Idolizing the Koran

Athar

Is this a reversal from Arthur...

We your friends ... you know the other one the Barrister ... always thought you would return from the other extreme to become a mainstream reformist working from within rather than from without...

This is a great article.. reformist... progressive... and yet not blasphemous.

I think this approach will go farther than your earlier ones...

There is a certain etiquette which Islam requires of us when we read/touch/listen to the Qur`an Sharif. This is not misplaced zeal, it is following the injunctions of the Qur`an itself and the Sunnah.

The Qur`an is the Uncreated Word of Allah not just a book.

Nice article with good arguements. However I feel that there is nothing wrong with idol worship as long as the worshiper knows that it is a symbol. Many of us because of our limited undestanding cannot imagine or visualize an all prevading eternal god.

We find it easier to pray to a symbol, and if reverence towards a book can bring out the better things within us, maybe it will extend to other areas in life too.

However every religion must have the space for people to periodically question the belief system within it, and shutting of inquiry by saying that since its god word, it cannot be questioned is pure rubbish.

Athar:

is this a change of heart?... and can I read something in the way you spelt it?

qur’an is just a book of guidance….read again, qur’an is just a book …just a book….just a book…just a book…

also

* it makes no mention of suicide bombing being halaal
* it does not tell me how to adjust the time on my dvd/vcr
* it does tell me to be tolerant
* and advises me to use my deliberative mechanics
* and not to hate others, be respectful and just

temporal,

will you do us Kafirs a favor and make copies of your version of quran and distribute a billion or so copies.

Humans have evolved to appreciate and `worship` imagery.........that is why the adherents of bland monotheistic religions are attracted (maligning at the same time) to Hindu, Budhist philosphies. Or, much to the dismay of puritans, ``distorting`` their own religion. The adorations calligraphy of Islamic culture is no different from idol adorations of the temples.

Even the liberal sikhs cannot abstain from picture worship of Gurus.

In the end, Hinduism and its like triumph bcs they are closer to our instincts.....yet the idol woshiping in extreme form is harmful - though not as harmful as extreme version of Islam and Chrstnty.

The author’s intentions appear to be good – to get the followers of Islam to focus more on the meaning behind words rather than the printed media and other externalities of the Koran.

The article falls short on two important points – the point about developing a tolerance for others’ point of view – a shortcoming which (in my view) is responsible for many of the problems the followers of this faith currently face. And the second (perhaps more important) point is about being able to question your own beliefs occasionally to validate them – rather than unquestionably accept what one is told from a single source! Without addressing these two, those problems are unlikely to go away!

Incidentally, many of the arguments presented here regarding the Koran can be applied to other holy books – of any religion!

Will return to read the article, but have always maintained that ironically Muslims are truest and most obdurate, perhaps the only remaining, idol worshippers on the face of our planet.

athar:

I agree that the message of the quran is more important than the writing. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts or at least should be. I also agree that the formality ultimately makes for less reading and more...well...formalizing. And you’ve written quite well to construe this idea.

However, I’m not sure I would be so quick to classify all idolatry under misguided religious zeal. Sometimes worshipping the idol is just that and nothing more, and serves to bring one closer to the object of ultimate devotion.

I would conjecture that many of us have idols, which extend far beyond the religious realm.

kaalchakra saheb:

... have always maintained that ironically Muslims are truest and most obdurate, perhaps the only remaining, idol worshippers on the face of our planet...

i almost choked...does your planet have only 1.2 or 1.5 billion people;)

or you are playing with history, logic and numbers?

waisay a digression:

i have written somewhere that Muhammed (saw) cleared mecca of 360 idols and some muslims from subsequent generations have managed to turn that Ka`aba into one big idol...(by placing an inordinate emphasis on rituals and minimising the simple purity of the message)

rgds

t

Halleluja!

What is this? A christian evangalist religious nut whose anti-Muslim hatered verges on the brink of insanity is teaching us the virtues of Wahabism? I say there is a God after all. Halleluja!

Shiraz

What is this? Have you become a Mullah, albiet, enlightened? Do you want Muslims to become `ahle- kitab`. They would remain `Ummies` and won’t use their ‘aql’ (reason) despite claiming to be the owners of a book believed by them to be containing the last words of Allah, which says that those who do not use their aql are worse that animals.

But just see what even the great thinker of Islam like Imam Ghazali, says about use of `aql` (reason):

``Aql ka nafah is qadar tum ko bas he kih woh tum ko Aanhazrat (saw) ke sacha janane ki taraf hidayat kare aur aap ke isharon ke mansha aur moorad samjhaawe. Pas jab yih soorat ho jaae to uske bahd aql ko mahzool karo kih kuchh tasarraf nah kare aur ittibah ko apne oopar laazam karo kionkih tumhari salaamati ittibaah se ho gi``. (Ehyaaulaloom by Ghazali, Vol. I, page 84).

As it is the `Aql` of the Muslims stands virtually suspended for over a thousand years since Imam Ghazali wrote those lines, Quran or no Quran. What do you say Moulvi Shiraz?

For Ajmi (othe than Arabs, aliens) Muslims, Arabic, which is considered to be the latest language of Allah, bestows heavenly attributes even on a black stone by calling it `Hajre Aswad` but strange enough they have converted `Sallat` of Arabic to Persian `Namaz`, perhaps because it is more practicable, liguistically. So it is the word, the language, which makes all the difference, not its meaning or spirit . That is why they have virtually banned the use of the word `Khuda` (the Persian name of God) in the government media in Pakistan, wherein it has totally been replaced by Arabic `Allah`. Inshallah, Mashallah, Allah (not khuda) haafiz .

Please give the book some respect.

The name of the book is Qur`an, not Koran. Don`t let your religion you call `secularism` take away your common sense. Give it the respect you gave to your kindergardten books, your high school books, the books on your beautiful shelves and under your pillow. Understand?

Chowk Staff should have understood it and corrected it before publishing the article. Using fashionable words does not make an article attractive. It repels the common man (the actual target) and attracts the pseudos.

Moreover, if I said Sucklarism instead of Secuarlism, would you feel comfortable? They sound almost the same, don`t they?

Athar Mian, tum aakhir Mussalmaan bun hee gaye :-)

Nice article. My reading of Islam tells me that it is the message which is the q`uran, not the paper on which it is written, let alone printed.

But there is nothing wrong in treating with respect a book of learning. Heck, we were taught not to touch even our textbooks with feet (and I still do not!). The problem starts when people start riots and killing others because someone else is not respecting that book.

While everyone should read and try to understand the Quran solo, not every-
body is prepared to comprehend it`s multi-layered message. Just like you don`t
become a surgeon by reading one medical textbook. There are folks out there
who have spent lifetimes trying to better understand this one book. One can
use their broad knowledge-base and expertise to one`s benefit, eg: Maudodi.

There is a difference between plain reverance and worship. I don`t think there
was a Muslim out there, even jahil farmhands, who didn`t know the difference.

But I like the overall tone of the author, as he tackled this most sensitive of
subjects and congratulate him on turning over a new leaf.