Assalamu aleikum,
Im down with a annoying flu so i thought i'd share with u the latest of my ignorance...I was watchin tv a couple of days ago and there was this documentary on about the silk route (im not all that sure that's what its called in english, anyway), one of their stops was Timbuktu.
You can imagine how stupid i felt when i heard that it used to be a great Islamic city. They showed the great libraries and mosques and stuff and i was like... aha. not so smart am i. Ok ppl, i didnt even know it was in west africa....
But that's a mistake we make a lot here in the west dont we? We keep forgettin that islam is as wide spread as it is. we forget that there's a whole variety of cultures that have roots in islam and, unfortunately a lot of us (at least here in my community, the reverts i mean) seem to associate islam with the arab culture, thinking that the only right way to practise islam is the way they do it saudia. Did u know that the biggest muslim country out there is indonesia by the way?
Im not saying there are good or bad cultures.And yes, i know the Prophet (SAAS) was an arab. There's just a lot of interesting cultures i've had no clue of cos i've been so safe in my bubble of all-knowingness. We decided with the sisters here, that after every talim we'll read one chapter of the book "great islamic cities" =D
I have to say in my defence though, at least i felt guilty of the lack of knowledge in African /islamic history...Unlike this one french dude i once talked to; he really thought finland (my home country) is in south america. and he didnt wanna believe me when i told him that we're an eu member (like france). You see i may be dumb but --> is dumber... explainin things to urself makes u feel better dont it;) Well, u live, u learn =)
wa salam, Aaliyah
