See other Editorial Articles
Title: Get Over the Quran Burning by Asra Q. Nomani
Source:
[None]
URL Source: [None]
Published: Sep 10, 2010
Author: http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-s
Post Date: 2010-09-10 11:17:52 by tom007
Keywords: None
Views: 127
Comments: 12
Get Over the Quran Burning by Asra Q. Nomani Info Asra Q Nomani Asra Q. Nomani is the author of Standing Alone: An American Woman's Struggle for the Soul of Islam. She is co-director of the Pearl Project, an investigation into the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Her activism for women's rights at her mosque in W.V. is the subject of a PBS documentary, The Mosque in Morgantown. She recently published a monograph, Milestones for a Spiritual Jihad: Toward an Islam of Grace. asra@asranomani.com X Close Asra Q Nomani * - + * * print * Twitter * Emails Enter your email address: Enter the recipients' email addresses, separated by commas: Message: Your email has been sent. Thanks for recommending The Daily Beast! X Close * Share * Enter your email address: Enter the recipients' email addresses, separated by commas: Message: Your email has been sent. Thanks for recommending The Daily Beast! X Close BS Top - Nomani Quran Burning Afghans burn an effigy of Dove World Outreach Center's pastor Terry Jones during a demonstration against the United States in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Sept. 6, 2010. (Musadeq Sadeq / AP Photo) As a Florida pastor calls off a Quran-burning bonfire on 9/11, The Daily Beast’s Asra Q. Nomani, herself a Muslim, says there are a few brutal passages in the Quran that should go up in smoke. On the plan to burn Qurans this weekend, I say to Muslims: Let's get over the symbolic insult and deal with the very real issues of literal interpretations of the Quran that are used to sanction domestic violence, terrorism, militancy, and suicide bombings in the name of Islam. Gen. David Petraeus has weighed in, saying that the planned burnings by the Rev. Terry Jones' congregation in Florida will endanger U.S. soldiers fighting in Afghanistan. But I believe that there is something that endangers Americans and American soldiers even more: certain passages that—when read literally—pit Muslims against Americans and the West. We, as Muslims, need to tear a few pages out of the Quran. I believe the Qurans are being burnt because we, as Muslims, haven't dealt sincerely and intellectually with very serious issues that certain Quranic passages raise, particularly in the West. These include verses—when literally read—that say that disobedient wives can be beaten “lightly,” that Muslims can't be friends with the Jews and the Christians, and that it's OK to kill converts from Islam. We, as Muslims, need to tear a few pages out of the Quran—symbolically, at least, by rejecting literal adherence to certain problematic verses. The Christian faith had to deal with problematic verses from the Book of Deuteronomy that sanctioned violence. Jews have had to confront rigid readings of the Old Testament that sanctioned stonings. Muslims, too, must re-interpret verses that aren't compatible with life in the 21st century. Look at one literal reading of the 34th verse of the fourth chapter of the Quran, An-Nisa, or Women. "[A]nd (as to) those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them and leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them," reads one widely accepted translation. Based on a literal reading, Saudi scholar Abdul Rahman al-Sheha concludes that when dealing with a “disobedient wife,” a Muslim man has a number of options. First, he should remind her of “the importance of following the instructions of the husband in Islam.” If that doesn't work, he can “leave the wife's bed.” Finally, he may “beat” her, though it must be without “hurting, breaking a bone, leaving blue or black marks on the body and avoiding hitting the face, at any cost.” Such appalling recommendations occur because we haven't yet universally drawn a line in the sand, as Muslims, and said that this verse may have been progressive for the seventh century when women were supposedly beaten indiscriminately, but it isn't compatible with the modern day, if read literally. Instead, we do something called the "4:34 dance," suggesting that the light beating be the result of everything from hitting a woman with noodles (yes, you read that right) to a traditional toothbrush, called a “miswak,” from the root of a plant. The kidnapping and killing of my friend and colleague Daniel Pearl in 2002 forced me to confront the link between literalist interpretations of the Quran and their role in sanctioning violence in the world. For critics of Islam, these verses are the smoking gun that proves that Islam is intrinsically violent. These are verses such as At-Tauba (“The Repentance”) 9:5, which states that Muslims should “slay the pagans wherever ye find them” or Al-Mâ'idah (“The Table Spread with Food”) 5:51, which reads, “Take not the Jews and Christians as friends.” We need to reject literal reads of the Quran and recognize that these verses were communicated during specific moments of war, and they aren't edicts for all time. We, as Muslims, must reject the notion that we read these words literally. To many, that would be an act of blasphemy. But, until we do, the literal words of the Quran will be used to rally hate against the faith. And that is why, indeed, Qurans will be burned by the small congregation of about 50 folks from the Rev. Terry Jones' Dove World Outreach Center. It's really just these particular verses that need to go up in smoke. Asra Q. Nomani is the author of Standing Alone: An American Woman's Struggle for the Soul of Islam. She is co-director of the Pearl Project, an investigation into the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Her activism for women's rights at her mosque in W.V. is the subject of a PBS documentary, The Mosque in Morgantown. She recently published a monograph, Milestones for a Spiritual Jihad: Toward an Islam of Grace. asra@asranomani.com
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: tom007 (#0)
That is a good, thoughtful article.
Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end. He (Gordon Duff) also implies that forcibly removing Obama, a Constitution-hating, on-the-down-low, crackhead Communist, is an attack on America, Mom, and apple pie. I swear these military people are worse than useless. Just look around at the condition of the country and tell me if they have fulfilled their oaths to protect the nation from all enemies foreign and domestic. you can find verses in the quran that are considered offensive to some. and you can also find such verses in the jewish talmud, the jewish torah, the christian old testament and the christian new testament even. I say 'christian old testament' because that includes a total of 40 books only 5 of which make up the jewish torah. The bulk of the christian old testament is rejected by jews and has been rejected for 2,000 years. The christian old testament is of jewish origin, but the jews have rejected it. I think the jewish talmud says that jesus should be boiled to death in a particular hot bodily fluid. it says many offensive things about non-jews. and you can find verses in the new testament even that people can get upset over.
Psalms 137:1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
You *think* it says that? Why do you think it? Have you read it for yourself? According to the research I have done the Talmud does not even mention Jesus. www.minuteswithmessiah.com/question/kkk.html 7. Gittin 57a tells of Balaam and some Jewish heretics suffering such fates. "He then went and raised Balaam by incantations. He asked him: Who is in repute in the other world? He replied: Israel. What then, he said, about joining them? He replied: Thou shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperity all thy days for ever.1 He then asked: What is your punishment? He replied: With boiling hot semen." It does not mention Jesus or Christians. The heretics mentioned were probably the Sadduccees.
Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end. He (Gordon Duff) also implies that forcibly removing Obama, a Constitution-hating, on-the-down-low, crackhead Communist, is an attack on America, Mom, and apple pie. I swear these military people are worse than useless. Just look around at the condition of the country and tell me if they have fulfilled their oaths to protect the nation from all enemies foreign and domestic. No you don't. That you don't like fags and aren't feminist are the things I LIKE about you!
“Ask any Indian nation how it preserves itself. It isn’t by letting anyone and everyone claim to be Indian. There are exceptions, but they are not the rule.” -- Eric Holder
I read on a web-site that proported to quote the talmud. and in a verse from the talmud that is what it said, that jesus should be boiled to death in hot semen. Perhaps there is deception involved. That is why I worded my statement as I did. The Jewish Talmud preaches jewish supremacy ideology. it has many verses in it that non-jews can easily be offended by. The koran has nothing on the talmud in this regard.
Psalms 137:1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
I'm beginning to wonder - 9/11 is tomorrow. Are the Pastor and the sniveling Imam setting up civil unrest? Aren't there now "protests" scheduled about the mosque crap on ground zero, on 9/11 (protests from both sides)? Won't a couple of "Sharia Law For America!" and "Down with evil Satan American Christians" set off a powder keg of violence if they show up at the WTC site, especially after this big build up the last week or two by two idiots and a drum beating press, and a "let me get my divisive words in" Presidential set of quotes? Hmmmm..... I better fill up the motorcycle and car this evening.
"The more artificial taboos and restrictions there are in the world, the more the people are impoverished.... The more that laws and regulations are given prominence, the more thieves and robbers there will be." - Lao Tzu, 6th century BC
That would seem to be obvious since it doesn't say what it has been quoted time and again as saying.
Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end. He (Gordon Duff) also implies that forcibly removing Obama, a Constitution-hating, on-the-down-low, crackhead Communist, is an attack on America, Mom, and apple pie. I swear these military people are worse than useless. Just look around at the condition of the country and tell me if they have fulfilled their oaths to protect the nation from all enemies foreign and domestic. Yes, good article. Though I thought it might be based on something else. In the USA, we're supposed to have freedom of religion, expression and speech. Those ARE the core values, and if someone wants to burn a religious artifact, defending that right ought to be considered an important American interest. But instead, we get military brass claiming it's irresponsible and "not in line with our values". The hell it isn't. It's exactly what America is supposed to stand for. The right to burn a Quran or whatever other religious symbol is what America is supposed to be defending aggressively. Well, maybe that was the old America.
It's an appeasement article not written for Muslims who wouldn't listen or do anything in it, but for non-Muslims to BS them about Islam. Muslim men know this so there won't be any backlash to it.
You could be right but it seemed like a good article to me.
Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end. He (Gordon Duff) also implies that forcibly removing Obama, a Constitution-hating, on-the-down-low, crackhead Communist, is an attack on America, Mom, and apple pie. I swear these military people are worse than useless. Just look around at the condition of the country and tell me if they have fulfilled their oaths to protect the nation from all enemies foreign and domestic. I think this is an informed comment. Red - how much of the K have you read?
"Satan / Cheney in "08" I've never really read any of the koran. but people have showed me verses from it. One verse said that they were to kill all people outside of their muslim faith.
Psalms 137:1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
Lord Acton
OsamaBinGoldstein posted on 2010-05-25 9:39:59 ET (2 images) Reply Trace
#2. To: tom007 (#0)
#3. To: Red Jones (#2)
Lord Acton
OsamaBinGoldstein posted on 2010-05-25 9:39:59 ET (2 images) Reply Trace
#4. To: tom007 (#0)
We, as Muslims, need to tear a few pages out of the Quran.
#5. To: James Deffenbach (#3)
Have you read it for yourself?
#6. To: tom007 (#0)
#7. To: Red Jones (#5)
Perhaps there is deception involved.
Lord Acton
OsamaBinGoldstein posted on 2010-05-25 9:39:59 ET (2 images) Reply Trace
#8. To: tom007 (#0)
#9. To: James Deffenbach (#1)
That is a good, thoughtful article.
#10. To: Bill Crowe (#9)
Lord Acton
OsamaBinGoldstein posted on 2010-05-25 9:39:59 ET (2 images) Reply Trace
#11. To: Red Jones (#5)
The Jewish Talmud preaches jewish supremacy ideology. it has many verses in it that non-jews can easily be offended by. The koran has nothing on the talmud in this regard.
#12. To: tom007 (#11)
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest