George Sand and Islam

On the 28 Sptember the AEC had a lecture on George Sand and also about the influence Islam has on Somali society.

Sand lived at a time when Europe was living the Romantic Era.

She was a controversial figure at the time as she used a man's name and dressed in mens clothing. Obviously these days no one would pay any attention to this side of her personality.

Sand was critical of the fact that it was all right for men to have lovers but not women. She fought this double standard by having lovers while married.

Sand's career can be divided into three parts:
1. 1830s was her Romantic period.
2. 1840s saw her as a social commentator on various themes.
3. From 1840s until her death she wrote about life in the countryside.

The lecturer on Islam told that it is difficult to cover all sides of a religion in one lecture, and he was right. So here are only some interesting bits.

Apparetly the Quran in Arabic is memorised even though few people in Somalia understand Arabic. This leads to the situation where people can recite Quran but they have no idea what they are talking about. In mosques there are people who have a better understanding of Quran and actually know what the book says.

The Somali state had a tight control over religion. When the civil war began, Somalis started to move into countries that have freedom of religion. That is why Somalis seem to be more religious outside Somalia than they were when living in Somalia, according to the lecturer.