About Dervish
Dervish is the Godblog of Umm Yasmin, a Muslim living in Melbourne Australia. Umm Yasmin first began writing an online diary (before they were called “blogs”) back in 1999 but did not seriously begin blogging until late 2003. Since then she has tried to keep readers entertained with a unique perspective on religion, spirituality, academia, feminism, parenting and Melburnian life.
Umm Yasmin is a PhD candidate and aspiring academic researching issues to do with Australian Muslims. She also writes fairly regularly for the Faith column of the Sunday Age.
Reviews of Dervish
In Beliefnet:
This Australian blogger calls herself a “modern dervish,” someone in need of God’s mercy. Her blog is often very personal but also includes good Muslim updates and opinions, as well as news about interfaith efforts between Muslims and Jews. The Dervish also links to a host of other religious blogs, not just her fellow Muslims, with symbols identifying which religion each is affiliated with.
In Q-news:
While women are well represented in all categories of awards, there is a sisterhood of sorts among Muslim women bloggers, and the “Best Female Blog” category was created to highlight the unique discourse among them. Australian blogger Umm Yasmin (maryams.net/dervish) took the prize in this category, with her well-written entries about motherhood, conversion, and global politics. Her latest entries include a series on “Becoming Muslim” and reflections on this year’s Muharram.
FAQ about Dervish
Who writes Dervish
Dervish is authored by Umm Yasmin who has lived the vast majority of her life in Melbourne, Australia. She was brought up in the Baha’i religion, but decided to practice Islam quite a few years ago. Her conversion story (of sorts) is available here. Interestingly enough, Umm Yasmin considers herself to be a Muslim feminist, but more on that later.
Umm Yasmin gives lots of talks on Islam to interested groups and organisations. She really likes interfaith dialogue and thinks the world would be a much nicer place if everyone learned a little bit about other people’s religions and cultures.
Umm Yasmin is in her thirties and is the mother of a beautiful little girl called Yasmin. She has been married to her one and only squeeze, Abu Yasmin, since December 1998.
So is her name Yasmin then?
No. Umm Yasmin is an Arabic moniker meaning “Mother of Yasmin”. In Arabic culture, it is polite to call mature women “Mother of Their Child”. Umm Yasmin really likes this Arabic tradition, although she’s a bit worried about the mature bit.
Sometimes Umm Yasmin is called Maryam, because when she first started practising Islam, she was asked if she would like to take a new name. She tried to be Maryam for a bit (hence the domain name) but it didn’t really work out, because she didn’t yell at people when they didn’t call her Maryam. Umm Yasmin has another name in real life (which isn’t very hard to find out if you really want to try).
Who are Abu Yasmin and Yasmin?
Abu Yasmin (which means “Father of Yasmin”) is Umm Yasmin’s darling husband, and Yasmin is their baby girl. Umm Yasmin respects the privacy of her friends and family and doesn’t refer to them on Dervish by their real names (except for Yasmin who can’t read yet, so won’t get upset by seeing her name on the internet).
How can I read Dervish through my RSS reader?
Depending on what type of RSS reader you’re using, instructions will differ slightly. But somewhere along the way you will need to provide a special URL which lets you read Dervish in RSS form. That special URL is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/dervish
Why “Dervish”?
Originally Dervish was called “A Dervish’s Du`a’” but that was a bit of a mouthful for people. If you want to know why it was given such a strange title, you can read about it here.
What type of Muslim is Umm Yasmin?
A crunchy one. Just kidding. A Muslim is someone who has committed their whole selves to God, believing there is no god but God and that Muhammad is His Messenger. That’s the type Umm Yasmin is trying to be. It’s probably better considered a verb, rather than a noun. Umm Yasmin thinks that divisions between Muslims aren’t a very good idea, and so she respects the different Muslim groups and denominations (although she isn’t very keen on the Wahhabi-Salafiyya because they mostly seem to need tickling under their armpits).
Umm Yasmin she doesn’t really think of herself by a particular ‘Muslim’ label. For those who want to pin her down a bit further on the sticky topic of rightful succession of leadership, Umm Yasmin thinks the early Muslim community went with Abu Bakr, God be pleased with him, as a leader (after the Prophet, God love him, died) because it was a necessary decision at the time. But she also thinks that ‘Ali, God be pleased with him, was probably the choice that the Prophet, would have gone with. She also thinks that over time the Sunni and Shi’i variants developed into differentiated traditions, so Sunnism and Shi’ism today aren’t the same as being supporters of Companions or the Holy Family, way back when.
Isn’t the joining of “Muslim” and “feminist” an oxymoron?
Umm Yasmin reckons that a feminist is “someone who believes that gender distinction does not have a value attached to it, and that therefore women (or men) should not be valued less or more (either practically or theoretically) because of their gender.”
She also believes that, even though the Muslim world doesn’t seem to like the word “feminism” very much and consequently misunderstands the phenomenon, Islam teaches that women and men are essentially equal. She thinks the Prophet was the first Muslim feminist, because he worked very hard to teach people to treat women with respect and dignity and not to think that men are better than women just because they have dangly bits on their bodies.
When the Prophet, God love him, was around there weren’t any Muslim jurists, philosophers, traditionists or theologians because Islam was in its infancy. They also didn’t actually have feminists back then either. But it was all sort of there in nascent form, in the same way a seed contains the promise of a tree. Over time, Muslims became specialists in various activities. Some Muslims became jurists and some became theologians. Some became mystics and others became philosophers. A few went on to become biographers, calligraphers and architects. Some Muslims became feminists and specialised in advocating for the rights of women.
You can read here to find out more about Muslim feminism.
Why does Dervish have Baha’i stuff on it?
Umm Yasmin’s mum and dad met through the Baha’i community and decided it would be a good idea to get married and have a couple of billy lids (that’s “kids” in Australian slang). So Umm Yasmin was brought up in a Baha’i family; she even married a Baha’i herself. Even though Umm Yasmin decided that, on the whole she worked better as a Muslim than a Baha’i, she retains a fair amount of respect for the faith (if not its organisational hierarchy, which she thinks spends way too much time WRITING EMAILS LIKE TELEGRAMS, STOP).
Umm Yasmin thinks the development of Baha’ism was a fairly predictable and natural extension of socio-political currents affecting the Muslim world in the nineteenth century, and even has some rather nice prayers and teachings. She finds it quite difficult to view the Baha’i faith apart from its Islamic context, because it seems rather silly to her to pretend that its practices and teachings are all new when they almost always have Islamic precedents. But Umm Yasmin is a bit of a pluralist at heart, and thinks that if being a Baha’i bakes your cake, then go for it
What is the best SF work in the whole world?
Oh that’s a no-brainer. The Dune series by Frank Herbert (he sooooo ripped off the Arabs). Mind you, if we’re talking movies, then Star Wars has to get the gurnsey.
How can I get in contact with this brilliant example of intelligence, wit, beauty and spirituality?
How nice of you to ask. If you want to get in contact with Umm Yasmin, then you can email her through the contact form.
A Melburnian Muslim convert blogs religion, academia and life in general.
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Asalamualikum.
I couldn’t find an email address so I’ll just post here. I have programmed another Islamic plugin for WordPress, please check it out and pass it on.
http://www.usayd.com/pluginshacks/islamic-praise/
JazakAllah
Usayd
Salaams Um Tasmin,
Thank you so much for linking to my website. I just noticed it on Technorati. I really enjoy reading your blog. It’s funny, and honest.
Salaam Dear Sister:
I am happy to see your blog is back
I am adding it to my blogroll on Darvish.
Ya Haqq!
wa ‘alaykumusalam wa rahmatullahi!
Jazakallahu - fellow darvish on the path! I’ve done likewise
Salamalaykum darvish sister,
since you are a fellow Muslim and a PhD candidate (if not having already acheived your doctorate), I wonder if you are able to let me know of any unpublished information in the new Islamic Studies undergraduate course being offered at Griffith Uni, University of Western Sydney, and Melbourne Uni.
I am myself an Australian born Muslim, who converted relatively recently, and I need to finish off my undergraduate studies at one point or another. I had previously contemplately enrolling at Griffith since the Anglicahn Theology College, St Francis, here in Brisbane, had already advised me that I might like to study in their Hebrew courses.
Though perhaps it is that my initial e-mail to him, was ill-conceived of his ability to relate to me. My English usage is not in that usual pattern which Arab speakers have been taught to regard as normal and good English usage. Yet I believe it conveys more accurately a concise meaning than what I experience many Arabic speakers being able to within English. It needs to be regarded that English is the language of the most pidgins and creoles, and so its very flexible grammar and utterances, are for any other language to take command of. The way in which English usage is taught as a second language, in particular is too restrictive. It is an interminable problem in many English language Islamic websites, that many Arabic speakers have not yet conceived of how English can be used to combat the polemic which Qur’anic Arabic is so efficient at correcting. Our indigenous Australian languages are also excellent at inhibiting polemics in word use, and so many of us tend to just let English words adhere to our indigenous grammar rules where possible. In fact, it is my experience that both Qur’an and Christian liturgy, translated into an indigenous language, and then from the indigenous language into English, provide far more accurate meaning than have any translations straight from Arabic into English. Funny thing that.
Thanks for tolerating my repetitive hammering of my point, as is the normal mode of providence of new information within indigenous culture.
Alaykumuassalam Rebecca Copas nungarrayi
So since I have externally identified my belief in Islam now, and so might not be such a suitable candidate for their Theology courses, it seems like a viable idea to enroll in the BA at Griffith and undertake Islamic Studies at an undergraduate level.
However, I reckon that I already have most, if not all, of what that undergraduate course details it will orient the mind of the student to. My actual study really needs a strong major in the bio-chemical sciences, as I will be applying that study to corroboration of Qur’an.
What I am noticing is that the level of attainment in education among Muslims, as it dictates social esteems, , seems to depend upon very fixed notions of the education structure, in which perhaps your level of pronunciation of Qur’an is more likely to be evaluated than your educational acheivement in any other language.
So I am wondering if there is any real worth in undertaking the Islamic studies major, since I can pick up all that education very readily through free Muslim internet services, as Islam requires of us all to provide.
What is not so easy to access for any Australian born convert, is the invitation to study Arabic from within that level of pronunciation of the right dialect which is necessary for the individual.
Perhaps it is just that my Aussie lingo, and Aussie slang speech forms, usually sound to crass to most Arabic speakers, but to ordinary Australians, I really come across as very very well rounded in education, because of my speech effects, and also my written English usage.
Not too long back now I received an e-mail asking me if I could provide a link for a Melbourne Islamic women’s organisation, with Traditional Indigenous Australians. I have provided what is the most effective linke possible. But there still seems very little real interest in engaging with our indigenous community among Arabic language speakers.
I am wondering if it is around a fear that is generated by the harshness of the Australian accent. Make no mistake, we Australians can also hear our sounds as extremely harsh. The pronunciation of Qur’an which is my own preference, is that which has the stronger, sort of gutteral, undercurrent in the language, almost as though it is being spoken by a dwarf. (even in fact that a dwarf has expressed to me their alignment in that mode of teaching within any culture) However this is not true for every Australian, but rather than my own place of birth, in Armidale NSW, along with my ancestry, dictates that particular tradition being best for my own tongue and ear.
Other indigenous Australians (I am an Aussie Mussie Gubborigine = Australian born, Muslim, whitefella Aborigines accepted as indigenous within traditional culture), might well prefer the higher sorts of dialects of Qur’an pronunciation; but it is true to my own Dreamtime story also, that lesson pattern which takes the lows with the highs.
However, I am now almost off the track of my quest here. My question of you is, can you advise me around whether undertaking the new Islamic studies major at Griffith is likely to provide a student with any external repute of worth within the modern Islamic mainstream? Because if not, then it is more likely to be worth my while enrolling in the course in which I have more flexibility with the science units. Even enrolling in criminology might be more suitable for me.
An apology to be bothering you with this, but I have not yet been able to communicate directly with Dr. Muhammud Abdullah here in Brisbane.
Now reading back I see that I failed to mention my actual observation of what has happened in the conveying of information here in Brisbane about the new Islamic Studies course at Griffith.
The main providence of the news that the course is available was not provided around the Griffith insitutions involvement, and no information could be received here in Brisbane about it, until after the September 30th enrollment period had already closed. The administrator I spoke with at Griffith had been anticipating a larger set of enquiries before now. It is difficult to discern where the problem was arising, but that is Griffith for you.
Assalamu ‘alaykum Rebecca,
For such a long question, I’d like to give you a considered reply - so if you don’t mind I might email you instead of posting here.
Thanks, take the time you need, and I will look forward to receiving your communication
who
Salam ‘alaykum Umm Yasmin,
bless you abundantly.
I just found your review of my _Islam and Religious Pluralism_. I’m so glad that you liked it! For readers who are interested in a shorter version that is more up to date than the book, here is a link to the text on which I based a talk on the subject in Innsbruck.
http://www.uibk.ac.at/theol/leseraum/texte/626.html#anm
I only found parts I and II of your review, which only covered the parts of my book that are critical of what I term “reductive pluralism” because it seeks to reduce the truth of the religions to a common denominator. To the contrary, I propose a “non-reductive pluralism” that emphasizes the unique features of the religions. Although the position I adopt is one of faith in the ultimacy and divine command to accept Islam, I point out that this is consistent with God’s guidance of others through their own religious traditions. I think this is the secret behind the fact that the Shi’ite Imams (peace be with them) offered to give judgments for the Christians on the basis of the Gospel and for Jews on the basis of the Torah; but God knows best.
May Allah
Peace,
Hajj Muhammad
Assalamu ‘alaykum Hajj Muhammad wa Eid Mubarak!
Thank you so much for taking the time to write here. I was so excited to read your work and am very keen to read the updated link you’ve provided.
With kind regards
wasalam
Umm Yasmin
[…] So if anyone is interested, I do recommend you check out the JCMA website, or email me. […]
Girl, you and your blog are hard to keep up with. Maybe I missed some anouncement or redirect, but I had concluded you weren’t blogging anymore. Then here I found you by accident, back at the old url. I’m tempted to say, “Settle down,” but instead I’ll just say I’m glad you and your archives are back.
best,
Priscilla
My bad Priscilla. I had a bit of a brain-fart and deleted all my blogs and then regretted it. Note to self, must not go near internet when off happy pills.