Thank you for a very informative post, SeeMaat. I appreciate the tenor of your exposition of Islam and accept completely that one cannot simply equate Islam with a particular extreme interpretation as exemplified by Al Qaida, or the Taliban. Millions of Muslims live tolerant upright lives and see their religion as something which enlightens them and supports them in this (Yusuf Islam [formerly known as Cat Stevens] is someone who immediately comes to mind). As do millions of Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, etc.
Nevertheless, this very point brings up a major problem. Just as you are convinced that your interpretation of the truth of Islam is correct, so is Mullah Omar, so are extremist Wahabi teachers in Saudi Arabia, so are, presumably, the religious figures associated with the Janjaweed (جنجويد) in Darfur, as are the many Islamic teachers who support the introduction of repressive, savage legal systems which they claim to be pure expressions of Sharia (شريعة ). So how are we non-Muslims to judge which interpretation of Islam is the most faithful one - if any? (This is not alone a problem for Islam; George W. Bush also claimed to be guided by God - in a Christian context - a claim which horrified millions of others who also understand themselves as Christians. Jimmy Carter also professes his Christian faith very publicly, but it leads him to very different views of what God wants from society.) Still, the atrocities carried out in the name of Islam in the past few dacades place, I would think, a special onus on the many millions of Muslims who interpret their religion in a more tolerant, merciful, rational manner to fight a true jihad within Islam against those who besmirch the image of their religion, their God and his prophet. I'm afraid I can sympathise with the feelings of some of those who post here who feel that this sort of jihad has been rather weak - at least publicly - up to now. I certainly would NOT include you in this judgment :-) The issue of interpretation is central. As someone who is multi- lingual I appreciate - to an extent - the problems which arise in attempts to translate the Qur'an from Arabic into other languages. But the problem goes even deeper. The world has changed much in 1400 years, as have the societies in which Islam is practiced. Even the way Arabic is spoken and understood has changed and is continually changing - as is the case for every language. So the words of Muhammad as recorded in the Qur'an have to be interpreted even for a modern audience which understands Arabic, for language is always used and understood within particular contexts. The meaning of many words, as spoken and understood by the prophet and those who recorded his visions are not always identical with the way these words are used today. In the light of such considerations I have always regarded the propensity of Islam to accord the Arabic original of the Qur'an a privileged and preeminent place as somewhat disingenuous, elitist and culturally imperialistic - particularly with relation to a proclamation of a one, universal God, who is all-compassionate and merciful. Why on earth would such a God demand that he/she be prayed to in one particular language? Or demand that his/her followers refrain from eating pork (as long as it is hygienically prepared)? Such commandments are indications that the Qur'an is a document of its own time and context. There is nothing wrong with this, but it means that those who wish to find the essence of a divine message in the text must get involved with textual criticism and interpretation. Such critical approaches towards one's own religion are - to put it mildly - not encouraged, even within mainstream Islam (I referred to the historical roots for some of this in the "ask me about ..." thread recently). This critical approach is, of course, a frequently risky course for the believer to take. In my own case, it led me through Christianity and beyond it to non-belief. This does not mean that I do not respect my former religion - even if I now hold that religious belief is mistaken and something that humanity would profit from growing out of. But it doesn't have to happen this way, I know many others who have followed this path and remained believers. And if Islam really wants to remain relevant and say something to our modern world, it is necessary for it to bcome much more self-critical. Salaam/shalom/pace/peace/namaste! Francis On 24 Jul., 20:01, "SeeMaat;" <[email protected]> wrote: > Who knows the thing .. of course not the same as heard by the > falsehoods with which people in fact do not know the truth ..! > > people should know > > 1. Allah is God. The great majority of the non-Muslims I meet believe > that Allah is a kind of personal name for some kind of small-"g" god, > perhaps like Jupiter or Vulcan (gods of the Roman pantheon). I've even > heard people refer contemptuously to the God of Islam as a "desert > god," as if Judaism and Christianity originated in Yankee Stadium or > something. The fact is that Allah is simply a compound word made from > the Arabic words al (the) and lah, (god): the God. Monotheism -- the > belief in a single, supreme, divine creator -- is the central and most > important aspect of Islam. (And it's pronounced uh-LAH, not "Al, uh?") > Even most English translations of the Qur'an I've seen do not > translate the word. I believe it is really problematic and misleading > not to translate such a key word for which there is an exact English > *****alent. > > Along these lines, I've taken several Muslims to task for using the > Arabic term for God when they're speaking in English: all it does it > serve to confuse those for whom it's never been made clear that Allah > is the same God worshipped by Jews and Christians. Muslims may differ > on various points with Jews and Christians, but this is not one of > them. You'd never know, though, from the way these groups act with > each other much of the time, that they each hold dear the same belief > in the God of Abraham, Moses, and of Jesus (for Christians and > Muslims) and, for Muslims, of Muhammad. (Muslims accept all the > prophets prior to Muhammad, including Jesus. More on Jesus shortly.) > > 2. The biggest sin is Islam is shirk: "associating partners with God." > Shirk may be generally defined as polytheism, but also includes such > things as the Christian concept of a triune God, or the worshipping of > anything other than God, whether it's a human being, any natural/human > creation or phenomenon. This tends to create quite a theological abyss > between Muslims and polytheists, but also with Christians and certain > other religious groups. > > You can imagine from this that expressions such as "Holy Mother of > God!" give most observant Muslims the theological willies. > > 3. Muslims don't believe that Jesus was the son of God. As mentioned > in #1, Muslims accept Jesus (in Arabic, "Isa") as a prophet, and an > extremely important one at that. Following from #2, however, they do > not accept the Christian belief that Jesus was the son of God > (literally or ****phorically), although they do believe he is the son > of Mary (in Arabic, "Maryam"). They further believe that at the time > of the Crucifixion, another man was substituted for Jesus and made to > look like him. Jesus was then raised up, "body and soul" by God into > heaven. > > This is probably the most significant point of difference between > Christians and Muslims. Some Christian theologians and clergy believe > that Christians err by placing too much emphasis on Jesus and > elevating him to God's level, but that's an argument for another time > and place. > > 4. Muslims don't worship the Prophet Muhammad. This naturally follows > from #2, but, I suspect because of the extreme emphasis on Jesus in > much of Christian practice, many assume that Islam parallels this with > Muhammad and Muslims. While the Prophet is considered by Muslims to > have been the human being with the best character, he is still > regarded as a human being, albeit an exceptional one. And while he is > regarded as the final prophet of God, he is not the only one. He does > not have divine status, although Muslims hold him in the highest > regard and are expected and encouraged to try to emulate his habits > and characteristics, those being of the highest quality. > > Muslims were for years incorrectly referred to as Mohammedans (spelled > variously). This has generally become archaic, but you still see it > now and then. It's actually profoundly offensive, since it implies > shirk. (And while we're on it, it's Muslim, not Moslem, and Qur'an or > Quran, not Koran.) > > 5. Translations of the Qur'an are not the Qur'an. It's well-known that > something is always lost in translation. For those English speakers > who don't ever expect to read the Bible in Hebrew, Aramaic, and > whatever other languages in which its component ****s originally > appeared, it seems to be accepted that translations of the Bible are > all more or less equally valid, although one may have a preferred > translation. But only the Qur'an in its original Arabic is considered > to be the Qur'an; translations are treated with great respect but are > simply not equally valid. Muslims believe that the Qur'an was revealed > to Muhammad (who was completely illiterate) by God through the angel > Jibril (Gabriel). Muhammad memorized the passages as they were > revealed and recited them and shared them with his family and > followers. Pre-Islamic Arab culture was predominantly oral, and others > ultimately learned and memorized the entire Qur'an; it was not > completely written down until after the Prophet's death. > > There have been many, many translations over the 1400-odd years since > it was first written down; plenty of them are bad -- a few of them > deliberately so in order to discredit Islam. Many poor translations > offer little more than the bias and ignorance of the translator. But > it's imperative to remember that any translation is at best an > approximation, and it can be very dangerous to make sweeping judgments > based on translated verses, especially in isolation. > > 6. Not all Muslims are Arabs; not all Arabs are Muslims. There seems > to be widespread confusion about this. I suppose that, on some level, > it's understandable: the Qur'an was revealed to an Arab speaker in > Arabia, and two of Islam's holiest sites (the Holy Mosque in Makkah > and the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah) are in what is now Saudi Arabia. > But Arab people live in many countries, not just Saudi Arabia, and > subscribe to many different religions, not just Islam: Christianity, > Judaism, and Druze among them. The most populous Muslim country in the > world is not even an Arab country: it's Indonesia. Only about twelve > percent of the world's Muslims are Arabs. Muslims are nationals of > many countries, from India to Sweden to Australia. Anyone who wants to > can convert to Islam, and it's actually only a minority of Muslims who > are also of Arab heritage. Also, not all Arab customs are Muslim. All > Muslims do not speak Arabic, although prayers are to be said in > Arabic, and Muslims are encouraged to learn to read Arabic so that > they can understand the Qur'an. And while I would really, really like > to believe this doesn't even need to be said, recent events have > proved me wrong: not everyone with brown skin or wearing a turban is a > Muslim or an Arab. > > 7. Culture is not religion. So much of the oppression and misogyny > (female illiteracy, "honor" killing, female genital mutilation, forced > marriages, physical abuse, etc.) we hear about in quasi- and pseudo- > Islamic countries such as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Iran stems from > patriarchal cultural customs and baggage and not from Islam, although > it's always "justified" sixty ways to Sunday with supposed religious > dictates and self-serving interpretations of ******ure. > > If any of these countries actually thoroughly implemented Islam as > intended and honored the spirit as well as the letter of the "law," > women, for example, would not only have far more rights and freedoms > than they currently do in any of these countries, but the behavior of > men and the actions of governments would have to change so radically > that you would probably not recognize these countries at all. Islamic > concepts and requirements are that different from how these countries > currently operate. > > 8. Islam is not a monolith. It is a large, widespread, rich, and > complex religion, with an extremely intricate and sometimes enigmatic > ******ure, and an estimated 1.2 billion followers worldwide. There is > overwhelming diversity within the Islamic world, beginning with the > major Islamic subgroups: Sunni Muslims (accounting for around 85-90% > of Muslims), Shi'ite Muslims, Sufis, Ismailis, and other small > splinter groups. Within these groups there are schools of legal > thought; there are four major ones within Sunni Islam alone. Muslims > might be born into the religion or convert to it, and this contributes > to the diversity within its adherents. It's absolutely essential not > to see any one Muslim, genuine or otherwise, as representative of all > Muslims. > > The very diversity of Muslims worldwide is one reason the annual > pilgrimage (hajj) to Makkah, the birthplace of Islam, is so > compelling: every year for over fourteen hundred years, millions of > Muslims have united for a few days, putting aside all differences of > race, ethnic background, class, gender and language, to participate in > a ritual established by the Prophet Muhammad. > > 9. Jihad does not mean "holy war." This has to be one of the most > damaging, most persistent myths about Islam. The Western media have > helped perpetuate this, but there are plenty of benighted Muslims who > insist on misapprehending and incorrectly using this term. Jihad, > (which comes from the Arabic root word jahada, meaning "to toil, to > exert oneself, to strive for a better way of life") is correctly > translated as "struggle" or "endeavour," and can easily apply to such > things as a student working to earn a medical degree or a group of > people raising money to build a mosque. It can apply to the struggle > to control one's temper, or to learn to read and write. Part of my > husband's jihad as a Muslim is the effort it takes for him to get up > in time to offer the first prayers of the day, which occur before > dawn. It encompasses the idea of struggling or fighting for good or > against evil, but that does not necessarily mean with violence, and it ... > > Erfahren Sie mehr » --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. 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