Susu as a cowgirl (we went to a cowgirl party)
Suraya giving us a piece of her mind!
The pictures are forcing themselves in before the text, but since I am not good with computers, I can't do much. This is us in Grand Cayman. I will post the Jamaica ones when I scan them. That's a stingray. And yes, I was pretty scared. I am officially done with my comps. I pray that I passed all four of them. I prepared pretty well, but I was really burnt out by the end. The first exam was Oral Civ. As they like to say around here, it covers "Muhammad to Mubarak." They can ask you anything about those 1400 years. It starts out broad, but the focus can really narrow. I learned a lot about Persian culture though--for my middle period exam, I read parts of the Shahnameh. What's not to like about names like Rostam, Anushirvan, Bahram Chubineh, etc. Just saying them is fun. Anyway, I got the results from that right after I finished. It went well. The week after that (last week), I had three more tests. The first was my minor field: Islamic History. It covered 600 to 1200. The real hardship was that there was a great emphasis on North Africa and Spain. Ya, everyone likes the whole al-Andalus episode in history, but I've never met so many people with the names Abd al Rahman and Hisham. Try memorizing 700 years of this stuff. That was a challenge since I've never studied Spain. At times I thought about taking the gamble and just ignoring Spain, hoping that I could opt out of the Spain question (there are 3 sections and in each section, you have to answer 3 of 5). I am too uptight to do that, and in the end, I am glad I studied Spain because even with process of elimination, I wouldn't have been able to write the test without this info.
My major field test was Qur'anic exegesis. My final test was Friday. It was 8 hours--you get a "surprise" text, and you must translate and then write up your methodology (how you'd approach the text, if there are any parallel texts in the field, what secondary sources you'd use, etc.). I got four pages from the exegete, Tabari. It took me about 4.5 hours to do the translation (it was pretty long).
The text dealt with Qur'an 2:36 (the pericope about the expulsion of Adam and Eve from paradise). I found it interesting since the Qur'an itself does not assign Eve the culpability that the exegesis thereof does (most of the traditions that relate to this account claim that Eve tempted Adam with the fruit [sometimes going as far as to get him drunk], and thus, is singularly accountable for the fall of man).
This is my problem with the medieval juridical tradition. Simply said, you have the scripture, which is ostensibly egalitarian in scope, and then it is robbed of its egalitarianism by patriarchy (the exegetes): The provenance of these narratives (the ones that impute blame to Eve) are ostensibly influenced by Judeo-Christian traditions, particularly the Isra'iliyyat, most of which were incorporated into the genre of literature called "stories of the prophets" (qisas al anbiya) which later infiltrated classical exegesis. It is through these sources that we are presented with a sort of mytho-poetic Eve, one that does not necessarily have origins in the qur’anic text itself. Because of this, we must strive to locate the origins of this Eve elsewhere, so that we may evaluate the provenance of the accretions to the account.
Anyway, the versions of the account that "blame" Eve are found in Tha'labi and Kisa'i (storytellers), which, for me anyway, demonstrates that the accounts can be traced to itinerant storytellers (like Wahb b. Munabbih) , most of whom were recent converts from Judaism or Christianity. Here is just a sample: Kisa’i’s reports are even more articulate in assigning Eve the culpability for the whole affair; as he states, “Eve drew near to the tree. . . Eve plucked seven ears from seven branches of the tree, ate one and hid one away; the other five she took to Adam.” Then Kisa’i states, “It has been related by Ibn ‘Abbas that Adam had nothing to do with the act, neither in denial or acquiescence.”
What does all this mean? Well, I feel that in seeking to "round out" the vague Qur'anic narrative, storytellers sought to fill the gaps and by doing so, helped to fashion the mytho-poetic Eve, imputing to her a larger role than the scripture does and moreover, one that was strikingly similar to her Judeo-Christian persona.
Of course, this is tentative, and only the beginning, but for me its a pretty interesting topic.
Alongside of the tests, life continued as normal. In December, we went on our honeymoon. Some pics are below. Jan, Feb and the beginning of March were mostly a blur. The most vivid memory I have is staring at the clock on the wall as I studied for hours and hours. It was definitely a hard journey, that I know many of you have taken in preparing for exams of some type or another. This week is Spring break. I am planning on Spring cleaning, and getting the house painted. We are not sure of our colors at all. We also have to buy a dresser for Susu and Suraya. I should probably start exercising. We have eaten out so much over the past 10 weeks, probably averaging 5 times a week. Its been hectic, and I am glad it is done. Well, I think I will sign off, but not without posting some pics.
Pictures from Princess Wishes:
My major field test was Qur'anic exegesis. My final test was Friday. It was 8 hours--you get a "surprise" text, and you must translate and then write up your methodology (how you'd approach the text, if there are any parallel texts in the field, what secondary sources you'd use, etc.). I got four pages from the exegete, Tabari. It took me about 4.5 hours to do the translation (it was pretty long).
The text dealt with Qur'an 2:36 (the pericope about the expulsion of Adam and Eve from paradise). I found it interesting since the Qur'an itself does not assign Eve the culpability that the exegesis thereof does (most of the traditions that relate to this account claim that Eve tempted Adam with the fruit [sometimes going as far as to get him drunk], and thus, is singularly accountable for the fall of man).
This is my problem with the medieval juridical tradition. Simply said, you have the scripture, which is ostensibly egalitarian in scope, and then it is robbed of its egalitarianism by patriarchy (the exegetes): The provenance of these narratives (the ones that impute blame to Eve) are ostensibly influenced by Judeo-Christian traditions, particularly the Isra'iliyyat, most of which were incorporated into the genre of literature called "stories of the prophets" (qisas al anbiya) which later infiltrated classical exegesis. It is through these sources that we are presented with a sort of mytho-poetic Eve, one that does not necessarily have origins in the qur’anic text itself. Because of this, we must strive to locate the origins of this Eve elsewhere, so that we may evaluate the provenance of the accretions to the account.
Anyway, the versions of the account that "blame" Eve are found in Tha'labi and Kisa'i (storytellers), which, for me anyway, demonstrates that the accounts can be traced to itinerant storytellers (like Wahb b. Munabbih) , most of whom were recent converts from Judaism or Christianity. Here is just a sample: Kisa’i’s reports are even more articulate in assigning Eve the culpability for the whole affair; as he states, “Eve drew near to the tree. . . Eve plucked seven ears from seven branches of the tree, ate one and hid one away; the other five she took to Adam.” Then Kisa’i states, “It has been related by Ibn ‘Abbas that Adam had nothing to do with the act, neither in denial or acquiescence.”
What does all this mean? Well, I feel that in seeking to "round out" the vague Qur'anic narrative, storytellers sought to fill the gaps and by doing so, helped to fashion the mytho-poetic Eve, imputing to her a larger role than the scripture does and moreover, one that was strikingly similar to her Judeo-Christian persona.
Of course, this is tentative, and only the beginning, but for me its a pretty interesting topic.
Alongside of the tests, life continued as normal. In December, we went on our honeymoon. Some pics are below. Jan, Feb and the beginning of March were mostly a blur. The most vivid memory I have is staring at the clock on the wall as I studied for hours and hours. It was definitely a hard journey, that I know many of you have taken in preparing for exams of some type or another. This week is Spring break. I am planning on Spring cleaning, and getting the house painted. We are not sure of our colors at all. We also have to buy a dresser for Susu and Suraya. I should probably start exercising. We have eaten out so much over the past 10 weeks, probably averaging 5 times a week. Its been hectic, and I am glad it is done. Well, I think I will sign off, but not without posting some pics.
Pictures from Princess Wishes:
Snow and Rayya: 
1 comment:
i loved the pictures! The Eve stuff is really interesting--I've always liked the Eve narrative in the Quran much better than the one in Genesis, even though I don't know that much about exegesis of either scripture. Suraya really looks older since we saw her last fall. Have a great spring break and be sure to relax some--you deserve it!
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