Muslim holiday in MALI

Tabaski Festival in Bamako, Mali

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photo story by Pierre-Yves Brunaud

Please look at this link for a beautiful depiction of the 3 day religious holiday of "Eid al-Adha," "solemn sheep holiday,' here and how the Malians prepare and celebrate it in their homes.

click here: Tabaski Fesitval in MALI

Jenn & I, being newly arrived in Bamako, aren't doing much today. If we were still in Kayes we'd have numerous invitations to come eat some big meals, and we often do three invitations, yes, three meals, in one afternoon!  The Diarras, Cisses, Diops, Sys, more Diarras, Coulibalys, Aans, and others insist we come by.  If we don't, they send some meat by anyway!   Probably by next the holiday in July we'll know many folk here, too, and some good meals.

taken in 1989 - Kayes near the railroad station showing maybe 5,000 in morning festival prayers 

We often even have some time while drinking tea in the homes to show a Bible story cloth, read a kid's story in their language, play a Bible story or portion, and talk of the meaning of the day. The Muslims see it as simply a remembrance of what father Abraham did in sparing the son and being faithful to God.  As Ishmael, 1st born son of model Abraham, is the father of the Arabs, they see this as a founding moment in their all important 'house of Islam,' "Dar Islam." They do not see the sacrifice as a shadow of the cross shining in the light of Jesus the only sacrifice for all men.  We pray they will have their minds and hearts opened.  Many who are in Mecca on the Pilgrimage at this time have dreams or visions from the almighty God above which gets them directed toward seeking Him more. Pray for this.  

Wikipedia's article on the festival is useful for a westerner & fairly complete:   wikipedia.org/wiki/Eid_al-Adha festival Tabaski

It also shows the moveable dates to come for several years.

You who live in non-Muslim lands, i.e. America, Germany, or Israel, etc, should seek to visit your Muslim neighbors in their homes during this long holiday.  Invite them to your home, too.  Get to know them as friends.  Break down the walls of animosity by knowing them as people like you.  May our love shine the light of the cross.

Poverty persists in MALI

Riding a taxi the  other day here in Bamako, MALI,  I  observed a number of young people working at odd jobs along the street.   But as  I reflected on the quality of the job or workplace, it  struck  me as examples of the deep poverty and underdevelopment persisting here.

A girl making french fries, waffles, or beans under the hot sun:

A man selling toothpaste and toothbrushes that he carries all day:

A girl selling bags of bissap drink, nice and cool, but a long day for her:

Just before we left Mali last  year I had visited the Moor village of Duduya with a friend to say goodbye for a time.   My friend wanted to see his cousin Souffi, so we stopped by their huts.  Like normal a young girl approached us with water to drink and we were offered seats and started chatting.  I noticed the girl, about four years old with a big smile, limped. As she went back to the water jar to place the big cup I saw that her legs were bowed and that she didn't let one leg touch ground.  Asking I learned that she had been run over by a moto or donkey cart at two years old, and they said the legs had "healed" like that.  

This village is only 10  miles from the local hospital.  Souffi  himself has suffered for years with a foot fungus or infection they call "gale" that causes deep cracks in the skin and hurts when he walks.  He's a farmer obliged to often be in his fields. A few times  I have  given him special creams, but with out good long term treatment,  maybe even closed shoes and socks, they will not heal in the extremely dry climate that cracks all our feet at  some point during the year.

I felt powerless.   In just two days I would be leaving MALI for a long term away.  To help her requires a visit of the  hospital for x-rays, probably a re-breaking of the legs to set them properly, and fixing the dislocated hip, a set of procedures taking months in the hospital and much money (tho not near the money it would cost in the western nations). I know how to follow-up such needs, but time was ended for me, and I was powerless.

There was even a new small mud-walled clinic being  built by the village folk, I even met the new nurse setting up shop. I asked  if  she was doing a health census and  if she had noticed  the little girl.   Yes, she replied.  Has something  been done?    I have no idea, and I have little contact with them from way off overseas.  I felt, feel, powerless, in the face of such poverty.  Ten miles to a village person is as far as Tombuctoo to us. They fear and hate going to the local hospitals as most they send there die.

What can be done?  Do  we care?  Often when confronted by a community problem such as bad roads, leaky bathrooms, muddy markets, etc, a Malian friend might say to me, "That's not my problem."   Well it is, in fact.  We live in community, whether we are in the streets of Baltimore, suburban Philly, or in a village of Mali.  Community defines and helps us.  We are all living together, for decades even, and we are responsible to each other, and each other's family.  Did my friend go to help, he had the means to do so, it's his cousin's family, but ... somehow I doubt it.

Now that I'm back in Mali, once I go visit Kayes, I will go see my little girl friend and see how she is.  She is in my community.  Can we help?  Of course.

What can be done?   Preaching of the gospel includes social dimensions of fighting for justice, helping the prisoners and widows, defending the babe in the womb, etc. as well as proclaiming the Shalom offer of Jesus the Christ to all peoples.  Our love must be seen in order to be heard.  We live in community, we are indeed responsible, it is our problem.

Friendly boys begging for food or coins to take back to their Muslim marabout teacher:

What can be  done?

I recently read several books for a seminary class on Islam.   I will post these reviews here. 

subject: Notes on reading for CIU course ICS/MIS 6073, “Islam in the 21^st century”

with Dr. Nabeel Jabbour

date:      Tuesday, August 20, 2013

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Burge, Gary. Jesus and the Land: The New Testament Challenge to Holy Land

Theology. Baker Academic, 2010. ISBN 879-0-8010-3898-3 

BOOK Abstract 

Mr. Burge, a professor at Wheaton College, seeks to present a biblical study on the meaning of the Holy Land and to challenge some teachings that retain a territorial facet which then support ongoing problems in practical relations in the volatile Mideast.  Chronologically working through the Bible he discusses the understandings concerning the land by the prophets, the Jews of the Diaspora, Jesus himself, and careful studies of key passages in the rest of the NT, especially Paul’s teachings.  He teaches that all the Old Testament symbols have undergone a profound shift away from a literal item, including the land and the temple, and need to be reinterpreted by Jesus’ work and death on the cross. 

BOOK Comment 

1. Evaluate the book. How do you agree and disagree with the author? 

“Early Christians … would have been astonished if they came upon men and woman who promoted a Christian version of Jewish territorialism” (Burge, 71).  The author is amazed, too, that such thinking continues to this day, and I’m glad he has made the effort to study and teach on this key concept of the Bible.  He began with a quote from W Brueggemann “that the land might be the central theme of biblical faith.” (Burge, 1)  I wouldn't go that far; is not the revelation of God and the work of Jesus’ atonement for mankind really the central theme?  He also claimed on the first page that Ezekiel saw Israel “as the center of the earth” (Burge, 1).  None of the versions, however, that I consulted in several languages translate the Hebrew word thus.  At first I was hesitant to listen, but he grew on me, and I much appreciate the main arguments and especially the concept that Jesus fulfilled or reinterpreted many of the symbols of the NT in himself and in his own work of the cross, including especially the land/Jerusalem/temple set of powerful images..

2. How did this book challenge your prejudices and your assumptions? 

I don’t think I’d realized until now how pervasive is the “holy land” theology of the Zionist, both Jew and Christian, and how much it has seriously influenced politics concerning the Mideast.  In pioneering evangelism to Muslims in West Africa we have often put teaching on the return of Christ on a back burner as it is so complicated and so seemingly unnecessary for the new believer.  This book and its related CIU course have helped me understand the implications of mistakes in this crucial area, and have also helped me see the value again of these studies.  

3. What lessons can be learned from this book? 

Quite a few times in the book the concept, variously called fulfillment, reinterpretation, redefinition, reconfiguration, relocating, overturning, etc., has been advanced.  This doctrine is much beyond simply saying the prophets wonderfully spoke of Christ’s coming and death over and over.  I met this concept recently in another book by Wells and Zaspel concerning the issues of the law being reinterpreted in Christ in the NT.[1]  I think it would be good for the many Christian tourists in the Mideast to learn, for  example, that, “Hebrews writes the heavenly Jerusalem is the destination of people of faith.  …  This holy geography was accessible from any province or city.  Therefore by  relocating the true Jerusalem, Hebrews undercuts any need for literal pilgrimage to Judea.  …  In other words, in order to join the heavenly Jerusalem, something must be left  behind—the old  Jerusalem must be exited—in order to join Jesus who himself had no part in the city itself in  his death” (Burge, 98-99).  AMEN. 

4. How did this book impact your thinking, your convictions, and your life? 

Fallacies in interpretation of the Bible can easily lead to wrong thinking about many issues.  Burge would be better to say that misunderstanding land is a central fallacy of many Christians, and that this mistake contributes to serious social and political errors concerning Israel by all parties!  I would like to help Christians avoid this fallacy and the resulting errors and rather help them see the complete freeing beauty of what Jesus Christ has done for mankind in the gospel. 

END

The teacher requested these two statements, if true:
I have read the whole book from cover to cover. I did not read any of the book reviews on the internet.  My response and book review is based only on my reading of the book.

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[1] Wells, Tom & Fred Zaspel.  New Covenant Theology: Description, Definition, Defense (Frederick, MD: New Covenant Media, 2002).

Recommended book Review: Foster

       Foster, Richard, & JB Smith, ed, Devotional Classics, Selected Readings for Individuals and Groups, A Renovare Resource for Spiritual Renewal, NYC: HarperOne, 1990-2005, pb, ~500 pp, I# 978-0-06-07750-0, LC#  BV4801.D39 1993; 242--dc20. 

       Foster has 52 selections from historical and modern spirituality authors in 6 areas:  Contemplative (the Prayer-filled Life), Holiness Tradition (the Virtuous Life), Charismatic (the Spirit Empowered Life), Social Justice (the Compassionate Life),Evangelical (the Word-Centered Life), & Incarnational (the Sacramental Life). He gives a short bio of each to past them in their setting and value, some questions for reflection, and lists of resources for further reading.  See Renovare.org  on the web.  

      I found this @ G&B Bjorkman’s, July ’12, but Jenn says we have it, too, in MALI!  They graciously gave us a copy that they had used in a small group of their Elmbrook Ch. J  In the past year I've read a number of  the selections, and I have appreciated the passion and seeking after God represented in them, so far.   Foster's questions for reflection are useful.

    L I realized later that many of his selections were Roman Catholics from before & even after the Reformation [Bernard & Francis as well as Ignatius of Loyola, Fenelon, F DeSales, Thr. Avila, John of the Cross, Bro Lawrence, J-P Caussade, GK Chesterton, etc.(some outright against the evangelicals of their time!)] as well as Quakers (his denomination) [G Fox, T Kelly, I Pennington, Jn Woolman, etc.],  and some seeming liberals [Wm Temple, Eliz O’Conner, ES Jones, A Dillard, S Kierkegaard, Dag Hammarskjold, K Norris, etc.].  I’m uncomfortable studying and relying on these to help show me the path to trod in this dark world.  I’ll read them, but it would require more study and reflection than expected if I knew they were all evangelical oriented.  

It is a good resource for finding authors and digging deeper, but I see some yellow flags as well! L  I appreciate their struggles and attempts to seek & serve God; all of us face tough spiritual times, both before and after conversion, but not all solutions are the same.


Cf his Spiritual Classics, Foster and E Griffin, eds. (might be better!).

Recommended book review: Dr. N. Jabbour

another book from my seminary summer reading list:

subject: Notes on reading for CIU course ICS/MIS 6073, “Islam in the 21^st century”

with Dr. Nabeel Jabbour

submitted:     Aug 7th, 2013

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Jabbour, Nabeel. The Rumbling Volcano. Islamic Fundamentalism in Egypt.

Pasadena CA: Mandate Press, 1993, ISBN 0-87808-241-7, LC #BP64.E3J33. Available from William Carey Library.

BOOK Abstract

 Dr. Jabbour seeks to explain and evaluate the rise of fundamental Islam in Egypt over the past century and show how it affects not only politics in Egypt but throughout the Muslim world.  Being able to analyze the sources missed by most scholars in the West he attempts to understand the leaders of the movements from their point of view and then carefully draws conclusions of their social and religious power and weaknesses.  Written before current changes in the Middle East it gives helpful background and even somewhat predicts much of what has occurred since 2010.

BOOK Comment

1. Evaluate the book.  How do you agree and disagree with the author.

 I imagine Dr. Jabbour’s audience as businessmen, journalists, generals, diplomats, and students of the Mideast who need to understand the Al-Qaeda, Muslim Brotherhood, Salafist, Jihadi, Boko Haram, and similar Islamist movements that so trouble today’s political scene.  This book should be on the reference shelf of all such leaders, and they should be hoping for an update as events of this decade turn.  The focus is on Egypt, the biggest and most influential political and religious player in the Arab world, and it clearly shows how the country lurched through the decades of 20^th century political, economic, and religious evolution, Israeli conflict, bad governments, and passionate leaders, and prepped it for the calamities of the so-called Arab spring.

He called the assassination of President Anwar Sadat one of the most stunning in the century (Jabbour, 177). Well, perhaps it was for Egypt, but there have been many others sadly, also so stunning for their contexts.  Predicting a volcano erupting in Egypt soon, I would have liked him also to have shown how he expected the fundamentalist revolution to spread worldwide and become the moral and social impetus for much of the terrorism of today.

2. How did this book challenge your prejudices and your assumptions?

I much appreciated Dr. Jabbour’s plan of study that one must understand the fundamentalist from their point of view and try to know what drives and motivates them to do dastardly acts.  He seeks to interpret them by their own thinking and actions, and not merely by an outsider’s point of view.  Many leaders in the Muslim world are very intolerant of them, and Jabbour seeks to see why a Muslim government would not tolerate such thinking and action by fellow Muslims, something the Westerner is also much confused about.  This is an approach to learn and emulate.

3.  What lessons can be learned from this book?

The Western world, especially, can benefit from learning about the key players in the evolution of Islamic fundamental thought and action such as Ibn Taimiyya, Al-Banna, Qutb, Sariyya, Shukri, Faraj, Rahman, etc., all read by fundamentalists today, decades later.  He shows that a puritan emphasis of return to basics has existed since just after Muhammad the prophet in the teachings and actions of the Kharijites which inspire the fundamentalists today.  Such divisions are not just denominationalism, but deep divisions of approaches to the Qur'an and their concepts of action, the caliphate, and the domain of Islam.  The Shi'a branch is even affected, and the Iranian revolution has much inspired the fundamentalists later, also.

A committed Christian leader who knows Egypt, Dr. Jabbour also showed the effect of the movement on a church in the midst of a Muslim society.  God’s church can endure, and many groups have done well through the centuries in a minority context.  Sometimes, however, Christians can be targets in the socio-religious and political movements of the day, and the author shows that the true gospel of reconciliation in Christ can allow a faithful witness instead of a hunkering down and withdrawal from testifying of a gracious God.

4. How did this book impact your thinking, your convictions, and your life?

Normally Christian work in West Africa is not affected by such events thousands of miles away.  But in recent years globalization has brought not just cell phones but also fundamentalist thought to trouble even poor, small, Muslim MALI.  The recent civil war in 2011-2013 was much driven by the Al-Qaida movement, and much opposed by both the civilian and military government and the people.  Yet, many Malians were taken up by it, some joined the rebels, and some started to espouse these teachings (to their regret in some cases).  This book and the related class at CIU have helped me understand the roots of these groups and will help me in teaching once returning to Africa. 

The teacher requested these two statements, if true:
I have read the whole book from cover to cover. I did not read any of the book reviews on the internet.  My response and book review is based only on my reading of the book.