لكل جعلنا منكم شرعة ومنهاجا ولو شاء الله لجعلكم امة وحدة ولكن ليبلوكم فى ما ءاتىكم فاستبقوا الخيرت الى الله مرجعكم جميعا فينبئكم بما كنتم فيه تختلفون
For each (community) among you have We have appointed a way of providence (in conduct.)( Shir'ah=a way to a watering-place/path where everything meets/gets nourishment) and way of life (minhaj=open road, path of life). And if God had so willed, He could surely have made you all one single community: but [He willed it otherwise] in order to test you by means of what He has vouchsafed unto, you. So, outdo one another in doing good to the society. To God you will all return, and He will then make you understand wherein you differed. (5:48)
Shared by Arnold Yasin
~~~
Showing posts with label quraan-today. Show all posts
Showing posts with label quraan-today. Show all posts
Friday, February 12, 2010
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Obama bows before Gays
What a way to celebrate Nobel! Obama bows before Gays
The very next day after he got the Nobel for Peace, Obama was delivering a “historical†speech to an organization of gays telling them that they would no longer need to hide their sexual preferences in order to serve the US military. No statement on redoubling the efforts to take its armies out of Muslim countries. No pledge never to invade other countries again. But gays must be reassured of his total unconditional support. What a way to celebrate the coveted honour: Do something which despite the growing corporate and political support to homosexuality still shames and worries the overwhelming majority not only of the world but also of America. (Democratic norms don’t work here.)What an ideology of freedom! Prostitutes and wives must be equal, straights and gays must be equal, and criminals and law-abiding must be equal.
But the rights of those denying and accepting Holocaust, those criticizing and supporting America, those entering America with Muslim and non Muslim names cannot be equal. Visas have been denied to people (like Prof. Tariq Ramadhan) on the grounds of their views, their religion and political alignments. What a sad commentary on the modernity that human rights today have come to be equated with the rights of gays. This despite the fact that homosexuality has proved to be the most dangerous of all forms of sexual relationships, and the life expectancy among gays has been found to be at least 25 years less than the average. This despite the fact that homosexuality has been proved to be one of the biggest factors (along with promiscuity and prostitution) in the spread of AIDS that has already consumed more than 45 million lives. Interestingly, you are not supposed to make public your religious and cultural preferences; but you are egged on not to hide your sexual preferences. Go ahead Obama, your concession of greater rights to gays will perhaps be a fitting tribute to the ideology of those who have chosen you for Nobel.
Dr Javed Jamil
_____________________________________
Dr. Jameel, your comments are appreciated. Indeed, Dr. Manmohan Singh is
visiting the USA now, his three Muslims on the press entourage were denied the
visa, and one of them is still left behind because he was a Muslim. It is a
shame on the US and India. The Tariq Ramadan case is also shameful.
Full story at:
http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/2009/10/manmohans-team-subjected-to-american.html
If you were given 15 minutes and asked to speak about Prophet Muhammad's Hujarat
from Mecca to Madinah, would you speak about Bibi Khadija,Bibi Ayesha, Hazrat
Umar and others? Or would you focus on what you were asked to speak? Obama just
did that, he was there to speak about one topic and not other issues. Focus
should be one item at a time.
Obama represents the interests of every American, that is 301 Million of us, he
is elected to protect the rights and ensure safety of every citizen, that
includes Gays and Lesbians. Many of us disagree with their sexual orientation
and even hate them, but that is not the role of the president, to hate.
I would not want Manmohan Singh of India to mistreat India's minorities even if
80% of the majority want otherwise. As we live in civil societies, we may not
agree with some one's practices, but we have to defend the civil rights of every
member of the society who are minding their own business.
Discrimination has no end, today it is them and some day it is us. The
Christians, Muslims, Jews and others whose scripture have been interpreted to
condemn the gays and lesbians, need to verify if those interpretations were
short-sighted and time-suited. As God has gifted as with the ability to think,we
need to employ it.
Thanks to the variations in translations, it shows us the limitations of human
understanding, and challenges us to strive to grasp the whole truth. What was
hitherto cut and dry is no more. May be it is Allah's hint to us to get closer
to understanding the truth. The focus ought be on the essence rather than
literal meaning. Presently there are 21 translations of Quraan available.
Religion is about justice, inclusiveness and common goodness. Islam is for
Aalameen.
Jazak Allah Khair
Mike Ghouse
_____________________________________
Re: [indianmuslims # 38246] Re: What a way to celebrate Nobel! Obama bows before Gays
Warning: This email is mostly off-topic and relates to the broader argument that took place a couple of weeks ago on this forum. I think this email addresses core issues without getting into many of the tangents of the earlier discussion.
The Christians, Muslims, Jews and others whose scripture have been interpreted to condemn the gays and lesbians, need to verify if those interpretations were short-sighted and time-suited.
Why verify it? Why not discard it outright? Why be half-hearted? Why not take this argument to its logical conclusion? Why be bound by something you don't agree with?
The dichotomy is clear: either you believe the Qur'an is the uncorrupted final Word of the Lord and Creator of mankind and everything else, or you don't. Why dilly and dally in the middle? If you believe in the first, you will realize that some things are open to interpretation, and some basic things aren't (O you who believe, enter into Islam wholeheartedly, O you who believe do not be like those before you who took parts of the Book and discarded other parts, and many other such verses). And if you don't, well, you're free to do that. It's the inconsistency that is bothersome.
You will reply, ah but there are different interpretations! There is no clergy in Islam! And Allah is the only Judge! Let's take these piece by piece.
Different interpretations: Yes, but on many many issues, the entire body of scholars has come to a single conclusion (homosexuality is one such issue, by the way). This is called 'ijma, and it is binding upon the Muslim community.
Your argument that we cannot know if an interpretation is better than any other is flawed: the criterion is the Qur'an and the authentic sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (saws). We can't be definitive about everything, but scholars can judge relative merit based on this.
This idea that everything is relative and we can't say one is better than the other and everything is equal is an element of dangerous post-modern thought that Muslims are well-advised to avoid.
You are welcome to think freely and come forward with an opinion, but if you want to put a Muslim label on that thought, you will have to abide by the rules: back it up with proof from Qur'an and Sunnah (which also takes a good amount of thinking by the way), and people of knowledge will judge that opinion based on its merit.
If you want to take on the scholars, you have to be scholarly.
No clergy: There is no theocracy in Islam in the sense that a priest doesn't necessarily wield political or absolute power. But there are degrees of knowledge and degrees of understanding. Deciding legitimacy of opinions is the task of trained scholars who are familiar with the corpus of texts and the opinions of those before us. Do you have the audacity to dismiss all of that without having even a fraction of their knowledge?
Actually, I suppose it is theoretically conceivable that someone can have the audacity to dismiss all of it. But again, they will have to buttress their claims with sound arguments from the texts.
Allah is the final Judge: True, but this doesn't mean we say every opinion is equal. And this doesn't mean we say every person's belief is as legitimate as everyone else's (why do we have the Qur'an in that case?). The Qur'an, in clear unambiguous language, defines correct belief and incorrect belief. You can't interpret up to mean down, nor black to mean white, nor tawheed to mean permissible shirk.
As God has gifted as with the ability to think,we need to employ it.
Are we necessarily wrong and/or of subpar intelligence if after applying our mind we don't agree with you?
I get the feeling you use the word "think" as a euphemism for "interpreting away" or "excising" those bits of Islam that are uncomfortable in today's context. As Muslims we apply our full intelligence to make sense of what Allah wants for us, without questioning His Wisdom. If this is not the case, I apologize for suggesting it might be.
If our minds were enough to decide everything, we wouldn't need any revelation. Without getting into aqeedah issues, in a nutshell, Muslims are meant to apply their intelligence in the paradigm created by revelation.
I realize there has been a huge discussion in recent weeks, and I apologize for inflaming it further, but I think subtle flaws in our belief can lead to great losses in the Hereafter.
I don't have the energy to get drawn into a debate. I'm trying to put forward the Ahlus-sunnah wal-jama'ah position, and I'm trying to show how your ideas contradict it (your ideas are not new by the way; they have been discussed in some form or the other for almost the entire history of Islam). You're free to label me however you like; I most likely won't respond unless something I said is unclear or something beneficial can come of it.
Religion is about justice, inclusiveness and common goodness. Islam is for Aalameen.
Islam is about the recognition and worship of our Lord. Justice, inclusiveness and common goodness is delineated by Him.
Wassalam
Hidayath
_____________________________________
I am pleased to read your comments, and indeed this is how a discussion ought to be carried; objectively. Thank you; it is a breath of fresh air.
My obligation is to respond in the areas where we have a different understanding and my focus would be precisely that.
Hidayath: The dichotomy is clear: either you believe the Qur'an is the uncorrupted final Word of the Lord and Creator of mankind and everything else, or you don't. Why dilly and dally in the middle?
Mike: Qur’aan is the uncorrupted final word of the Lord. There is no dilly dallying there. Thanks to the variations in translations (about 20 of them now), it shows us the limitations of human understanding, and challenges us to strive to grasp the whole truth. What was hitherto cut and dry is no more.
Three examples to consider:
Wife Beating
Dr. Laleh Bakhtiar offers another meaning to the translation of the Arabic word "Idrib," traditionally translated as "beat," which has been mis-understood and abused over the centuries by men who would be abusive any way, whether they are Muslim or not. "Why choose to interpret the word as 'to beat' when it can also mean 'to go away' - either one from the other, may be it meant separation as a process of re-evaluation. – Details at: http://quraan-today.blogspot.com/2009/05/wife-beating-quraan-434.html
Apostasy
There is no punishment for some one leaving Islam, yet, for centuries the scholars of yesteryears believed in the death penalty. No one imagined that they could be wrong, there is enough information to see that they made mistakes or may not have made, but finding the truth is human endeavor.
" ... Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error ..." [2:256]
This is Islam's unambiguous affirmation of freedom of faith, which also applies to changing of faith. The Qur'an illuminates before the humanity the two highways [90:10], one of which leads to salvation. Islam is an invitation to the highway toward salvation, but it is based on FREEDOM OF CHOICE. Details at: www.ApostasyandIslam.com
Fateha 1:7
There are about 20 million copies of free Qur’aan given out, translated by Hilali Khan, printed in Madinah, that is an overwhelming number. The translations of Yusuf Ali, Pickthall, Asad and few others remain standard consistent translations, but the Hilali one is hate inciting. He has deliberately mistranslated it to appease his time; fall of the Ottomon Empire – There are sixty verses in Qur’aan that have been mistranslated - http://quraan-today.blogspot.com/2008/01/unlike-jews-or-christians-17.html
Hidayath - Are we necessarily wrong and/or of subpar intelligence if after applying our mind we don't agree with you?
Mike – This is not the scholar in you. Mine is an opinion to verify and double check and not a firm statement of belief.
Hidayath - I realize there has been a huge discussion in recent weeks, and I apologize for inflaming it further, but I think subtle flaws in our belief can lead to great losses in the Hereafter.
Mike – You are not inflaming it at all, you are adding to a healthy discussion. Those who come out of a set mould become intolerant, as they cannot weather a different point of view. I don’t take it personally; it is the issue we are trying to understand in its full complexity. It is not about you or me to be offended.
Hidayath - your ideas are not new by the way; they have been discussed in some form or the other for almost the entire history of Islam
Mike – I never claimed them to be new, nor are they, my ideas.
From a simple Quran of 114 Sura’s at the completion of the revelation, we have added volumes of material from innumerable hadiths to reducing them to what Imam Bukhari thought were authentic; the four schools of thought, Sharia Laws the Tafseer and interpretations… and the interpretations continue…
All we need to do is to have an open mind to understanding the Qur’aan, it is packed with wisdom that we will be learning for centuries to come and adding volumes of our understanding to it. We need to welcome critiques and ideas and develop a better understanding of it.
Finding the truth is our own responsibility.
Jazak Allah Khair
Mike Ghouse
_____________________________________
Message # 38251
Wa'alaikum ussalam
1) Your example of the word "waDribuhunna" in 4:34 : This is an area where there is difference of opinion among the scholars, one of the few I alluded to. However, the fact that there is some difference of opinion here doesn't mean that there is an equal amount of difference in other parts of the Qur'an (tawheed for example). Like I said, in other parts of the Qur'an you can't say that up really means down, and that white really means black.
Same with apostasy: Great scholars have differed on this (read Dr. J. Badawi for example).
These things have to be tackled issue by issue. One gray area in one issue doesn't mean that everything is gray.
2) 20 translations: There are more than 20 translations. Again, each one is judged by how much it sticks to the Qur'an itself, the circumstances of revelation, the understanding of the Prophet (saws), and the understanding of His Companions. The fact that over 20 translations exist doesn't mean all of them are right, and it doesn't mean that Islam isn't definitive on certain issues.
3) Hilali and Khan translation: Not all translations of the Qur'an are meant for da'wah. What Hilali and Khan use for footnotes is in fact an authentic hadith, and can't be denied by you nor I. It may be unpleasant for non-Muslims to read, but the fact remains that the Prophet (saws) said it. Granted this particular approach may not win the hearts of non-Muslims, but that is not a problem.
4) Thinking and intelligence: The reason I asked if we were of subpar intelligence if we don't agree with you is because you keep saying we should think, but when someone does think and get back to you, you basically tell them they need to think more because they haven't agreed with you yet.
5) Increasing our understanding: Yes we need to increase our understanding of Islam and what Allah wants of us, and sometimes this takes a lot of research, but that research is solidly grounded in the Qur'an, authentic hadith, opinions of the Companions and scholars who followed them. We cannot use anything else as sources of guidance and criteria for legitimacy. We can use techniques of analysis and everything else that has been developed later, but not those axioms and principles that contradict basic understanding of the Qur'an and sunnah.
I will say it clearly: The Qur'an and sunnah exist for a purpose: to be understood. They don't exist for us to say that oh it's all open to interpretation so everything is OK, that any opinion is OK. That's the same as not having divine guidance at all. There are guidelines for interpreting (the Qur'an describes itself as being clear Arabic), the Companions and later scholars developed this further. If you want to advance a particular way of interpretation (and it sounds like you do) then please make a case for it, backed up with the regular sources: Qur'an and sunnah. Prove to everyone how your approach is superior to current understanding (every other scholar has done exactly so for whatever opinion he wished to advance). The trouble is, you can't because much of what you promulgate flies in the face of Qur'an and Sunnah. If one understanding of one ambiguous or general verse is contradicted by ten other clearer verses, which opinion is stronger? The sciences of tafseer have a number of agreed upon basic axioms. Before you quote Surah Kafiroon and 2:256, take a look at the tafaseer of the scholars before us on what that verse meant. You have to analyze those verses in context of the rest of the Qur'an (can you study the normal behavior of a fish outside water?).
Wassalam
Hidayath
_____________________________________
Hidayath,
Indeed, all understanding should be resourced
from Qur'aan and Sahih Hadith.
Thank you
Mike Ghouse
The very next day after he got the Nobel for Peace, Obama was delivering a “historical†speech to an organization of gays telling them that they would no longer need to hide their sexual preferences in order to serve the US military. No statement on redoubling the efforts to take its armies out of Muslim countries. No pledge never to invade other countries again. But gays must be reassured of his total unconditional support. What a way to celebrate the coveted honour: Do something which despite the growing corporate and political support to homosexuality still shames and worries the overwhelming majority not only of the world but also of America. (Democratic norms don’t work here.)What an ideology of freedom! Prostitutes and wives must be equal, straights and gays must be equal, and criminals and law-abiding must be equal.
But the rights of those denying and accepting Holocaust, those criticizing and supporting America, those entering America with Muslim and non Muslim names cannot be equal. Visas have been denied to people (like Prof. Tariq Ramadhan) on the grounds of their views, their religion and political alignments. What a sad commentary on the modernity that human rights today have come to be equated with the rights of gays. This despite the fact that homosexuality has proved to be the most dangerous of all forms of sexual relationships, and the life expectancy among gays has been found to be at least 25 years less than the average. This despite the fact that homosexuality has been proved to be one of the biggest factors (along with promiscuity and prostitution) in the spread of AIDS that has already consumed more than 45 million lives. Interestingly, you are not supposed to make public your religious and cultural preferences; but you are egged on not to hide your sexual preferences. Go ahead Obama, your concession of greater rights to gays will perhaps be a fitting tribute to the ideology of those who have chosen you for Nobel.
Dr Javed Jamil
_____________________________________
Dr. Jameel, your comments are appreciated. Indeed, Dr. Manmohan Singh is
visiting the USA now, his three Muslims on the press entourage were denied the
visa, and one of them is still left behind because he was a Muslim. It is a
shame on the US and India. The Tariq Ramadan case is also shameful.
Full story at:
http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/2009/10/manmohans-team-subjected-to-american.html
If you were given 15 minutes and asked to speak about Prophet Muhammad's Hujarat
from Mecca to Madinah, would you speak about Bibi Khadija,Bibi Ayesha, Hazrat
Umar and others? Or would you focus on what you were asked to speak? Obama just
did that, he was there to speak about one topic and not other issues. Focus
should be one item at a time.
Obama represents the interests of every American, that is 301 Million of us, he
is elected to protect the rights and ensure safety of every citizen, that
includes Gays and Lesbians. Many of us disagree with their sexual orientation
and even hate them, but that is not the role of the president, to hate.
I would not want Manmohan Singh of India to mistreat India's minorities even if
80% of the majority want otherwise. As we live in civil societies, we may not
agree with some one's practices, but we have to defend the civil rights of every
member of the society who are minding their own business.
Discrimination has no end, today it is them and some day it is us. The
Christians, Muslims, Jews and others whose scripture have been interpreted to
condemn the gays and lesbians, need to verify if those interpretations were
short-sighted and time-suited. As God has gifted as with the ability to think,we
need to employ it.
Thanks to the variations in translations, it shows us the limitations of human
understanding, and challenges us to strive to grasp the whole truth. What was
hitherto cut and dry is no more. May be it is Allah's hint to us to get closer
to understanding the truth. The focus ought be on the essence rather than
literal meaning. Presently there are 21 translations of Quraan available.
Religion is about justice, inclusiveness and common goodness. Islam is for
Aalameen.
Jazak Allah Khair
Mike Ghouse
_____________________________________
Re: [indianmuslims # 38246] Re: What a way to celebrate Nobel! Obama bows before Gays
Warning: This email is mostly off-topic and relates to the broader argument that took place a couple of weeks ago on this forum. I think this email addresses core issues without getting into many of the tangents of the earlier discussion.
The Christians, Muslims, Jews and others whose scripture have been interpreted to condemn the gays and lesbians, need to verify if those interpretations were short-sighted and time-suited.
Why verify it? Why not discard it outright? Why be half-hearted? Why not take this argument to its logical conclusion? Why be bound by something you don't agree with?
The dichotomy is clear: either you believe the Qur'an is the uncorrupted final Word of the Lord and Creator of mankind and everything else, or you don't. Why dilly and dally in the middle? If you believe in the first, you will realize that some things are open to interpretation, and some basic things aren't (O you who believe, enter into Islam wholeheartedly, O you who believe do not be like those before you who took parts of the Book and discarded other parts, and many other such verses). And if you don't, well, you're free to do that. It's the inconsistency that is bothersome.
You will reply, ah but there are different interpretations! There is no clergy in Islam! And Allah is the only Judge! Let's take these piece by piece.
Different interpretations: Yes, but on many many issues, the entire body of scholars has come to a single conclusion (homosexuality is one such issue, by the way). This is called 'ijma, and it is binding upon the Muslim community.
Your argument that we cannot know if an interpretation is better than any other is flawed: the criterion is the Qur'an and the authentic sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (saws). We can't be definitive about everything, but scholars can judge relative merit based on this.
This idea that everything is relative and we can't say one is better than the other and everything is equal is an element of dangerous post-modern thought that Muslims are well-advised to avoid.
You are welcome to think freely and come forward with an opinion, but if you want to put a Muslim label on that thought, you will have to abide by the rules: back it up with proof from Qur'an and Sunnah (which also takes a good amount of thinking by the way), and people of knowledge will judge that opinion based on its merit.
If you want to take on the scholars, you have to be scholarly.
No clergy: There is no theocracy in Islam in the sense that a priest doesn't necessarily wield political or absolute power. But there are degrees of knowledge and degrees of understanding. Deciding legitimacy of opinions is the task of trained scholars who are familiar with the corpus of texts and the opinions of those before us. Do you have the audacity to dismiss all of that without having even a fraction of their knowledge?
Actually, I suppose it is theoretically conceivable that someone can have the audacity to dismiss all of it. But again, they will have to buttress their claims with sound arguments from the texts.
Allah is the final Judge: True, but this doesn't mean we say every opinion is equal. And this doesn't mean we say every person's belief is as legitimate as everyone else's (why do we have the Qur'an in that case?). The Qur'an, in clear unambiguous language, defines correct belief and incorrect belief. You can't interpret up to mean down, nor black to mean white, nor tawheed to mean permissible shirk.
As God has gifted as with the ability to think,we need to employ it.
Are we necessarily wrong and/or of subpar intelligence if after applying our mind we don't agree with you?
I get the feeling you use the word "think" as a euphemism for "interpreting away" or "excising" those bits of Islam that are uncomfortable in today's context. As Muslims we apply our full intelligence to make sense of what Allah wants for us, without questioning His Wisdom. If this is not the case, I apologize for suggesting it might be.
If our minds were enough to decide everything, we wouldn't need any revelation. Without getting into aqeedah issues, in a nutshell, Muslims are meant to apply their intelligence in the paradigm created by revelation.
I realize there has been a huge discussion in recent weeks, and I apologize for inflaming it further, but I think subtle flaws in our belief can lead to great losses in the Hereafter.
I don't have the energy to get drawn into a debate. I'm trying to put forward the Ahlus-sunnah wal-jama'ah position, and I'm trying to show how your ideas contradict it (your ideas are not new by the way; they have been discussed in some form or the other for almost the entire history of Islam). You're free to label me however you like; I most likely won't respond unless something I said is unclear or something beneficial can come of it.
Religion is about justice, inclusiveness and common goodness. Islam is for Aalameen.
Islam is about the recognition and worship of our Lord. Justice, inclusiveness and common goodness is delineated by Him.
Wassalam
Hidayath
_____________________________________
I am pleased to read your comments, and indeed this is how a discussion ought to be carried; objectively. Thank you; it is a breath of fresh air.
My obligation is to respond in the areas where we have a different understanding and my focus would be precisely that.
Hidayath: The dichotomy is clear: either you believe the Qur'an is the uncorrupted final Word of the Lord and Creator of mankind and everything else, or you don't. Why dilly and dally in the middle?
Mike: Qur’aan is the uncorrupted final word of the Lord. There is no dilly dallying there. Thanks to the variations in translations (about 20 of them now), it shows us the limitations of human understanding, and challenges us to strive to grasp the whole truth. What was hitherto cut and dry is no more.
Three examples to consider:
Wife Beating
Dr. Laleh Bakhtiar offers another meaning to the translation of the Arabic word "Idrib," traditionally translated as "beat," which has been mis-understood and abused over the centuries by men who would be abusive any way, whether they are Muslim or not. "Why choose to interpret the word as 'to beat' when it can also mean 'to go away' - either one from the other, may be it meant separation as a process of re-evaluation. – Details at: http://quraan-today.blogspot.com/2009/05/wife-beating-quraan-434.html
Apostasy
There is no punishment for some one leaving Islam, yet, for centuries the scholars of yesteryears believed in the death penalty. No one imagined that they could be wrong, there is enough information to see that they made mistakes or may not have made, but finding the truth is human endeavor.
" ... Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error ..." [2:256]
This is Islam's unambiguous affirmation of freedom of faith, which also applies to changing of faith. The Qur'an illuminates before the humanity the two highways [90:10], one of which leads to salvation. Islam is an invitation to the highway toward salvation, but it is based on FREEDOM OF CHOICE. Details at: www.ApostasyandIslam.com
Fateha 1:7
There are about 20 million copies of free Qur’aan given out, translated by Hilali Khan, printed in Madinah, that is an overwhelming number. The translations of Yusuf Ali, Pickthall, Asad and few others remain standard consistent translations, but the Hilali one is hate inciting. He has deliberately mistranslated it to appease his time; fall of the Ottomon Empire – There are sixty verses in Qur’aan that have been mistranslated - http://quraan-today.blogspot.com/2008/01/unlike-jews-or-christians-17.html
Hidayath - Are we necessarily wrong and/or of subpar intelligence if after applying our mind we don't agree with you?
Mike – This is not the scholar in you. Mine is an opinion to verify and double check and not a firm statement of belief.
Hidayath - I realize there has been a huge discussion in recent weeks, and I apologize for inflaming it further, but I think subtle flaws in our belief can lead to great losses in the Hereafter.
Mike – You are not inflaming it at all, you are adding to a healthy discussion. Those who come out of a set mould become intolerant, as they cannot weather a different point of view. I don’t take it personally; it is the issue we are trying to understand in its full complexity. It is not about you or me to be offended.
Hidayath - your ideas are not new by the way; they have been discussed in some form or the other for almost the entire history of Islam
Mike – I never claimed them to be new, nor are they, my ideas.
From a simple Quran of 114 Sura’s at the completion of the revelation, we have added volumes of material from innumerable hadiths to reducing them to what Imam Bukhari thought were authentic; the four schools of thought, Sharia Laws the Tafseer and interpretations… and the interpretations continue…
All we need to do is to have an open mind to understanding the Qur’aan, it is packed with wisdom that we will be learning for centuries to come and adding volumes of our understanding to it. We need to welcome critiques and ideas and develop a better understanding of it.
Finding the truth is our own responsibility.
Jazak Allah Khair
Mike Ghouse
_____________________________________
Message # 38251
Wa'alaikum ussalam
1) Your example of the word "waDribuhunna" in 4:34 : This is an area where there is difference of opinion among the scholars, one of the few I alluded to. However, the fact that there is some difference of opinion here doesn't mean that there is an equal amount of difference in other parts of the Qur'an (tawheed for example). Like I said, in other parts of the Qur'an you can't say that up really means down, and that white really means black.
Same with apostasy: Great scholars have differed on this (read Dr. J. Badawi for example).
These things have to be tackled issue by issue. One gray area in one issue doesn't mean that everything is gray.
2) 20 translations: There are more than 20 translations. Again, each one is judged by how much it sticks to the Qur'an itself, the circumstances of revelation, the understanding of the Prophet (saws), and the understanding of His Companions. The fact that over 20 translations exist doesn't mean all of them are right, and it doesn't mean that Islam isn't definitive on certain issues.
3) Hilali and Khan translation: Not all translations of the Qur'an are meant for da'wah. What Hilali and Khan use for footnotes is in fact an authentic hadith, and can't be denied by you nor I. It may be unpleasant for non-Muslims to read, but the fact remains that the Prophet (saws) said it. Granted this particular approach may not win the hearts of non-Muslims, but that is not a problem.
4) Thinking and intelligence: The reason I asked if we were of subpar intelligence if we don't agree with you is because you keep saying we should think, but when someone does think and get back to you, you basically tell them they need to think more because they haven't agreed with you yet.
5) Increasing our understanding: Yes we need to increase our understanding of Islam and what Allah wants of us, and sometimes this takes a lot of research, but that research is solidly grounded in the Qur'an, authentic hadith, opinions of the Companions and scholars who followed them. We cannot use anything else as sources of guidance and criteria for legitimacy. We can use techniques of analysis and everything else that has been developed later, but not those axioms and principles that contradict basic understanding of the Qur'an and sunnah.
I will say it clearly: The Qur'an and sunnah exist for a purpose: to be understood. They don't exist for us to say that oh it's all open to interpretation so everything is OK, that any opinion is OK. That's the same as not having divine guidance at all. There are guidelines for interpreting (the Qur'an describes itself as being clear Arabic), the Companions and later scholars developed this further. If you want to advance a particular way of interpretation (and it sounds like you do) then please make a case for it, backed up with the regular sources: Qur'an and sunnah. Prove to everyone how your approach is superior to current understanding (every other scholar has done exactly so for whatever opinion he wished to advance). The trouble is, you can't because much of what you promulgate flies in the face of Qur'an and Sunnah. If one understanding of one ambiguous or general verse is contradicted by ten other clearer verses, which opinion is stronger? The sciences of tafseer have a number of agreed upon basic axioms. Before you quote Surah Kafiroon and 2:256, take a look at the tafaseer of the scholars before us on what that verse meant. You have to analyze those verses in context of the rest of the Qur'an (can you study the normal behavior of a fish outside water?).
Wassalam
Hidayath
_____________________________________
Hidayath,
Indeed, all understanding should be resourced
from Qur'aan and Sahih Hadith.
Thank you
Mike Ghouse
Sunday, August 23, 2009
American Qur'an - Art Exhibition
Long Beach artist's illustrations of a new take on Koran(TERROR: "Sura 44 (A--B)" shows the towers of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11. (Sandow Birk / Catharine Clark Gallery / March 26, 2009)
The response to the story below from LA Times concerns me and here are my notes about it.
"Mohammad Qureshi, an administrator at the Islamic Center of Southern California, had a stronger reaction. "That is not acceptable at all,"
Mr. Qureshi has apparently lived in America and must be familiar with the values of freedom and the politics of the Neocons, apparently he overlooked it and made that call as if he is the God appointed king of Muslims, and that when he says it is not acceptable the artist is going to bow down to him and back off. The Neocons are hungry and looking for fodder and thanks to Qureshi for feeding the vultures for a few more months, now they got nothing to sink their teeth into.
We have to give him the benefit of doubt, he may have said it in a different context, but that is what has been happening with the Neocons. We have to pause and figure out how to handle this art, we can react and mess up every thing or have the patience and figure out a solution.
To be a Muslim is to be a peacemaker, one who seeks to mitigate conflicts and nurtures goodwill for peaceful co-existence.
Please share your ideas, please write, do the spell and grammar check and then post it. Keep it brief - 150-200 Words and no more. Fewer people will read your message if it is long. You can write your comments at: http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2009/08/american-quran-art-exhibition.html#comments
Mike Ghouse
# # #
Long Beach artist's
illustrations of a new take on Koran
Sandow Birk's 'American Qur'an,' heading to San Francisco and Culver City galleries, breaks away from Islamic tradition to examine the faith through contemporary images.
By Sharon Mizota
August 23, 2009
E-mail Print Share Text size
There's a long tradition of illustrating scenes from the Bible -- even a version of Genesis by alternative comics master R. Crumb. But the Koran, which Muslims consider to be the holy word of God, has never incorporated images of people or animals, according to Linda Komaroff, curator of Islamic art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
"It simply wasn't the kind of thing that would come up," she said, "In Islam, like Judaism, there's one invisible god that's everywhere, that can't be seen and can't even be comprehended." As a result, there was no need to develop figurative imagery for religious purposes. The Koran, said Komaroff, is regularly decorated with geometric or vegetal patterns, but she has seen only one example that contains more representational imagery. It depicts the facade of a mosque.
Now, Long Beach artist Sandow Birk has challenged that centuries-old tradition. His series of works on paper, "American Qur'an," is an English-language version of the central text of Islam, illustrated with scenes from contemporary American life. Selections from the project, which is ongoing and will eventually include over 300 pages, will be on view at Catharine Clark Gallery in San Francisco starting Sept. 5 and at Koplin Del Rio gallery in Culver City as of Sept. 8.
Executed in ink and gouache in an understated, realist style, many of the 16-by-24-inch works depict everyday sights -- urban street life, office workers in their cubicles, a pregnant couple in their frontyard. Others represent more historic moments, such as the smoking towers of the World Trade Center or a funeral with a casket draped in a U.S. flag. In the center of each image are two neatly framed boxes containing the text, hand-lettered in a font reminiscent of graffiti writing.
Although the Koran does not prohibit the creation of images, it does contain an injunction against the making of idols, and the faith's second most important text, the hadith, includes additional restrictions on the use of figurative imagery, said Komaroff. Whether "American Qur'an" violates these decrees seems to be a matter of interpretation.
Birk was not available for comment, but a statement on Koplin Del Rio's website said that although he followed "traditional guidelines" for color, formatting and decoration, " 'American Qur'an' is not to be considered a 'Holy Qur'an' in that it does not contain the original text in Arabic."
Komaroff had doubts about this claim. The Koran, she said, "wasn't meant to be restricted to those who could only understand or read Arabic. It was meant to be a universal message. So I don't know that it's correct to say if you render it in English that it takes away its sacredness."
Mohammad Qureshi, an administrator at the Islamic Center of Southern California, had a stronger reaction. "That is not acceptable at all," he said after viewing images of the project on Birk's website. He was particularly concerned about images of a liquor store and a woman he described as "half-naked," and thought they would be offensive to Muslims.
Controversy is familiar terrain for Birk, who for the last 20 years has used art historical references to address contemporary social issues, creating ironic, sometimes surreal images of gang culture, prisons and the war in Iraq. A native of Orange County and a 1988 graduate of the Otis College of Art and Design, he is well known on the West Coast and has a growing international profile. Many of his projects involve extensive periods of research and travel, and his interest in the Koran stems from his visits to Muslim countries and to prominent collections of Islamic art over the last 10 years.
Yet "American Qur'an" is a bit of a departure for the artist in that its intent is neither ironic nor critical, said Darius Spieth, an associate professor of art history at Louisiana State University who has followed Birk's career for over a decade. "What he's after is more of an educational project," Spieth said, "Although Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the U.S. currently, most Americans do know relatively little about it, and I think that's also kind of his mission."
calendar@latimes.com
Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-birk23-2009aug23,0,5002675.story
###
Qur'aan and me
Quraan and Me by Tarek Fatah
This is one of the best narrations I have read about what a typical Muslims goes through in life. Tarke was in Karachi and I was in Bangalore. I don't know about others, but I can relate with his story word for word, My mom did the same thing as his Mom did...put her palm on my forehead and softly blow the air on my face and my Dad was the same ...except that he did his morning prayers frequently and recited Sura Rahman early in the morning ... and that sound is always mellifluous to me and am a sucker for it. When my wife was on a death bed, I recited that at least 10 times a day to her, she found comfort in it.
Tarek have weaved the Pluralism aspect of Islam in the story in a very beautiful way and I like it. I grew up with similar verses quoted to me by my Dad. I am a Pluralist - and consider myself to be a moderate Muslim who can relate with every human and respect with awe the devotion people have in their faith
I read this story half asleep, and the "As Salatu Khairan MInan noum" resonated with me. As kids in Ramadan we use to walk the neighborhoods and stop infront of Muslim Homes and wake people up.... then there were groups that went home to home and sang something about Ramadan out at the door... they would start at 2:00 AM until the Sahri time..
When the prophet said in the last sermon, I am leaving this book to you, he meant for us to have our own understanding, he did not assign any one to dish out their version for us. He wanted us to be responsible for our actions as we alone, not our Imams, not our Maulivs and not even our Prophet would come to rescue us in our solitary reflective moments or finally the day of reckoning. May Allah guide us on the right path and earn his grace with peace and balane. Amen
Mike Ghouse
www.WorldMuslimCongress.org
-----------------------------
Friday, August 21. 2009
The Quran and Me
"Bollywood had to wait;
Jamila Fatah was reading the Quran"
Tarek Fatah
The National Post
http://www.AverroesPress.com
My earliest memory of a book is a pirated reprint of nursery rhymes and a Jack and the Beanstalk pop-up book that Uncle Joe D'souza had given as a birthday present. Then there was a treasured Tarzan comic I stole from cousin Ayaz.
But in terms of a real book, a book with a hard cover and a spine, it was the Quran. Long before I got to touch, let alone read the book, it had already become part of my existence. I am told, within an hour of my birth, my father had recited a verse of the Quran into my infant ears. Mum claimed I stopped my wailing as soon as Dad had done so.
Today, Muslims worldwide welcome Ramadan, the Islamic calendar's holiest month, marking the time when, 14 centuries ago, the Prophet Muhammad (may peace be upon him) received the first verse of the Quran from God. The Archangel Gabriel approached the Apostle, who was meditating in a cave, and commanded him to "Read." As Muhammad hesitated, the archangel persisted, as described in Sura 96 of the Quran:
Read in the name of your Lord who created --
From an embryo, created the human
Read, for your Lord is most Generous
Who taught by the pen
Taught man what he knew not ...
They were words that changed the course of human history.
By the time I was four, this book had me intrigued. Every morning, I would wake up to the soft chant of my mother reciting verses in Arabic. Gentle whispers that flowed like silken rhymes through our Karachi home, uplifting the morning breeze. It was as if my ears literally tasted sweet honey, nudging me to wake up and lap up some more. No other sound has given me as much solace and warmth as the hum of a Quranic recitation.
Even today, as a hardened secularist, bruised and battered by never-ending skirmishes with my Islamist naysayers, I am still captivated by the reverberation of the Quran. For reasons unexplainable, if I hear the recitation, I have to stop what I am doing, often tearing up, embarrassed that I cannot rationalize the magical grip this sound has on my soul.
Back in the early 1950s, it would still be dark outside when Mom's soft recitation of the Quran would be gently drowned by the neighbourhood mosque's call to Morning Prayer. Through the open windows as half curtains fluttered, the voice of the Maulana would traverse through our home, gently nudging me out of sleep.
"Haia al salaah ... Haia al falah... As salatus khairum minan naum..."
(Hasten to prayer ... hasten to success ... prayer is better than sleep...)
Memories are foggy, but I do remember being by my Mum's side, as she would resume the reading of the Quran after her Fajr prayers. As she would sway back and forth, murmuring the verses, the book itself appeared huge as it lay open on a wooden holder, the rihal. Golden edged pages, leather spine with a green satin ribbon that was wedged tightly between those majestic pages.
I would pull at it and she would give a tight slap on the back of my hand. Her devotion to the Quran was absolute. I remember in later years, Dad would get upset, as no one was allowed to speak other than in whispers in its presence -- and she would shush him as he would fidget with the shortwave radio trying to catch early-morning Radio Ceylon and sing along with K. L. Saigal and Pankaj Mullick, before he went to work.
Bollywood had to wait; Jamila Fatah was reading the Quran.
In those years, Dad never prayed more than once a year, to celebrate the end of Ramadan. She, on the other hand, prostrated herself toward Mecca five times a day.
When she was done with the daily recitation, Mum would then call us kids, one by one, touch our heads, and lightly blow into our faces. Through her loving breath and caress, the magical holy verses were supposed to bless us and protect us.
To the non-Muslim, the dedication of the ordinary Muslim to the Quran is perplexing. Whether it is a Uighur in Xingjian or a Sufiin Mexico City, be it an orthodox cleric in Toronto or a secular humanist in Tehran, the Muslim will treasure his or her Quran as if it was a member of the family, not just a holy book. The Quran is, for some, the very embodiment of God himself.
AT FOUR
For the four-year-old Muslim child, a verse from Sura four (entitled An-Nisa, or "Women") is the most appropriate. Parents should take particular care to read to their kids, again and again, verse 135, which will instill in the child an ethic that could become their moral compass for the rest of their life -- the ethic of speaking the truth, no matter what.
O you who believe!
Stand firmly in upholding equity
Bearing witness to the truth for the sake of God
Even though it be against your own selves
Or your parents and near relatives
Whether the person concerned is rich or poor
For God can best protect both.
Mum might have felt that she did too good a job instilling this verse in me. As we passed through Canada Customs all those many years ago, we were asked: "Do you have any jewellery to declare." She said, "No." Whereupon, I whispered in her ear, "Yaa ayyuhalladhina, ammanu ..." (O you who believe...) She hesitated, and then told the Canada Customs agent, "Oh yes, I forgot, I have a 24-carat gold necklace."
AT FOURTEEN
By the time a Muslim reaches the age of 14, he or she would have completed reading the Quran, but few understand what they have read. This is the age where youth should incorporate the values of pluralism and universality that they can find expressed in the holy book of Islam, rather than fall prey to the forces of segregation and exclusivity.
To Muslims in high school, especially in the West, verse 62 of the second Sura of the Quran. (Al-Baqarah, or "The Cow") should be their guiding light as they navigate through the competing influences offered by a multiracial and multi-religious liberal democracy.
Those who believe [in the Quran].
And those who are Jews,
And the Christians and the Sabians,
And whoever believes in God,
And the last day [of judgment]
And do good deeds,
They shall have their reward with their Lord
And no fear need they have,
Nor should they grieve.
AT FORTY
The number 40 has a special mystical significance in Islam. The Prophet was 40 when he received the first revelation from God. The Quran makes mention of this in Sura 46:15 when it says, "At length when he reaches the age of full strength and attains 40 years." The most respected translator of the Quran, A. Yusuf Ali, says the Quran suggests a human's "spiritual faculties gain the upper hand after the age of 40."
For those who have "gained that upper hand," here is some wisdom from the Almighty that may help you navigate through our troubled times. Here is verse 13 of Sura Al-Hujurat ( "The Private Apartments"):
O mankind. We created you,
From a single pair
Of a male and a female,
And made you into
Nations and Tribes, so that
You may come to know one another
(Not that you may despise each other).
Verily, the most honoured among you,
In the sight of God
Is the one who is most Righteous of you.
And God has full knowledge
And is well acquainted with all things.
FOREVER
As I approach 60, and on the last leg of my journey of life, I am drawn back to the beauty of two particular Suras. One is the very first Sura of the Quran, the Fatiha, literally "The Opening." It reads:
In the name of God, the beneficent, the merciful.
Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds,
The beneficent, the merciful, Master of the Day of Judgment.
You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help.
Guide us on the right path,
The path of those upon whom You have bestowed your favour,
not of those who have earned Your anger, nor of those who go astray.
Over centuries, hundreds of millions of little boys and girls have memorized these seven sentences as their gateway to Islam and as the foundation of their lives as Muslims. The Fatiha is to Muslims what the Lord's Prayer would be to Christians. These seven verses constitute the Muslim prayer for guidance and are repeated at least 32 times a day.
As the scholar Michael Sells points out, "It is the most recited of all Quranic Suras, not only in prayers and liturgy, but also in everyday life. After business transactions, for example, 'The Opening' is recited by both parties as a mark of good faith and a solemn affirmation of the responsibilities affirmed by each partner."
From the most orthodox conservative Muslims to secular liberals such as myself, the word Bismillah... (In the name of God...) is part of our psyche. I have witnessed hardened communists start their meetings asking "comrades" to come to order with the expression Bismillah.
The other Sura that comforts me as I approach the dusk of life is Sura 89, Al-Fajr, "The Dawn." Rather than explain its significance, I will merely quote from it -- and let readers understand its significance for themselves.
By the dawn
By the nights ten
By the odd and the even
By the night as it eases away
Considering all this -could there be to anyone, endowed with reason
A[more] solemn evidence of the truth?
---------------
Tarek Fatah is the author of Chasing a Mirage: The Tragic Illusion of an Islamic State (Wiley 2008). He is currently working on a book about the roots of Jewish-Muslim friction that will be launched in fall 2010 by McClelland & Stewart.
#
This is one of the best narrations I have read about what a typical Muslims goes through in life. Tarke was in Karachi and I was in Bangalore. I don't know about others, but I can relate with his story word for word, My mom did the same thing as his Mom did...put her palm on my forehead and softly blow the air on my face and my Dad was the same ...except that he did his morning prayers frequently and recited Sura Rahman early in the morning ... and that sound is always mellifluous to me and am a sucker for it. When my wife was on a death bed, I recited that at least 10 times a day to her, she found comfort in it.
Tarek have weaved the Pluralism aspect of Islam in the story in a very beautiful way and I like it. I grew up with similar verses quoted to me by my Dad. I am a Pluralist - and consider myself to be a moderate Muslim who can relate with every human and respect with awe the devotion people have in their faith
I read this story half asleep, and the "As Salatu Khairan MInan noum" resonated with me. As kids in Ramadan we use to walk the neighborhoods and stop infront of Muslim Homes and wake people up.... then there were groups that went home to home and sang something about Ramadan out at the door... they would start at 2:00 AM until the Sahri time..
When the prophet said in the last sermon, I am leaving this book to you, he meant for us to have our own understanding, he did not assign any one to dish out their version for us. He wanted us to be responsible for our actions as we alone, not our Imams, not our Maulivs and not even our Prophet would come to rescue us in our solitary reflective moments or finally the day of reckoning. May Allah guide us on the right path and earn his grace with peace and balane. Amen
Mike Ghouse
www.WorldMuslimCongress.org
-----------------------------
Friday, August 21. 2009
The Quran and Me
"Bollywood had to wait;
Jamila Fatah was reading the Quran"
Tarek Fatah
The National Post
http://www.AverroesPress.com
My earliest memory of a book is a pirated reprint of nursery rhymes and a Jack and the Beanstalk pop-up book that Uncle Joe D'souza had given as a birthday present. Then there was a treasured Tarzan comic I stole from cousin Ayaz.
But in terms of a real book, a book with a hard cover and a spine, it was the Quran. Long before I got to touch, let alone read the book, it had already become part of my existence. I am told, within an hour of my birth, my father had recited a verse of the Quran into my infant ears. Mum claimed I stopped my wailing as soon as Dad had done so.
Today, Muslims worldwide welcome Ramadan, the Islamic calendar's holiest month, marking the time when, 14 centuries ago, the Prophet Muhammad (may peace be upon him) received the first verse of the Quran from God. The Archangel Gabriel approached the Apostle, who was meditating in a cave, and commanded him to "Read." As Muhammad hesitated, the archangel persisted, as described in Sura 96 of the Quran:
Read in the name of your Lord who created --
From an embryo, created the human
Read, for your Lord is most Generous
Who taught by the pen
Taught man what he knew not ...
They were words that changed the course of human history.
By the time I was four, this book had me intrigued. Every morning, I would wake up to the soft chant of my mother reciting verses in Arabic. Gentle whispers that flowed like silken rhymes through our Karachi home, uplifting the morning breeze. It was as if my ears literally tasted sweet honey, nudging me to wake up and lap up some more. No other sound has given me as much solace and warmth as the hum of a Quranic recitation.
Even today, as a hardened secularist, bruised and battered by never-ending skirmishes with my Islamist naysayers, I am still captivated by the reverberation of the Quran. For reasons unexplainable, if I hear the recitation, I have to stop what I am doing, often tearing up, embarrassed that I cannot rationalize the magical grip this sound has on my soul.
Back in the early 1950s, it would still be dark outside when Mom's soft recitation of the Quran would be gently drowned by the neighbourhood mosque's call to Morning Prayer. Through the open windows as half curtains fluttered, the voice of the Maulana would traverse through our home, gently nudging me out of sleep.
"Haia al salaah ... Haia al falah... As salatus khairum minan naum..."
(Hasten to prayer ... hasten to success ... prayer is better than sleep...)
Memories are foggy, but I do remember being by my Mum's side, as she would resume the reading of the Quran after her Fajr prayers. As she would sway back and forth, murmuring the verses, the book itself appeared huge as it lay open on a wooden holder, the rihal. Golden edged pages, leather spine with a green satin ribbon that was wedged tightly between those majestic pages.
I would pull at it and she would give a tight slap on the back of my hand. Her devotion to the Quran was absolute. I remember in later years, Dad would get upset, as no one was allowed to speak other than in whispers in its presence -- and she would shush him as he would fidget with the shortwave radio trying to catch early-morning Radio Ceylon and sing along with K. L. Saigal and Pankaj Mullick, before he went to work.
Bollywood had to wait; Jamila Fatah was reading the Quran.
In those years, Dad never prayed more than once a year, to celebrate the end of Ramadan. She, on the other hand, prostrated herself toward Mecca five times a day.
When she was done with the daily recitation, Mum would then call us kids, one by one, touch our heads, and lightly blow into our faces. Through her loving breath and caress, the magical holy verses were supposed to bless us and protect us.
To the non-Muslim, the dedication of the ordinary Muslim to the Quran is perplexing. Whether it is a Uighur in Xingjian or a Sufiin Mexico City, be it an orthodox cleric in Toronto or a secular humanist in Tehran, the Muslim will treasure his or her Quran as if it was a member of the family, not just a holy book. The Quran is, for some, the very embodiment of God himself.
AT FOUR
For the four-year-old Muslim child, a verse from Sura four (entitled An-Nisa, or "Women") is the most appropriate. Parents should take particular care to read to their kids, again and again, verse 135, which will instill in the child an ethic that could become their moral compass for the rest of their life -- the ethic of speaking the truth, no matter what.
O you who believe!
Stand firmly in upholding equity
Bearing witness to the truth for the sake of God
Even though it be against your own selves
Or your parents and near relatives
Whether the person concerned is rich or poor
For God can best protect both.
Mum might have felt that she did too good a job instilling this verse in me. As we passed through Canada Customs all those many years ago, we were asked: "Do you have any jewellery to declare." She said, "No." Whereupon, I whispered in her ear, "Yaa ayyuhalladhina, ammanu ..." (O you who believe...) She hesitated, and then told the Canada Customs agent, "Oh yes, I forgot, I have a 24-carat gold necklace."
AT FOURTEEN
By the time a Muslim reaches the age of 14, he or she would have completed reading the Quran, but few understand what they have read. This is the age where youth should incorporate the values of pluralism and universality that they can find expressed in the holy book of Islam, rather than fall prey to the forces of segregation and exclusivity.
To Muslims in high school, especially in the West, verse 62 of the second Sura of the Quran. (Al-Baqarah, or "The Cow") should be their guiding light as they navigate through the competing influences offered by a multiracial and multi-religious liberal democracy.
Those who believe [in the Quran].
And those who are Jews,
And the Christians and the Sabians,
And whoever believes in God,
And the last day [of judgment]
And do good deeds,
They shall have their reward with their Lord
And no fear need they have,
Nor should they grieve.
AT FORTY
The number 40 has a special mystical significance in Islam. The Prophet was 40 when he received the first revelation from God. The Quran makes mention of this in Sura 46:15 when it says, "At length when he reaches the age of full strength and attains 40 years." The most respected translator of the Quran, A. Yusuf Ali, says the Quran suggests a human's "spiritual faculties gain the upper hand after the age of 40."
For those who have "gained that upper hand," here is some wisdom from the Almighty that may help you navigate through our troubled times. Here is verse 13 of Sura Al-Hujurat ( "The Private Apartments"):
O mankind. We created you,
From a single pair
Of a male and a female,
And made you into
Nations and Tribes, so that
You may come to know one another
(Not that you may despise each other).
Verily, the most honoured among you,
In the sight of God
Is the one who is most Righteous of you.
And God has full knowledge
And is well acquainted with all things.
FOREVER
As I approach 60, and on the last leg of my journey of life, I am drawn back to the beauty of two particular Suras. One is the very first Sura of the Quran, the Fatiha, literally "The Opening." It reads:
In the name of God, the beneficent, the merciful.
Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds,
The beneficent, the merciful, Master of the Day of Judgment.
You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help.
Guide us on the right path,
The path of those upon whom You have bestowed your favour,
not of those who have earned Your anger, nor of those who go astray.
Over centuries, hundreds of millions of little boys and girls have memorized these seven sentences as their gateway to Islam and as the foundation of their lives as Muslims. The Fatiha is to Muslims what the Lord's Prayer would be to Christians. These seven verses constitute the Muslim prayer for guidance and are repeated at least 32 times a day.
As the scholar Michael Sells points out, "It is the most recited of all Quranic Suras, not only in prayers and liturgy, but also in everyday life. After business transactions, for example, 'The Opening' is recited by both parties as a mark of good faith and a solemn affirmation of the responsibilities affirmed by each partner."
From the most orthodox conservative Muslims to secular liberals such as myself, the word Bismillah... (In the name of God...) is part of our psyche. I have witnessed hardened communists start their meetings asking "comrades" to come to order with the expression Bismillah.
The other Sura that comforts me as I approach the dusk of life is Sura 89, Al-Fajr, "The Dawn." Rather than explain its significance, I will merely quote from it -- and let readers understand its significance for themselves.
By the dawn
By the nights ten
By the odd and the even
By the night as it eases away
Considering all this -could there be to anyone, endowed with reason
A[more] solemn evidence of the truth?
---------------
Tarek Fatah is the author of Chasing a Mirage: The Tragic Illusion of an Islamic State (Wiley 2008). He is currently working on a book about the roots of Jewish-Muslim friction that will be launched in fall 2010 by McClelland & Stewart.
#
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Quraan on Pluralism
Quraan on Pluralism
Prophet Muhammad was a pluralist, his goal was not to wipe out any of God’s creation, it rather was to forge peace and co-existence. Look at his very first model where he forged cooperation by mitigating conflicts and nurturing goodwill among the conflicting tribes to place the Aswad Stone in its place. There are several models for us to emulate including the one where he acknowledges the otherness of the other and brought together the Jews, Christians and others that lived under his leadership, he created the Madinah Pact giving all believers their rights to practice their faith freely. If prophet did not believe in the otherness of other, he would not have initiated that pact.
Prophet Muhammad invited people of other faiths to discuss the faith issues in his own mosque. Today, shamelessly a few Muslims who rule the Mosques around would not let an interfaith dialogue take place in the mosques.
Islam is about creating a just world and a world of co-existence through the Madinah Pacts and not bent on converting others to become Muslims.
The Quran teaches us the correct concept on pluralism:
[49:13] O people, we created you from the same male and female, and rendered you distinct peoples and tribes, that you may recognize one another. The best among you in the sight of GOD is the most righteous. GOD is Omniscient, Cognizant.
According to the Quran, all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights:
[17:70] We have honored the children of Adam, and provided them with rides on land and in the sea. We provided for them good provisions, and we gave them greater advantages than many of our creatures.
The Quran gives everyone the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion:
[2:256] There shall be no compulsion in religion: the right way is now distinct from the wrong way. Anyone who denounces the devil and believes in GOD has grasped the strongest bond; one that never breaks. GOD is Hearer, Omniscient.
Continued: http://sharialaws.blogspot.com/2009/08/quraan-on-pluralism.html
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Prophet Muhammad was a pluralist, his goal was not to wipe out any of God’s creation, it rather was to forge peace and co-existence. Look at his very first model where he forged cooperation by mitigating conflicts and nurturing goodwill among the conflicting tribes to place the Aswad Stone in its place. There are several models for us to emulate including the one where he acknowledges the otherness of the other and brought together the Jews, Christians and others that lived under his leadership, he created the Madinah Pact giving all believers their rights to practice their faith freely. If prophet did not believe in the otherness of other, he would not have initiated that pact.
Prophet Muhammad invited people of other faiths to discuss the faith issues in his own mosque. Today, shamelessly a few Muslims who rule the Mosques around would not let an interfaith dialogue take place in the mosques.
Islam is about creating a just world and a world of co-existence through the Madinah Pacts and not bent on converting others to become Muslims.
The Quran teaches us the correct concept on pluralism:
[49:13] O people, we created you from the same male and female, and rendered you distinct peoples and tribes, that you may recognize one another. The best among you in the sight of GOD is the most righteous. GOD is Omniscient, Cognizant.
According to the Quran, all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights:
[17:70] We have honored the children of Adam, and provided them with rides on land and in the sea. We provided for them good provisions, and we gave them greater advantages than many of our creatures.
The Quran gives everyone the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion:
[2:256] There shall be no compulsion in religion: the right way is now distinct from the wrong way. Anyone who denounces the devil and believes in GOD has grasped the strongest bond; one that never breaks. GOD is Hearer, Omniscient.
Continued: http://sharialaws.blogspot.com/2009/08/quraan-on-pluralism.html
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Saturday, June 20, 2009
Obama, Hujurat and Islamic Calligraphy
President Obama, Sura Hujurat and Islamic Calligraphy;.
President Obama quoted the verse 49:13 from Sura Hujurat in his speech in Cairo. “O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise each other). Verily the most honored of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you.” (Qur’aan 49:13).
Indeed, Qur’aan is about living in peace and focussing on co-existence and Justice to life and Environment. In 2005, the World Muslim Congress chose this verse to base its Mission
Statement and since then we have collected over 500 articles on Islam about co-existence.President Obama has commissioned Mohammad Zakaria the famed Calligrapher to make a plaque to commemorate his trip to the Middle East with Sura Hujurat 49:13 inscribed on it. From Mr. Zakaria we learned that Obama knows the verse in depth and understands the full meaning of it. Mr. Zakaria was invited by the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslim Center in
Dallas to make a presentation on Islamic Calligraphy.By the way the Washington monument in DC has a Marble plaque with Arabic inscription on it; I will get that picture one of these days and post it in my calligraphy collections at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeghouse/show/
I was blessed to witness the art of calligraphy that I cherish. When I am on the phone, I usually scribble notes in Urdu, Arabic and Persian styles of writing, if you have the flat nib pen or a pencil; it is a heaven to write. Mr. Zakaria honored me with his pen and I wrote Bismillah and I was beaming like a child for that simple act of writing. My late wife Najma’s father
was a master calligrapher and some of his work is still around.The "Eid Mubarak" stamp that you see, was Mr. Zakaria's work. He was also on the documentary "Message" by Michael Wolfe.
Zakaria is a Master Calligrapher who learned under the tutelage of Hamid in Turkey and now, he is an institution himself. Thanks to the Ismaili community for inviting me to witness the art of calligraphy that I cherish.
He showed slides of various forms of Calligraphy including the Kufa style writing that the Prophet had written to the Abyssinia’s king. It was amazing to see the different styles, fonts and the structures.
It is human to express and every aspect of nature expresses itself; a mother giving birth to a
baby and the plant rejoicing with its expression when the flower blooms. Among a variety of expressions that humans crave, one of them is expressions in the form of writing, sketching, sculpting and arts.Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) discouraged Muslims from painting his picture or sculpting his bust for two reasons; Humility, which is one of the biggest foundation stones of Islam and the other one was his concern that generation’s later people may worship him as divine. Thank God, his message was heeded, today, no Muslim worships him and instead simply venerate him for his teachings of piety, humility and equality.
So what do Muslims do when their hands itch to paint? They found they could express it in Calligraphy. Thus Calligraphy originated and flourished in Islam. It is simply incredible and beautiful. This form of Art is predominently prevalent among Muslims, and I know of no other society that hones in on the art of Calligraphy.Zakaria writes in his website "Read" was the first word of God's divine revelation to the Prophet Muhammad. Ever since, the written word has held a position of primacy in the Islamic religion.
“In the Islamic world, of course, calligraphy had always been as much an art as an occupation, and men of letters delighted in coining phrases to describe it. "If it was a flower," one early writer said of calligraphy, "it would be a rose; if a metal, gold." Another said, "The pen is the ambassador of intelligence, the messenger of thought, and the interpreter for the mind." But perhaps the best of these classical Arabic metaphors is this: "Calligraphy is music for the eyes." - Zakaria
“Words are the raw material of calligraphy, which is never divorced from meaning. But like music, true calligraphy also works on a wordless level, the level on which all great art functions. Together, the semantic cooperates with the aesthetic to enhance meaning; or, as another classical aphorism puts it, "Calligraphy gives to truth more clarity." - Zakaria
Different version of calligraphy for the words Allah, Muhammad, Bismillah… http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeghouse/show/
You can visit http://www.zakariya.net/ to learn more about Calligraphy.
Mike Ghouse is a Speaker, Thinker, Writer, Moderator and a Blogger on Pluralism, Interfaith, civil societies, Terrorism, Peace, Islam, and India. He is a frequent guest on talk radio and local television networks offering a pluralistic perspective on issues of the day. His comments, news analysis and columns can be found on the Websites and Blogs listed at his personal website www.MikeGhouse.net Mike is a conflict mitigator and a goodwill nurturer. The theme is consistent in his speeches, writings and workshops he conducts.
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Saturday, May 16, 2009
Qur'aan and the Big Bang Theory
We have got to remember that God is neither a body nor a being. Giving a shape or a descripion would amount to limiting the unlimited and defining the undefinable. God is what one perceives guided by different religious beliefs. God is the name to that which causes, creates and sustains what we know - Mike GhouseThe following research is the work of Mohammad Irtaza.
[17:44] Glorifying Him are the seven universes, the earth, and everyone in them. There is nothing that does not glorify Him, but you do not understand their glorification. He is Clement, Forgiver.
[13:2] GOD is the One who raised the heavens without pillars that you can see, then assumed all authority. He committed the sun and the moon, each running (in its orbit) for a predetermined period. He controls all things, and explains the revelations, that you may attain certainty about meeting your Lord.
[13:3] He is the One who constructed the earth and placed on it mountains and rivers. And from the different kinds of fruits, He made them into pairs - males and females. The night overtakes the day. These are solid proofs for people who think.
[40:57] The creation of the heavens and the earth is even more awesome than the creation of the human being, but most people do not know.
The whole world that is known to us and everything in it is our universe. Many astronomers think that everything in our universe was once packed together in one lump. Then, about 15 billion years ago, there was a gigantic cosmic explosion which they call the Big Bang. According to them, our universe was created from that explosion!
[21:30] Do the unbelievers not realize that the heaven and the earth used to be one solid mass that we exploded into existence? And from water we made all living things. Would they believe?
[49:18] GOD knows all the secrets in the heavens and the earth; GOD is Seer of everything you do.
According to the cosmology, The Big Bang explosion sent the young universe flying out in all directions. Over vast ages of time, bits came together to make galaxies. The galaxies are huge groups of stars in space. The galaxies are still speeding apart today, and our universe is getting bigger!
[41:11] Then He turned to the sky, when it was still gas, and said to it, and to the earth, "Come into existence, willingly or unwillingly." They said, "We come willingly."
[25:61] Most blessed is the One who placed constellations in the sky, and placed in it a lamp, and a shining moon.
[51:47] We constructed the sky with our hands, and we will continue to expand it.
No one knows where all the material to make the universe came from in the first place!
[6:73] He is the One who created the heavens and the earth, truthfully. Whenever He says, "Be," it is. His word is the absolute truth. All sovereignty belongs to Him the day the horn is blown. Know-er of all secrets and declarations, He is the Most Wise, the Cognizant.
The Milky Way is the galaxy we live in. It is made up of all the stars we can see in the sky at night, and lots and lots more we cannot see. The Milky Way looks a bit like whirlpool. Astronomers usually give galaxies numbers instead of names. Only a few have names that tell us what they look like-the Whirlpool, the Sombrero, and the Black Eye, for example. There are about 1,000 billion stars in the Milky Way. Astronomers have worked out how big our universe is and how many stars it has. There are about 100 million trillion stars, in around 100 billion galaxies!
[22:18] Do you not realize that to GOD prostrates everyone in the heavens and the earth, and the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and the mountains, and the trees, and the animals, and many people? Many others among the people are committed to doom. Whomever GOD shames, none will honor him. Everything is in accordance with God's will.
[6:96] At the crack of dawn, He causes the morning to emerge. He made the night still, and He rendered the sun and the moon to serve as calculation devices. Such is the design of the Almighty, the Omniscient.
Stars are made of gases. The two main gases in stars are called hydrogen and helium. They are the stars' fuel. Stars make heat and light from them. Sometimes huge flame-like sheets of glowing gas shoot out from a star. These are called prominences.
[34:9] Have they not seen all the things in front of them and behind them, in the heaven and the earth? If we willed, we could have caused the earth to swallow them, or caused masses to fall on them from the sky. This should be a sufficient proof for every obedient servant.
All stars are born, live for a very long time, and then die. Stars are being born all the time. All stars are born in huge spinning clouds of gas and dust. Our Sun is a star. It was born 4.6 billion years ago. Most stars are like our Sun and shine steadily for nearly all their lives. Toward the end of their lives, stars like our Sun swell up and became as much as 100 times bigger. They turn into red giants. When it has used up all its gas fuel, a red giant shrinks down into a white dwarf. It is then about 10,000 times smaller, but still very hot!
[6:97] And He is the One who made the stars to guide you during the darkness, on land and on sea. We thus clarify the revelations for people who know.
[10:5] He is the One who rendered the sun radiant, and the moon a light, and He designed its phases that you may learn to count the years and to calculate. GOD did not create all this, except for a specific purpose. He explains the revelations for people who know.
A black hole can happen when a massive star dies. The star falls in on itself, squashing all its material and becoming smaller and smaller. In the end all that is left is a place light cannot escape from a black hole.
[17:99] Could they not see that the GOD who created the heavens and the earth is able to create the same creations? (That) He has predetermined for them an irrevocable life span? Yet, the disbelievers insist upon disbelieving.
The planets are not big or as hot as stars, and they cannot make light of their own. They were made from the leftovers of the same gas and dust cloud that gave birth to our star, the Sun. Our planet Earth is the only one in the solar system with water and living things on it. That makes it very special. It is the 3rd planet from the Sun, and it get just right amount of heat and light to keep us alive! Any closer, and it would be too hot. Any farther away, and it would be too cold!
[54:49] Everything we created is precisely measured
[36:36] Glory be to the One who created all kinds of plants from the earth, as well as themselves, and other creations that they do not even know.
[71:16] He designed the moon therein to be a light, and placed the sun to be a lamp.
[36:38] The sun sets into a specific location, according to the design of the Almighty, the Omniscient.
[36:39] The moon we designed to appear in stages, until it becomes like an old curved sheath.
[36:40] The sun is never to catch up with the moon - the night and the day never deviate - each of them is floating in its own orbit.
Everything in space has a pulling force called gravity - galaxies, star, planets like the earth, and even moons. Gravity holds things together and stops them floating off into space.
[35:41] GOD is the One who holds the heavens and the earth, lest they vanish. If anyone else is to hold them, they will most certainly vanish. He is Clement, Forgiving.
[25:45] Have you not seen how your Lord designed the shadow? If He willed, He could have made it fixed, then we would have designed the sun accordingly.
[25:46] But we designed it to move slowly.
[25:47] He is the One who designed the night to be a cover, and for you to sleep and rest. And He made the day a resurrection.
Like all stars, our Sun is a huge ball of super-hot gas. The outside temperature of the Sun is 10,000 deg. F. The Sun is the only star that is close enough to the Earth for us to feel heat. The next nearest star to Earth is called Proxima Centauri. Our Sun's light takes 8.3 minutes to reach us, but Proxima Centauri's takes 4.3 years!
[14:33] He has committed the sun and the moon in your service, continuously. He has committed the night and the day to serve you
[31:29] Do you not realize that GOD merges the night into the day and merges the day into the night, and that He has committed the sun and the moon in your service, each running in its orbit for a specific life span, and that GOD is fully Cognizant of everything you do?
One day the Sun will use up all its gas fuel and die. Our planet, the Earth, has eight neighbors. Together they make a family of nine planets which travel around the Sun. We call the Sun, and all the space bodies that whirl around it, the solar system. Beside the Sun and the planets, the solar system includes moons, mini planets called asteroids, and comets.
[14:33] He has committed the sun and the moon in your service, continuously. He has committed the night and the day to serve you
Moons are rocky bodies that orbit planets. Jupiter has sixteen moons. Mercury and Venus are the only planets that do not have moons. All the other planets have at least one. Our Earth has one moon. The Earth's moon is dry, dusty and lifeless. There is no air to breath or water to drink. On July 20, 1969, two American astronauts became the first living trying ever to set foot on the moon. Astronauts left the moon in the lunar module containing 21 kg. of rocks that had belongs to the moon!
[54:1] The Hour has come closer, and the moon has split.
[67:3] He created seven universes in layers. You do not see any imperfection in the creation by the Most Gracious. Keep looking; do you see any flaw?
[65:12] GOD created seven universes and the same number of earths. The commands flow among them. This is to let you know that GOD is Omnipotent, and that GOD is fully aware of all things.
The size of our solar system is extremely insignificant in compare to our vast universe where it belongs. Our universe is the smallest and the innermost of all seven universes. Our universe is estimated to span distances in excess of twenty billion light years! The second universe surrounds our universe and is very large. The third universe surrounds the second universe and is even larger. The outermost universe is the seventh universe. No number exists to describe the size of this outermost universe! The incomprehensible vastness of these seven universes is within the fist of God's hand!
[39:67] They can never fathom the greatness of GOD. The whole earth is within His fist on the Day of Resurrection. In fact, the universes are folded within His right hand. Be He glorified; He is much too high above needing any partners
[41:12] Thus, He completed the seven universes in two days, and set up the laws for every universe. And we adorned the lowest universe with lamps, and placed guards around it. Such is the design of the Almighty, the Omniscient
[81:1] When the sun is rolled.
[81:2] The stars are crashed into each other.
[81:3] The mountains are wiped out.
[77:8] Thus, when the stars are put out.
[77:9] The sky is opened up.
[77:10] The mountains are blown up.
[77:11] The messengers are summoned.
[77:12] That is the appointed day.
[77:13] The Day of Decision.
Some astronomers think that the galaxies may one day start falling back toward each other until they crash together in a Big Crunch! In cosmology, the Big Crunch is a hypothesized collapse of the universe upon itself after its eventual stoppage of expansion! Is it not true that the Big Crunch is not a hypothesis, not a theory but an informidable law of God Almighty that will surely take place on the appointed day, the Day of Decision!
[7:187] They ask you about the end of the world (the Hour), and when it will come to pass. Say, "The knowledge thereof is with my Lord. Only He reveals its time. Heavy it is, in the heavens and the earth. It will not come to you except suddenly." They ask you as if you are in control thereof. Say, "The knowledge thereof is with GOD," but most people do not know
[75:9] And the sun and the moon crash into one another.
[75:10] The human being will say on that day, "Where is the escape?"
[75:11] Absolutely, there is no escape.
[75:12] To your Lord, on that day, is the final destiny.
[10:5] He is the One who rendered the sun radiant, and the moon a light, and He designed its phases that you may learn to count the years and to calculate. GOD did not create all this, except for a specific purpose. He explains the revelations for people who know.
[10:6] Surely, in the alternation of night and day, and what GOD created in the heavens and the earth, there are proofs for people who are righteous.
[10:18] They worship beside GOD idols that possess no power to harm them or benefit them, and they say, "These are our intercessors at GOD!" Say, "Are you informing GOD of something He does not know in the heavens or the earth?" Be He glorified. He is the Most High; far above needing partners.
[12:103] Most people, no matter what you do, will not believe.
[12:104] You are not asking them for any money; you simply deliver this reminder for all the people.
[12:105] So many proofs in the heavens and the earth are given to them, but they pass by them, heedlessly!
[12:106] The majority of those who believe in GOD do not do so without committing idol worship.
Thank you and God bless you,
M. Irtaza
Ref: 1. http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/
3. http://www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/
4. Quran - translated by Dr. Rashad Khalifa
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Is Qur'aan perfect?
Is Qur'aan Perfect?
It is the true and final word of God for the Muslims who believe in it, it is not for the Christians, Hindus, Jews or others who are not familiar with it. However, if one sincerely understands the Qur'aan, he or she will find the essence of Justice, fairness; truth and peace resonate in Qur'aan as they may find it in their own scriptures.
Mike Ghouse is a Speaker, Thinker and a Writer on Pluralism, interfaith, terrorism, peace, Islam, Multiculturism and India. He is a frequent guest on talk radio and local television networks discussing these and the civic issues. His comments, news analysis and columns can be found on the Websites and Blogs listed at his personal website www.MikeGhouse.net. Mike is a Dallasite for nearly three decades and Carrollton is his home town. He can be reached at MikeGhouse@gmail.com
Continued: http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/WorldMuslimCongress/Articles/Is-Quraan-Perfect.asp
It is the true and final word of God for the Muslims who believe in it, it is not for the Christians, Hindus, Jews or others who are not familiar with it. However, if one sincerely understands the Qur'aan, he or she will find the essence of Justice, fairness; truth and peace resonate in Qur'aan as they may find it in their own scriptures.
Mike Ghouse is a Speaker, Thinker and a Writer on Pluralism, interfaith, terrorism, peace, Islam, Multiculturism and India. He is a frequent guest on talk radio and local television networks discussing these and the civic issues. His comments, news analysis and columns can be found on the Websites and Blogs listed at his personal website www.MikeGhouse.net. Mike is a Dallasite for nearly three decades and Carrollton is his home town. He can be reached at MikeGhouse@gmail.com
Continued: http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/WorldMuslimCongress/Articles/Is-Quraan-Perfect.asp
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Inside the Koran – documentary
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2008/08/inside-koran-documentary.html
Inside the Koran – documentary
Review by Mike Ghouse
Inside the Koran Premiered today Tuesday, August 5, 2008, at 9 PM ET/PT at National Geographic Channel.
The Shia-Sunni relationship was compared to Catholic-Protestant and it made sense; the producer was addressing the world audience to understand the difference between divinity of clergy and absence of clergy to connect with God. It was done fairly well and both interpretations were presented in a respectful manner to Shia and Sunni traditions.
The Female Genital Mutilation was not a scholarly presentation; it has the signs of presenting Islam negatively, the commentator also said that the Prophet had organized such an event. That should be removed, as it is a falsity. Indeed, the prophet condemned such a practice.
The inclusion of German Scholar Luxembourg’s interpretation must be addressed. He talks about adding Zer, Zabar, Tashdid and the dots added to the Quranic text and compares it with Syrio-Aramic language. He was specific about how it could alter the meaning from the misinterpreted word Houri to white grapes, or the state of eternal bliss. More and more people are looking at the reward as eternal bliss as opposed to female Houries. Tariq Ramadan emphasized the part about learning and seeking knowledge as one of the most important aspect of Islam.
Qur’aan as the word of God was talked about and the documentary expressly showed the difference between Jewish and Christian belief where they believe their books are written by man but divinely inspired, where as Muslims believe Quraan is the word of God and hence the background for non-negotiability.
Islamic contribution to the world of Science, Math, Geometry, Geography and Astronomy was well acknowledged. I thank the producer for bringing positive things to the public who are getting conditioned to know nothing more than the blazing guns and suicide bombers.
They ran a smooth presentation on Sufi and Wahhabi tradition.
One crucial idea that he presented was the dichotomy of how Muslims react when they were not threatened vs. when they were. The example of welcoming Jews and Christians who were not mainstream in Europe at that time, to how they act when they are threatened, showing Shah of Iran and Tyrant Saddam, while showing our (American) hand in nurturing these and other fascists.
The aspect of Human dignity was good. Showing a kid recting the Qur'aan where it says, forgivness is the most important value to God, the one who forgives is the noblest. And went on to say that even though the Sharia law sounds harsh about flagging the adulterer, it is makes it virtually impossible to carry it out due to the requriments of four witnessess.
Dr. Taj Hargey of Muslim Educational center of Oxford spoke the rational side of us, while the comments from another Imam were not quite civil when he spoke about FGM as an African culture, he could have said Tradition of the area. Sheik Badri was shamelessly defending FGM. One of the elderly Imams was nasty about women’s ability to receive pleasure; he was derogatory about women enjoying life and said that it leads to promiscuity. I don’t know where he got his Islam from. I condemn that and hope all the Muslims consider that option to condemn his words.
Though the excessive hovering of camera on Veil was disproportionate, but good points were made as to the culturality of Hijab rather than religiosity of it. Both the Egyptian women; Lena Fawza and Ghada Shabandar spoke in general the language of common Muslims who believe in co-existence and getting along with all.
My hats off to the producer for making this documentary; on his part, except the FGM boo boo, he was fair in consistently reminding that it is not in Qur’aan, he said that about the Hijab requirement, about the FGM and several other incidents. The criticism is fair and so is the truth.
It is a remarkable documentary. I hope it has motivated the audience to understand the difference between culture and religion and not all that is dished out to them as truth, as there is another side to it.
More about the documentary below:
Mike Ghouse is a Speaker, Thinker and a Writer. He is president of the Foundation for Pluralism and is a frequent guest on talk radio and local television network discussing interfaith, political and civic issues. He is the founding president of World Muslim Congress with a simple theme: Good for Muslims and good for the world. His comments, news analysis and columns can be found on the Websites and Blogs listed at his personal website http://www.mikeghouse.net/. Mike is a Dallasite for nearly three decades and Carrollton is his home town. He can be reached at MikeGhouse@gmail.com
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FROM DAISY KHAN
National Geographic Channel: Inside the Koran Premieres Tuesday, August 5, 2008, at 9 PM ET/PT
Dear Friends,
As Salaamu Alaykum and peace be with you. As part of this announcement we wish to include the findings of a small Muslim focus group in New York City that reviewed the Inside the Koran documentary for educational and outreach purposes. This group expressed many concerns over the contents of the documentary. We have sent a letter (link provided below) summarizing these concerns to the executive producer of the show for The National Geographic Channel. One of the group’s key suggestions to National Geographic is to hold panel discussions and/or debates surrounding the Qur’an.
Sincerely,
Daisy Khan
Letter to the producer:
August 4, 2008
Noah Morowitz
Executive Producer, Inside the Koran
National Geographic Channel
1145 17th Street N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036-4688
Dear Mr. Morowitz,
I am writing on behalf of a New York Muslim focus group that viewed Inside the Koran
documentary prior to its August 5th release on The National Geographic Channel. This diverse group of Muslims met last month in order to evaluate the documentary’s potential use as an educational tool in churches, synagogues, schools, or other public spaces.
First of all, I would like to express our excitement that a major media outlet has decided to produce and air such a documentary. Given today’s political climate, we welcome this opportunity. While we appreciated some aspects of the documentary – such as depicting the Qur’an in everyday life, its relevance to Muslims, its diversities of interpretation and Muslims’ unity of faith around the Qur’an – we feel compelled to indicate our overall discomfort with certain aspects and specific segments of the documentary. The crux of our concern lies with the film’s title. Inside the Koran is a documentary about Muslim practice, diversity of opinion, and political tensions from conflicts which are loosely centered on the Qur’an. The documentary made minimal effort to deal with the text itself, its history, transmission, recitation or the sophisticated traditions of interpretation (‘ulum al-Qur’an).
Not only were no Qur’anic experts interviewed but there was also a consistent attempt to conflate cultural practices with religious doctrine -- an unfortunate and untrue association. One example is that of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Although the documentary included interviews with scholars who insisted that FGM is a cultural practice, FGM was treated nevertheless as a Qu’ranic issue.
The focus of the documentary was overly political, beginning with the opening images of a suicide bomber reciting the Qur’an. Overall, the documentary made excessive use of bloody and violent
images. It constantly showed Muslims killing others (or other Muslims). As we all know, the gaps between the Muslim World and the West are only exacerbated by associating extremists’ actions with mainstream views. The documentary’s unfortunate focus on violence undermines more positive portrayals of Muslims in the West and therefore pushes reconciliation farther out of reach.
The documentary also contained some inaccuracies, most notably in the sections on Shi’ism (see
attached link from notable Shi’a authorities). For example, Qom was related to the Vatican and the Shi’i-Sunni relationship was compared to that of Catholics-Protestants. The Sunni-Shi’i split arose after the Qur’an, but this history was never mentioned. Another minor inaccuracy portrayed the Dome of the Rock as a mosque (it is actually a shrine whereas Al-Aqsa is a mosque nearby).
The following factors should also have been taken into consideration:
• The documentary should have included an in-depth discussion on Qur’an’s revelation, its means of transmission, its structure (chapters, arrangement etc.), and compilation. Instead of simply quoting “problematic” passages, the documentary should have provided the context of revelations.
• The documentary should have focused on the ‘ulum al-Qur’an (reason of revelations, abrogation, linguistics/phonetics, and other tools of interpretation) to ensure that the viewer walked away with an understanding of the rich history of the Qu’ran.
• The filmmakers should have minimized the extensive coverage of current political events (and that of contentious issues in general, especially when not related or only tangentially related to the Qur’an) and instead presented the Qur’anic view on various issues such as the environment, God’s creation etc.
• Finally, the filmmakers should not have included the section on the German scholar which
does not add much to the documentary and is condescending to Muslim traditions of
Qur’anic interpretation.
We strongly feel that the documentary should have additionally included information relating to four areas that do not currently appear in the film:
1. The Qur’an as the “word of God”;
2. the compilation of the Qur’an’s text (i.e. how it is written);
3. Qur’anic recitation (i.e. how it is recited); and 4. how the Qur’an is interpreted into everyday practice. These factors must have been taken into account for the documentary to be truly worthy of the name Inside the Koran.
In light of the above, members of our group have suggested organizing a follow-up National
Geographic program, which would hold discussions and/or debates surrounding the Qur’an or even specific segments of the documentary. This would provide viewers of Inside the Koran with a further developed understanding of this critically-important text. The group would be willing to meet with you to discuss this suggestion or any of these attached comments. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Daisy Khan
Executive Director, The American Society for Muslim Advancement
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A KORAN FOR PEACE AND A KORAN FOR WAR.
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL OPENS A WINDOW INTO THE VOLATILE PARADOX OF ISLAM'S MOST SACRED TEXT
Two-Hour Special Inside the Koran Offers Fresh Insight Into Islam's 'Guide to Humanity,' Vividly Illustrated With the Muslim World's Rich History
Inside the Koran Premieres Tuesday, August 5, 2008, at 9 PM ET/PT
'I don't see the Koran connected to the taking of lives. Koran is about existence, about tolerance, about mercy.' - Dr. Sabri Saidam, Palestinian Expert
(WASHINGTON, D.C. - JULY 15, 2008) The Koran has become one of the most ideologically influential and controversial texts in the world. Muslims believe it to be the word of God, as first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad nearly 1,500 years ago. Yet within this single community of worshippers, there are profound differences in religious practices, the status of women, and attitudes toward peace, violence, punishment and forgiveness. But if the Koran is viewed as the irrefutable word of God, why do these differences exist? And how well do Muslims and non-Muslims alike really understand its key spiritual and ethical messages? These questions have never been more paramount.
Over the past few decades, the Middle East has been an epicenter of political and violent turmoil, often with religious conflict at its core. With so much at stake, an understanding of the Muslim faith and its most sacred text is more important than ever before. On Tuesday, August 5, 2008, at 9 PM ET/PT, National Geographic Channel (NGC) presents Inside the Koran, a journey into the heart of the Islamic world to discover a clearer understanding of this complex and seemingly contradictory spiritual guide. The show presents a cross-section of Muslims living according to their varied interpretations of the Koran - from ayatollahs and grand imams to simple farmers, and from women in positions of power to those living in veiled seclusion. NGC examines the Koran's messages of peace and tolerance - including what some perceive as justification in the text for violent conflict and suicide bombings that have increasingly been deployed against U.S. troops and their allies.
Using first-person accounts to present a comprehensive and compelling perspective on the Koran, the turbulent history of the Islamic world and what may lie ahead for this struggling region, the two-hour special includes fascinating historical footage and rarely seen interviews with Muslim leaders, notable experts, scholars and religious activists.
'The Koran is like a big store, a supermarket,' says Palestinian peace activist Muhammad Hurani. In this Book, you are able to pick different answers. You are able to make peace, according to the Koran. You are able to declare war.... So many different voices come out of the Koran. Moderate people have their support in verses of the Koran. Radical people have the same thing.'
Inside the Koran delves into the Islamic world to reveal a religion of vast dimensions. It is the second largest world religion after Christianity; well over a billion people - from the Americas to China, from Finland to the southern tip of Africa - are Muslim. Yet within this single universe of belief there are profound differences in the treatment of women and ethical practices. Some Muslim regimes deny girls an education and women the right to vote or drive. In some countries, on public transportation, veiled women scuttle through the rear doors of segregated buses. However, in other Muslim countries, women lead political parties and even become heads of state. In some places, executions by stoning, hanging and beheading are carried out in public. In others, the death penalty has been abolished altogether.
That is just one slice of the paradox of the Koran. On the one hand, proponents of peace quote the consistent message of life's sanctity. In verse after verse, suicide is explicitly forbidden - 'Destroy not yourselves.' And yet, suicide bombers are also quoting from the Koran when they say that those who die fighting in the name of Allah achieve martyrdom and receive their reward in Paradise. Both claim their cause is guided by God's hand, but can such conflicting views be reconciled?
Juxtaposed with present-day contrasts and contradictions, Inside the Koran reaches back into the golden age of Islamic civilization, when the Koran inspired values of freedom and tolerance - a culture of openness that led to astounding developments in architecture, mathematics, science and philosophy - while Europe was mired in its feudal Dark Ages. But in the ancient Islamic world, when Muslims felt threatened - either by external enemies or internal disruptions - the impulse was to take a very different message of retaliation from the Koran. With tensions in the Middle East at an all-time high, some Muslims believe they are now living in such a time. As the Muslim religion continues to grow, the message believers take from the Koran could have global repercussions for generations to come.
Additional interviewees include Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bukhari, head of Naqshabandi Sufi in Jerusalem; Dr. Taj Hargey, Muslim Educational Centre at Oxford University; Sheikh Khalid Tafesh, Palestinian Hamas leader; Patrick Sookhdeo, Institute for the Study of Islam and Christianity; Sheikh Tayser Rajab Al-Tamimi, supreme judge of Palestinian Islamic Shari'a Courts; Sheikh Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy, grand imam of Al-Azhar Mosque; and Sheikh Yousuf Saanei, grand ayatollah of the Iranian city of Qom.
Inside the Koran is produced by Juniper Communications Ltd. Producer, writer and director is Antony Thomas. For National Geographic Channel, executive producer is Noah Morowitz, senior vice president of special programming is Michael Cascio, and executive vice president of content is Steve Burns.
My comments on the above peace:
Just like the Qur’aan, nuclear energy is beneficent to mankind in the right hands and disaster in the wrong hands. Nuclear energy is good like Qur’aan is, it the mindset of evil men (I am not sure if there are war mongering women – exception: Dr. Rice) that produces different results. Don’t blame the nuclear energy, Qur’aan or bible for that, it is the evil men and not their religion.
There is a verse in Qur’aan about it: Qur'an, Al-Inshiqaq, Surah 84:7-15: “Each person will be given a book. Those who are given their books in their right hands (understanding the book correctly) will be judged leniently; and they will return to their people joyfully. But those who are given their books in their left hands (misunderstanding) will call their own destruction on themselves, and burn in the fire of hell. There are the people who have never cared for their neighbors; they thought they would never return to God. Their Lord watches all that people do. “
Inside the Koran – documentary
Review by Mike Ghouse
Inside the Koran Premiered today Tuesday, August 5, 2008, at 9 PM ET/PT at National Geographic Channel.
The Shia-Sunni relationship was compared to Catholic-Protestant and it made sense; the producer was addressing the world audience to understand the difference between divinity of clergy and absence of clergy to connect with God. It was done fairly well and both interpretations were presented in a respectful manner to Shia and Sunni traditions.
The Female Genital Mutilation was not a scholarly presentation; it has the signs of presenting Islam negatively, the commentator also said that the Prophet had organized such an event. That should be removed, as it is a falsity. Indeed, the prophet condemned such a practice.
The inclusion of German Scholar Luxembourg’s interpretation must be addressed. He talks about adding Zer, Zabar, Tashdid and the dots added to the Quranic text and compares it with Syrio-Aramic language. He was specific about how it could alter the meaning from the misinterpreted word Houri to white grapes, or the state of eternal bliss. More and more people are looking at the reward as eternal bliss as opposed to female Houries. Tariq Ramadan emphasized the part about learning and seeking knowledge as one of the most important aspect of Islam.
Qur’aan as the word of God was talked about and the documentary expressly showed the difference between Jewish and Christian belief where they believe their books are written by man but divinely inspired, where as Muslims believe Quraan is the word of God and hence the background for non-negotiability.
Islamic contribution to the world of Science, Math, Geometry, Geography and Astronomy was well acknowledged. I thank the producer for bringing positive things to the public who are getting conditioned to know nothing more than the blazing guns and suicide bombers.
They ran a smooth presentation on Sufi and Wahhabi tradition.
One crucial idea that he presented was the dichotomy of how Muslims react when they were not threatened vs. when they were. The example of welcoming Jews and Christians who were not mainstream in Europe at that time, to how they act when they are threatened, showing Shah of Iran and Tyrant Saddam, while showing our (American) hand in nurturing these and other fascists.
The aspect of Human dignity was good. Showing a kid recting the Qur'aan where it says, forgivness is the most important value to God, the one who forgives is the noblest. And went on to say that even though the Sharia law sounds harsh about flagging the adulterer, it is makes it virtually impossible to carry it out due to the requriments of four witnessess.
Dr. Taj Hargey of Muslim Educational center of Oxford spoke the rational side of us, while the comments from another Imam were not quite civil when he spoke about FGM as an African culture, he could have said Tradition of the area. Sheik Badri was shamelessly defending FGM. One of the elderly Imams was nasty about women’s ability to receive pleasure; he was derogatory about women enjoying life and said that it leads to promiscuity. I don’t know where he got his Islam from. I condemn that and hope all the Muslims consider that option to condemn his words.
Though the excessive hovering of camera on Veil was disproportionate, but good points were made as to the culturality of Hijab rather than religiosity of it. Both the Egyptian women; Lena Fawza and Ghada Shabandar spoke in general the language of common Muslims who believe in co-existence and getting along with all.
My hats off to the producer for making this documentary; on his part, except the FGM boo boo, he was fair in consistently reminding that it is not in Qur’aan, he said that about the Hijab requirement, about the FGM and several other incidents. The criticism is fair and so is the truth.
It is a remarkable documentary. I hope it has motivated the audience to understand the difference between culture and religion and not all that is dished out to them as truth, as there is another side to it.
More about the documentary below:
Mike Ghouse is a Speaker, Thinker and a Writer. He is president of the Foundation for Pluralism and is a frequent guest on talk radio and local television network discussing interfaith, political and civic issues. He is the founding president of World Muslim Congress with a simple theme: Good for Muslims and good for the world. His comments, news analysis and columns can be found on the Websites and Blogs listed at his personal website http://www.mikeghouse.net/. Mike is a Dallasite for nearly three decades and Carrollton is his home town. He can be reached at MikeGhouse@gmail.com
# # #
FROM DAISY KHAN
National Geographic Channel: Inside the Koran Premieres Tuesday, August 5, 2008, at 9 PM ET/PT
Dear Friends,
As Salaamu Alaykum and peace be with you. As part of this announcement we wish to include the findings of a small Muslim focus group in New York City that reviewed the Inside the Koran documentary for educational and outreach purposes. This group expressed many concerns over the contents of the documentary. We have sent a letter (link provided below) summarizing these concerns to the executive producer of the show for The National Geographic Channel. One of the group’s key suggestions to National Geographic is to hold panel discussions and/or debates surrounding the Qur’an.
Sincerely,
Daisy Khan
Letter to the producer:
August 4, 2008
Noah Morowitz
Executive Producer, Inside the Koran
National Geographic Channel
1145 17th Street N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036-4688
Dear Mr. Morowitz,
I am writing on behalf of a New York Muslim focus group that viewed Inside the Koran
documentary prior to its August 5th release on The National Geographic Channel. This diverse group of Muslims met last month in order to evaluate the documentary’s potential use as an educational tool in churches, synagogues, schools, or other public spaces.
First of all, I would like to express our excitement that a major media outlet has decided to produce and air such a documentary. Given today’s political climate, we welcome this opportunity. While we appreciated some aspects of the documentary – such as depicting the Qur’an in everyday life, its relevance to Muslims, its diversities of interpretation and Muslims’ unity of faith around the Qur’an – we feel compelled to indicate our overall discomfort with certain aspects and specific segments of the documentary. The crux of our concern lies with the film’s title. Inside the Koran is a documentary about Muslim practice, diversity of opinion, and political tensions from conflicts which are loosely centered on the Qur’an. The documentary made minimal effort to deal with the text itself, its history, transmission, recitation or the sophisticated traditions of interpretation (‘ulum al-Qur’an).
Not only were no Qur’anic experts interviewed but there was also a consistent attempt to conflate cultural practices with religious doctrine -- an unfortunate and untrue association. One example is that of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Although the documentary included interviews with scholars who insisted that FGM is a cultural practice, FGM was treated nevertheless as a Qu’ranic issue.
The focus of the documentary was overly political, beginning with the opening images of a suicide bomber reciting the Qur’an. Overall, the documentary made excessive use of bloody and violent
images. It constantly showed Muslims killing others (or other Muslims). As we all know, the gaps between the Muslim World and the West are only exacerbated by associating extremists’ actions with mainstream views. The documentary’s unfortunate focus on violence undermines more positive portrayals of Muslims in the West and therefore pushes reconciliation farther out of reach.
The documentary also contained some inaccuracies, most notably in the sections on Shi’ism (see
attached link from notable Shi’a authorities). For example, Qom was related to the Vatican and the Shi’i-Sunni relationship was compared to that of Catholics-Protestants. The Sunni-Shi’i split arose after the Qur’an, but this history was never mentioned. Another minor inaccuracy portrayed the Dome of the Rock as a mosque (it is actually a shrine whereas Al-Aqsa is a mosque nearby).
The following factors should also have been taken into consideration:
• The documentary should have included an in-depth discussion on Qur’an’s revelation, its means of transmission, its structure (chapters, arrangement etc.), and compilation. Instead of simply quoting “problematic” passages, the documentary should have provided the context of revelations.
• The documentary should have focused on the ‘ulum al-Qur’an (reason of revelations, abrogation, linguistics/phonetics, and other tools of interpretation) to ensure that the viewer walked away with an understanding of the rich history of the Qu’ran.
• The filmmakers should have minimized the extensive coverage of current political events (and that of contentious issues in general, especially when not related or only tangentially related to the Qur’an) and instead presented the Qur’anic view on various issues such as the environment, God’s creation etc.
• Finally, the filmmakers should not have included the section on the German scholar which
does not add much to the documentary and is condescending to Muslim traditions of
Qur’anic interpretation.
We strongly feel that the documentary should have additionally included information relating to four areas that do not currently appear in the film:
1. The Qur’an as the “word of God”;
2. the compilation of the Qur’an’s text (i.e. how it is written);
3. Qur’anic recitation (i.e. how it is recited); and 4. how the Qur’an is interpreted into everyday practice. These factors must have been taken into account for the documentary to be truly worthy of the name Inside the Koran.
In light of the above, members of our group have suggested organizing a follow-up National
Geographic program, which would hold discussions and/or debates surrounding the Qur’an or even specific segments of the documentary. This would provide viewers of Inside the Koran with a further developed understanding of this critically-important text. The group would be willing to meet with you to discuss this suggestion or any of these attached comments. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Daisy Khan
Executive Director, The American Society for Muslim Advancement
###
A KORAN FOR PEACE AND A KORAN FOR WAR.
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL OPENS A WINDOW INTO THE VOLATILE PARADOX OF ISLAM'S MOST SACRED TEXT
Two-Hour Special Inside the Koran Offers Fresh Insight Into Islam's 'Guide to Humanity,' Vividly Illustrated With the Muslim World's Rich History
Inside the Koran Premieres Tuesday, August 5, 2008, at 9 PM ET/PT
'I don't see the Koran connected to the taking of lives. Koran is about existence, about tolerance, about mercy.' - Dr. Sabri Saidam, Palestinian Expert
(WASHINGTON, D.C. - JULY 15, 2008) The Koran has become one of the most ideologically influential and controversial texts in the world. Muslims believe it to be the word of God, as first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad nearly 1,500 years ago. Yet within this single community of worshippers, there are profound differences in religious practices, the status of women, and attitudes toward peace, violence, punishment and forgiveness. But if the Koran is viewed as the irrefutable word of God, why do these differences exist? And how well do Muslims and non-Muslims alike really understand its key spiritual and ethical messages? These questions have never been more paramount.
Over the past few decades, the Middle East has been an epicenter of political and violent turmoil, often with religious conflict at its core. With so much at stake, an understanding of the Muslim faith and its most sacred text is more important than ever before. On Tuesday, August 5, 2008, at 9 PM ET/PT, National Geographic Channel (NGC) presents Inside the Koran, a journey into the heart of the Islamic world to discover a clearer understanding of this complex and seemingly contradictory spiritual guide. The show presents a cross-section of Muslims living according to their varied interpretations of the Koran - from ayatollahs and grand imams to simple farmers, and from women in positions of power to those living in veiled seclusion. NGC examines the Koran's messages of peace and tolerance - including what some perceive as justification in the text for violent conflict and suicide bombings that have increasingly been deployed against U.S. troops and their allies.
Using first-person accounts to present a comprehensive and compelling perspective on the Koran, the turbulent history of the Islamic world and what may lie ahead for this struggling region, the two-hour special includes fascinating historical footage and rarely seen interviews with Muslim leaders, notable experts, scholars and religious activists.
'The Koran is like a big store, a supermarket,' says Palestinian peace activist Muhammad Hurani. In this Book, you are able to pick different answers. You are able to make peace, according to the Koran. You are able to declare war.... So many different voices come out of the Koran. Moderate people have their support in verses of the Koran. Radical people have the same thing.'
Inside the Koran delves into the Islamic world to reveal a religion of vast dimensions. It is the second largest world religion after Christianity; well over a billion people - from the Americas to China, from Finland to the southern tip of Africa - are Muslim. Yet within this single universe of belief there are profound differences in the treatment of women and ethical practices. Some Muslim regimes deny girls an education and women the right to vote or drive. In some countries, on public transportation, veiled women scuttle through the rear doors of segregated buses. However, in other Muslim countries, women lead political parties and even become heads of state. In some places, executions by stoning, hanging and beheading are carried out in public. In others, the death penalty has been abolished altogether.
That is just one slice of the paradox of the Koran. On the one hand, proponents of peace quote the consistent message of life's sanctity. In verse after verse, suicide is explicitly forbidden - 'Destroy not yourselves.' And yet, suicide bombers are also quoting from the Koran when they say that those who die fighting in the name of Allah achieve martyrdom and receive their reward in Paradise. Both claim their cause is guided by God's hand, but can such conflicting views be reconciled?
Juxtaposed with present-day contrasts and contradictions, Inside the Koran reaches back into the golden age of Islamic civilization, when the Koran inspired values of freedom and tolerance - a culture of openness that led to astounding developments in architecture, mathematics, science and philosophy - while Europe was mired in its feudal Dark Ages. But in the ancient Islamic world, when Muslims felt threatened - either by external enemies or internal disruptions - the impulse was to take a very different message of retaliation from the Koran. With tensions in the Middle East at an all-time high, some Muslims believe they are now living in such a time. As the Muslim religion continues to grow, the message believers take from the Koran could have global repercussions for generations to come.
Additional interviewees include Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bukhari, head of Naqshabandi Sufi in Jerusalem; Dr. Taj Hargey, Muslim Educational Centre at Oxford University; Sheikh Khalid Tafesh, Palestinian Hamas leader; Patrick Sookhdeo, Institute for the Study of Islam and Christianity; Sheikh Tayser Rajab Al-Tamimi, supreme judge of Palestinian Islamic Shari'a Courts; Sheikh Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy, grand imam of Al-Azhar Mosque; and Sheikh Yousuf Saanei, grand ayatollah of the Iranian city of Qom.
Inside the Koran is produced by Juniper Communications Ltd. Producer, writer and director is Antony Thomas. For National Geographic Channel, executive producer is Noah Morowitz, senior vice president of special programming is Michael Cascio, and executive vice president of content is Steve Burns.
My comments on the above peace:
Just like the Qur’aan, nuclear energy is beneficent to mankind in the right hands and disaster in the wrong hands. Nuclear energy is good like Qur’aan is, it the mindset of evil men (I am not sure if there are war mongering women – exception: Dr. Rice) that produces different results. Don’t blame the nuclear energy, Qur’aan or bible for that, it is the evil men and not their religion.
There is a verse in Qur’aan about it: Qur'an, Al-Inshiqaq, Surah 84:7-15: “Each person will be given a book. Those who are given their books in their right hands (understanding the book correctly) will be judged leniently; and they will return to their people joyfully. But those who are given their books in their left hands (misunderstanding) will call their own destruction on themselves, and burn in the fire of hell. There are the people who have never cared for their neighbors; they thought they would never return to God. Their Lord watches all that people do. “
Monday, August 4, 2008
Propaganda against Qur'aan Challenged
It is time to get over the propaganda been dished out over the years. There is no such verse "that ignites violence against 'Kafirs' in Qur'aan". If you have the list produce me one. Not what is handed down to you, but the one you can point to? Remember, finding the truth is one's own responsibility. You have an open challenge here. Let’s clean the slates and live in peace, one person at a time.
Continued: http://quraan-today.blogspot.com/2008/08/propaganda-against-quraan-challenged.html
Continued: http://quraan-today.blogspot.com/2008/08/propaganda-against-quraan-challenged.html
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CIVIL DIALOGUE
The people in Dallas are making an effort to understand and clean their own hearts first, when we are free from bias, it would be easy to share that with others. Islam teaches us in so many ways to "respect the otherness of others" and it is time we find simple practical ways of doing it.
