Myths and truths from the Quran

Chances are that your Facebook or Tweeter feed have been populated with videos about the crazy things Muslims plan to do to overtake the world and subject it to sharia law. Chances are, also, that you sometimes have doubted the veracity of the information, but don´t have the time or interest in snooping it. The news help feed the fear with their reports about the atrocities of Isis and the eminent risks of a terrorist attack. There are also a few voices reassuring that not every muslim hates the west, and that extremists are not good representatives of the faith, but their voices are silenced by the actions of a few. On top of that, there are still lots of myths about Islam and its beliefs. Do they want to establish sharia law wherever they go? Does the Quran mandate to kill all the infidels? Does the Quran allow men to beat women? What about polygamy? Do they really believe that everyone other than Muslims will go to hell? 

Where to start looking for the truth?
In the last 15 years, hundreds of books about Islam have been published. A few have been written to confirm people's fears, but most attempt to offer clarity about the muslim faith. There are also the brave souls that read the Quran on their own in an attempt to sort things out. Carla Power, an American journalist living in England, is one of those looking for the truth. Her first impressions of muslim societies were formed in Egypt, Afghanistan, Iran and India, where she lived as a child; as a seasoned journalist writing about muslim societies for magazines such as Time and Newsweek, she developed a wider understanding of the culture and the religion. However, the events that lead to 9-11 and the consequences of the attacks ignited the need to read firsthand the Quran, thought to be the source of all contention.
'If The Oceans Were Ink' is the memoir she wrote after studying the holy book with a muslim scholar for a year. Muhammad Akram Nadwi, a former colleague at Cambridge, accepted her proposal to study the book that 2 billion people consider holy, and that is also blamed for violent actions against western society.
Powers and the Sheikh, her scholar friend, found in their journey the spirit and the historical context of polemic verses (suras) that excite both fear and rage.
They studied the verse of the sword (9:5) that calls for "killing the idolaters wherever you find them." While jihadists and Islamic opponents find in it the argument for armed confrontation, the Sheikh contends that it was written specifically for the people in the times of the prophet Muhammad. Where some read in it a call for imposing Islamic law, the scholar finds an exhortation for personal piety and submission.

Women wearing hijabs in Malaysia 

In an intense meeting at a coffee shop in Oxford they discussed the women's passage (4:34). It states that men are superior to women, and that they can impose their authority even by force. Instead of contradicting the text, the Sheikh offers specific examples taken from the Prophet’s life on how to read, understand, and live this mandate. On the subject, Power includes a thorough explanation on the history behind the use of burkas, niqabs, hijabs, and veils.
With a detailed and entertaining narrative, Powers included in her memoir details about the lives of the Sheikh's family and other muslims in England. She visited the professor’s hometown and madrasa in India, and even contemplated the idea of going for a pilgrimage to Mecca.
Together they explored the power of culture and tradition in establishing rules and law in different muslim countries, and openly debated traditions such as child marriage and the concept of martyrdom. The account of this unique friendship between a pious muslim and an inquisitive secular is not only entertaining, but informative and revealing about the different shades and currents of Islamic thought.

In the land of the robed monks

Monks practice dances for their annual festival in the courtyard of Thikse Monastery. 

Souvenir shop in Leh.

Taking from stories about the Silk Road traders and the trails they crisscrossed for centuries, Rudyard Kipling gave us a glimpse of the Himalayas through an old lama and his faithful Sherpa, Kim, who traversed northern India in search of an auspicious river. In their adventure they met hunters, rich women, English soldiers, spies and horse traders. Kim is a fascinating novel that illustrates life in Northern India in the late 1800s. On March 17, 1959, the Dalai Lama made history when he trekked those same mountains for about two weeks, in order to escape imprisonment by the Chinese government. From Dharamsala, his adopted hometown in the Indian Himalayas, he still advocates for autonomy in the Tibet region. Today, hundreds of hikers, bikers, pilgrims and adventurers go to Ladakh to experience the majesty of the mountain desert, and to get a glimpse of life in the famed land.

Shanti Stupa, a peace pagoda.  

Accessible by airplane since the 1970s, Leh sits as the region’s capital and gateway to all its attractions. Despite the proliferation of hotels, cafes, and tour providers, it continues to charm with its white, flat roofed homes, narrow streets, and local robed women who sell their fresh vegetables at the boulevard. School kids, Nepalese refugees, and construction workers roam the center of town, where the Royal Palace and the central mosque share space with souvenir shops, bazaars, and sweets stores.

Upper Hindus Valley seen from Shanti Stupa. 

But Leh is just one of the many towns that occupy the Upper Indus Valley, a region that glows with fields of mustard, barley, and other vegetables harvested in the summer. A good way to see its scope is to visit Shanti Stupa, a large white dome built by the Japanese atop a rocky hill in 1991. It offers spectacular views of the valley and its surrounding villages.    

A young monk showing temples' keys. 

Long before airplanes and paved roads, the Ladakh region was well known among traders, as it was the halfway point of one of the various silk routes that ran between India and China. In fact, merchants carrying their loads on yaks, camels, mules, and horses have crossed this area for over 8000 years, as it was recently discovered by researchers who found remains of charcoal from ancient bonfires in the same place where workers are building a new road.

It was through these ancient routes that Buddhism got to this part of India. Along with spices and hides, traders brought the teachings of Gautama Buddha. Soon after, robed monks trekked the rugged trails looking for peace and quiet. Some stayed in the Ladakh region, and many others went to Nepal, Tibet and ultimately China, where Buddhism took root and expanded throughout Southeast Asia.

With time, the meditation caves that pious monks inhabited turned into monasteries that grew with the flourishing of the faith and the support of the royal families. The blending of Buddha’s teachings with the animistic beliefs of the inhabitants created a very rich mythology; monks and artists developed unique artistic expressions, and the relative isolation kept the religion almost free of reforms and change. Hundreds of pilgrims and tourists flood the region in the summer months to see this authentic manifestation of the faith.

Monks' robes ready for use in a temple. 

It is actually in villages nearby Leh where impressive Buddhist monasteries have succeeded. The largest, Thikse, is a 12 story structure built in the 15^th century that houses a library, a museum, a nunnery, and dwellings for about one hundred monks. It is said that this temple resembles closely Jokhang temple in Lhasa, Tibet, where Dalai lamas lived for centuries. One of its main attractions is a beautiful statue of Maitreya, or the future Buddha, that measures 49 feet and occupies two stories. There is also a Tibetan pharmacy, where a monk takes consultations, and prescribes blessed pills.

Maitreya, or Future Buddha. Thikse Monastery 

Hemis is another village famous for its monastery. This one is dedicated to Guru Rimpoche, a Buddhist master venerated in Northern India. It has a large courtyard where monks celebrate their festival and mask dances in early June, and it holds an impressive collection of Tangkas, a specific form of art composed of a religious painting framed in beautiful silk brocade. Besides learning about the temple’s history that dates back to the eleventh century, visitors can hike up to the golden statue of Maitreya Buddha that overlooks the temple.

The oldest, and most revered of the monasteries in the Indus Valley is Lamayuru. Built in the 16^th century in a land that was already considered sacred by Buddhists, it has been the center for religious activity in the area for centuries. In the month of June, monks from all the region gather to witness Yuru, Kab-gya, a festival that celebrates the triumph of good above evil. Visitors and pilgrims get together to enjoy the mask dances, the hypnotizing sound of gongs and cymbals, and the unique ambiance that permeates the place. Mingling with the locals provides an unforgettable experience.  

Children enjoy the festival in Lamayuru Monastery. 

Most of these monasteries are located on or near the famous Manali to Leh road that hundreds of bikers traverse every summer. This road connects also with Khardung La road, the highest drivable pass in the world. Severaltravel agencies have motorcycles for rent in Ladakh, and offer camping tours all over the region. As the tour vans move from one monastery to the other, locals harvest mustard in their parcels, or collect wood for the winter months. The more adventurous travelers bike to the Khardung La pass, go for rides to the sand dunes in the Nubra Valley, or trek from valley to valley camping under the stars. Hikers, bikers, and meditation enthusiasts find in the slopes of the Indian Himalayas the path they came looking for.

View of Thikse Monastery 

Two words about India

Morning at the Taj Mahal 

I overheard somebody at a restaurant saying that they did not like India at all because it was a dirty country. I could not help it but take it personally. Having been there, I have something more to say other than, yes, some of the places my husband and I visited were dirty.

To say we went to India is to fill our mouths with a big word. India is a subcontinent inhabited by over a billion people, where 64 languages and at least 400 different dialects are spoken. It is divided in 29 states and independent regions with different culture and traditions, and all major religions of the world are represented. It has miles of beaches, deserts, mountains in the Himalaya’s Plateau, rain forests, and 30 cities with at least one million residents. It boasts 21 monuments as World Heritage sites, and some of their archaeological finds date back 7000 years. We saw a speck of India, and it would be simplistic to define it in just one word.

Mehrangarh fort in Jodhpur  

In our journey we did not go to see modern India. We just got a brief glimpse of Central Delhi and its governmental buildings, quiet museums, and wide roundabouts populated by countless rickshaws, buses, and motorcycles. We skipped Mumbai and its sparkling movie sets, ultra-modern real estate projects, its world famous Victoria Rail Station, and of course its slums, that hold about 4 out of its 13 million residents. 

We went to see India’s grandeur through its historical sights. We visited forts built by the maharajahs 450 years ago; we entered the most famous mausoleum in the world, left as a testament of love and splendor; and we contemplated temples of various religions that stand as evidence of a spiritual people.

Entrance to Ranakpur Temple 

As we moved from place to place, either walking, or riding a rickshaw or a tourist car, we got to see India’s daily life: women washing clothes in their doorway, worshipers leaving offerings in the temple, children walking to school with their grandparents, storekeepers measuring grain, drinking tea, or reading the newspaper, and even goat herders finding their way on a busy intersection. In the midst of all that, we saw sacred cows foraging trash bins, stray dogs running in packs, and a wide variety of monkeys grooming their young or catching bananas thrown by the locals. Yes, there is trash in the middle of that, but to us, the beauty of people’s lives prevailed.

City Palace, Udaipur 

From the forts to the temples to the palaces, a word comes to mind. Contrast might be the word that best describes a visit to India. Contrast in the many ways people live their religion, in their adherence to a millennia old cast system, in the food, so thoughtfully prepared, and in the variety of landscapes, that satisfy any curious eye. There is trash, there is corruption, and there are a lot of problems to be solved. But there is also a country with an old soul, where wars have been fought, conquerors have been defeated, and where the presence of the gods reassure its people that life goes on.  

 

A closer look to prehistoric times in Texas

Models of Dimetrodon and Edaphosaurus sit at the center of  Whiteside Museum's exhibit hall. 

Following the suggestion of a dear friend with whom we travelled to Seymour Texas for her high school reunion, my mom and I stopped at the Whiteside Museum of Natural History last Memorial Weekend.

Unprepared and uninformed, we started the tour of what we thought would be a tiny museum in west Texas. We were so wrong. For about two hours, not only did we learn about the reptiles that roamed that region three hundred million years ago, but we toured the museum’s laboratory, greeted its director, and got to talk with staffers and volunteers that provide the museum’s unique experience.

Jody Dillard showing a bone segment from an Edmontosaurus.

For the first part of our tour, we were guided by Jody Dillard, a volunteer turned expert in the Permian period. She introduced us to Dimetrodon, Edaphosaurus, Seymouria, and Diadectes, the most common reptiles found in the area. As we walked through the exhibits, that include three-dimensional models and fossils, Jody confessed that she enjoys seeing the joy and surprise when kids and adults learn about these predecessors to dinosaurs. The main room also includes models from a T-rex head, and lots of plant and animal fossils found around Seymour.  

Tracy Houpt explained part of the preparation process. 

After visiting the live animal exhibit, or Zoo-seum as they call it, we saw their laboratory, where two people were studying rocks through microscopes, and digging with tiny tools. There, we met Tracy Jon Houpt, a volunteer from Georgia that besides being a passionate digger, helps updating the museum’s social media outlets.

Even though he had just arrived from a digging site, Tracy used his lunch hour to share some of the fossils he has helped uncover, the projects the team is undertaking, and even allowed us to use some of the paleontologists’ tools. Christopher Flis, the museum’s director, has been working with his team in digging out, preparing, and assembling the fossils of George and Mary, a male and female dimetrodon. They have also found skulls and hundreds of bone fragments from edaphosaurus and eryops.    

Unlike most museums, Whiteside keeps the lab open to visitors.

The Whiteside Museum opened two years ago thanks to the vision of a rancher, the passion of a young paleontologist, and the support from the people of Seymour and Baylor County. Paleontologists from around the world have been digging out treasures from the Texas Red Beds for over one hundred years, and the founders felt it was time some of the findings stayed home, in a museum dedicated to them.

Skull of Diplocaulus

For those familiar with prehistorical animals, the exhibits include fossils from the Permian period, in the Paleozoic era. These animals roamed the earth one hundred million years before dinosaurs did, and research is proving that there is still a lot to be discovered about them.

Jack the Eryops and Harold the Dimetrodon are also part of the exhibit. 

The museum includes models from different prehistoric periods.