Hello Richard, The different parameters of your hypothetical examples aren't completely clear to me. But I'll try to respond. As best as I can.
On Wed, 19 Jan 2005 12:13:32 -0800, Richard H. Gravelly <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > One day, in Palestine, an old Samaritan (or Samarian) and an old Muslim sat > together over tea. The Samarian had recently decided to convert to Judaism; > but would not read anything beyond the Torah; This is one part that isn't clear. The Samaritans are a small group which have their own Torah and claim to follow the religion of Moses, but they don't accept the rest of the Bible. For them, Mount Sinai is sacred but not the city of Jerusalem. So I'm not sure what it would mean to convert to Judaism but not read the rest of the Torah. Especially if later this person is willing to read the Quran. But that's a small point Another group sort of similar are the Karaites. They accept the Hebrew Bible, but rejected the Talmud. (And for that reason they aren't really considered Jews by rabbinic Judaism). They wanted to read the .Hebrew Bible without traditional interpretaions but apparently they still had to come up with a similar body of traditions just to apply the various laws. and so could not find a Rabbi > who would help him complete his conversion. The Muslim was born Sunni. He > has memorized the Qur'an. However, he has developed a dislike for the > Shari'a because it does not conform to the Qur'an in all aspects. He is > also not very happy about the Sunna and the conflicting Hadiths and so does > not base his belief upon them. > So in both cases, it seems like these individuals believe in some holy text. But they don't seem to accept the auxiliary texts which the respective communities look to to help guide their interpretations. It seems like very much a "Protestant" notion. Sola Scriptura. There are some Muslims like that too. They read the Quran and hadith and ignore past scholarship. I think these sorts of splits (differences of opinion, not necessarily sectarian) appear all over the place, in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and perhaps eventually in the Bahai faith. Some members of the community try to stick more closely to the texts. They might tend towards literalism, individual interpretation. They tend to believe the text can be understood more in a vacuum. At the other end, there are members who give more weight to traditional scholarship. They look at how the text has been understood over the centuries. They tend to be less literal. They are more connected to a tradition that emphasizes its own continuity with the past. I was raised Protestant and when I became Muslim, I wouldn't say I was gung-ho Wahabi but by default I probably leaned slightly towards a "Protestant" approach to Islam. Then later on I appreciated more and more the value of tradition, and personally I think the more traditional "Catholic" approach makes more sense to me. I think no matter what, the texts are being interpreted by human beings. The question is whether you want to rely on interpretations which are informed, scholarly, and have stood the test of time. Or are you going to rely on interpretations which are uninformed, unscholarly, and were just made up yesterday. > The Samaritan is amenable to embracing the Qura'n. He wants, however, for > the Muslim to explain to him the Torah and the Gospel to him from the point > of view of the Qur'an because he noted that the Muslim had recited this > verse: Allah hath purchased of the believers their persons and their good; > for theirs (in return) is the garden (of Paradise): they fight in His cause, > and slay and are slain: a promise binding on Him in truth, through the Law, > the Gospel, and the Qur'�n: and who is more faithful to his Covenant than > Allah? (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 9 v. 111) Why is the Samaritan willing to embrace the Quran? And why would they want an explanation of the Gospel? > The Samarian insists that this verse is telling him that Jews Christians and > Muslims are "believers". He also went on to say: "The following verse > confirms that I needn't embrace the Qur'an" > > 5:70 But if the people of the Book believe and have the fear of God, we will > surely put away their sins from them, and will bring them into gardens of > delight: and if that they observe the law and the Evangel, and what hath > been > sent down to them from their Lord, they shall surely have their fill of good > things from above them and from beneath their feet. (Rodwell tr). I would actually have alot of respect for that opinion. I really do think that in God's eyes a righteous monotheist is in a pretty good position. If someone really is a righteous monothesist and is really sincerely trying to follow God's will to the best of their understanding I have a hard time imagining that a just and merciful God would send them to hell because they didn't follow Muhammad (saaws) by name. In the Quran it says that shirk (idolatry, polytheism, associating others with God) is the one unforgivable sin. God might forgive anything else besides that. So a righteous monothesist isn't commiting shirk. So in terms of spirituality, I'm not sure what else would need to be said. On top of that I might say that being Muslim and following the shariah is a healthy spiritual path. I think it contains all the wisdom you need. Its established by God. It's a path which is different from others in that it is intact. I believe the Islamic understanding of sacred history is correct (like in terms of Jesus, Paul and Christianity for instance) etc. I'm not sure to what extent these are all spiritually significant questions of the heart. It is mostly head knowledge. Peace Gilberto "My people are hydroponic" __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[email protected] To unsubscribe, send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, use subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:[email protected] Web - http://list.jccc.edu/read/?forum=bahai-st News - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Public - http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
