|
|
|
Giving Credit Where Credit is Due
Have you ever attended a church service and thought, "Yuck! This church is dead," then attended elsewhere and thought, "Wow! God is there," as you felt personally touched by His presence? You may have noticed one bragging about how their...
Ho'omana - Hawaiian Gods
Many examples of the land and its creatures represented gods, or akua to the Hawaiian. The tree, plants, stones, animals, and human beings were just a few examples, each akua had a special name with certain attributes. The four great gods of the...
The Fear of Death
The Fear of Death Death is the ultimate fear among most of society. Actually, it runs second to public speaking but staying realistic, if given the choice, most would choose to speak before a crowd of two or three-thousand than die. The fear is a...
THE GREEN CROSS
This article is found/with graphics @ www.the-tribulation-network.com The Green Cross ~ by Doug Krieger. Mikhail Gorbachev and the New Age environmentalists have a lot in common. For one, they both believe in the same god. But, guess who else...
Viewing the Journey as the Reward in Sports and Spirituality
Viewing the Journey as the Reward in Sports and Spirituality Author Interview with Susan Saint Sing, Ph.D., Spirituality of Sport: Balancing Body and Soul by Lisa M. Hendey Whether you are a gifted athlete, a weekend warrior, or one who simply...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Islam as a Religion of Tolerance and Moderation
Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl has been described as "the most important and influential Islamic thinker in the modern age." An accomplished Islamic jurist and scholar, he received formal training in Islamic jurisprudence in Egypt and Kuwait as well as holding degrees from Yale, Princeton, and the University of Pennsylvania School of Law. He is currently the Omar and Azmeralda Alfi Distinguished Fellow in Islamic Law at the UCLA School of Law. Before joining the faculty at UCLA, he taught Islamic law at the University of Texas at Austin Law School, Yale Law School and Princeton University.
In the extended essay that begins his book, The Place of Tolerance in Islam, Dr. Abou El Fadl argues that the post-September 11th image of Islam as a reactionary, intolerant, and violent religion does not accurately represent the real traditional belief of Muslims. To the contrary, he declares his "unwavering conviction that I belong to a great moral humanistic tradition." Traditional Islamic jurists, he writes, "tolerated and even celebrated divergent opinions and schools of thought."
During the first centuries of Islam, clerics underwent a lengthy and intellectually demanding training that included an open discussion of differing viewpoints and interpretations. This training prepared them to be community leaders and judges in disputes between their coreligionists. As the secular authority in Muslim states grew increasingly powerful, centralized, and autocratic, Muslim clergy lost much of their authority, producing "a profound vacuum in religious authority" and "a state of virtual anarchy in modern Islam."
As the Muslim clergy were increasingly marginalized, the great centers of learning at which they were trained became equally marginalized and more and more clerics were self-declared holy men with little or no formmal training. Consequently, amateurish interpretations of Islam, exemplified by those of Osama bin Laden, gained sway over theologically illiterate Muslims justifiably angry at the poverty and powerlessness they experienced in comparison to citizens of the U.S. and other Western nations.
Dr. Abou El Fadl is particularly critical of Wahhabism -- a puritanical revision of Islam propagated by the Saudi monarchy. While Wahhabism claims to be the "straight path" of Islam, it is, according to Abou El Fadl, an abberant form of Islam, forged in the 18th-century slaughter of Muslims and non-Muslims alike. To call it "fundamentalist," he asserts, is misleading, since it flouts fundamental Islamic truths and distorts Islam by rejecting "any attempt to interpret the divine law historically or contextually."
He quotes specific passages to show that the Quran declares diversity among peoples to be Allah's divine intent. Further, contrary to what you may have been taught in a high school history class, the Quran opposes forced conversion of others to Islam, as practiced by the Taliban. In fact, the Quran explicitly states that Jews and Christians as well as Muslimswill go to Heaven.
Interpretations of the Quran that urge violence against innocents, he argues, require poorly
informed, out of context readings of a line here/ a line there in my view, not unlike the practice of many Christian Fundamentalists. To show that, he cites the ambiguous verses by which Muslim extremists justify their acts, and their deceitful disregard of everything Quranic that prohibits their acts. He insists that any valid Quranic interpretation must square with the holy book's "general moral imperatives such as mercy, justice, kindness." "If the reader is intolerant, hateful, or oppressive," he concludes, "so will be the interpretation."
Far from sanctioning "holy war," Abou El Fadl reports, the Quran does not even contain the phrase. The entire concept of jihad as holy war was a later development rooted more in political and economic conflict than in religious difference. Moreover, far from supporting the "get even" (for Israel, for economic imperialism, etc) justification for terrorism, the Quran warns Muslims that the injustice of others does not permit them to be unjust in return. Furthermore, warriors who attacked innocent civilians were regarded by classic Muslim jurists to be "corrupters of the earth and criminals" -- guilty of "especially heinous crimes."
The eleven reactions to Abou El Fadl's essay add further depth to the debate. Milton Viorst, Middle East correspondent for The New Yorker, praises it as a "brilliant" explanation of why Muslims are "on the brink of becoming a permanent global underclass." Sohail Hashmi, who teaches international relations at Mount Holyoke College, agrees that politically motivated Quranic interpreters, not the Quran itself, feed the us-against-them mentality of violent Muslims. British culture critic Tariq Ali laments that "there was more dissent and skepticism in Islam during the 11th and 12th centuries than there is today." On the other hand, Abid Ullah Jan, a political analyst from Pakistan, blames all debates about Islam on "efforts by the United States and its allies to achieve economic and cultural hegemony by dominating or destroying all opposition." He denounces the essay as "an attempt to please Islam-bashers."
Abou El Fadl's response to the commentaries asserts that the extremists false fundamentalism threatens to turn Islam into "an idiosyncracy -- a moral and social oddity that is incapable of finding common ground with the rest of human society." His motivation for engaging in debate against extremists, he says, is "to deny such groups their Islamic banner." In his view, the ultimate issue for all Muslims ought to be the extremists degradation of "the moral integrity of the Islamic tradition."
Khaled Abou El Fadl, Tariq Ali, Milton Viorst and John Esposito. The Place of Tolerance in Islam. Boston, Beacon Press, 2002.
About the Author
Dr. David F. Duncan is the President of Duncan & Associates, a research and policy studies consulting firm in the areas of public health, mental health, and drug abuse.
http://www.duncan-associates.com
His Commonplace Book is a collection of excerpts, book reviews, and commentary on classic movies and favorite authors.
http://commonplacebook.tripod.com/home/
|
|
|
|
|
| Religion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Religion may be defined as the presence of a belief in the sacred or the holy. ... The development of religion is therefore the course of religions aligning ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
|
| religion online |
| Full texts by religious scholars. Topics include Bible, Theology, Ethics, Church and Society, Communication, Cultural Studies, Homiletics, Missions, ... |
| www.religion-online.org |
|
| Religion and Spirituality in the Yahoo! Directory |
| Yahoo! reviewed these sites and found them related to Religion and Spirituality. |
| dir.yahoo.com |
|
| Yahoo! - Document Not Found |
| Document Not Found. The document you requested was not found. The category you are trying to reach may have moved. To find a relocated category, ... |
| dir.yahoo.com |
|
| Virtual Religion Index |
| has moved! It is now located at. http://virtualreligion.net/vri/. Note the change of domain & Please notify the source of the link that landed you here. ... |
| religion.rutgers.edu |
|
| Religious News and Information |
| The latest news and coverage from the world of religion. From across the globe to here in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Time covers the most pertinent news ... |
| www.latimes.com |
|
| World Religions Religion Statistics Geography Church Statistics |
| Resources for research into world religions, large and (very) small. Includes links to websites, research papers, statistics, and specialized search ... |
| www.adherents.com |
|
| BBC - Religion & Ethics |
| News, features and weekly summary about religion in the UK. Includes information about religions, ethics issues, and BBC religious TV and radio programming. |
| www.bbc.co.uk |
|
| BBC - Religion & Ethics - Religions |
| An introduction to many of the religions of the world. Includes Jainism, Shinto, Sikhism, Rastafari, Paganism, and many others. |
| www.bbc.co.uk |
|
| Open Directory - Society: Religion and Spirituality |
| Kids and Teens: People and Society: Religion and Spirituality (307) ... World Religions and 101 Cults - Contains descriptions and personal commentary of ... |
| dmoz.org |
|
| Google Directory - Society > Religion and Spirituality |
| Kids and Teens > People and Society > Religion and Spirituality (347) ... Contains descriptions and personal commentary of religions, cults, sects, ... |
| www.google.com |
|
| Promoting religious understanding, tolerance and freedom. |
| Conflicts, evolution, science & religion evaluating each other ... "Study of the world's religions will lead to an understanding of religious diversity; ... |
| www.religioustolerance.org |
|
| Religious Studies Page |
| Gene Thursby's extensive collection of information and links for the study and interpretation of religions. Categories include religious traditions, ... |
| www.clas.ufl.edu |
|
| Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Religion |
| Religion blog: DMN writers and editors explore issues of faith, spirituality and values ... Religion links: Alphabetical list of religious and spiritual ... |
| www.dallasnews.com |
|
| Free Religion Ecards, Religion Greeting Cards, Religion Greetings ... |
| More of Religion ... Home : Religion Greetings ... Food And Drink | Gifts | Invitations | Kids | Love | Music | Pets | Religion | Specials | Sports | Stay ... |
| cards.123greetings.com |
|
| Religion -- Philadelphia Inquirer |
| Most evangelicals now live in China, South Korea, India, Africa and Latin America, where they are transforming their religion. In various ways, they are ... |
| www.philly.com |
|
| Religion | The WWW Virtual Library |
| Religions and belief systems (ancient and contemporary), religious history, mythology, ethics and humanism. this resource in English is indexed under: ... |
| vlib.org |
|
| Religion - washingtonpost.com |
| We explore matters of faith and religion on the first Sunday of each month. ... Religion Online Chats. Thursday, Nov. 16, 11 a.m. ET: Faiths Condemn Gay Sex ... |
| www.washingtonpost.com |
|
| allAfrica.com: Religion |
| All over Africa, religion is big business. In East Africa, I am particularly impressed by the rate of its growth in Uganda. Uganda is also the country in ... |
| allafrica.com |
|
| Error: Invalid story key (C3,20061205,,612040318,AR). |
| Obituaries · -- Death Notices · Schools · Detroit History. Nation/World. Nation/World · Politics/Gov · -- Election · Health · Religion · Technology. Sports ... |
| detnews.com |
|
|