This article is a response
to Lysium it was posted in The
Society For Islamic Humanists message #1621
By One Thirsty Fish
Peace!
Lysium wrote:
“If a Muslim is caught stealing, nobody can blame Islam
for his acts. But when women are treated second class
citizens I don’t blame Muslims but I blame Islam. If the
women are prevented from interacting with other members of
society I blame Islam for it. If a Muslim discriminates a
non-Muslim on the basis of his religion, I blame Islam for
it. (Of course I am assuming that you consider these
things as evil). If any Islamic country try to rule the
country on the basis of religious laws, I blame Islam for
this. Because all these teachings are as per Quran.”
You seem to be contradicting yourself here. You start by
declaring that, in the case of the thief, the faith is
independent of the practitioner. Then, you immediately
declare the opposite by stating not only that Islam is to
be blamed for discrimination against women and non-muslims,
but also that these teachings are to be found in the
Qur’an. In your first example, the trespass is caused by
one individual (thief). In the others, we are talking
about trespasses that are socially widespread (sexism,
intolerance). However, in both cases the perpetrators are
humans, and in both cases the ‘reason’ for the crime
is a faulty interpretation of a religion. Furthermore,
your distinction between the two cases is quite arbitrary:
you give no persuasive argument as to why we should hold
humans responsible in one case but Islam in the other.
Your second claim is that these teachings stem from the
Qur’an. There again you are misinformed. The Qur’an is
the only scripture that gives rights to women, and that
distinguishes between humans not by their gender, but by
their moral uprightness. The Qur’an also enjoins Muslims
to say to non-Muslims: To you your religion, to me mine.
You will hardly find a more tolerant statement in other
scriptures. Why must we hold the Qur’an accountable for
the thick-headedness of humans?
Lysium also wrote:
“My aim is to show that Quran is not God’s word. It is
a product of specific historical and socioeconomic
condition like all the scriptures of the world. All the
teachings can not be applicable to all times and
places.”
Whether you believe the Qur’an is the word of God or not
is your business. However, I would like to argue that it
is not divine discourse that is constrained by
‘socioeconomic conditions.’ It is the INTERPRETATION
of that discourse that is. The interesting thing is that
the Qur’an seems to be aware of this, and therefore
advises us to use our reasoning to interpret the signs of
God (there is no compulsion in religion, right? We must
come to it through reasoning and mystical experience). The
Qur’an never assumes that its message should endure
through the ages without having to be reinterpreted. It is
our failure as humans to reinterpret the Qur’an that is
to blame for whatever injustices are committed in the name
of Islam. It is of course EASIER to blame Islam as a whole
and wash our hands off from any responsibility to oppose
incorrect interpretations, even if they are socially
widespread.
Allah knows best.
Response to this message
Lysium
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