On Ijtihad
I recently finished reading Irshad Manji's The Trouble with Islam Today, and I definitely recommend this book to every person on earth. It can not only be a guide to Muslims seeking another way outside the "desert Islam" of al-Wahhab and Qutb, it can be a guide to anyone who needs a little refresher in the Enlightenment.
Individual exploration, expression and discovery (Itjihad in Arabic) made Western Civilization. They made the "golden age" of Islam in the early centuries after the Prophet. Failure to continue on this path will doom civilization and the Dark Ages will return.
I commend Ms. Manji for the fortitude it must have taken to publish this book, and in particular to translate it into Arabic for readers in countries that ban such thought provoking works.
Individual exploration, expression and discovery (Itjihad in Arabic) made Western Civilization. They made the "golden age" of Islam in the early centuries after the Prophet. Failure to continue on this path will doom civilization and the Dark Ages will return.
I commend Ms. Manji for the fortitude it must have taken to publish this book, and in particular to translate it into Arabic for readers in countries that ban such thought provoking works.
posted by Technical Bard | 19:02
2 Comments:
The problem is, of course, that the Enlightenment missed Islam.
I've never understood how anyone could pick and choose what aspects of his religion he follows. Either you're an observant Muslim, or you're not. You can't modify Islam to suit your preferences because you're not Allah. Modifying Islam is his exclusive purview.
The Enlightenment, generally, is metaphysically inconsistent with religion.
Ira - the western enlightenment missed Islam. Islam had it's own, called ijtihad between the 7th and 11th centuries. Then the gates of ijtihad were closed for political reasons and the darkness closed in on muslims.
You obvious don't know enough about Islam is not a firm and fixed faith - because the Quran is inconsistent and unclear. And other aspects of Islam, such as sharia, are not part of the Quran anyway.
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