لماذا تم الغاء الأقسام الأجنبية
Ayoon wa Azan (Islam and the West -Part 3)
Jihad el-Khazen Al-Hayat - 21/04/08//
Every religion has traditions of tolerance and prejudice. I followed the efforts of Christian, Jewish and Muslim experts who met in Los Angeles to add context to passages that have been perceived as hostile toward other religions (Los Angeles Times, 2 October 2007).
The Koran says: "In it are verses basic or fundamental (of established meaning); they are the foundation of the Book: others are not of well-established meaning. But those in whose hearts is perversity follow the part thereof that is not of well-established meaning … (Surah 3, Al Imran, verse 7).
The fourth Orthodox Caliph Ali said that the Koran carries many interpretations. It is unfortunate that in the case of verses of no well-established meaning, the most restrictive, or narrow, interpretation is almost always adopted.
I was speaking to a member of the World Economic Forum's C-100 initiative on promoting dialogue between Islam and the West about the existence of more than one meaning for a single word. He said that was the case in all religions, and told me a Jewish joke:
Abe went to see his rabbi. "Rabbi," he said, "I would be grateful if you could explain the Talmud to me."
"Very well, Abe," said the rabbi. "First, I need to ask you a simple question. If two men climb inside a chimney and one comes out dirty and the other comes out clean, which one washes himself?"
"The dirty one," replied Abe.
"No, Abe. They look at each other. The dirty man thinks he is clean but the clean man thinks he is dirty and washes."
"Now another question," said the rabbi. "If two men climb inside a chimney and one comes out dirty and the other comes out clean, which one washes himself?"
Abe smiled, "You just told me that one, Rabbi. The clean man, because he thinks he is dirty."
"No, Abe," said the rabbi. "They each look at themselves. The clean man knows he doesn't have to wash and the dirty man washes himself."
"Now one final question," said the rabbi. "If two men climb inside a chimney and one comes out dirty and the other one comes out clean, which one washes himself?"
This time Abe frowned, "I don't know, Rabbi. It could be either one, depending on your point of view."
"No, Abe," said the rabbi. "If two men climb inside a chimney, how could either of them come out clean? They are obviously both dirty and so they both wash."
Abe was now thoroughly confused, "Rabbi, you asked me exactly the same question three times, yet you gave me three different answers. Are you playing games with me?"
"No, Abe, I would never joke with you. This is Talmud."
When I was at Georgetown University, my friend and professor Hisham Sharabi asked me to write a paper showing that Islam gave women their rights. I tried, but found in the end that women were not made equal to men in the Koran. There is the well-known verse, "Men are protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has given the one more (strength) than the other…" (Surah 4, Al Nisa, verse 34)
There are some verses that clearly show men are superior, while others make it appear as if there is equality between the sexes:
· "And women shall have rights similar to the rights against them, according to what is equitable; but men have a degree (of advantage) over them." (Surah 2, Al Baqarah, verse 228)
· "Never will I suffer to be lost the work of any of you, be he a male or female…"
· " And in nowise covet those things in which Allah hath bestowed His gifts more freely on some of you than others: to men is allotted what they earn, and to women what they earn ..." (Surah 4, Al Nisa, verse 32)
· "The believers, men and women, are protectors, on of another…" (Surah 9, Al Tawbah, verse 71).
· "…He that works a righteous deed - weather man or woman - and is a believer - such will enter The Garden (of bliss)…" (Surah 40, Ghafir, verse 40).
Islam did not make women equal to men. That paper in Georgetown produced an unexpected result, something new to me and to Professor Sharabi at least.
In the New Testament, the role of the Virgin Mary is very limited. After delivering Jesus, she all but disappears. As she was married to Joseph, the Gospel according to Mark tells us that she gave Jesus half brothers: "Is not this the carpenter, son of Mary, the brother of James and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?" (6:3)
Mathew simply refers to "Jesus and his brothers." In the Koran, Mary has a whole sura, or chapter, named after her, and she is mentioned in other suras, by name or as in Issa (Jesus) and his mother. The Koran has her speaking to Archangel Gabriel who in Islamic traditions speaks only to prophets. As a result, Andalusian ulema, like Ibn Hazm, considered her a prophet. (To be continued)
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