Re: That sex stuff again
[email protected] Fri, 19 Mar 2004 01:45:39 EST
| Newsgroups | gmane.culture.religion.muslim.progressive |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
--part1_24.517dacc1.2d8bf113_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I am no expert in Hadith or Quranic interpritation-quite the opposite as a matter of fact. But it seems to me from a novice's point of view that some of the statements in the Quran were revealed within a certain cultural context addressing certain issues. Slavery was common all over the world in which Mohammad lived-as was poligamy in his & other societies. It seems to me that it would be perfectly natural for the Quran to deal w/ the ethics of marriage in a poligimous context as well as slavery. I do not personally intend on gaining a second wife or owning a slave but I come from a cultural context as well. If Allah speaks to us through Prophets in sacred scripture they (the Prophets & the revealed scriptures) are bound to reflect a time & place. I believe that this context has to be kept in mind to avoid anachronistic interpritations or misinterpritations. I was stumbled across the Quran & Islam as a middle aged white male liberal. During the last 2 years the Quran & Islam has helped me deal w/ the illness & death of my father & the challenges of working w/ persons w/ HIV as a Social Worker. What I like about the Quran is that it deals w/ so many practical, human, & messy issues; issues such as slavery, war, poligamy, other faiths, etc. As a married man dealing w/ issues of daily ethics & compromise I have found that the Quran oddly speaks to that condition. As for statements in the Quran or Hadiths that bother my own personal opinions or experiences this is nothing new to someone such as myself raised in a Christian tradition reading the new Testament. Personally what continues to draw me to the Quran is that it seems that it seems to be addressing me. I also love its pure monotheism. Just because something does not reflect all the details of my particular society does not mean that I cannot learn from it. I go back to the idea that each line in the Quran has 7 different meanings. It also seems to me that as I change I get different things out of it. Ultimately I still have to trust that Allah will guide me. Forgive me for the arrogance in entering such a discussion when I am so new to the subjects discussed. Thank you for your honest opinions. Progressive Muslims has helped me through a lot of tough moments in the last year. Whitaker. --part1_24.517dacc1.2d8bf113_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <HTML><FONT FACE=3Darial,helvetica><HTML><FONT SIZE=3D2 PTSIZE=3D10>I am no= expert in Hadith or Quranic interpritation-quite the opposite as a matter o= f fact. But it seems to me from a novice's point of view that some of the st= atements in the Quran were revealed within a certain cultural context addres= sing certain issues. Slavery was common all over the world in which Mohammad= lived-as was poligamy in his & other societies. It seems to me that it=20= would be perfectly natural for the Quran to deal w/ the ethics of marriage i= n a poligimous context as well as slavery. I do not personally intend on gai= ning a second wife or owning a slave but I come from a cultural context as w= ell. If Allah speaks to us through Prophets in sacred scripture they (the Pr= ophets & the revealed scriptures) are bound to reflect a time & plac= e. I believe that this context has to be kept in mind to avoid anachronistic= interpritations or misinterpritations. <BR> <BR> I was stumbled across the Quran & Islam as a middle aged white male lib= eral. During the last 2 years the Quran & Islam has helped me deal w/ th= e illness & death of my father & the challenges of working w/ person= s w/ HIV as a Social Worker. What I like about the Quran is that it deals w/= so many practical, human, & messy issues; issues such as slavery, war,=20= poligamy, other faiths, etc. As a married man dealing w/ issues of daily eth= ics & compromise I have found that the Quran oddly speaks to that condit= ion. As for statements in the Quran or Hadiths that bother my own personal o= pinions or experiences this is nothing new to someone such as myself raised=20= in a Christian tradition reading the new Testament. Personally what continue= s to draw me to the Quran is that it seems that it seems to be addressing me= . I also love its pure monotheism. Just because something does not reflect a= ll the details of my particular society does not mean that I cannot learn fr= om it. I go back to the idea that each line in the Quran has 7 different mea= nings. It also seems to me that as I change I get different things out of it= . Ultimately I still have to trust that Allah will guide me. <BR= > <BR> Forgive me for the arrogance in entering such a discussion when I am so new=20= to the subjects discussed. Thank you for your honest opinions. Progressive M= uslims has helped me through a lot of tough moments in the last year.<BR> Whitaker.</FONT></HTML> --part1_24.517dacc1.2d8bf113_boundary--