I may have committed one of my bigger faux pas yesterday. Yup, I had one of those “how-the-hell-can-I-get-myself-out-of-this-gracefully” moments.
In my world geography class I am teaching a quick unit on Islam as an intro to the Middle East. I figure many Americans, particularly teenagers, know very little about this religion. I want them to realize that not all Muslims are strapping bombs on their backs and searching out Americans to murder. Sadly, too many people are guilty of lumping everyone of Islam into the same group as the radicals that are bastardizing their faith.
We started this unit last week with some wonderful handout geared for teenagers. They don’t go into a great deal of detail, but provide enough information for me to watch my students gain an understanding of Islam and some of its basic beliefs.
That said – I am certainly no expert on Islam. I know more than the average bear, but obviously have a lot to learn. I’m upfront about that with my students each year. We cover the information together, and each year I learn new tidbits that I can pass on the next year.
On Monday my newest exchange student joined the class. We were reviewing and discussing the things my students read over the weekend. As a group we talked about things like Koran, Sunna Shabada, Hajj, and Sawm while we compared Islam to the religion they are most familiar with – Christianity. I told my exchange student she wouldn’t have to take the quiz on Tuesday because she wasn’t there when we started the unit.
Yesterday while the kids were working on the quiz, she came up to me and handed me a little beaded bracelet. I told her she didn’t have to give me anything, and she smiled and said she just wanted me to have it. It was beautiful, and I showed my delight as I commented on how very much I appreciated her kindness.
Yet, when I looked at it I was puzzled. It really was too big to be a bracelet and far too small to be a necklace. Even so, I couldn’t figure out how on earth I’d ask her what to do with it without hurting her feelings so I just slipped it around my wrist.
After class she wandered over to talk and I decided to ask.
Well duh.
By now some of you may have guessed what this sweet kid gave me.
I assumed she was Muslim because she is from Turkey. I was comfortable with how my students handled their discussion of Islam.
However, I had absolutely no idea that Muslims have prayer beads. Did you?
I can only imagine how much I blushed as she pulled the handout I’d used and showed me a drawing of a Muslim man with prayer beads in his hand. I like to think I recovered well when I asked her to explain how, why, and when they are used. In her broken English she made a valiant attempt.
Even with my recovery, I felt like a blooming idiot. Thankfully, my new little student never seemed to take any offense with my ignorance. She beams at me and smiles every time I pass her in the hall. I am rather thrilled with my little gift. I’m not sure, but I think that she gave me something very important to her and I hope she did so because I handled the discussion of her faith well enough for her to want to extend a small thank you.
Who knows?
Maybe she just wants to teach or convert me. No matter what, I am touched by her actions.
Peace
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13 comments:
I knew that prayer beads are used in Islam, much as rosary beads are used in Catholicism, but I've never seen a pair of prayer beads for Muslims.
Will - The ones she gave me are rather like pearls all connected with a little chain. There is a small set of beads that kind of dangles off of them. Eventually, I'm going to ask her more about them - but I think I'll wait until she's been here a bit longer, we are more familiar with each other, and her English is better.
I actually asked her if she knew Catholics used Rosary beads and explained those to her. She hadn't heard of them. I am not Catholic, but am going to find her a rosary so I can show her what that is. : )
Smooth. Real smooth. But a decent recovery!
What a sweet gesture! You did make a good recovery and I am sure she will be more than happy to explain more about the beads to you as she gets a better handle on her English.
Awww souns like one hell of a good kid right there! Keep them beads forever Deej, it indeed sounds like something very important to her. :)
Hey, how were you to know? As you said, you know something about Islam, but not a lot. I have seen the beads used by Muslims when praying (on TV; not here, silly!) but don't know the first thing about them.
Don't feel as if you're stupid. That's just something you haven't learned yet. You're still growing and learning new things, just like the kids in your classes.
She sounds like a real sweet girl. Lucky you, to have her in one of your classes.
I didn't know about prayer beads in the Islamic faith, and I pride myself on knowing things that would only be helpful if I happened to appear on "Jeopardy!"
that's great! She obviously didn't takeitthe wrong way - as it must have been obvious to her that you were doing your best.
I had heard of them but have never seen one- a photo would be good!
ultimately, rosarys and I assume prayer beads are actually a form of meditation which is designed to put you in a trance like state that brings you closer to universal understanding of god - that is why in Catholicism there are usually weekly prayer groups that meet to do so many "decades" of the rosary (a decade means one entire recitation of the rosary).
fascinating - I love learning new things.
Buddhists use them, too.
It does sound like the Rosary that Catholics use. It also sounds very beautiful from your description. I think after she has been there awhile and she has a better understanding of the English language, I imagine she'll love explaining them to you.
I thought only catholics had prayer beads in the form of the rosary. I think it is cool that two religions that are so much different from each other can have something in common. When my mom was till alive she made us pray the rosary every night before bed. If you have any questions about the rosary I might be able to help you.....Muslim ..sorry I don't have a clue!
ha ha.. I dont think she was trying to convert you. We normal muslims don't usually actively convert people :)
And to answer your question, yes muslim prayer beads are used quite the same way as the catholic rosary beads. Instead of "Hail mary"s, we use it to count the repetition of the arabic equivalent to "there's no God but Allah", "Allah is Great", "The Holy Allah", etc. This activity is called 'zikir', and act of reminding ourselves of the Almighty.
The short version of the prayer beads would have 11 beads (and the extra bit is to mark the start) while a longer version would have 33.
During zikir, we recite the phrases either 33 times or 99 times, depending on .. your energy or desperation, i guess? ha ha.
Some people don't even use prayer beads, but just use the segments on their fingers to count. (Each finger has 3 segments, so 11 times with the finger would equal 33, repeat 3 times and you'd have 99)
Prayer beads are very popular gifts/souviners, especially if one just got back from Makkah. They have all kinds, made from all sorts of materials, even sweet smelling woods (i cant recall the name at the moment).
It is so cool what you teach and the way you teach, Deej! :)
oops didnt realize how long my comment was.
Sorry!
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