Today is the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary. To mark the day, here's Kareem Salama's "Lady Mary":
The song is interesting in part because Salama is Muslim. Due to certain ahadith (stories from oral tradition about the Prophet Mohammad) and to the mentions of her in the Qur'an, Muslims have a very high regard for the Virgin Mary -- Muslim tradition about her is very similar to Catholic and Orthodox tradition. One very notable difference, however, is that the Qur'an does not mention Joseph, nor does any respected hadith. Because of this, it is a very common Muslim view that Mary lived her entire life without marrying. This view is not completely universal, and there are Muslims who accept the Christian tradition that there was a Joseph, but even then almost none of them believe that Joseph was actually husband to Mary (it's far more common to regard him as an older cousin who took care of her), and he has no real importance -- after all, if God did not see fit to reveal to the Prophet, how could he be important for understanding anything about Mary or Jesus or submission to God? So Mary is often thought of as an unwed mother, bearing all the burdens and opprobrium that an unwed mother might, but bearing it nonetheless out of submission to, and love for, God, making her an example for all Muslims. And this comes out indirectly in the song here.
Saturday, September 08, 2012
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Anonymous
0 points
9 years ago
Ah, good, this gives me time to get another copy of Villette. I finished it in a late-night spurt that took me to 3am, and then gave it to a friend who was passing through before a transatlantic flight. There certainly is a lot to say about it, starting with the fascinating unreliability of the narrator herself.
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branemrys
0 points
9 years ago
There are indeed some interesting things about the way the narrator is handled here, along with this omnipresent theme of surveillance.
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Anonymous
0 points
9 years ago
+JMJ+
I'm still in the first half of Villette myself. It has been an interesting read so far, and I just may get a Reading Diary entry out of it, too!
Enbrethiliel
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branemrys
0 points
9 years ago
I'll keep any eye out for it!
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Enbrethiliel
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9 years ago
+JMJ+
By the way, that link about Iceland's faeries is the best thing I've read all week! (Eat your heart out, Charlotte Bronte!) I must confess, though, that the best part was the indignant commenter who took out her frustration at an ostensibly secular government's decision in favour of the supernatural by insulting every other commenter who shared a personal eerie encounter. LOL!
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branemrys
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9 years ago
It is a bit funny how quickly that escalated.