Monday, March 17, 2008
Islam and the Qur'an
Between listening to our in-class speaker from before spring break and the recent readings and Suras that we were assigned, I better understand how the Qur’an can be interpreted in different ways (besides the fact that there are so many different sources of translations and in many different languages). On the news all we hear about is how Islam and the teachings of the Qur’an are used to inflict violence and advocate morally unjust values, but this is mainly an interpretation by either extremists, the misinformed or simply ignorant people. Just like Christianity and Judaism, Islam can be used productively as far as providing common interests, a community, a sense of belonging and a set of good values to live by. Like the other two, it can also be used for personal gain and violence. I, for one, think that the words and art that I have seen from the Qur’an are beautiful and thought provoking. It is more than unfortunate that Islam has been put in a defensive position just because a loud group of fundamentalists have been exploiting its name.
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I like your point about Islam being similar to Judaism and Christianity. Whenever I hear someone judge Islam based just on fanatics, I asked them what it would be like if all Christians were judged based on the "God hates fags" group who are (supposedly) Christian, or any other radical group. If these groups were all that were seen by other countries, chances our Christianity would also have a "bad reputation" abroad.
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