Friday, March 29, 2024

West African religious practices on display

September 10, 2001
Lansing Community College student Chaibou Babale, right, learns about a piece from the “Drinking the Word of God#148; exhibit at the MSU Museum from museum Curator Rob Glew on Sunday. The exhibit illustrates the expressions of faith and the search for well-being in two West African communities. —

MSU students and faculty in search of a new cultural experience may not have to look any further than the MSU Museum.

The Drinking the Word of God exhibit showcases the beliefs and religious practices in two West African communities - Zinder, Niger and Bondoukou, Cote d’Ivoire, through religious artifacts and photographs.

Raymond Silverman, a curator of the exhibit and a professor of art history, hosted a gallery talk Sunday.

Silverman said the exhibition was the first of its kind to look specifically at the use of religious devices with special powers used by some Muslim societies.

The exhibit opened March 20 and ends Jan. 28, 2002.

“This exhibition is a compelling, evocative, and emotional journey through the lives of individuals who are in search of personal well-being through Islamic rituals,” said Lora Helou, a museum spokeswoman. “People can compare these rituals to their own and discover the similarities and differences.”

In the two communities, individuals believe learning to recite and write the words of God is a particularly effective means of pursuing physical and mental well-being.

Individuals in search of physical protection, success in university entrance exams, business and overall good luck, go to the community’s religious scholar who uses inscriptions from the Quran, the Islamic holy book, to create a religious amulet.

This device can be worn on the neck, put inside a case or even nailed to someone’s front door, and by eliciting God’s assistance, Silverman said, these people believe they will receive nothing but good luck.

Chaibou Babale, a photojournalism freshman at Lansing Community College and native of Niger, also practices this ritual.

As Babale walked through the exhibit he said he was nostalgic about seeing the pictures of his fellow believers expressing their faith, some of whom were also his good friends.

“I don’t care what people say because I believe in my religion 100 percent,” Babale said. “It’s great seeing the photographs of religious scholars that I myself went to for academic success. They brought me where I am today.”

Silverman said the title of the exhibit refers to the ritual in which scholars from the two communities inscribe words from the Quran on a board and then wash it with water. The water is then drank by individuals who want to “ingest” its spiritual message.

Robert Glew, co-curator of the exhibit and assistant director for the Center for Advanced Study of International Development, said Africa and Islam are not at the top of the list of American students when it comes to general knowledge.

“There are many stereotypes and negative images of Muslims in Africa and hopefully this exhibit might play a part in changing that,” he said.

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