting and abusing their power thus hurting the whole world. Some believed that the American reaction was exactly what the Al-Qaida wanted and America was merely giving them the war they wanted and in the process severing ties with the Middle East forever. Some even believed that Osama bin Laden had good intentions and that he merely overstepped his boundary trying to get some attention. But the one opinion I didn’t expect to hear, I actually found a lot. And that is, many people believed that the war was not only unavoidable but perhaps necessary. They were, obviously, not happy about war – especially since it meant being Muslim and speaking Arabic immediately called them into question – but they understood it. Our friend, nicknamed “Jamaica,” told me that his prayer was that this war would bring the Middle East together. I asked him if he thought this would happen. He laughed and responded, “No, this will never happen.” I bought a book while I was there called “America, Islam and the War of Ideas” by Lawrence Pintak and I really recommend it. I haven’t finished it yet, but the author makes a statement that a big part of the foundation of the war is perception. Many people in America and the Arab world are quick to have opinions about “us” and “them”. However our cultures, histories, and beliefs are so different from each other that most people are ignorant about the “them”. Even with my brief trip there I can’t even claim to have “understanding” but I can attest that there ARE differences. As for my opinion about the war… I’ve heard a lot of strong opinions but my problem is I feel that most are based on speculation. As American’s we know what the Bush Administration tells us and we know what the media tells us. How is one supposed to form an opinion, let alone a solution based on this? I may not think that Bush is the best leader, but I do have faith in the American government. Maybe that is based on speculation too. Haha.

Lastly, I just want to say a bit of a warning. Although I loved every moment of my trip to Egypt I must admit it might not be the safest place to go for a young, American girl. Kay and I were smart about it and only had a few encounters, but even those few were not pleasant. I would never tell someone to “just stick to the touristy places” because you’ll never experience anything that way. Instead my advice would be, if you are a girl, go with a brother, father, boyfriend, guyfriend, or some trusted male-figure. Otherwise your best bet would to be to cover up! I wore long sleeves and a head scarf most of the time and even then I wished I had a full face and body cover!

So yes. But what did I do there, you ask!? Well, I shall list some of the things we did, all of which were absolutely incredible: visited the lush Azhar Gardens with a stunning view of Cairo, took informative tours of Islamic and Coptic Cairo, saw the famous Citadel, saw many gorgeous Mosques including my favorites Sultan Hassan and Ibn Tulun, was treated to ice cream and a fun night tour of a Cairo by Dr. Ahmed, saw the Giza Pyramids and the Sphinx on CAMELS, saw the unexpectedly fascinating Saqqara Step Pyramids, saw the mud-brick Hawarra Pyramid in the middle of nowhere and got to touch a mummy!, learned how to make papyrus paper, got a much-needed massage with Egyptian rose oils, saw Egyptian carpet making (sadly many of the workers were kids…), went to the famous (and overly-touristy) Egyptian Museum, went to a beautiful Oasis complete with waterfall near el-Faiyum, laid on the beach in Sinai at Dr. Ahmed’s private beach house, went INTO the Red Sea (salty), watched ships pass through the Suez Canal, stopped at an old army base in the middle of the desert, haggled at the Khana Khalili market, sipped hibiscus tea on a cliff overlooking Giza, smoked a lot of flavored shisha, ate lots of delicious Egyptian food, took a dinner cruise on the Nile complete with belly dancers, and of course met many, many fascinating people.

I was able to get by pretty well also because I’ve taken one semester of Arabic! I’ve been taking classical Arabic and thus the Egyptian dialect is very different, but Kay and I both picked it up quickly. Everyone was impressed that we could hold a shaky conversation AND that I could read and write in the Arabic alphabet! So here is your lesson for the week (using our alphabet):
Izayyak? (How are you?)
Al Hamdulillah (Good)
Wa inta? (And you?)
Ismak ey? (What’s your name?)
Ismee… (My name is…)
Tasharrafna (Pleased to meet you)
Shukkran (Thank you)
‘Afwan (You’re welcome)
Maashi (Okay)
Yalla beena! (Let’s go!)

For those who are not satisfied and want to know “what the pyramids were like” and such, I shall post some pictures and you can make your own conclusions! (haha, but yes the pyramids were great) I’ll be here in Poland for the next two weeks but then I will be heading off to Russia, Estonia and Lithuania for about 9 days! So many places, so little time…