Hi Billy,
On May 21, 2009, at 4:23 PM, [email protected] wrote:
My point is: if serious, religious Jews who consider such words a
central part of their religious scriptures have found a way to work
around extreme intolerance, is not reasonable to hope that serious,
religious Muslims might as well?
Here again is the assumption , that the Qur'an has much the same
status for Muslims as the Bible for Jews or Christians. IF it did,
then,
yes, a reformation is thinkable. But, alas, this is not the case.
Just to clarify, do you mean to say that:
a) Muslims reverse the Quran *more* than Orthodox Jews revere the Torah?
Or is the real difference that the Jewish tradition encourages
criticism and questioning, as opposed to the sort of unthinking
obedience demanded by Islam?
b) Muslims are more aware of the total teachings of the Quran that
fundamentalists Christians are of the New Testament?
Or is the real issue that in practice they are loyal to a
fundamentalist readubg of the Quran, rather than direct knowledge of
what it actually says?
That is, as hard as it may be to grasp the concept, the Qur'an is
for Muslims
what Jesus is for Christians, not something anyone can compromise with
in the least.
Isn't that strictly speaking only true of the minority Shi'ite rather
than the majority Sunni Muslims? I'm no Muslim scholar, but you seem
to be glossing over the role of the early caliphs in establishing
normative doctrine.
Sure, your account may be truer to what the Koran says about itself,
and what Muslims *say* they believe -- but that doesn't mean it is
necessarily what they believe in practice (as is true of most
fundamentalists :-).
-- Ernie P.
The Straight Dope: What's the difference between Sunni and Shi'ite
Muslims?
The Sunnis meanwhile didn’t look for saintliness in their leaders, but
strong political abilities. They shaped laws based on the words of
Mohammed and the three “righteous caliphs” (Abu Bakr, Umar, and
Uthman, although some add Ali as the fourth). By the 900s, the Sunni
caliphate had split into regional dynasties and local royal families.
The Shi’ites take a more fundamentalist approach to their religion,
accepting laws only from Mohammed and the Koran, not the caliphate;
they look to the imams as the best source of knowledge and tradition.
There are essentially no differences in ritual between Shi’ite and
Sunni; nonetheless, many Sunni believe Shi’ites are not real Muslims.
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