Thursday, June 17, 2010

Understanding Islamic Culture -1

Today Muslim world is deeply divided along the lines of separation between passionate liberalism and firm conservatism. Most of the Muslims do not debate with Non believers on Islam. They react and then huddle up behind flimsy and lopsided historical and national narratives about what being a Muslim is all about. That doesn't solve the problem of stereotyping of Muslims. I personally assume, Muslims as individuals capable of accepting cultural norm of others very easily and Islam as an institution going towards reform very slowly. This article is not be beginners guide for learning about Islamic cultural aspect. It is the first part of our essay that is focusing on current cultural environment in Islamic world. For beginners [History of Islam]

Arab world is the cradle of Islam and all the problems emerged in Islam can be studies better by understanding the mindset of Arab region. Arab countries are depending too much on religious books and have failed to educate a generation on rational and scientific thinking. When there is no cultural, political or social movement in a country, alternative forces emerge. That's the reason the Arab's secular renaissance has failed to take hold. Let us begin with few interviews :

1- In an exclusive interview, Tayyib Tizini, Professor of Politics and Philosophy at the University of Damascus, holds the view that the current strength of radical Islamist movements in the Arab world is the product of a lack of freedom.

2- In an exclusive interview, Tariq Ali, author of "The Clash of Fundamentalisms" and renowned critical intellectual, talks about Islam and the West and about reforms in the Islamic world.

3- The Arab world is marked by polarisation: between the elites and the masses, between town and country, between rich and poor. Development will not be possible as long as this polarisation exists. As the Lebanese writer Karam al-Helou notes, this blockade of progress threatens to destroy the Arab world from inside.

4- In a January 2008 interview with the London daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, Georges Tarabishi, a prominent liberal Syrian intellectual living in France, spoke about democracy in the Arab world, the fundamentalist challenge, and secularism. He argued that just as secularism emerged in Europe as a remedy to Protestant-Catholic sectarianism, so it is needed in the Arab world to overcome sectarian divisions and pave the way for a democratic future.

5- Are Sharia Laws and Human Rights Compatible? In their correspondence, Emran Qureshi (journalist and expert for Islam and human rights) and Heba Raouf Ezzat (lecturer for political science and womens' rights activist) discuss the role of the sharia in Islamic countries and in how far sharia laws are compatible with human rights.

10 comments:

  1. Very interesting... I read the last one first.

    "Instead one should ask the question: Why has Sharia become the marker of the Muslim state? Thus Islam as envisioned by Islamist intellectuals is simply a penal code, and an Islamic State, a penal colony, which enforces the "pure" Islam. This is an extraordinary failure on the part of modern Muslim thinkers."

    Read the entire correspondence between Emran and Heba, I agree with Emran. Thanks for the link Yayaver! Let me take a look at the rest of the links too...

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  2. Indianhomemaker, you are much welcome here. These readings helped me to understand Islam better than arguing with blindly defender of Islam. When same book is quoted again in both ways to inflect war on non-belivers (infidels) and proving Islam as religion of peace, something is wrong with the book only. Don't defend what is written on face for intellectual analysis. This mad race of purity, rush for converting other religious people into them and not accepting diversity is also leading to the fall of Islam.

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  3. I just skimmed through this blog... I believe you may also like to keep an eye on this: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/

    Btw, interesting collection of articles. I will share my views when i read all the four parts fully (very busy now a days).

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  4. Rahman, you are welcome to read all about Islam as I am trying to understand through these articles. I will wait for your views for a lively discussion.

    You had given a very good link for the study and have read one article from it. It was in detail, full of facts and interesting. Thanks for the giving me the web-link.

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