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Places Called Home: Folk Traditions among Muslim Immigrants in Baton Rouge, Louisiana By Jocelyn Hazelwood Donlon
Home Matters The notion of "home" is a moveable feast for any person who has pulled up roots and relocated to a new and unfamiliar place, whether that person has moved from Mamou to Shreveport, or from the Middle East to Baton Rouge. For most any member of a "new population," home is about looking backwards to cherish the familiar, painful or pleasurable, while also facing forward to create new opportunities. It is not surprising, then, that from their home countries and communities, the Muslim immigrants of Baton Rouge have transported and adapted their venerated folk traditions to practice in their new home. Among the many Muslim immigrants of Baton Rouge, seven individuals from Palestine, Pakistan, Bosnia, and Mauritius agreed to share their stories in March, 2007, for the New Populations Project. These seven people provide a window into the much larger Muslim population of Baton Rouge. According to the 2000 census, 2,793 people of the total 412,852 residents in East Baton Rouge Parish, reported having been born in foreign nations with a majority Muslim population. It is impossible to know how many of these people were United States citizens born abroad, or how many were-and are-practicing Muslims. But these figures give us a rough idea of the substantial size of the Muslim community in Baton Rouge, one that has come from around the globe to seek new and different opportunities. Some people have immigrated permanently to become citizens. Others have relocated temporarily for educational or work opportunities. Still others have come as refugees, hoping to escape political violence and even war. Whatever their motivation, many Muslim immigrants, representing such countries as Bosnia, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Palestinian territories, Turkey, and others, have brought a sense of "home country" to Baton Rouge. HOME MATTERS Oaf Music When Nizar sings, he closes his eyes, moves his left hand in the air to help him keep time, and sings with no instruments. He begins with a long "Ooooooffff" sound-giving the name Oaf to the music, and then launches into the song. Nizar says that "it's better for performance to have an instrument," such as the oud , a stringed instrument similar to a lute, but he uses no instrument other than his voice. Oaf singers choose their songs to suit the occasion. For example, if a person is far from home, he might sing something about being nostalgic for family and country. The lyrics are quite serious and meaningful, and sung out of respect. Nizar loosely translated one of his songs in the following words:
By its very nature, Oaf music is intended for public consumption-to be performed at weddings and parties. Some people "back home" may even hire a zajjallen , a professional singer who wears traditional Palestinian dress and is paid for the performance. There are indeed rare occasions in the United States where Nizar has performed publicly. When he does so, it is as a special tribute to close family and friends. He sang Oaf music for Shereen, his wife, at his own wedding reception (held in North Carolina), as well as at another wedding of a close friend, also in the United States, Nizar's primary use of Oaf music is not, however, for public consumption; instead, he mostly performs his music in his home for Shereen (who finds the singing romantic), his infant son, Laith, and his close friends. At only six months old, Laith was already making an "Oooo" sound when Nizar launched into the music. Oaf music is secular in nature, so even if Nizar attended the mosque in Baton Rouge, it is doubtful that he would perform his songs in a religious setting. Nevertheless, Nizar and Shereen do not attend the mosque, though they are very devout. Shereen voluntarily wears the headscarf, the couple fast during Ramadan, and they celebrate the traditional "Eid" holidays. (The term "Eid" is used to signify the two most important religious celebrations for Muslims. Eid ul-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting meant to help individuals achieve a greater sense of discipline and compassion. The second "Eid" holiday is Eid ul-Adha , the annual "sacrifice holiday" during which an animal is ritually slaughtered to feed family, friends, and the poor.) Nizar and Shereen practice their religious traditions, but, while in the United States, their primary commitment is to their own nuclear family rather than to a larger religious community. Before marriage, Nizar, then a Ph.D. student in Wichita, Kansas, did spend much time at a mosque, to feel a sense of religious community and to socialize with his male friends. In Baton Rouge, his focus has turned to work and family. If the family decides to remain in the United States, the tradition of Oaf singing will likely remain an intimate one with this family, practiced within the home, determined by opportunities and priorities. But the songs themselves will inevitably take them back to their home country and public celebrations. Bosnian Pita Bread
Emira's traditional cooking is one way in which the nuclear family has maintained not only family unity but also home connections to Bosnia. Her specialty is Bosnian pita bread, which she makes for her family once or twice most weeks. She has also taught her daughter, now attending university out of state, and her son's American girlfriend to make Bosnian pita. In her new home, where she takes comfort in knowing that her children have increased opportunities, she routinely connects them to where they came from through her cooking. By all accounts, Emira's pita-making skills are exceptional. Hasan boasts about her special ability to roll pita dough so thin (resembling sheets of phyllo dough) that she can cover the entire top of a card table. Many of her friends say that it is "too hard" to roll the dough this thin, but it is no challenge for Emira, who keeps a card table standing in her garage, always at the ready for pita-making. As was the case with Emira's mother, pita bread needs to have a substantial filling because it is traditionally made to feed large families. For ingredients, Emira uses flour, Vegeta (a spice which she buys at a local international shop and smells like bouillon) vegetable oil, onion, black pepper, salt, and water. For meat-stuffed pita bread, she uses ground beef, chicken, turkey, veal, or lamb. As was the case with Emira's mother, pita bread needs to have a substantial filling because it is traditionally made to feed large families. Sometimes Emira freezes the pita bread, but Hasan observes that in Bosnia it is always made fresh because "people are not so busy" and because the freezers are much smaller. Cheese pita is her son's favorite, so she bought a special small pie pan just for him. Hasan notes that, in his generation, "She who wants to be married must do pita." Emira added that even though her daughter does know how to make pita, it is "because she wants to eat it," not because she is trying to win a husband. The daughter, according to Emira, is "an American girl," and the tradition of pita-making has inevitably adapted to a contemporary American setting as it is transmitted from mother to daughter. Nevertheless, Emira has kept her family connected to their homeland through her traditional and exceptional cooking. See more photos of Emira Making Pita Bread Miniature Mosque
Hasan combed Baton Rouge to locate his materials. He bought paneling wood at a supply house to fabricate the exterior walls of the mosque. He also used prefabricated items, such as sheets of green plastic, cut in an arch-shape to serve as windows; cabinet liners for interior floor covering; miniature dolls to represent the Imam and worshippers (the Imam mounts the pulpit steps to give a sermon) and doll furniture; a miniature book for the Koran; a bookstand made of balsa wood to hold the Koran; and yellow Christmas lights for indoor lighting (he bought multi-colored lights and removed all the colored ones to replace with yellow for more accuracy). He used black paint and a small paint brush to draw calligraphy on the inside of the mosque (copying Arabic from a book) to represent the names of Allah and the prophet Mohammed. And he made a hidden door on the stairs for the Imam to enter the minaret to sing the call to prayer. On the exterior of the mosque, Hasan used gold Mardi Gras beads for decoration on the dome and minaret; drawer pulls for architectural detail on the roof. The minaret is fabricated out of cardboard paper towel tubes, the top of a flag pole forming its peak, and decorated with perching miniature birds. Examples of cultural cross-pollinations in the construction of the mosque are found in the yellow Christmas lights for indoor lighting and in the gold Mardi Gras beads for decoration on the dome and minaret. Using materials dedicated to two Christian holidays on a mosque which was inspired by a Christmas nativity scene demonstrates the porous nature of folk traditions when they get re-located to a different cultural space. Perhaps the most revealing detail is the painted script over the mosque's entrance: Hasan Begova DžAmija . In the Bosnian language, " DžAmija " means "mosque," and a " begova " signifies the leader of a district (similar to "mayor"). So the entryway reads something akin to "Mayor Hasan's Mosque." This whimsical detail places the mosque at the heart of Hasan and Emira's domestic, private life rather than at the center of a larger Muslim community. Indeed, primarily because of language barriers, Hasan and Emira do not attend the mosque in Baton Rouge. The dominant languages at the mosque are Arabic and English, and Hasan and Emira are not comfortable socializing with large English-speaking groups. They do not want to go to the mosque simply for prayer, without being able to socialize. Such a decision demonstrates that the community mosque functions as much more than a prayer hall for Baton Rouge's Islamic population. It is a social center as well as a place of prayer, connecting families to a larger community. Folklorist Jocelyn Hazelwood Donlon, PhD., and leisure studies researcher Jon Griffin Donlon, PhD., founded and co-direct the Center for Cultural Resources in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Jocelyn Donlon interviewed members of the Baton Rouge Muslim community for the New Populations Project. Jon Donlon provided photographs. |
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