Tuesday, January 5, 2010
la illaha il allah
sometimes when I read the Quran I think that God just wants us (mankind) to be awesome to each other and respectful to our provisions (and thankful); everything else (including but not limited to orthodoxy and orthopraxy) is just kind of getting hung up on details.
Monday, January 4, 2010
إقرآ
Been a busy week of reading, "Journey to the end of Islam" by Michael Mohammad Knight and "Desperately Seeking Paradise" by Ziauddin Sardar. My iman is great, but I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by the anti-establishment-ism of the two books when taken back to back.
Food for thought.
Read, Proclaim! Understanding, compassion - insight.
Knight's book comes in two parts, the first is a journey through Pakistan, Canada and New York; the second is Hajj. His emotional and intellectual states are reflected in his writing. The trip through Pakistan involves plenty of bhang and stopping at every possible shrine - all while filming Pakistan's first experience with home grown punk rock. This experience is contrasted with the author's experience with legalistic, sharia compliant, madrassa Islam and then, in the second book to the stoic, puritannical Islam of Saudi Arabia.
If you can handle his irreverent style and stomach that he holds nothing sacred, "Journey to the End of Islam" is a thought provoking read (if nothing else). More than that, it is a convert's commentary on what it means to be Muslim and the baggage that comes along for the ride.
If "Journey" is a description of someone who came into Islam looking for answers and finding as many problems, Sardar's "Desperately Seeking Paradise" is the story of Muslim intellectuals (not scholars) looking for real answers to the problems endured by Muslims around the globe. It takes a rather scathing razor to the struggle to find paradise (in this life and the next) and pays particularly close attention to all the wrong answers we've fallen into along the way. Granted the book was written after the "War on Terror" began but if Sardar is to be believed, he saw a danger lurking beneath the surface of the ummah he was so desperately trying to save but he didn't know what was coming.
Both authors insights are unapologetic and cut close to the bone. Outside in turned inside out. Whoever God guides...
Food for thought.
Read, Proclaim! Understanding, compassion - insight.
Knight's book comes in two parts, the first is a journey through Pakistan, Canada and New York; the second is Hajj. His emotional and intellectual states are reflected in his writing. The trip through Pakistan involves plenty of bhang and stopping at every possible shrine - all while filming Pakistan's first experience with home grown punk rock. This experience is contrasted with the author's experience with legalistic, sharia compliant, madrassa Islam and then, in the second book to the stoic, puritannical Islam of Saudi Arabia.
If you can handle his irreverent style and stomach that he holds nothing sacred, "Journey to the End of Islam" is a thought provoking read (if nothing else). More than that, it is a convert's commentary on what it means to be Muslim and the baggage that comes along for the ride.
If "Journey" is a description of someone who came into Islam looking for answers and finding as many problems, Sardar's "Desperately Seeking Paradise" is the story of Muslim intellectuals (not scholars) looking for real answers to the problems endured by Muslims around the globe. It takes a rather scathing razor to the struggle to find paradise (in this life and the next) and pays particularly close attention to all the wrong answers we've fallen into along the way. Granted the book was written after the "War on Terror" began but if Sardar is to be believed, he saw a danger lurking beneath the surface of the ummah he was so desperately trying to save but he didn't know what was coming.
Both authors insights are unapologetic and cut close to the bone. Outside in turned inside out. Whoever God guides...
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