The Breaker of Tradition

by Lucian Figliulo

Rebels are brave and strong inside and out. In Shabanu by Suzanne Fisher Staples, a 12 year old girl in Pakistan was a rebel to her culture and her family. In Pakistan, women like Shabanu don’t have as much freedom as boys do. Shabanu   stands against sexisim. Shabanu is not a typical Muslim girl.

Shabanu does not do what is expected of her. She does not obey her father and she does not follow the role of a traditional Muslim women  “If I go to live with Sharma I will be free.” pg.232 This quote shows that she wants to run away and be free like a boy is. She will not have to be married, she could have more options and there would be different expectations of her. She will have her guardian angel, her aunt, Sharma. Shabanu’s life would be different with Sharma because she does not believe that boys are better. Dadi wants Shabanu to be a typical Muslim girl but she is not. “ You stay here and help your mother…” pg.230. This shows that Shabanu is not lazy but she doesn’t want to do what is expected of a girl. She wants to tend to the camels. But since she is a girl she must do the chores traditionally meant for girls. This is very sexist. Shabanu does not want to do the everyday work expected of her but she wants a say in her future.

Shabanu does not want to get married to Rahim-sahib. Every Muslim woman is expected to get married, but Shabanu wants to pick her own husband. She doesn’t want to have her parents pick her husband. “His eyes never left you. They begged you to look at him.”pg. 225. This is when Sharma is giving Shabanu courage to marry Rahim-sahib. This quote is interesting because Sharma does not want Shabanu to be like her, husbandless, but Shabanu is happy with being like her. Shabanu even wants to be like her. “…but my life will belong to him.” pg 231 This quote shows that Shabanu wants to be her own person but sadly she does not have the choice to be her own person. If Shabanu gets married she belongs to her husband and her husband gets a say in everything she does. Should Shabanu stand up to her husband like she did her father?

Shabanu stands up for herself. Shabanu protects herself against attackers.  “…tossing the water jugs down the side of the embankment…” p. 155 This quote shows that in hard situations Shabanu knows how to deal with things. These men were going to sexualy assault Shabanu, and her sister, Phulan. Shabanu thought quick and threw  water at them so they would be distracted. Most Muslim women don’t have the courage to do that so not only did Shabanu stand up for herself she stood up for Phulan. Shabanu is running away so she doesn’t have to get married  “… so they won’t know that I’m gone if they awake.” p. 234 She could stay and get married and be another old housewife but she doesn’t want to. She is standing up for herself and women everywhere saying that she’s not getting married.

Throughout the book, Shabanu rebels against things she doesn’t think are right.  Shabanu does not do what she’s told, she does not want to get married and she stands up for herself and other people. Though this is not what a typical Muslim women is like it is good that some Muslim women are like her. These rebels are going to change the view that men are better than women. Be like Shabanu and   fight for what is right.

This is my Shabanu essay. Shabanu is a book that we read in core. Our class wrote persuasive essays about it.

This is my musical style. I chose classic rock but it sort of morphed into my own style.

The poetry site…

In The poetry site I have 5 poems. This is one of them.

I fall far into the hole of the black deep center of the world

my life flash before my eyes 1 2 3 4 5…

I’m done its all over but what happens now…

I still fall, the inside of me lifting up like a parachute

I hit rock bottom and I’m dead but no I’m invincible

there are other people like me

I’m not alone

This is an example of good home work

One example of the good thing that came out of the golden age of Islam was the currency. When currence was invented people could now trade with money not just other valuables. The meaning of wealthy changed in a sense, because now if you are wealthy you have a lot of money, but if you were wealthy in pre golden age you would just have a lot of valuables. Not major but with every golden age one must end.In the golden age the first signs of the compass were invented and we would not be here if that was not so. The muslims also made many things that had to do with astronomy because they believed that god had created since.For nomadic muslims, the city’s growing is a new dawn. That means that it is a new time and it is like a gift from god. Most nomadic people would start living in the city, but there would also be who are very traditional people who will stay nomadic.

As-salamu alaykum. I’m getting ready for the Friday sermon. My name is Aleem and I am an imam. I am currently 60, a very old age, and it is by God’s hand that I am still alive. An imam is the religious leader and spiritual guide of the ummah. The ummah is the Islamic community. I help people and teach them to be more like the perfect Muslim, Muhammad, peace be upon him.

I was born in Ragha, Persia as a very rich boy. My father was a successful merchant. He sold silks from as far as Israel and gems from as far as Egypt. When I wanted to learn theology, I went to a madrassa that my wealthy father paid for. I became an imam because I desired to devote my life to God and to help my community. I went into the madrassa with my brother, Ali. My sister also wanted to study the Quran and enter the madrassa, but she wasn’t allowed to because she is a girl. She was married off at 13, and I see her every now and then.

Every morning I wake up before the sun rises and pray. I pray 5 times a day. Every morning I teach my students from the Hadith and the Quran. The Hadith is the story of Muhammad’s life. The quaran is the holy book and this quran is the same quran that ali had. I teach them about this because Muhammad, peace be upon him, is the perfect Muslim and every Muslim wants to be like him.

We believe that Ali, Muhammad’s cousin, was the true successor of Muhammad. We believe that Muhammad’s family should lead the ummah, not people outside his family. Muhammad was the last prophet.

There are other duties I must perform. Someone has recently died and I must wash the body and say prayers over their grave.  Also I must lead the Friday sermon, where we read from the Quran and pray.

There are many rules a Muslim must follow, but the 5 Pillars are the most important ones. They are the guidelines of our religion. We recite the shahada, which states that there is no God but God, and that Muhammad is His messenger. We pray 5x a day, which is called salat.  We give charity to the poor, zakat, and we fast at the end of Ramadan, which is called sawm. And once in our life we go on the Hajj. The hajj is the pilgrimage the Mecca.

Muhammad said: God is gentle and he loves gentleness in everything. These are important words to live by. I live by these words.

I am sorry to have to leave you so soon but I must be going. I must lead the Friday prayers, inshAllah, as God wills it.