Responses
Within two days after posting your Reflection, read another student’s paper and write a “Response” (about 200 words). You must respond to a different student every week. It must be submitted by Thursday by midnight. This is a serious exercise.
Read the Response to your Reflection regularly.
1. Respond specifically to the content in the student’s paper. Do not judge or evaluate it.
2. Build upon the student’s Reflection by bringing up other readings, interpretations, or information.
3. Don’t hesitate to offer a different viewpoint, but do so respectfully, with reasons to support it.
4. Note: Simply agreeing with, repeating, and/or praising another student’s work is not a Response. Remember that other students will be reading your papers. Your goal is to interact and engage seriously with each others ideas which make learning far more interesting, enjoyable, and enlightening. Students often find that they engage more with other students and can communicate their ideas more clearly through written responses than verbally in the classroom. They truly appreciate it when their ideas are taken seriously and they learn from different viewpoints.
response to this
COLLAPSE
This week we went deeper into the study of music and how it contributes to Islam. Last week, in the lesson of Rumi, we briefly looked into Rumi’s own relationship to popularizing song and dance within Sufism. This week we looked at the role of music within Islam, but also Muslim’s contribution to the evolution of music. Frishkopf details a few definitions of music’s role in Islam and details the different roles it plays within the religion. From religious music used in practices, cultural music associated with Muslim rule, music that is only consumed and produced by Muslims, and spiritual but not religious music, there is not just one way in which Muslims interact with music and incorporate it into their religious and daily life. Frishkopf also talks about different genres of Islamic music and when they are used. Between festivals and Islamic holidays as well as spiritual rituals and practices there are certain ways specific songs are used in certain contexts. Music is not only a main tenant of Islam, but Muslims have impacted music in the Western world. Saoud talks about Arab’s appreciation for language which led to increased use of poetry and music in their culture. While poetry became popularized first, Saoud says music and poetry were interconnected, as all you had to do was add musical rhythm. This is why Rumi, the poet, was so influential in music among Muslims during his time. Along with poetry, music was considered a branch of philosophy and math. Although the popularization of music is often attributed to the Greeks, the ancient Greeks and Romans’ knowledge and use of music would not have reached Europe without Muslims, states Saoud. Muslims’ connection to the development of music in Europe can be traced back as far as Charlemagne, and the spread of their knowledge is seen throughout musical sounds and traditions throughout Europe, then spreading to America.
I was surprised by a lot of the content this week. Because of last week’s lesson on Rumi, I knew song and dance played a large role in Islam. However, I had not known how intertwined music was with Muslim culture. The use of music in all types of context runs so deep within Islam, even back to passages in the Q’uran. I really enjoyed reading about the ways they used music to enhance all types of ceremonies or practices, as well as festivals and celebrations. I was also intrigued by their connection between music and subjects such as philosophy and math. Today we separate creative forms of learning such as the study of music from more “serious” subjects like math and philosophy. I think Muslim’s ability to connect music to even these more analytical aspects of learning says a lot about their creativity. I also had not known the influence of Muslim culture over ancient Greek and Roman’s use and knowledge of music. This was interesting to see how the roots of music really come from Arab cultures and had influence throughout Europe and then eventually the entire Western world in some way. However, this is not necessarily surprising as we have found many links between founding principles and practices of Islam spreading to the Western world in some way or another every week.
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