sah@cs.brown.edu (Saadia Husain) (07/30/90)
In article <1443@ntmtv.UUCP>, meckler@ntmtv.UUCP (Meckler) writes: |>Hmm...suppose I use reason and logic to arrive at a God who behaves |>differently from yours. Is my religion as valid as yours? The God I |>believe in grants enlightenment to women and men equally, allows women |>to choose husbands, careers, progeny. So you say your God enlightens men and women more equally than mine? The God I believe in "grants enlightenment" to al muslimeena wal muslimaat men and women who surrender unto Allah al-mu'mineena wal mu'minaat men and women who believen al-qaaniteena wal qaanitaat men and women who obey as-saadiqeena was-saadiqaat men and women who speak the truth as-saabireena was-saabiraat men and women who persevere al-khaashi'eena wal-khaashi'aat men and women who are humble al-mutasaddiqeena wal-mutasaddiqaat men and women who give alms as-saa'imeena was-saami'aat men and women who fast ... "Allah has prepared for them forgiveness and a vast reward" [Surah 33, verse 35] Doesn't this require exactly the same behavior from men and women? Each quality is given in masculine and feminine form. There is nothing that says that "Men get reward if they do XYZ, but women ...well... that's another matter." *********************************************************************** Does your God allow women to choose husbands or men to choose wives by experimenting with several choices before getting married? If so, then my God is definitely not the one you believe in. My God allowes women and men to choose a spouse based on the virtues of that person, not based on physical lust. There is absolutely nothing in Islam that prohibits a woman from having a career. If a women chooses not to have one, that is her decision, perhaps with input from her husband. But isn't that the case here too? Aren't there plenty of men who want their wife to stay home and take care of the kids? This phenomenon has no correlation to religion. If a certain percentage of Muslim women in Pakistan are choosing not to have a career, then I bet an equal percentage of Hindu women in India or Jewish women in Israel are also choosing not to work outside the house. As for choosing progeny, do you mean your God lets you choose who you want as your kids? ... Let's see: I'll take that funny-looking one with the green eyes :-) |>Of course, I would never follow |>anything blindly. Since reason and logic were used to find God, |>reason and logic will scrutinize all aspects of the given religion. |> My God expects this of those striving for enlightenment. Yours |> apparently approves of ignorance. If "striving for enlightenment" means creating one's own interpretation of God's commandments, then you are correct that my God does not allow such freedom. "And it becometh not a believing man or a believing woman, when Allah and His messenger have decided an affair (for them) that they should (after that) claim any say in their affair...." [Surah 33, verse 36] This does not say that a Muslim must accept the interpretations of other Muslims. The leader of a nation may not make up rules, say "I am the most enlightened in this country" and then impose them on the people, claiming his/her interpretation to be Islam. If on the other hand, enlightenment is gained from studying the message of God and basing ones reasoning on some Holy Book, be it the Bible, Torah, or Quran, then you have no basis for your statement that my God "apparently approves of ignorance." How many of those "striving for enlightenment" in the way you describe (i.e use reason and logic to arrive at a God) actually bother to regularly read and learn the words of God? At least in Islam, people are encouraged to "enlighten" themselves by doing so. None of the non-Muslims I know recite passages from their Holy Book at times of hardship, at times of happiness, and just whenever they feel like it. Why not take the definition of God as given by God Himself, rather than trying to arrive at it yourself? |>Deborah ************************************************************************ Saadia Husain Brown University sah@cs.brown.edu Box 1910 Providence, RI 02912 ************************************************************************