Plurality in Islam: Muslims have debated Quran, laws from the start (no leader alert!)

ROME (CNS) -- New ways of understanding the Quran, the sacred book of Islam, and applying Islamic law have been debated among Muslims almost since the beginning of Islam.

While the prophet Mohammed was alive, he was the undisputed earthly reference point.

Faithful Muslims in every part of the world hold the same basic creed and are bound by the same basic obligations.

But because Islam has neither a universally recognized central authority figure nor a hierarchy, Muslims are fairly free to choose those trends that make sense in their understanding of the faith and to reject those that appear unorthodox.

For Catholics used to taking guidance from the Vatican, dialogue with members of the diverse Muslim community can be confusing.

Who does the dialogue partner represent? If agreements are made, how can the Muslim side make sure they are implemented?

And, more broadly, who speaks for the Muslim community? What trends and developments are legitimate?

The Quran and the hadith, the sayings of the prophet Mohammed, are normative for Muslims, but different Muslim communities and the various schools of Islamic law do not always agree on which of the hadith are authentic.

For centuries the majority of Muslims looked for guidance to their ulema, educated, pious elders trained in the Quran, the hadith and Islamic law.

But with increased literacy, a higher general level of education and greater ease in communications, more and more Muslims are deciding they can judge for themselves.

"There still exist groups of persons specialized in Islam, but nothing makes following their interpretations compulsory," said Halis Albayrak, a Quran scholar at the University of Ankara, Turkey, who was a visiting professor at Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University in November.

"Fundamentalism is a modern problem because printing, education and the mass media facilitate it," Albayrak said. "Everyone has access to information on religion with just one click."

"This is a problem," he said. "I believe religions need professionals, specialists, although not necessarily a hierarchy."

Fundamentalism is not the only trend in Islam being critiqued by Muslims; the work of Muslim scholars attempting to apply the principles of their faith to modern questions in multicultural societies also gives rise to lively debate and even condemnation by those who see the attempts as an acceptance of secularism.

"Modern Muslim thinkers have been trying to reinterpret the Quran in the face of modernity and the values it proposes," trying to demonstrate how Islam can promote social justice, gender equality and separation between the state and religion, Albayrak said.

"But some ulema do not accept this position," he said. "It is the reality of plurality in Islam."

Jesuit Father Thomas Michel, secretary for interreligious dialogue for his order and former head of the Muslim section at the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, said Catholics should not be surprised by the diversity within Islam.

Diversity exists within Catholicism as well, he said. For example, while holding the same creed and being united under the pope, Catholics belonging to the Latin, Byzantine and Maronite rites have obvious differences in their liturgy, spirituality and even laws such as mandatory celibacy for clergy.

"Islam, like Christianity, is a big net holding all sorts of people together," he said.

And the rise of either fundamentalism or liberalization usually is a response to the pressures facing the community as it attempts to live faithfully in a changing world, the Jesuit said.

"To the extent that any community feels threatened, its members will circle the wagons, discourage dissenting voices and simplify in order to unify," he said.

"To the extent that Muslims feel threatened by the West with its military might, economy and cultural products and to the extent they feel everybody is trying to tell them they must change and be more like the West, the reaction always will be to circle the wagons," Father Michel said.

For the Jesuit, the best way to learn about the differences within the Muslim community and to promote dialogue with representatives of the various trends is to actually meet and listen to Muslims.

"When you meet people, you find out they are not like what you have read. The more Muslims you meet, the more you discover that, like Catholics, there is a strong basic faith they do not want to change. But you also see they struggle to find ways to live their faith in the modern world," he said.

Albayrak said, "Every religion must do this, like the Catholics did with the Second Vatican Council. But the problem is that we Muslims do not have a central authority" for convoking such a council.

While Muslims and their scholars continue to debate the best way to live their faith, Albayrak said their relationship with Catholics should be based on cooperating to help others.

"The Quran says members of different religions should 'vie with one another in doing good works.' That is the main aim of all religions, especially the monotheistic faiths," he said.

A German scholar of ancient languages takes a new look at the sacred book of Islam. He maintains that it was created by Syro-Aramaic speaking Christians, in order to evangelize the Arabs.
But that Syro-Aramaic was also the root of the Koran, and of the Koran of a primitive Christian system, is a more specialized notion, an almost clandestine one. And it´s more than a little dangerous. The author of the most important book on the subject - a German professor of ancient Semitic and Arabic languages - preferred, out of prudence, to write under the pseudonym of Christoph Luxenberg. A few years ago, one of his colleagues at the University of Nablus in Palestine, Suliman Bashear, was thrown out of the window by his scandalized Muslim students.

The Virgins and the Grapes: the Christian Origins of the Koran

Anyone who has undertaken an intensive study of foreign languages can attest to the 'misinterpretations' that creep into a language from the various dialects associated with the primary language. Imagine how these dialects flourished amongst Bedouins that roamed the desserts.

The modernists who are so avid to discredit the authticity of the Gospel ignore the fact that almost everything we know about Mohammed is from Muslim sources. In other words, if they tried to look for the "histoical Mohammed," they probably would find nothing.

A German scholar of ancient languages takes a new look at the sacred book of Islam. He maintains that it was created by Syro-Aramaic speaking Christians, in order to evangelize the Arabs.

Hmmm. An interesting thesis. Thanks for the link!

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.