'Somalia lives with me' : Homeland and Religion in the Lives of Finnish Somalis

The purpose of this thesis is to examine Somalis who live in Finland through their memories. These memories are interpreted as subjective experiences emphasizing the significance of the past and religion in these memories. On the other hand, these memories are understood as a part of collective social memory of Somalis. This study also constructs a comparative perspective for practising Islam in Somalia and Finland. The methodological framework is based on theories of social memory, oral history and narrative analysis. The empirical data is collected by interviewing Somalis living in Finland. The interviews were conducted by using the method of half-structured thematic interview. The data consists of seven interviews. The interviewees are in the focus of this study since their experiences are considered as the main sources of information for this study. The empirical data of the study reveals that Somalis have maintained strong relations to Somalia. The relationship to Somalia is mainly constructed on positive memories. Memories from Somalia have acquired a significant role in the lives of the interviewees. Those memories will define their relation to both past and the present. In the context of religious memories, Islam is described as a way of living which provides advice and defines the terms of everyday life. As a part of those religious memories, the transmitting of Islamic and Somali values plays a significant role in the lives of Somalis in Finland. In such transmitting process of the values, the social religious memory has acquired a significant role. In the context of Islam in Finland, the religious education of children is mentioned as one of the most important features of the Islamic faith by the interviewees. In general, the practice of Islam does not create any major problems for the interviewees in Finland. The interviewees describe their practice of Islam quite similar when compared to their religious life in Somalia. The empirical data also points out the fact that the meaning of Islam has not changed after moving to Finland. Keywords: Somalis, Somalia, Islam, oral history, narrative research

Certainty or Faith? Arendt's and Merleau-Ponty's Critique of Cartesian Foundationalism

Epistemological foundationalism has for centuries attempted to unify all scientific inquiry into the context of one grand science, the first philosophy. One of the most important tasks of this tradition has been to ground all knowledge on absolutely certain foundations. In this master s thesis I ask the following question: To what extent and under what conditions is it possible to achieve absolute certainty in the sense of the attempts of Cartesian foundationalism? By examining how the 20th century philosophers, Edmund Husserl (1859-1938), Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) and Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908-1961) interpret the epistemological methodology of René Descartes, I claim that the Cartesian achievement of absolute certainty rests on the implicit presupposition of an epistemologically prior form of faith in the world and trust (pistis) in other conscious beings. I show that knowledge is possible only within the context of a common world that is inhabited by several conscious beings that share a common linguistic system. This threefold element is shown to be the bedrock condition for any kind of philosophical inquiry. The main literature sources for this thesis are The Life of the Mind by Hannah Arendt, Le Visible et l invisible by Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Meditationes de Prima Philosophiae by René Descartes and Erfahrung und Urteil by Edmund Husserl.

A Shared European History? Perceptions of Imperialism and Islam in Matriculation Examination Essays and History Textbooks

The European Union (EU) is faced with a continuous decrease in public support. There is a tension between the growing Euroscepticism and the concurrent academic discourse of a shared European identity. Informed and inspired by the current debates, this Master’s Thesis investigates the potential of a shared past to create shared identity. It also addresses the logic of cultural exclusion that is often connected to collective cultural identities. The source material is a combination of exam essays, written as answers to the history tests in the Finnish matriculation examinations of 2005-2008, and upper secondary school history textbooks. From the sources, current perceptions of Islam (as Europe’s Other) and the age of imperialism (as a debated period from Europe’s past) among the youth are studied. Through the analysis the thesis aims to indicate the level of consensus within the pupils’ identification with the past and with Europe. This objective is pursued through examining the pupils’ perceptions of Europe’s past and its relationship to non-European cultures and countries as they are manifested in the essays, and reflecting upon the level of influence that history textbooks as representatives of national hegemonic historical narratives might have on the contents, framings and emphases with and through which the pupils approach, imagine, and reproduce Europe’s past. The approach is based on previous research on the presence of history and the field of textbook research. The theoretical categories with which the sources are analyzed are derived primarily from literature on identity, European integration, history and memory, postcolonial criticism, and theorizations of European identity. Results of the research project suggest that the rhetoric of European superiority, despite its apparent demise, still resonates in contemporary understandings of Europeanness. Dominant perceptions of imperialism comprise of European agency and colonial submission, dominant perceptions of the Islamic world of fundamental difference. Identification with European history among the Finnish youth is rather shallow when examined through perceptions of imperialism; the Islamic world is perceived as Other and its representations are dominated by recent and contemporary international relations.

But if you desire God and His Messenger : The concept of choice in Sahih al-Bukhari

The aim of this dissertation is to discuss the concept of choice in the most important collection of Islamic traditions, Sahih al-Bukhari. The author of the collection, Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Bukhari, lived between 810-870. My starting point is the collection of texts as it is now in its normative, established form. I read the hadiths as pieces of reality, not as statements about reality. The historicity of the texts has no role at all in my analysis. Part I sketches out the hagiography of the life and work of the author and provides a short history of the development of hadith literature and the processes of collecting and classifying the texts are discussed briefly. Part one ends with the presentation of my way of using rhetorical analysis as a methodological tool. Part II introduces my analysis of the concept of choice. It is divided into ten chapters, each concentrating on one hadith cluster. Part II ends with a discussion of the philosophy of free will and predestination in early Islam. Hadith literature is often considered as a representative of predestinarian theology compared to the Qur'an which emphasises the reponsibility of people of their own acts. In my conclusions I suggest that accoding to the texts in Sahih al-Bukhari, people do deal with real choices in their lives. The collection includes both strictly predestinarian texts but it also compises texts which claim that people are demanded to make real choices, even choices concerning life and death.

Kansankirkon varjossa : Uskonnollisen tasa-arvon toteutuminen Suomessa – vähemmistöjen näkökulma

Työ pyrkii selvittämään miten Suomessa toimivien vähemmistöuskontojen (islam, juutalaisuus, katolisuus) muodostamat yhdyskunnat kokevat oman asemansa suhteessa valtioon, viranomaisiin ja evankelis-luterilaiseen kirkkoon. Toteutuuko vähemmistöjen omasta mielestä Suomessa uskonnollinen tasavertaisuus ja uskonnonvapaus käytännön tasolla. Sopiiko luterilaisen kirkon ja valtion läheinen suhde monikulttuurisen yhteiskunnan ideaan ja vaikuttaako tämä kyseinen suhde siihen, miten muita uskontoja kohdellaan Suomessa. Näiden lisäksi tarkastellaan suomalaisen yhteiskunnan yleistä suvaitsevaisuutta, median vähemmistöjä koskevaa uutisointia ja kuinka valtaväestöstä poikkeaviin uskonnon edustajiin suhtaudutaan arkipäivän kohtaamisissa. Työssä tuodaan myös esille miten perinteiset vähemmistöt (juutalaiset ja tataarit) ovat pystyneet sopeutumaan suomalaiseen yhteiskuntaan ja samanaikaisesti säilyttämään oman kulttuurisen identiteettinsä ja erikoislaatuisuutensa ilman valtion viranomaisten järjestämää kotouttamista. Aineisto työhön on kerätty viiden rekisteröidyn uskonnollisen yhdyskunnan jäsenelle tehdyllä teemahaastattelulla. Perinteiset mukana olevat vähemmistöyhdyskunnat ovat Helsingin juutalainen seurakunta, tataarien Suomen Islam-seurakunta ja Katolinen kirkko Suomessa. Uudempia yhteisöjä edustavat sunnimuslimien Islamic Multicultural Dawah Centre ja shiiojen Resalat Islamilainen yhdyskunta.

Deus vult: Images of crusader violence c. 1095-1100.

This study sets out to provide new information about the interaction between abstract religious ideas and actual acts of violence in the early crusading movement. The sources are asked, whether such a concept as religious violence can be sorted out as an independent or distinguishable source of aggression at the moment of actual bloodshed. The analysis concentrates on the practitioners of sacred violence, crusaders and their mental processing of the use of violence, the concept of the violent act, and the set of values and attitudes defining this concept. The scope of the study, the early crusade movement, covers the period from late 1080 s to the crusader conquest of Jerusalem in 15 July 1099. The research has been carried out by contextual reading of relevant sources. Eyewitness reports will be compared with texts that were produced by ecclesiastics in Europe. Critical reading of the texts reveals both connecting ideas and interesting differences between them. The sources share a positive attitude towards crusading, and have principally been written to propagate the crusade institution and find new recruits. The emphasis of the study is on the interpretation of images: the sources are not asked what really happened in chronological order, but what the crusader understanding of the reality was like. Fictional material can be even more crucial for the understanding of the crusading mentality. Crusader sources from around the turn of the twelfth century accept violent encounters with non-Christians on the grounds of external hostility directed towards the Christian community. The enemies of Christendom can be identified with either non-Christians living outside the Christian society (Muslims), non-Christians living within the Christian society (Jews) or Christian heretics. Western Christians are described as both victims and avengers of the surrounding forces of diabolical evil. Although the ideal of universal Christianity and gradual eradication of the non-Christian is present, the practical means of achieving a united Christendom are not discussed. The objective of crusader violence was thus entirely Christian: the punishment of the wicked and the restoration of Christian morals and the divine order. Meanwhile, the means used to achieve these objectives were not. Given the scarcity of written regulations concerning the use of force in bello, perceptions concerning the practical use of violence were drawn from a multitude of notions comprising an adaptable network of secular and ecclesiastical, pre-Christian and Christian traditions. Though essentially ideological and often religious in character, the early crusader concept of the practise of violence was not exclusively rooted in Christian thought. The main conclusion of the study is that there existed a definable crusader ideology of the use of force by 1100. The crusader image of violence involved several levels of thought. Predominantly, violence indicates a means of achieving higher spiritual rewards; eternal salvation and immortal glory.

Pathet : Musiikin symboliikka jaavalaisessa varjoteatterissa

The aim of this study is to define and analyse the symbolism hidden in the gamelan music of the Central Javanese, especially in the Yogyakartanese wayang kulit shadow theatre. This dissertation is divided into two parts. The first part deals with the theory, history and practice of Central Javanese shadow theatre. It also presents the tone symbol theory on which this study is based of B. Y. H. Sastrapustaka, the court servant and musician of the sultan s palace of Yogyakarta. For historical comparison, other theories and phenomena that seem to have some connections with the previously mentioned tone symbol theory are presented here as well as the equipment of the shadow theatre, its music, musical instruments and the shadow theatre in general in literature. The theoretic-methodological basis of the study is an enlarged model of research of cultural music, in which a person in the centre of the model with his/her concepts and by his/her behaviour creates a work of art and receives criticism through feedback, while the process of reciprocal action dynamically affects the whole development of the culture in question. In connection with the concepts of the work of art, the manner of approach of this study is also semiotic as the tone symbol theory gives a particular meaning to each musical note. Thus the purpose of this study is to find answers to how the tone symbol theory manifests itself in practical music making, what its origin is, if it is well known or not, and whether shadow theatre music supports this theory. The second part of this dissertation deals with material collected through interviews and observations as well as representative samples of musical pieces for shadow theatre and their analyses. In relation to this a special tool for analysing gamelan music, developed for the purpose of this study, is also presented. Sufficiently versatile material on the essence and meaning of the shadow theatre collected from many puppet masters of an older generation, many of whom are no longer with us, constitutes an important part of this study. This study proves that the tone symbol theory of Sastrapustaka is of tantristic tradition from the Hindu-Javanese period before the 16th century and before the appearance of Islam in Java. The variants of the previously mentioned theory can be found also in other fields of Javanese advanced civilization, such as architecture and dance. But it seems that knowledge about the tone symbolism connected to the shadow theatre especially has only been preserved in the sultan s palace of Yogyakarta and its intimate circles. The outsider puppet masters surely follow the theory, but they do not necessarily know its origin. As a result of the musical analysis, it is obvious that the musical pieces used for the shadow theatre bear different kinds of symbolic meanings which only an initiated person can feel and understand. These meanings are closely related to the plot of the play at the moment.