mantra,
Quote:Of course I have no experience in what the Koran teaches, but then neither does a layperson (if that's the appropriate term),
Although I know this is often something that we hear "Nobody can translate or intepret the Qur'an except special scholars", but it's a bit of a misunderstanding. The average layperson in Islam has quite a lot more knowledge of their respective religion's texts than what most other religions would. Many Muslims have in fact committed to memory large portions of the Qur'an, and if they are an Arabic speaker they'd understand the vast majority of it quite clearly. If they are not an Arabic speaker, they'd probably still understand a lot, as they'd have read it in a translation in their own language (yes translations are allowed and are widespread, contrary to popular misconception), and also most other languages of Muslims have a vast amount of Arabic vocabulary already in their native language. Turkish, Persian and Urdu for instance are quite heavily influenced by Arabic and have huge amounts of Arabic vocabulary mixed into their languages, as do the South-East Asian languages.
Quote:but I have heard said by some great scholars of Islam that only a Sheikh or similar has the ability to interpret the Koran correctly and meaningfully. So I assume that the rest of the Muslims are interpreting the Koran incorrectly. That puts us on an even playing field.
Not quite. What they're referring to is the ability to make jurisprudence from the Qur'anic texts, not to understand and implement them.
As the Islamic texts are considered a source of law for the Muslims, you could compare this to the situation of law in any country, Australia for instance. The average Aussie cannot just go around interpreting the law and giving his own judgements and expect they will be considered binding in the Australian legal system and neither could they expect to properly represent a defendant in a law case without the necessary training in the legal profession. Barristers, Judges & other law experts on the other hand have the ability to do these things. That doesn't mean the average layperson in Australia has no understanding of the law and is completely detached from it, and is therefore on an even playing field with someone who has no prior knowledge of Australian law at all.
If I read an Islamic text like this one for instance:
A man questioned Muhammad (pbuh): "Where do you find Paradise?" The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said, “Paradise is at the feet of the mother.”Now I can understand from this text a lot of things, and perhaps so could you, now you've been exposed to it, but you couldn't have previously, and therefore were not on a level playing field, as you didn't even know it existed. I can understand that Islam values the respect for the mother, and so forth, but I cannot make a ruling regarding it, or issue a fatwa for other Muslims to follow regarding it.
Quote:You haven't taken into consideration those People B who are weak and vulnerable and will put their own interpretation on Mohammed's prophesies in the dangerous negative.
There are weak and ignorant people who subscribe to all sorts of doctrines. The doctrine and it's propounder cannot be blamed for them, certainly not after his death. But it is indeed up to the other adherents to that doctrine to do away with ignorance and misunderstanding of the doctrines they subscribe to.
Quote:No Abu - you sound like a good ol' Aussie boy
I wouldn't go that far. I have rejected a lot of Australian 'Values' by becoming a Muslim, and I consider sexism to be one of them. I've seen first hand both Muslim and non-Muslim societies, up close, and I gotta say, although I won't proclaim there's no sexist Muslims, Australians are by far much more sexist. Even the sexism that exists amongst Muslims, it is a kind of traditional chauvanism that is chivalrous, not degrading like the sexism that is rife amongst a lot of different sectors of Australian society. I believe that Australian society did away with 'public sexism' that was probably more of the traditional chauvanism I mentioned above, but allowed it to be replaced with a very degrading form of sexism that is really sickening if you see it up close. I don't want to go into too much detail, but basically women are considered to just be 'an orifice on two legs'. This kind of mentality is quite rife in society, and has become most prominent recently amongst sports stars, particularly football players. and many programs have been suggested to try and 're-educate' them to respect women.
Quote:and perhaps this is because your mother believed she was equal to your father and no doubt in your early development
I would attribute it more to my schooling, I was lucky to have some very good teachers. But yes my dislike for sexism definitely existed prior to Islam. However, Australian society in general, outside the school system, did work to change that, and it wasn't until I embraced Islam that I think I fully acquired a true respect for the 'fairer sex'.
Quote:your peers ensured that equality was applied to the fairer sex also.
No, most of my peers were actually quite sexist, as mentioned above, in a very sickening way too.
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Ayaan Hirsi Ali - War on Terror, or War on Islam? (Read 14751 times)
