The Baha'i Studies Listserv .On Mon, Oct 18, 2010 at 7:25 PM, Susan Maneck <[email protected]> wrote: > The Baha'i Studies Listserv >> That depends on the definition. In any case, playing word games is >> really beside the point. In the Bahai faith (invoking the concept of >> the sin-covering eye) and in Islam, finding fault with people in >> different ways is highly discouraged
> If this were to apply to the dead as well as the living it would be > tantamount to saying that neither Muslims or Baha'is could be > truthful historians. > They would not even be able to refer to the hypocrites in Medina. No. The principle isn't absolute. There are contexts where negative comments are definitely appropriate even of living people. For example if a friend asks your sincere advice about whether it would be good to marry so-and-so. And when scholars study hadith there is reason to keep track of things like so-and-so has a bad memory or so-and-so tended to be inaccurate. > . I would say this is especially >> true in discussing certain divisive issues in the past. > I would very much disagree. Over-glorifications of the past are only a > burden to the future. I'm not glorifying anything. I feel like you are misinterpreting what I'm saying. I think sacred history and hagiography has a role. I think secular history has a role. By all means report on the objective facts regarding historical figures and their mistakes and faults. But identifying Muawiyya with the Beast of Revelation is hardly an objective fact of history. __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[email protected] Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:leave-533765-27401.54f46e81b66496c9909bcdc2f7987...@list.jccc.edu Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [email protected] Or subscribe: http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:[email protected] Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st News (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
