Poetry from Lusophone Africa Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Poetry from Lusophone Africa - Essay Example The writers of Lusophone poetry were persecuted, exiled, or imprisoned. Moreover, they were rejected by Portuguese because of their portrayal of Portuguese rule and the existing war situation. This poetry agitated Africans to rise up for their rights and aimed to eliminate the suffering and supported the rise of reactionary forces (da Silva, 1999). Most writers wrote in their native languages. In the poem Lisbon-1971 by Armenio Vieira, the writer starts off by taking the reader to Portugal. Lisbon is the capital city of Portugal, as well as an alpha city, and the largest airport is Portela. Armenio uses imagery to vividly depict the air that was around the airport that day. During colonial times, Cape Verde was a major trading centre for African slaves. The writer creates an image of the heavy police presence and planes at the airport. His group was the most miserable among all the groups from Africa. He uses symbolism as he refers to the slaves as cattle. Cattle live in poor conditions as they sleep with their dung. Their colour betrayed their racial background and they had been shipped as slaves from Cape Verde. The use a truck and crates symbolize the dirty environment in which the slaves were subjected to and the poor conditions they had to live in (Moser, 33). Moreover, the cold weather added to their suffering, and the inhabitants of Portela were not sympathetic to

Muslim World Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Muslim World - Essay Example In a religious sense, the term Muslim world refers to the whole people who follow the teachings of Islam. From a modern geopolitical perspective, this term is used collectively to refer to Muslim-majority countries and regions. During the period of Rashidun and Umayyads, the Caliphate grew quickly and the Muslim power expanded beyond the Arabian Peninsula. Although the Islamic dominance on political issues has notably increased over the last century, intrusion of Western powers into Islamic regions and other international conflicts reduced the influence of Islam in the contemporary history. During the period between the early 15th and early 20th centuries, the history of the Muslim world is characterized with particular events, processes, and encounters. This paper will discuss some major events in the history of the Muslim world such as Sunni reform movement, fall of Granada, and the fall of Constantinople. Sunni Reform Movement Deobandi Movement, a popular Sunni reform movement is one of the major events that rewrote the entire history of the Muslim world. As Sankar and Mandal describe, the movement began in India as a reaction to the British colonial rule, and spread to the neighboring countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, etc. which later came to be the hub of this movement (62). Very recently its waves have reached South Africa and the United Kingdom. The term Deobandi derived from Deoband, the place where Darul Uloom Deoband, a Sufi School started in the year 1866 is situated. However after the partition of Pakistan and Bangladesh from India, India lost its prominence and Pakistan and Afghanistan became prominent promoters of this movement. The overwhelming prominence of Deobandi movement in Pakistan and Afghanistan soon made its spread to the other parts of the world. History Sunni reform movement is believed to have its origin in Asian countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. However some say that the movement was first or iginated in India as a reaction to the British colonialists. Those who say that this movement is originated in India point that the Sufi school Darul Uloom Deoband, from which the term ‘Deobandi’ is derived, is situated in India. Nadwatul-Ulama Lucknow and Darul Uloom Karachi are two notable Hanafi seminaries of Deobandi Schools. However, the historians and Muslim scholars say that the movement was present in other neighboring countries of India at the same time. In this context it has to be noted that the founding fathers of Debandi Movement were very much influenced by the Wahabi Movement that was present in Saudi Arabia. The only difference between the Wahabis and the Deobandis is visible in their approach to Ashri and Maturidi creeds. While the latter ascribe to both the creeds, the former adhere only to the literal meaning of both the creeds. Currently the movement is spread across the world including South Africa and the United Kingdom. Though it reached these cou ntries very recently, it has become very strong in these countries. Consider how it is growing in the UK. At present, over 600 of the total 1500 mosques here are under the control of Muslim scholars who favor Deobandi Teachings. Adding further, around 17 Islam seminaries; there are total 26 Islam seminaries in the UK, are following the same teaching. It means that more than 80 percent of the total domestically trained Ulema or Muslim scholars are trained to follow Deobandi doctrines. Spreading of Sunni movement Currently Sunni movement is present in many countries and continents including the United Kingdom, South Africa and Asia, the continent where it actually originated. Now it has become