Benazir Bhutto & Feminist Islam??? Quran reinterpreted for present time???
Been reading every book about Islam that I can...even ones affecting the politics of Islam....and about Islam's place in the world. Been reading benazir bhutto's book Renconcilation: Islam, Democracy & the West...love it...(the Israel Lobby is a great read as well).
But it as well as My Gitmo Diary (about the Guantanamo Detainees and is awesome) has all kind of stuff like women are equal...the hijab and all repression of women is about cultural interpretations of the Quran rather than the Quran itself?? which I am sure its wrong...
Then interpretation of the Quran for each time its in??? Would that corrupt it??? Should we reinterpret it for modern time or no???
Then there were 170,000 prophets where did I miss that in the Quran???
Asalaam Alaykum
The Quran can NEVER be altered. And, the Interpretations also can NEVER "modernize". We live by the Quran, the Quran does not "adjust" to our lives. One of the main basics of Islam is to follow it exactly as our beloved Prophet (pbuh) introduced it to his orignal followers.
Any type of alteration for "our time" is Bidah, made up, and I'm pretty sure completely haram.
No one knows the exact amount of prophets. We know the ones specifically mentioned in the Quran, ending with Our Prophet Mohammed (pbuh). But, there were many more that were not mentioned specifically.
Our more knowledgable sisters can go into better detail, inshaAllah. May Allah guide us all in the right way, Ameen
Masalaama
The Qur'an itself should not be reinterpreted for "the current times" ever. The parts of Islam and the Qur'an and Hadeeth that needs reinterpretaiton is only in regards to things that were not present at its inception. For example, when the Automobile came it was necessary to revaluate things from ancient texts to come to religious consensus on how the automobile should be viewed in Islam. Similarly with planes and spaceships and computers and other technologies. For example, this one is not really an issue at this point yet it's already being addressed. What happenes if we colonize the moon or another planet in our system. What direction do we pray? What times do we pray, especially since many of the other planets in our system have long periods of light and long periods of dark making prayer according to the suns position very difficult. Yet scholars have already started to talk about the issue and reinterpret Islam to determine what should be done in such cases. This is the kind of thing that needs to be examined in terms of modern times not things like Hijab which has been long established to mean covering a woman so that at minimum she is showing nothing but her hands (at least what's covered by a 3/4 sleeve or longer) and face. Those are considered necessary things. Some interpret it as being far more strict saying only the eyes may be seen or not even the eyes. Those who try to reinterpret the Qur'an for "modern times" are being led away from Islam. The Qur'an is meant to be a quide for all people of all times just as it is.
Group Admin
as salamu alaikum,
This is exactly why scholars advise against wasting time reading these types of books. They mix truths with faslehood and they introduce new ideologies. And lead you to nothing but misguidance. In essence filling your brain and heart with useless material but worse than that... dangerous information that can take you out of the fold of islam.
I didn't understand the importance of sticking to authentic scholars, books and lectures... i thought it was a good thing to have a wordly view.. however the more itt thought i was learning the farther way i was from the truth.
Now i'm careful not to read those types of things.. instead i rather devote my time to The Noble Qurand and those people who stress the importance of sticking to the two most important and complete things left to us.... the quran and the sunnah of the prophet.*peace be upon him
to reinterpret ahadith??? for what? so that i can fit modern time? that would be akin to what Allah has told us about in the Quran about others hiding information and changing information ... in essence corrupting the religion.
knowelege is not necessarily good...when it takes you away from good knowledge.
Remember that there will always be ONE group calling to the truth..which means there will be Many groups calling to faslehood..
Let us guard ourselves and our families from the fire.
170,000..prophets.. hmmmmmmmm i know the Quran has told us of 25-26 at the most... so im not sure what they hec they are talking about. LOL..
Group Admin
The Prophet (peace be upon him) was asked about the number of prophets and messengers. He replied that there were 124,000 prophets among whom 315 were messengers." (Ahmad)
Some scholars say the above hadith is weak, while some say it is not. Imam Anwar Al-walaki uses it in his narration of the lives of the Prophets too.
In Ibn Kathir, story of the Prophets, Prophet Idrees- alayhee salaam is reported to have been given 50 books.
Just because 25 are named in the Quran does NOT mean there were only 25.
The Quran is as it always was as it always will be. That is the promise of Allah. It is only in Arabic and any interpretations made from it are just that 'interpretations' which can be correct or misleading.
Allah Knows Best.
The best way to interpret the Qur'an is to read the message in a language you can understand. I read the English version until I learn Arabic, insha'Allah. I like the Yusuf Ali interpretation with the explanations. I'm sorry for all these people who want to take the message of Islam and twist it to suit their agendas. The Western book publishers reward their efforts to water down Islam by publishing their books that call for reform and the Westernization of Islam. They want to make Islam into something it's not. I remember reading Asra Nomani's books and enjoying them. She's a great writer but not an authority on Islam. These people just have opinions and conjecture. The Qur'an however is untouchable. It is the perfection of our religion.
Group Admin
Quoting LivingIslam:
The best way to interpret the Qur'an is to read the message in a language you can understand. I read the English version until I learn Arabic, insha'Allah. I like the Yusuf Ali interpretation with the explanations. I'm sorry for all these people who want to take the message of Islam and twist it to suit their agendas. The Western book publishers reward their efforts to water down Islam by publishing their books that call for reform and the Westernization of Islam. They want to make Islam into something it's not. I remember reading Asra Nomani's books and enjoying them. She's a great writer but not an authority on Islam. These people just have opinions and conjecture. The Qur'an however is untouchable. It is the perfection of our religion.
im no fan of asra nomani- did u see her in the doha debates? she does not use Islamic knowledge to explain what Islam stands for- she uses her personal stance and calls it Islam. she is best at cherry-picking, sugar-coating and is against the idea of 'submitting' one's will claiming that Islam needs to be reformed.
Islam is what it is, and the Muslims are who need to reform, not Islam. i advise all muslims, particularly new muslims who are still learning about our faith not to learn it from her while i hope that Allah will guide her and she will use her outspoken and reporting skills for the sake of Allah in spreading the correct teachings of Islam and not her personal whims.
That's it exactly. One of my goals is to insha'Allah attend SunniPath.com or Al Maghrib. I would love to be able to write and glorify the teachings of the Qur'an. It's very unfortunate that we have individuals making those who are trying to follow Islam correctly look as if they are doing something out of bounds.
Quoting muhajjirah:
Quoting LivingIslam:
The best way to interpret the Qur'an is to read the message in a language you can understand. I read the English version until I learn Arabic, insha'Allah. I like the Yusuf Ali interpretation with the explanations. I'm sorry for all these people who want to take the message of Islam and twist it to suit their agendas. The Western book publishers reward their efforts to water down Islam by publishing their books that call for reform and the Westernization of Islam. They want to make Islam into something it's not. I remember reading Asra Nomani's books and enjoying them. She's a great writer but not an authority on Islam. These people just have opinions and conjecture. The Qur'an however is untouchable. It is the perfection of our religion.
im no fan of asra nomani- did u see her in the doha debates? she does not use Islamic knowledge to explain what Islam stands for- she uses her personal stance and calls it Islam. she is best at cherry-picking, sugar-coating and is against the idea of 'submitting' one's will claiming that Islam needs to be reformed.
Islam is what it is, and the Muslims are who need to reform, not Islam. i advise all muslims, particularly new muslims who are still learning about our faith not to learn it from her while i hope that Allah will guide her and she will use her outspoken and reporting skills for the sake of Allah in spreading the correct teachings of Islam and not her personal whims.
I read this book because I was interested in how Islam is compatible with democracy which she clearly makes the case for the other stuff was confusing...it is still a great read. Prophet Muhammed himself practiced to some extent in democracy and she cites examples that you can look up.
Group Admin
Quoting DearbornMomof4:I read this book because I was interested in how Islam is compatible with democracy which she clearly makes the case for the other stuff was confusing...it is still a great read. Prophet Muhammed himself practiced to some extent in democracy and she cites examples that you can look up.
i have to disagree with her... the author she can compare it to Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) however, His democracy is based on God's law not on his own whims and desires. He did not speak of his own accord. She however was calling to westernized democracy. One of the things that was clear to me was that she was trying to become a leader to a muslim country and bring it closer to what westerners do in thier political system. She also broke one of the commandents of our Prophet which states that women should not be leaders. She barely wore hijab. She wore make up and tweezed her eyebrows..small matters to some but to those who struggle to adhere to this big matters, (from an outside appearance she just fell short as a role model). anyone can be educated in academia and wordly affairs but if the islam is incorrect..they are doomed and we are doomed if we listen and obey them. Yes she was for all democratic views..and she may have seen some comparison to the moderate ways of our Prophet peace be upon him but she was far far far from the truth. In my opinion.
Just like i don't like books like Don't be sad because i can't understand why a person would use philosophers from the west and others to complete a book on islamic values. Our prophet peace be upon him left us two things... The Quran and the Sunnah and with that he left us a complete way of life.. Western Philosophers can't even begin to add anything nor fix anything nor explain it. they can have some very interesting concepts and even have some wisdom but ... the mere fact that Allah has not guided them... says something to me and it takes away from valuable time of the reader from the Quran and the Sunnah and it muddles things together and mixes them up so that things are not so clearly cut as they should be Or as Islam makes them. So i don't put too much value on them or his use of them. I started to read his book but was turned off by it. I guess i also have a bias here because prior to islam, i read a lot of self help books from western thinkers and well they didnt' help. LOLOLOL.. what did help me.. in everything from depression to motherhood, wifehood and daughterhood as well as a human was the Quran and the Sunnah. eveyrthing else is just extra and not necessarily good extra even if it seems good.. again my opinion.
this is a link of her accomplishments.. Notice no mention of islamic accomplishment at all!
http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/bhu0bio-1
She may have done some good.. in bringing electricty to pakistan.. but what did she do for her poeple islamically for the Sake of Allah? will her good actions be accepted? Allah knows best... Democracy is devoid of God how can there truly be good in that for this world or the next? Don't get me wrong i do enjoy what democracy has to offer.. but i also know that it is at a cost and i am trying to get closer to Allah.. i know democracy won't get me there.
I like to see books written by Muslim women that do things such as giving reminders and reinforcing the Islamic way of life. I would rather see writers give precedence to the teachings of Qur'an and Sunnah than I would like to see them stray from the truth and possibly cause others to stray. I also think it can be an important form of daw'ah to help others understand Islam-and also women in Islam since we are so often seen as oppressed. The available literature on women's lives in Islam available in book stores is pitiful. I think we have more educating to do.
Prayers for the people of Syria... and the martyrs of Houle
- DearbornMomof4
on Nov. 17, 2009 at 4:26 PM