Saturday, May 28, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
Omid Safi on Modern Muslims & the Qur'an
Muslims, particularly in modern times, make a sharp delineation between the authority of the Qur'an and that of other sources, even the words of Muhammad (hadith). Yet it is worth noting that while Muslims have always privileged and prioritized the Qur'an as the supreme source of authority, the Qur'an has never been for Muslims the sole source of authority. To put it differently, prior to the last few decades, Muslims had not historically adopted the Sola scriptura ("by scripture alone") notions that came to characterize the Protestant Reformation approach to reading scripture. It is only very recently that some Muslims have become so suspicious of all non-Qur'anic Islamic texts that they have sought to abandon everything but the Qur'an as a reliable source for Islamic thought. Before the present day, Muslims have been more similar to Jews and Catholics, who have always looked at scripture through the multiple lenses of the later tradition - a tradition that for Muslims was shaped by the words of Muhammad, extra-scriptural stories ("Tales of the Prophets"), oral narratives, mystical tales, and other texts. In addition, with the exception of select groups like the Kharijis, who were deemed extreme, Muslims always approached the Qur'an through the authority of interpreters. In other words, they understood that scripture never speaks by itself but it is always interpreted and mediated through human voices. Another way of saying the same thing is to point out that until the twentieth century, no Muslim would have looked at the index of the Qur'an (or done a Google search) to find out what was expected of them. Divine guidance began with the text, but was always mediated through authoritative - human - teachers.-Omid Safi, Memories of Muhammad: Why the Prophet Matters
, pg. 165-166
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Sea burial & religious literacy
Posting this really late, but just for the record:
In contrast to Stephen Prothero's assertion "What is not up for debate, however, is the fact that in this case the Obama administration and the U.S. military demonstrated real religious literacy," see Abdal Hakim Murad's piece - also on CNN - that "Bin Laden's sea burial was 'sad miscalculation.'"
In contrast to Stephen Prothero's assertion "What is not up for debate, however, is the fact that in this case the Obama administration and the U.S. military demonstrated real religious literacy," see Abdal Hakim Murad's piece - also on CNN - that "Bin Laden's sea burial was 'sad miscalculation.'"
Framing Islam: Challenges of Islamophobia & Orientalism with Dr. Peter Gottschalk & Imam Omer Bajwa
Program Description:
Monday, April 4th - Framing Islam: the Challenges of Islamophobia & Orientalism
7:00pm - 9:30pm
Kimmel Center, Room 802
60 Washington Square South, New York, NY 10012
In 2004, Kofi Annan, then Secretary-General of the United Nations famously said, “ when a new word enters the language, it is often the result of a scientific advance or a diverting fad. But when the world is compelled to coin a new term to take account of increasingly widespread bigotry that is a sad and troubling development. Such is the case with Islamophobia…Today, the weight of history and the fallout of recent developments have left many Muslims around the world feeling aggrieved and misunderstood, concerned about the erosion of their rights and even fearing for their physical safety. So the title of this series is very appropriate: there is much to unlearn.”
The panelists, distinguished by their unique perspectives of understanding the issue, will speak about their findings on the topic as well as the steps needed to move towards a more inclusive society.
*Dinner will be served.
Speakers: Dr. Peter Gottschalk, Imam Omer Bajwa
Thanks Iram!
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)