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Islam Doesn’t Speak, Muslims Do

The fourth caliph Imam Ali faced Khariji rebels who insisted that he simply “apply” the Qur’an’s judgement without interpretation. In that situation of armed conflict, Imam Ali gathered the people and brought out a copy of the Qur’an and as he touched the book he exclaimed, “O Qur’an, speak to the people!” The people gathered around Ali, saying, “O Ali, do you mock us? It is only paper and ink and it is we [human beings] who speak on its behalf.” To this, Ali stated, “The Qur’an is written in straight lines between two covers. It does not speak by…

Reading the Qur’an – Part 2 – Interpreting and Translating

Finally, I’m getting around to writing the second part of my three part post on Reading the Qur’an. (Parts 1 and 3) The catalyst for this event was this post by Abu Dilbert (yes, that Scott Adams). Part one of the series talked about the Arabic of the Qur’an and scholarly apparatus of the Sunni community that developed to deal with interpreting the word of God. The idea that God’s word is not necessarily clear to humans should come as no surprise, and when you introduce translations, the problem is further compounded. Most Muslims view any translation as actually an…

‘Many Americans Love Rumi…But They Prefer He Not Be Muslim’

Interview: ‘Many Americans Love Rumi…But They Prefer He Not Be Muslim’ – Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty © 2010. Many Americans love Rumi for his ecstatic spirituality about divine love, but they prefer that he not be a Muslim, or at least no more than minimally. Therefore, most Rumi books are marketed to satisfy the wish for maximum mysticism and minimal Islam. Americans have little interest or sympathy for political Islam, but by reading even the most popularized Rumi books, Americans are learning about many traditional Muslim values and wisdom teachings. h/t Bibi