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Jonathan Wedge
Anthropology 315: Comparative Religions
Professor Deanna Weibel-Swanson
November 27, 2011
Fighting for
Nothing?
For my fieldwork,
I attended two seemingly different religious services: those of Sunni Muslims
at the American Moslem Society in Coldwater, MI; and Presbyterian Christianity
at the First Presbyterian Church of Sturgis, MI. The reason I chose Islam was because Islamic
culture has been fascinating to me for many years. I chose Presbyterian Christianity because a
friend of mine invited me to attend (I actually invited myself as I needed to
attend another service and he kindly accepted).
I also thought it would be good to compare Christianity and Islam as
they have a common origin, and while they may have different aesthetics to
their worship practices, their very basic ideals are quite similar. Although the two religions have been fighting
each other for centuries, one has to wonder if the two religions have a real reason
to be fighting amongst each other at all.
Christianity is
a religion that started as a small sect of Judaism in the first century CE, and
later became the largest religion in the world (Warms, 471). Christianity comes from the life, death, and
teachings surrounding Jesus of Nazareth, a radical Jew that is believed to be
the so-called Messiah (the Hebrew term; Christ being the Latin term, hence the
common name of Jesus Christ. Christ
means “anointed one”; the one who redeem the sins of man) (Warms, 471). Jesus was (is) believed by his follower to
have been born via virgin-birth, perform miracles, teach a revitalized version
of Judaism, died during crucifixion, and resurrected before ascending to heaven(Warms,
471-473). Although for the first few
centuries Christianity was just a sect of Judaism (with Gentile divisions such
as the Pauline and Gnostics), in the fourth century Christianity was adopted as
the official religion of the Roman Empire (Warms, 475). Roman Catholicism—the largest denomination of
Christianity--spread through Europe for the next millennium (Warms, 477). Between the 14th and 16th
century arose a series of Protestant reformations who sought to break away from
Catholic doctrine that was seen by some as unnecessary (Warms, 477). One of the most prominent leaders of the
Reformation was John Calvin. Presbyterianism
finds its roots in the doctrine of John Calvin and John Knox, a Scotsman who
studied alongside Calvin, although contemporary Presbyterians have put much
less emphasis on Calvinist doctrine (New Advent). The word Presbyterian comes from the Greek
term for elder, as the church is governed by a council of elders rather than
bishops (New Advent). Presbyterians
advocate lifelong education as well as generosity and hospitality.
Islam formed
from the teachings of Muhammad, and is the youngest of the three Abrahamic
religions (Judaism and Christianity being the other two); it is also the
world’s second largest religion (Warms, 486).
Islam is the Arabic word for “submission”, as Muslims (people who
practice Islam) believe they must completely submit themselves to the will of
God (Bowen, 147). Muslims hold high
respect for Abraham, Moses, and the other Hebrew prophets, and Jesus Christ,
and believe that they are authentic people of God; however, they believe that
the words of these people were incomplete, or mistranslated (Warms, 486). Muslims believe that God spoke to Muhammad in
Arabic, and since Muhammad could not read or write, he had to memorize every
word that God spoke to him. Muhammad
then spoke the word of God to his followers, who then wrote his teachings in
the holy text called The Qur’an, which is Arabic for “recite” (Bowen, 146). A proper Qur’an is always written in ancient
Arabic, as the words themselves are considered sacred and should not be
reinterpreted or translated. There are
two main divisions of Islam: the Sunni and the Shi’ites. Following the death of Muhammad, there was a
struggle for leadership (Warms, 487). A
number of Muslims backed Muhammad’s nephew, Ali, and his son, Husayn, as they
believed Islam should be led by Muhammad’s own blood relative (Warms, 492). Those who supported the successors of Ali
were called Shi’a, and they make up the Shi’ite division (Warms, 492). However, those who followed the Umayyad
dynasty, which began with Muhammad’s father-in-law Abu Bakr, became Sunni
Muslims, and make up the majority of Muslims by far (Warms, 492). Despite the faction, most of the beliefs of
Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims are very similar (Warms, 492).
The American
Moslem Society of Coldwater was the first of the services I attended. Upon arrival, there were two men who appeared
to be selling things on a table by the front door. I waited in my vehicle as I was a bit early
and watched as many men and their children entered the building; I noticed that
none of the people entering were female.
I eventually decided to head into the building. I introduced myself to a man at the table by
the door, declaring I was a student looking to attend his mosque’s service, but
he looked at me with the most confused look.
After speaking to a teenager in Arabic, he told me to follow a group of
people inside (I was later told that the men at the table cannot speak English;
at least not much, since he told me to follow the group). As soon as I walked in, a short elderly man
in front of me bent down, and I knew to take off my shoes as he was doing, and
place them on a shelf. I walked into a
sanctuary where people sat or knelt on the floor. It was mostly quiet, as people were either
reading, praying, or just sitting quietly, however there was some light
conversation. I was guided to who I
thought may be the Imam, as he was sitting on the floor against the back wall,
with his legs crossed, reading scripture and wearing a white cap and
traditional Muslim robes. He spoke English, and I told him my purpose for being
here. He pointed me to another man (who
appeared to be in his 20s) who was wearing a long white robe with a leather
jacket and a turban that was walking across the room; this man noticed me and
smiled, and I was told to follow him into the office. When we sat in the office, I told this man my
purpose for being here as I had told the previous man. The man kindly accepted my presence here, and
informed me that he was the assistant Imam, filling in for the head Imam whom
was not present. I asked if this mosque
was Sunni, and after some clarification that I meant “either Sunni or Shi’ite
or another denomination” (he thought I was talking about the desktop computer
and must have thought I said “Sony” , confirmed they were Sunni (he pronounced
it Sunna). We waited in his office as he
went over the notes for his speech. Many
children and older pre-teens came into the office to say hello, and they mostly
spoke in Arabic; I got the feeling that many of the kids there looked up to
this assistant Imam (I will simply call him the Imam from this point for
simplicity’s sake). Some of the kids
spoke to him with a voice of curiosity, and I heard him answer and heard a word
that sounded like “university”; he told me people were curious about me, which
makes sense as I probably stuck out in the crowd. Another man in traditional garb came in and
also asked about me, and introduced himself—he was from the board (which I
assume is a council). I was offered a
chair for the service, but I declined and said I was comfortable on the floor
like everyone else. When it was time for
his speech, I followed him out of the office, and sat in a small staircase by
the office where I could get a good view of the alter (which was in the East
corner) and not be in the direct view of a lot of the worshippers; I sat with a
lot of young people. To start, everyone
got very quiet, and a short old man sang in Arabic in front of the alter. This man sat down afterwards, and the Imam
began his speech. His words were in
Arabic very fast and fluid, and there were few stops (although occasionally he
would stretch a syllable for a couple moments).
There was also a sense of seriousness on his face and in his voice. He spoke loudly and with command, but never
shouting. I was told later by the man from the board his speech was about
children and how they should act and be raised.
Sometimes people would come in late, and would do a prayer where they
folded their arms, then bent down, then stood up, than knelt down and touched
their head to the floor; some repeated this a few times. After over 25 minutes of speaking, he sat
down, and stood back up a moment later. Most
of the people who were sitting against the walls began facing the alter. The Imam began speaking again, and at the
tail-end of phrases everyone would quietly mutter “ameen” (I was later told this means “please God, accept”. We then all stood in rows side-by-side to
engage in the final prayer. The Imam now
began singing the prayer, and we would do the same prayer motion that those who
walked in late did, although we paused after each movement. We did this twice, and at the start of each
time, everyone in the room chanted “ameem”
and stretched both syllables very long; it was one of the most powerful things
I had ever felt. After this, people
shook hands with their neighbors.
I arrived at
the First Presbyterian Church of Sturgis about ten minutes before service
began. Before service I stuck with my
friend and his mother and a couple of people introduced themselves. At the suggestion of my friend’s mother, I
signed the visitors’ book. The lady at
the front desk gave to me a coffee mug with the church’s symbol on it. Many of people were congregating while drinking
coffee or tea that was offered by the church.
We soon went into the sanctuary for First Light service (an informal,
family-friendly service), which began with a song by the praise band. The sanctuary had a stained-glass window
above the stage of Jesus, and there were many Christmas decorations. After the song, the leaders had their
announcements, where they informed the congregation of extra activities and
news involving the church members, including a farewell to an elderly couple
who were retiring south; they had been members since the 1960s. Following a series of prayers and songs,
there was a short segment for the children where they talked about
Christmas. The major theme for the day
was the “First Sunday of Advent”, which I deduced was the holiday season before
Christmas and after Thanksgiving. A
video was showed on the projector of a bunch of people singing a Christmas
carol in a mall, and people in the crowd of the mall would join in. The pastor gave his sermon relating to the
holidays, and how while all the gifts and food and decorations of presents is
great, it only scratches the service about how great Christmas is, and that
knowing the Lord’s love is the greatest feeling of all. There was another video showing a comical
story of a man who wanted to ask his neighbor if he wanted to attend church
with him on Sunday, and in his anxiousness imagined many worst-case scenarios;
in the end the other man agreed to attend, showing the intent of the video was
that it doesn’t hurt to ask people to attend church. Following offering, hymns, and reciting the
Lord ’s Prayer, there was a coffee break, where I met more people and the
pastor. After the coffee break, there
was a traditional Sunday service, which while more aesthetically formal (there
were more elderly people, the songs were sung by a choir in robes), had the
same theme and many of the same segments happened.
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