Spliting up Africa and Modern Religions IN SPACE!

[sunfall_shadows]

Setting: Fandom tangental, but the only relevant part is that it's just like our world until the late 1990's, where the whole world is united basically overnight into a largely peacful magical kingdom. From there I'm taking a sci-fi route and throwing people onto multiple generation/colony ships and sending them out into the universe, never to

Comments

[nyxelestia]

Disclaimer: I am not Muslim. I have Muslim friends, some family members, and regularly studied Islam within the context of studying history, sociology, and politics. I have very little in the way of citations, and speak predominantly from personal conversations - including similar hypotheticals with a close Muslim friend who was also a massive fantasy/sci-fi nerd. :) Take my words with a grain of salt, or as research starting points, not any kind of pronouncement on the subject. Also, Islam is a BIG religion, with many denominations and interpretations

[nyxelestia]

There is also a laundry-list of reasons one is supposed to do the Hajj. The biggest is related to a sense of unity (every Muslim is wearing and doing the same things as each other, and as their ancestors have for centuries), followed by teaching traits like perseverance, humility, etc. What's important about the Hajj is what you are supposed to take away from it to be an even better Muslim than you were before it. BUT, that won't mean anything if you end up pursuing "bad" behavior in order to do complete this "good" behavior

[sunfall_shadows]

Thank you very much! Exactly the kind of insight I needed. I knew the hajj was important, but not why.

It's entirely voluntary, and everyone will know going in that the colonies will be leaving the solar system permanently; there will be no coming back ever. I don't think arranging for someone to go on the hajj in their place will hold up.

Do you think it's reasonable for the spacegoers to modify their version of Islam to keep to the spirit? There will be a complete break from Earth, so attitudes there won't really matter in the long run. Or will most choose to stay on Earth, and it becomes a question of cultural influence rather than religious?

[nyxelestia]

Most likely? Muslims traveling into space would find a way to established new traditions in the spirit of Islam. Some Muslims back home would find these new traditions valid and consider these out-of-system followers to Islam as still being Muslims. Others will decry it and say these ones are not "real" Muslims.

I mean, to put in perspective, right now, there are people who think Muslim women who don't wear a hijab aren't "real" Muslims. This extends to all religions. Right now, American sociopolitical culture is tremendously divided on who or what are "real" Christians due to the cultural emphasis of this year's election. Catholicism is technically a denomination of Christianity, yet many Christians insist Catholics are heretics, not Christians, and basically the equivalent of being another religion entirely (on par with Jews, Muslims, etc.) - and this conflict was happening even before Mormons came into the pictures. Some people consider Mormons to still be Christians; others don't. Are Catholics who don't follow the Pope still

[nyxelestia]

Most likely, what you would get is that Muslims colonizing other planets would find some way to re-established a Hajj-like tradition. This article is a very simply explanation of what the Hajj entails and the purposes/meanings behind them (and also demonstrates how this ancient tradition has been modernized, i.e. walkways, tent-cities, etc.)

So maybe Muslims on another planet (if it's a planet with a breathable environment, or has a big biodome somewhere) will spend a day in a tent out in the wilderness in prayer, meditate on a hill, gather pebbles to throw at some symbol of the devil, "sacrifice" meat* (i.e. dedicate meat rations to god, then give it away instead of eating it themselves), get a haircut, and run counter-clockwise around a big rock seven times. They will consider themselves to still be Muslims/to be "real" Muslims. About half the ones back home on Earth will agree, and the other half won't, which is pretty much how most religions in the world work, anyway.

[nyxelestia]

* = Something people don't realize about animal sacrifices in most religions: it's less that people go out of their way to kill something, and more that people take something they were already going to kill and dedicate it to god. Most of the time, after an animal is sacrificed/killed, people eat it - it's just that it's eaten with respect (i.e. you won't eat it while paying attention to something else or something unimportant

[sunfall_shadows]

Thank you again. I've still got plenty to think about and work on, obviously, but I've got a much better grasp on the idea than before.

[nyxelestia]

You've made good points here, but I just want to point out that saying that in Islam "good" deeds aren't important isn't really accurate. What is emphasized in a global tradition like Islam is an interaction of culture, whether of the colonizer/importer or indigenous, and human nature. So sayings of the prophet such as that a smile is charity or a good deed are often lesser known than those acts that will get one into hot water with God and which people want to avoid first. Otherwise, the Quran and prophetic tradition value good deeds like charity, which is one of the five pillars of Islam and, as far as I know, also valued in Christianity and really one of the few good deeds you can decree. Many good deeds derive from avoiding ills, like honesty. etc., which is also in the Book. Taking care of orphans is mentioned ad nauseum, among other things. "Enjoining good and forbidding evil" is taught again and again, although some choose to take away only the latter. Islam being just a religion of restrictions or self-absorbed is partly a

[nyxelestia]

That was what I was trying to say. Thank you for clarifying. :)

[sunfall_shadows]

Dually noted. Thank you.