I started researching the history of the founder of Islam. The Koran is a good place to start. And I started there. But the Hadith and their meanings and histories are even more useful. One argument among Moslems is how seriously to take the Hadith. The Koran is considered sacred and inviable. But many modern Moslems have to struggle with Hadith? Why? Because it represents a mindset very similar to that reflected in parts of the Torah and Haftorah that recount ancient events. Mohammed lived in a time of blood-thirsty wars, disputes, and if the stories are to be accepted on their face, of a powerful, bloodthirsty and expanding religious and secular movement. The Islam portrayed in the Hadiths is one of "black and white", of dreams, of stories of revenge and conflict, betrayal and opposition. If the stories are to be believed Mohammed had 12 wives, talked to angels, and did some extraordinary things.
The stories may well be true. And I'm sure Moslems must take them seriously. Fortunately for the West and for Moslems, there is a command for them to struggle with the text. They don't have to "freeze" their minds into a 6th century mindset. They don't have to try to literally ape the stories they read in the Koran, anymore than modern Jews would be justified for labelling them as Amelykites and trying to kill them all in revenge for those who do. I'm not qualified to do this. But I implore Moslems to try.
There is room in this world for progress and love and charity. And there is a time when people have to acknowledge that conditions do change. There is no longer a moral justification for looting rivals or taking their women as one's own. And there never was a moral compulsion to follow the 'fatwah's' of sick people who claim to speak in the Prophet's name. There never was a moral justification to kill women and children in the name of the prophet or to strap explosives around one's waist to that end. Just as there is no justification for stripping prisoners of their dignity or torturing people to get information that may or may not be useful. We have a choice in this world of destroying our nest or of improving it.
for more see:
http://www.fraughtwithperil.com/blogs/holte/archives/000206.html
Chris
Posted by cholte at August 29, 2004 11:46 PM