http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-33563558This article caught my eye on the BBC this morning.
Speaking in Abu Dhabi, American scholar Sheikh Hamza Yusuf urged a return to the core tenet of mercy in Islam, describing the religion as a house that had been neglected and was in need of renovation.
"The water taps aren't working, the plumbing's not working. The house is in disarray," he told the Associated Press.
"You don't destroy it, you don't set it aside. You renovate it."
He said Muslims should not oppose even strong reforms, nor feel that everything needed to be changed.
"Because of the urgency of the situation, some people are waking up... and thinking we better do something," he said.
I’d be curious to know just how far these scholars (see, I resisted the urge to use quotation marks there) would be willing to go with their reforms. I wonder what parts they feel are in most need of improvement and what parts are still worth salvaging. Will they look at root causes and tackle real issues, or skirt around them with sophistry and double-speak?
It’s interesting that Hamza advocates a return to the “core tenet” of mercy. Mercy still implies superiority. Mercy still implies power. Mercy still implies that I am right and you are wrong. Mercy implies that you are deserving of something far worse, but because I am so magnanimous, I’m willing to let you off the hook.
Freedom and acceptance are quite different things, though. Freedom would mean that people are allowed to think for themselves and reach their own conclusions. Acceptance would mean that we allow those new ideas to exist as part of healthy debate in society. I wonder if Hamza would be OK with that.
It would be tough, I assume. Where would these guys draw the line? Could we have Muslims who believe in human evolution? Could we have LGBT Muslims? Could we have female imams? Could we have Muslims who questions the existence of God? Could we have Muslims who don’t believe the Qur’an is perfect? Could we have Muslims who don’t believe Muhammad was perfect? Could we have Muslims who don’t believe in heaven or hell? Could we have Muslims who believe that there is
nothing wrong with being a moral Sikh or Jew or Atheist? Would they be willing to say to the world, “Hey guys, this Islam stuff works for us. If it doesn’t work for you, then that is totally cool. To you be your way and to me be mine.”
Or would these guys still have to draw the line in the sand somewhere and say “No, we’re not tolerating
you! We need to change
you!”?
Topic: Islam: The Fixer Upper