'Get with it' says Muslim scholar
Yeah! What he said..
http://tinyurl.com/b23d4
By TARIQ KHONJI
MUSLIMS should stop taking the Quran too literally and instead try to interpret its meanings to suit modern times, a visiting Arab American scholar said yesterday.
Washington, DC-based Georgetown University chaplain Imam Yahya Hendi said although he does not want to see Islam or the Quran rewritten, a lot of the text was designed for different economic and social circumstances.
"People tend to be too literalist," he said. "Instead, they should try to get a sense of what the Quran is trying to say instead of taking it word for word.
"There is no need for a reformation of Islam, but there needs to be a reformation of the way it is applied to modern challenges."
Mr Hendi was in Bahrain for a two-day visit that ended yesterday to promote inter-faith dialogue.
He was here at the invitation of the US Embassy and the Islamic Affairs Ministry and gave lectures at Bahrain University and Beit Al Quran.
The lecture at Beit Al Quran was attended by Deputy Premier and Islamic Affairs Minister Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalid Al Khalifa.
Mr Hendi also had Iftar at US Ambassador William Monroe's home in Saar on Wednesday and at Shaikh Abdulla's home in Riffa yesterday.
Mr Hendi also spoke at a Quran recital competition organised by the ministry at the Al Fateh Islamic Centre (Grand Mosque), Juffair, last night.
He is on a peace mission to speak out against wars and conflicts and believes that while religion has been part of the problem for a long time, it can also be part of the solution.
"There needs to be inter-faith dialogue between Muslims, Christians and Jews for a positive relationship to become part of their culture," he said.
"There also needs to be dialogue within faiths. People should not think of themselves as being Shi'ite or Sunni. They should consider themselves to be Muslims."
Mr Hendi's visit coincided with an ongoing campaign for a new law to govern domestic disputes in Bahrain - such as child custody cases, divorces and inheritances.
The three-month campaign is being spearheaded by the Supreme Council for Women, which claims that Sharia judges are given too much power in such cases.
It says judges pass widely different judgments based on their personal prejudices and tend to be discriminatory against women - especially in cases involving inheritance, divorce and child custody.
However, Mr Hendi believes that Islam can be interpreted in ways that do not discriminate against women.
He also said Islam gave a lot to women 1,400 years ago because they did not have any rights at all at the time.
"They were given the right to inherit at a time when they themselves were inherited as property," he said.
"The women at the time were very pleased with what Islam gave them because they previously did not have anything. No one should undermine the role of women in public life. Islam allows them to become judges and even heads of state."
http://tinyurl.com/b23d4
By TARIQ KHONJI
MUSLIMS should stop taking the Quran too literally and instead try to interpret its meanings to suit modern times, a visiting Arab American scholar said yesterday.
Washington, DC-based Georgetown University chaplain Imam Yahya Hendi said although he does not want to see Islam or the Quran rewritten, a lot of the text was designed for different economic and social circumstances.
"People tend to be too literalist," he said. "Instead, they should try to get a sense of what the Quran is trying to say instead of taking it word for word.
"There is no need for a reformation of Islam, but there needs to be a reformation of the way it is applied to modern challenges."
Mr Hendi was in Bahrain for a two-day visit that ended yesterday to promote inter-faith dialogue.
He was here at the invitation of the US Embassy and the Islamic Affairs Ministry and gave lectures at Bahrain University and Beit Al Quran.
The lecture at Beit Al Quran was attended by Deputy Premier and Islamic Affairs Minister Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalid Al Khalifa.
Mr Hendi also had Iftar at US Ambassador William Monroe's home in Saar on Wednesday and at Shaikh Abdulla's home in Riffa yesterday.
Mr Hendi also spoke at a Quran recital competition organised by the ministry at the Al Fateh Islamic Centre (Grand Mosque), Juffair, last night.
He is on a peace mission to speak out against wars and conflicts and believes that while religion has been part of the problem for a long time, it can also be part of the solution.
"There needs to be inter-faith dialogue between Muslims, Christians and Jews for a positive relationship to become part of their culture," he said.
"There also needs to be dialogue within faiths. People should not think of themselves as being Shi'ite or Sunni. They should consider themselves to be Muslims."
Mr Hendi's visit coincided with an ongoing campaign for a new law to govern domestic disputes in Bahrain - such as child custody cases, divorces and inheritances.
The three-month campaign is being spearheaded by the Supreme Council for Women, which claims that Sharia judges are given too much power in such cases.
It says judges pass widely different judgments based on their personal prejudices and tend to be discriminatory against women - especially in cases involving inheritance, divorce and child custody.
However, Mr Hendi believes that Islam can be interpreted in ways that do not discriminate against women.
He also said Islam gave a lot to women 1,400 years ago because they did not have any rights at all at the time.
"They were given the right to inherit at a time when they themselves were inherited as property," he said.
"The women at the time were very pleased with what Islam gave them because they previously did not have anything. No one should undermine the role of women in public life. Islam allows them to become judges and even heads of state."
posted by purvis at 10:36 AM
1 Comments:
great article. i concur with a lot of what mr. hendi said. ALLAH tells us to use our reason over and over in the qur'aan and i think we should be mindful of that when striving to understand and interpret qur'aan.
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