Analysis Of The Tales Of Juha

Gabriell Needham

Making of the Modern World

4-5:15

The “Tales of Juha” are a collection of comic tales as well as some pieces that reveal information about social problems, religion in daily life, the link between religion and punishment and mortality. These pieces are important to read in order to understand what the daily life and culture of the Muslim empires was like according the citizens. These tales give a great inside look at some of the occurrence of a Muslim citizen. The approach to religion in the pieces helps to aluminate this chapter. The way the author wrote the pieces makes it very obvious to see the impact that religion has on everyday life. For example, in the tale “I Shall Never Eat Elephant Flesh” as all of the men make

I was surprised by this because of the Islamic religion and culture. In Islam, Muslims follow the five pillars which include, devoting themselves to Allah and only Allah, saying prayers five times a day facing the Ka’ba, supporting the poor, celebrating Ramadan and partaking in the Hajj. Most of these tales had to do with stealing, lying, tricking, and violent acts. In the tale “A Tempting Wager” the basket weaver made a deal with the king to get the Arabian horse form the Bedouin that was reluctant to sell. The basket weaver went to see the slave who guarded the horse and made a wager with him. The basket weaver ended up tricking the slave into untying the horse and tying his feet up and as soon as the slave did so, the basket weaver took off with the horse. Each tale has their own example of action that seem to go against the Muslim

As I read the Tales of Juha, a society that I was not expecting emerged. I assumed that the tales would highly be based off religion in ways that support the beliefs of Muslims but instead, the tales showed some of the negatives of society during the time period. In the first few comic tales under “Juha the Judge” all of the tales had to do with thieves and the process it took to decided who was at fault. The next few tales had to do with trickery, deceit, and murder.

2. Religion and fate are some of the major building blocks of the Muslim Empires. The story, “I Shall Never Eat Elephant Flesh” clearly shows the link between religion and punishment. The man who vowed to not eat the elephant said he was directed through his fate and when the opportunity arose to finally eat something, he declined. The other men were quick to break their vows when they saw an end to their despair. Later that night, a large elephant appeared and killed all of the men who ate the baby elephant and the man who did not partake was sparred and was carried by the elephant to a nearby city. By devoting himself to his Almighty, he was saved from punishment. In the story “Crime and Punishment,” a man was approached by an old woman who invited him to join her back at the house. They ate and drank but eventually the young woman put the man in a small bedroom as a way to “protect” him from the visitors that had arrived. The man shortly discovered that the woman had tricked him and planned