Keeping the Faith

Anyone who has taken Lit Hum will remember the awkwardness of discussing the Bible in class. Nearly every class had at least one religious student who took it upon himself to defend the stories and principles of the Bible against the accusations of his atheist classmates (and possibly even the professor). These were the students who would bring their own translations of the Bible to class and start quoting from it. What they saw as irreverent scrutiny on the Bible by less religious students was difficult for them to accept. They felt they had to interject and make sure that their faith was not misunderstood and disrespected.

Anyone who has taken Lit Hum will also remember that the religiously inclined students were far outnumbered by the voices of criticism of religion. This ratio is more or less reflective of the Columbia campus as a whole. Against these odds and the attitudes towards conventional religion that can be found in a Lit Hum class, what motivates these and other religious students to stay faithful at Columbia?

Some of these obstacles to religious life at Columbia are related to the actual practice of faith. For Muslims, like myself, it can be a challenge to set aside time for the five daily prayers. Between classes and social life, time management skills need to be an extra bit sharper to make time for any acts of religious devotion. Time management is especially difficult in the month of Ramadan, when Muslims have to wake up before dawn to eat a meal called suhoor and then spend a part of the night, after the breaking of the fast, in a special period of prayer known as Tarawih.

While these obstacles can be overcome with a little extra effort, a Lit Hum Bible study session is not as straightforward. One is automatically forced into the role of ambassador for one’s faith. One must have enough knowledge about one’s faith to be able to discuss it and defend it.

As a Muslim, I can attest that this is especially true for people of my faith. With Islam and the Muslim people constantly in the public spotlight, our faith automatically becomes a highlight of our persona. We become, for the people around us, the real incarnations of what people see on the news. We become the proof that Islam has a human face and that the face is not just the face of anger and rash behavior that is often depicted in the media. We become the source of knowledge about Islam for the people around us. This means it’s only a matter of time before we have to field questions about our faith from our fellow Columbians.

These questions are sometimes on religious issues, like questions about fasting during Ramadan. Other times they are about suicide bombings or about Middle Eastern politics. With such a wide range of questioning, Muslims have to be really knowledgeable about an array of issues related to their faith. The same is certainly true to different extents for people of all the other religions practiced on campus. Having these kinds of responsibilities, added to the regular requirements of religious observation, makes religious life that much more difficult.

With obstacles such as these, why do people stay faithful? I think at least part of the reason is the challenge that it provides. For many religious people, the development of their faith happened in the bubbles of religious communities back home. Here at Columbia, they can finally begin to think of their faith outside of that bubble and reexamine, readjust, or reaffirm their beliefs. To put your faith up against scrutiny and questioning is a challenge that engages you with your beliefs even more than before. As a result, this motivates people to keep learning, observing, and exploring their religion. Those kids in Lit Hum who come prepared with their own Bibles, the Muslims who answer questions about everything from fasting to politics, and the other members of religious populations at Columbia are all trying to respond to this challenge.

The author is a Columbia College first-year.