Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Message for Friday - Misinterpretation can cause extremism

أخوف ما أخاف على أمتي رجل يتأول القرءان يضعه في غير موضعه

The Prophet Muhammad (SAAS) said, "What I fear most for my nation is a man who mis-explains the Qur’an and takes it out of context. "

One of the reasons why people of religion go into extremes is due to misinterpretation of scripture. Literalists go to the far right extreme, and quasi-gnostics go to the extreme left.

The literalists read scripture without factoring in the time period in which verses were revealed, etymological roots of words, connections one verse with other verses and the spirit or the intended outcomes that the verses seek to manifest in the lives of human beings in society. Hence, the literalists apply the verses without deep comprehension in which they pervert the spirit of the verses, doing harm to themselves and possibly others.

The quasi-gnostics, on the other hand, read scripture as mainly symbolism, skipping outer applications. Thus, the quasi-gnostics ignore many prescribed rituals and duties that instill meaning and discipline while viewing interaction in the social or material world as an exercise in futilty for reaching G'd.

Prophet Muhammad said that his community is to be "balanced" - عدولا - in all aspects of life, not being too harsh and rigid yet not being aloof of interacting with society.

And surely G'd knows best.
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4 comments:

topfunder said...

Mr. Walid

Let me educate you on something. You recently priased Ellison for swearing in on the the muslim book koran. You also said it showed the wisdom of the founding fathers that they drew upon Muslim writings.

You obviously did not take the time to check your history. Jefferson read the koran to understand his enemy which was the muslim pirates that were a plauge of violence and sin on the seas of Tripoli. He wanted to see what he was dealing with first hand. Its called knowing your enemy. It had nothing to do with gleaning anything valuable from the Koran.

This country was founded on Christian principals. Sadly we are seeing that falling apart. Sin has caused this nation to drift from its roots and will cause us to fall.

I suggest that you do your homework before you make false statements in public about issues you clearly know nothing about.

I for one fear for this country and its future. Islam teaches hatred of jews and Christians and you cant deny it.

I would hope that you will correct your false statements in public.

11:44 PM
Dawud Walid - Contact at imam@dawudwalid.com said...

Let us revist some history:

1) Thomas Jefferson, by all accounts, was neither Jew or Christian.

2)The first country to recognize the United States after the revolution was the Muslim country called Morrocco.

3) The principles and civilizations that this country borrowed from to form the Bill of Rights are reflected on the ceiling in the center of the Library of Congress. Islam is the only religion up there. Similiary, a statue depicting Prophet Muhammad is in the main chamber of the Supreme Court.

Go to Washington DC and see for yourself.

As far as the roots of this nation, have you forgotten also that this nation's economic strength was built upon the backs of African slaves, many of them from Muslim tribes such as the Akan, Hausa and Mandigka? This is Black History Month. Do some research on this topic.

9:57 AM
Unknown said...

A A Br. Dawud,

Thank you for your work in education of Islam/Muslims for your readers on this blog.

Please relay the source of:

The Prophet Muhammad (SAAS) said, "What I fear most for my nation is a man who mis-explains the Qur’an and takes it out of context. "

JAK

W A,
IAM (Irish/American Muslim)

2:02 PM
Dawud Walid - Contact at imam@dawudwalid.com said...

The saying of the Prophet (SAAS) is related by Al-Bukhari on the authority of Ibn `Umar.

8:45 AM

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