I’m actually back sooner than I thought.
I just remembered I wanted to post something on this documentary I (semi) watched last night. I wasn’t really concentrated, but National Geographic Channel is fortunately airing re-runs of it this week end.
It’s called: INSIDE THE KORAN. It’s quite fascinating and goes through the huge differences among the vast Muslim world. (Because there is more than one Muslim society and all Muslims don’t live in the Middle East, right?). The Holy Book guides a billion Muslims, so it is only right that it stirs so much fascination.
I have to admit, I have only taken interest in religion not so long ago. Not that I didn’t believe (I always have), but I wasn’t practicing much and still have some grounds to make up in that field). I only know some of/about it, and from what I know, some I agree with, some I disagree with. (But even raising questions according to some, is blasphemous already). Excuse me if I have questions and some doubt as to the validity of some arguments. Some might tell you, you’re supposed to believe even if it doesn’t make sense. Sorry… I have a hard time doing that. Call me too down to earth, too realistic, too modern (as some might put…), but I’d like to think we don’t just all follow things blindly. The goal is not to turn things and the religion upside down, but maybe…just maybe… it would help to make sense of what it is we’re following here. It’s hard for many to believe that Islam can be source of inspiration for both pacifists and extremists: it’s open for interpretations, we don’t have a clergy for guidance and the translations are sometimes full of discrepancies on top of the Arabic language being highly metaphorical.
How can a woman be head of state in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim nation, but not even permitted to drive in Saudi Arabia, the home of its holiest sites? Go figure!
The documentary goes through Women’s condition in the Muslim World (necessity of wearing the Hijab, female circumcision…), relations with Christianism and Judaism, message of peace and the right to defend one’s religion…
The most fascinating segment of Inside The Koran concerns scientific investigation of the oldest known manuscript pages, discovered in Yemen in 1972. They were written in the early eighth century without diacritical marks, the little dots and accents that can change not only the pronunciation of Arabic but also its meaning. Some scholars, the documentary reports, believe anywhere from 5 to 20 percent of the words in the Koran have been misidentified.
So the Koranic sentence that’s been widely understood to promise martyrs an eternal romp with virgins — ”we have paired them with dark wide eyed maidens” — could, with insertion of diacritical marks, actually be “we will make you comfortable under white, crystal clear grapes.”
The documentary doesn’t mean to be controversial but by simply raising questions within such a sensitive topic, I raised my eyebrows quite a few times, especially when I hear some idiots who think they are God themselves. The women’s right issue gets me upset all the time. I personally believe reforms are needed. Not with the Koran itself (it is the Word of God after all), but with the Hadiths, and the Sunna, the Shariah and how a lot of things are interpreted, if ever possible. Because if you take away what was lost in translation, misinterpreted, intentionally corrupted, then a billion people can’t rely on that information.
Given how torn and frustrated I am sometimes with my religion (aren’t we all a little?), and those who blindly accept it all, my philosophy is to go with what makes sense. Because, at the end of the day, what religion and Islam in particular teaches you is to be a bigger and better man/woman, compassion, love and sacrifice for the greater good. So if you ever wonder about abortion, gays, war, cloning, women’s rights and all those issues, just go with what makes the most sense knowing the fundamental message in all revealed religions is love.
All this love talk might sound corny, but I can’t help but cringe when I see women covered from head to toe, only their eyes showing, with gloves (cold or heat) looking like ninjas. All that because some men interpreted “not to display their adornment” to mean covering it all up because “we, men, can’t stand to see anything else but your eyes.” According to them, it’s temptation. Well, how about you blindfold your eyes and let me be! Because if seeing my hands is too tempting for you, then maybe you should check yourself. Nowhere is it ever mentioned to cover your hair. All is said is for women to dress appropriately to avoid wandering eyes. Now, to each its own way of appearing modest. Some might want to cover their hair, some might do it other ways. As long as it’s your choice, then go ahead. But I will be damned if A men tells me how to dress for him not to be tempted.
Anyway, you get my point and I’m stirring away from the message of this post. WATCH the documentary if you get a chance. Maybe it’ll be on the Internet too. It’s called: Inside the Koran and re-airs on Saturday Aug 9 at 1 PM; and Tuesday Aug 12 at 5 PM on the National geographicChannel
NGC examines the Muslim Faiths most sacred text and its messages of peace and tolerance- including what some perceive as justification for violent conflict and suicide bombings against US troops and their allies.
PS: Never watch a documentary like this with “know-it-all’s”. They keep yeep-yapping and telling you all about what they know (or rather what they think they know), and it’s hella irritating!
Peace!
M.
August 13, 2008 at 1:00 am
I agree with most of what you’ve said. And I’m glad you added that dress code should be a woman’s choice. One has to remember that some women are even harsher than men and perpetuate oppression or more rigorous standards than men. That being said the verses on covering are contextual and though scholars- men and women- interpret them as covering one’s hair and body, modesty is a must.
My only point of contention with that you said is to go with whatever makes sense. I think it can be a dangerous statement b/c as human beings we evolve. Soemthing might make sense to you today but in 10 years time with a wider outlook on life and with maturity you’ll realise that it was a mistake. Which is why we are not God, as some people seem not to realise. I believe religion and Islam in particular lays the limits to one’s behaviour. For some it’s constraining but thinking deeply about it thank God for God otherwise what will humans become? And this reminds me of a verse of the Quran where God says that something might happen that we dislike but it’s good for us and something that we like might be bad for us. I’m sure we all have countless examples of that in our lives. It shows His eternal wisdom and our limited knowledge. I appreciate that. Of course the likes of Ayan Hirsi think that submission makes you a robot in life. But I believe that if a man can bend down on his knees to propose to a woman, if humans can go out of their way to prove themselves to othe humans for a job, love, money, fame, etc. then as believers why not prove ourselves to God by being righteous…and like you said by embodying love.
August 14, 2008 at 9:44 am
Hello Y.S. (Don’t you and I know each other from middle school? From your initials and email adress, I think I got an idea. Or maybe I’m mistaken)
So, to get to your comment. Point well taken. I agree with you, going with what makes sense is dangerous. That was my simplified answer. Basically, what I was trying to get at is the idea of intention and purpose. The overall purpose of Islam is to create a harmonious society and way of life for its followers. Now you can’t of course expect a billion followers to “go with the flow”. Sometimes I wonder if we wouldn’t have been better off with a clergy.
All in all, my point is to not forget the overall message and purpose of a Koran’s verse and/or take into account the context in which the Hadiths were written hundreds of years ago. It seems a lot has been lost in translation and still many clinch to traditions (noted some aren’t even islamic but rather regional traditions that got mixed up with the religious ones: female circumcision for example)
Traditions are sometimes good and some are set in stone, but many need updating.
I like your reasoning about going out of our way to prove our love to another human being. Unfortunately, human beings go with the visible and touchable more easily and how quick we are to forget about the rest.
(Just reading Ayan Hirsi’s name upsets me)
It was a pleasure reading your comment.
M.
August 19, 2008 at 5:43 am
Hello YS, Hello Amayel,
“to go with whatever makes sense”: I’m just wondering whether, even when we accept YS’s conception, we are not still obliged “to go with whatever makes sense” for us. Take the head scarf as an example. Once a lady has decided that as a Muslim, she must wear it, there is the problem of choosing which one is the right one: a burqa? Something less covering? We always have to choose between schools and interpretations of the Koran or of any other Book we chose to go by. And my impressions is that’s really a good thing because if we aren’t gods, we still are, according to the Koran for example, God’s lieutenant.
To Amayel: Thanks for stopping by my blog. I’ve enjoyed reading yours
To YS: Just read this morning some posts in your blog. Seems pretty interesting, I’ll be back
August 28, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Amayel,
Ayan Hirsi made her name reaffirming negative stereotypes of Islam and Muslims.
She makes such hasty generalizations and I hate how she thinks she has the right for me. I’m African and Muslim and I’m not oppressed and I was not circumcized. She had a hard life, but it doesn’t mean that Islam should be blamed.
August 28, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Dearest Kizzie,
it’s funny you mention her name today. I just had a conversation about her this morning. The most annoying part is that, as a muslim, everytime I mention how irrelevant I think she is, people automatically assume it’s because I can’t handle the critic.
I will criticize where critc is due and God knows I sometimes have a hard time grasping some of my religion’s issues, but I refuse to take politically motivated criticism from a liar whose whole purpose is to give ammunitions to extreme right movements who find their arguments more credible and easier to distribute when coming from an “insider”.
I have a problem, with her, her motives, her generalization and the pretense she uses for “speaking out”.
I had the same issue when I read Irshad Manji’s The Trouble with Islam. The problem with all these “popular critics” is that they don’t invite for debate, it’s all make belief and trying to be sensational. She makes such gross generalizations, I think it’s very unfair for us that it all makes it seem to non muslims that female genital mutilation, wearing the burqa, and being submissive are the norms. Because obviously that is not a reality for me, for the women in my family, in my country and the majority of us muslims (you included) do not relate to what they’re saying. All of these issues have been so popularized, it’s just too easy these days to find support for anti-islamic sentiment. And that’s what Ayan Hirsi tapped right into it.
And for that, to me, she’s a hypochrit, a liar and a phony. So I’ll take the criticism elsewhere but certainly not from her!
Oh, and the whole argument that she’s a brilliant woman and very intelligent, i’m sorry. I’ve seen her in a debate and her star was obviously not shining that day.
October 10, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Salam Amayel,
I like your blog and I think your post was very instructive but please allow me to disagree with some of your points. First, I do think that the Hijab is mandatory for every muslim woman. Not covering will not bring you to hell of course, but I do know that all schools of Islam from the 4 Imams agreed that the hijab was wajib. Now, does it mean it should be forced upon you? No, we are free to choose like Allah said : No cumpulsion in religion. I grew up beleiving the hijab was not mandatory, just like you I thought it was something that was forced upon women or that was cultural till I did my own research, till I read about its purpose & the verse about covering in Surah Noor:
“And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what must ordinarily appear therof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands’ fathers, their sons, their husbands’ sons, their brothers, or their brothers’ sons or their sisters’ sons, or their women or……”
Now, I only started covering recently and it was my personal choice! However, it is my beleif that it is mandatory.And yes it is wrong for women to cover for a man or because a man told them so! There is a greater purpose in the hijab. At the same time, wearing a niqab( covering of the face) was only mandatory for the Prophet s.a.w’s wives as Allah made it wajib for them, but only for them! Anyone else wearing a niqab is doing it for their own personal reasons but it is not fard upon us.
The other point I did not agree with was when you were talking about changing the hadiths. The hadiths that are authenticated shouldn’t be changed. They are the Beloved’s sunnah, and we should Understand them and accept them. Now, the hadiths that are recognized as weak shouldn’t be followed of course.
It is always good to question your beliefs, questionning has never hurt Islam. And noone should take that right away from you. Actually, most converts say that they were drawn to Islam because they got their questions answered and were not told to beleive blindly without understanding.
Hopefully we can all learn together. Peace! (sorry for my long comment).
October 23, 2008 at 7:52 pm
Salaams,
I love your blog and agree with you on a lot of the points you’ve made on this and some of the other posts as well.
I learned of the Yemeni Quran back in ‘04 (from a dissillusioned atheist professor funnily enough). No one has given me a good answer on that:(
The real answer I think is to seek knowledge from reputable sources. Take REAL classes taught by scholars that you and others respect.
In the end, I think we all end up doing what feels right, even if we feel/think/know we are doing God’s will.
It seems like Muslims at-large are increasingly looking for rules that go across the border, but history and tradition has allowed for much more variation/heterogeneity and making decisions relative to the current historical or cultural situation.
p.s. Irshad Manji and Hirsi Ali irk me too. I seem to find myself in arguments about them with folk a lot more often than I would like.
sorry this post was so long.