Author of the book “Approaching the Quran” which has been the center of a recent debate for being assigned as a reading for first year students at the University of North Carolina.
Thank you for your participation. Please join us on Wednesday Aug. 28 for our next live dialogue.
Answer
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Name
Faisal
-
Profession
Question
Thanks for the great book, i have never read it, though we can assume that its rare, because something which doesnt critisize islam much is rare in West.
My question to you is dont we have legitimate reasons to hate America? As you have read Quran, doesnt it explicitly state that the Infidels should be thrown out from the Sacred land and no PROTECTOR (orientalist reading is FRIENDS) should be taken from Infidels?
Why is US govt playing around with Muslim sensitivities and bringing the doomsday to the mainland of America?
Should Ossama Bin Laden criticized for the reaction of Muslim world towards an UNJUST ally?
Answer
A couple thoughts on your question Feisal. I personally disagree strongly with U.S. policy in the Middle East and believe the U.S. has behaved in some cases like a colonial power.
In my view, the CIA-backed overthrow of the Iranian government in 1954 was an international crime and an act of aggression, for example.
It is not for me to say how Muslims should interpret the Qur'an. Muslims have valid social, economic, and political grievances against the U.S. If you interpret these Qur'anic verses as authorizing a reaction against the U.S., the question then becomes, what is the most effective reaction and the most just reaction, that will target the true oppressor and lead to the most positive life.
I don't think that the response of Bin Laden will help Muslims. It has generated enormous anger in the U.S. against Islam and Muslims among many people who before were not against Islam. It has generated a backlash or angry reaction that has helped the Ariel Sharon party in Israel and increased the support for the Sharon government dramatically here in the U.S. Ultimately, whether or not groups like those of Bin Laden have the "right" to respond in the way they do, is not determined by me but the important question for me is what does their kind of response result in? I cannot see how it will result in anything but wars, more wars, more refugees. The people who will suffer are not the wealthy oil barons or arms manufacturers who grow rich on conflict and war, but innocent human beings, Muslims and non-Muslims.
The other question I would ask is this: what is the positive vision of society offered by Bin Laden? A revolutionary act or act of resistance needs also a positive vision. If his vision is a society like that of the Taliban, that persecuted Shi`ites, Sufis, and others, and burned Islamic libraries, and refused to allow women to learn to read and write, and destroyed monuments that the great Muslim civilizations of the past had preserved, then that is a vision of Islam that differs very strongly from any of the inspired Islamic civilizations I know from history.
Best wishes,
Michael
Name
Sandra
-
Profession
Question
Considering the controversy concerning your book, what types of arguments are being made as to why it should be assigned reading for 1st year students (or any students)?
Why is anyone against it?
Answer
The argument made for assigning it was based on the widespread ignorance in the U.S. of what the Qur'an is and how it is recited and experienced throughout the Islamic world. When most Americans pick up a "translation" (which in the view of most Muslims I know are not translations because the Qur'an is only in Arabic), they get completely lost somewhere in sura 4 or 5, and never read any further. They do not read the early Meccan Suras at the end of the written text; they do not know what the Qur'an is like when recited in Arabic (i.e. the real Qur'an); they have no conception of the rules of Tajweed; and they cannot understand at all the central idea of i`jaz al-qur'an, inimitability of the Qur'an, since the "translations" do not seem to convey the majesty and beauty of the Arabic Qur'an.
The argument against it is two fold. The "pretext" is that it violates the separation of church and state guaranteed in the U.S. constitution, by promulgating a particular religion in a public school. That is a false pretext, because the book is meant to help people understand what the Qur'an is and introduce them to what it says, but not to make religious decisions for them or tell them what religion they should practice.
The real reason for the anger is that this book, for the first time,gives Americans who do not have a strong background in Islam and who do not know Arabic, a sense of the Qur'ans power and beauty (jalal andjamal) and that makes it much harder for these anti-Islamic groups to portray the Qur'an as a book only about anger and war.
Best wishes,
Michael Sells
Name
Houda
-
Profession
Question
Where can I find more information about your book? I am always looking for books to pass along to non-Muslims (especially my own relatives) about Islam. I am surprised that I have never heard of your book.
Have there been attempts to widely market this book?
Answer
Until the recent controversy, the book was not stocked in the two major bookstore chains, Barnes and Noble and Borders. There may bemany reasons for that. But now they will stock the book, because it has become part of a public debate.
The book is used in over 70 universities now and is widely known amongcollege and university teachers. On my home page, I have a short description of it; and at the bottom of my home page I have a response to those who criticize it and also a page of links to the many articles, television and radio shows, and other information that has been generated by the debate over this issue.
See http://www.haverford.edu/relg/sells/home.html
Best wishes,
Michael Sells
Name
Imad
-
Profession
Question
I think that the title of this dialogue is quite interesting because it underlines the basic attitude of the West both historicaly and today. During the the Crusades, The West constructed the image of a muslims as barbaric, sensious infidels who where opposed to everything that is good and Christain and with this image they were able to motivate their people to take this crusade against the muslim heathens. This image seems to have stuck in the collective conciousness of Western people and still has an influnece in the way that the West views and deals with Muslims today.
Can you elaborate on how this image of muslims was constructed and how it was able to take permeate western conciouness and survive till today.
Answer
The construction of the Muslim as "the enemy" involves several areas and reasons. First, when the Cold War ended and communism was no longer an enemy, then those who control weapons industries and others found Islam as a good replacement. Second, acts by some militant Muslim groups have been used to give the impression that all Muslims are angry people with fists clenched shouted "death to the great Satan" at America. The media always portrays violence more than peace, so most Americans have seen these same militants that took hostages in Iran hundreds of times, but have never seen the majority of Iranians or other Muslims engaged in all the other aspects of human life.
Secondly, the "religious right," the politically and socially conservative Christians that used to portray Jews as evil and mean, have now switched to portraying Muslims as evil and mean. They wish to revive the old "crusade" atmosphere and are striving to do so. The attack of September 11 has given them much more support in this effort.
Certain incidents are used to portray all Muslims as evil. The most recent incident has to do with Amina Lawal, who has been sentenced to be stoned to death in Nigeria for having a baby out of wedlock. Those who wish to create hatred toward all Muslims, write about Muslims as if all Muslims were in favor of such actions and spent their time thinking about how to find women to stone to death. If she is executed, pictures of her execution or of her being led to execution will be played over and over and over and over on U.S. television for weeks, while the wide diversity and humanity of Muslims everywhere is ignored.
Finally, the actions of some Muslim leaders play right into the hands of the anti-Muslim faction. The former imam of the 96th Street mosque in New York left the country on September 12 and quoted as saying very hateful things in Egypt. When Americans see a very prestigious religious leader act in this way, then they become easily convinced that Islam as a religion has a hateful side. I think the actions by this former imam of the 96th street mosque in New York have had a devastating effect on attitudes towards Muslims and Islam in the U.S.
Best wishes,
Michael
Name
Towfique
-
Profession
student
Question
why the rulers of the present muslim countries are not in a combined mentality to face the terror from the non-muslim world?
Answer
I can only suggest some ideas, since your question is such a large one.One is the fact that many Muslim governments show so much intolerance for other Muslims. The Taliban persecuted Shi`ites (especially the Hazara Shi`ites) and Sufis. In Pakistan, gangs attack and kill Shi`ites and some Shi`ites attack back.
And intellectual vitality, which is the most powerful force in any resistance to repression, seems to be decreasing with all these attacks on Muslim scholars by other Muslims. The most recent one, in which a Pakistani was accused of apostasy and brought up on death-penalty charges, is an example. He was quoted as saying the Muhammad's parents were not-Muslim. This has been said by many Muslims throughout history. In one way, it certainly is true, its seem to me, since they died before the tanzil or sending down of the Qur'an. In another way, they may be considered Muslims. But why sentence someone to death for saying something like that? Such actions of Muslims destroying Muslims, in my view, make it very difficult to have a unified and effective response against terror or aggression.
Also, I think the methods that have been used to face the terror from the non-Muslim world are not working. The acts of Bin Laden only increase the determination of the military in the West to exert force in the Middle East and control it more, not less.
Finally, there are reports of persecution of non-Muslim countries. Most recently, it was reported that a famous Buddhist leader was hacked to death in Bangladesh. Such actions can make it very difficult for those who wish to show the human and decent side of Islam to be heard. It also makes it difficult for those who wish to protest persecution of Muslims, such as the persecution of Gujarat Muslims in India last spring.
These are just a few thoughts on the situation.
Name
Abedeen
-
Profession
Question
Are we talking of the US-EU coalition against Iraq?
Answer
Well, the title of this session is taken from a book I edited that is a refutation of the "clash of civilizations" theories of Bernard Lewis and Samuel Huntington, and similar ideas expressed by V.S. Naipaul, all of whom portray Islam as a place of anger, resentment, and intellectual stagnation, without any balance and without showing what is good within the Islamic world. Thus they create the notion of an aggressive, menacing enemy that only thinks about war and fighting, and has not other thoughts, sensitivities, or interests.
I personally believe that Saddam Hussein has committed terrible crimes against the Iraqi people, destroyed the educational system, persecuted Kurds and Shi`ites. But U.S. policy is hypocritical. The U.S. government SUPPORTED Saddam while he was fighting Iran in a senseless war that took more than a million Muslim lives, and knewat that time he was murdering tens of thousands of Kurds with poison gas chemical weapons. But then later, it wants to fight a war against Saddam because he has chemical weapons. The sanctions againstIraq have hurt millions of innocent people. It seems everyone only wishes to uses Iraqis for their own political grudges. Very few people view Iraqis as real human beings. I even found people in the Middle East, Muslims, praising Saddam as a great man, without thinking of all the people he has killed and how he has taken the most advanced society in the Middle East and helped ruin it, for his own personal gratification, and how he has not liberated onesingle person from occupation or domination.
Best wishes and in memory of the Iraqi people who have suffered such oppression from their own government and from the government of the U.S.
Michael
Name
Thom
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Profession
Question
I was curious about how the book was written and in what context. I am interested in learning more about the Qur'an. Is it an interpretation or a type of readers guide?
Answer
I wrote the book over a period of 15 years. Here is why. When
I would use translations of the Qur'an in my class, I could tell that the
students could not sense the beauty and power of the language,
and therefore they could not understand the notion of i`jaz al-qur'an,
the "inimitability of the Qur'an." But when I made transliterations in
English characters of short passages and then played those passages
recited by Qur'an reciters in Arabic, they had a completely different
understanding of the Qur'an and were able to have a taste or dhawq
of the language of the Qur'an and its way of expression.
Then I began studying all the classical literature on i`jaz al-qur'an and
especially on "sawt" or the sound quality of Arabic recitation and how
it moved people to tears. And I experienced that in the Middle East
when the Qur'an was recited in Arabic.
Finally, most Americans never get to the "early Meccan suras" because
they get confused by all the historical details in the early suras (4-10)
and give up. Since most Muslims in the societies I lived in learn the
early Meccan suras(chapters) first, memorize them most often, and recite them
most frequently, I focused on these in the book, to introduce Americans
to the central theological themes and to the way the Qur'an functions
as a sacred text in Islamic society in a very different way that the Bible
functions in Christian society.
Warm regards,
Michael
Name
mohammed jameel
- United Arab Emirates
Profession
accountant
Question
assalamualaikum
i would like to know that bank loan for constucting a house is haram or it is permitable
jazakallah
Answer
Please submit your question in tomorrows Islamic Finance Session with Dr. Monzer Kahf at 18:30 GMT.
Name
Haroon
- United States
Profession
Question
Hello again,
What sort of proactive methods do you think the Muslim community can utilize in order to counter all the anti-Islamic rhetoric that is out in the media and society in general?
We tend to be very reactionary in our approach towards these attacks, so what could we do to change that?
Answer
I think there is an important cultural element. In many cases, the people the media has on, as spokesmen for Islam, tend to appear very angry. Even though the causes they defend are just causes, their angry bearing feeds into the principle stereotype about Muslims, that they are angry all the time. When I live in the Middle East, I find Muslims have a full range of human emotions. I find humor, tenderness, hospitality, and ability to laugh and smile. But sometimes when I look at the media, I find all these qualities hard to find when Muslims are being portrayed.
I have also noticed this very severe demeanor among some imams when they are encountering other people in public. I am not sure of the reason that this "face" of Islam is being shown or represented so often, but the result is that people, when they think someone is angry, tend not to listen to the content of what he says, but to tune it out and think of the way he acts, his body language, his facial expressions.
I have worked with Muslim leaders and scholars myself to help persuade the media to show a fuller range of Muslim personality and humanity.
Well, this is only one small part of the question, but it is one that I have noted many times in watching the dynamic, especially in public appearances and with the media.
Warm regards,
Michael
Name
Abdul
- Pakistan
Profession
Student
Question
Thanx for ur apperence in this site,which i visit first time.
I have a question about Jihad. What is true shape of Jihad in Islam.What is duty of Govt. Of A islamic country?
Answer
Dear Abdul,
Jihad is a very complex concept in the Qur'an and when it should be practiced, how it should be carried out, and which kind of jihad should be used, are questions I really am not qualified to give judgments on.
The word "jihad" has now become a very unpopular word in the U.S., because it is associated with the September 11 attack which most Americans abhor.
One thing that I have noted recently, on a practical, rather than a legal level, is that the resistance to oppression carried out by Bin Laden and people like him, has been focused mainly on explosions. But history shows that some of the most effective resistance and struggles for freedom have used economic tools and solidarity. If the Middle Eastern and Central Asian countries worked together economically to create powerful economies, it would be much more effective, it think, in working for justice in places like Palestine and Kashmir.
Best wishes,
Michael
Name
Kelly
- United States
Profession
student
Question
Since the topic of this dialogue is about constructing the Muslim enemy, how do you think the demonization of the Muslim world plays into the whole "New World Order" that is spoken about.
Answer
I think the "New world order" was just a spontaneous phrase uttered by George Bush the first, to talk about a world after the Cold War.
But I think the "clash of civilization" theories of Bernard Lewis and Samuel Hungtington are being used by many people now to say that Islam is, by its very nature, contrary to "Western values" of freedom, democracy, economic success, and just treatment for women.
This is what I would call a "culture war" in which some anti-Muslim writers today (V.S. Naipaul is a good example) attempt to view the world now as a struggle between the "good" West and the "angry, violent Islam".
The problem with such theories of "clash" is this: If I think someone is my enemy, then I begin to mistrust that person and act defensively and mistrustful around him. When he sees me showing suspicion and putting up armor and defenses, he becomes mistrustful of me. In other words, the theory of "clash" can make enemies out of potential friends and become what is called a "self-fulfilling prophecy."
The worst example is that used by some angry anti-Islamic speakers in the U.S. who cite verses from Sura 4 and Sura 9 about fighting the infidels and say: "See, the God of the Qur'an commands all Muslims to kill non-Muslims." This is a very poisonous charge, because if someone tells a person that his neighbor, even though that neighbor has always been friendly and helpful and kind, is really secretly obliged to kill him, he will begin to treat that neighbor as an enemy. This charge, that the Qur'an teaches absolute jihad against all non-Muslims all the time is the kind of charge that helped persuade Christians in Bosnia to turn on their lifelong friends and neighbors and put them in concentration camps.
Muslim leaders really need to be clear in explaining that Muslims are not commanded to kill all non-Muslims and that a person's Muslim neighbor does not feel some secret Qur'anic obligation to slay him as an infidel.
Best wishes,
Michael
Name
Sharmake Ibrahim
- Canada
Profession
sales
Question
will more understand and ethical reading of the Qur'an make Americans more tolerant to the this holly books and respect muslims more? or the more the misread, the more they will bash out this civilation? and if this is the case, what do we need to do to educate more?
Thank you,
Answer
I think if Americans had a better understanding of the Qur'an, they would respect Muslims more. Now they only here about it in connection with Jihad and think the entire Qur'an is about fighting the infidel.
That is one of the reasons I wrote my book "Approaching the Qur'an: the Early Revelations" which is being attacked all over the U.S. by anti-Muslims, because it shows that the Qur'an is not just about war and fighting, and gives people as sense of the language and the various important themes and ideas in it. Most important, it helps those who do not know Arabic, to relate to and understand some Qur'anic recitations in Arabic by master reciters like Sheikh Husari.
Best wishes
M
Name
Shahid
- Pakistan
Profession
Student of Islamic Studies at Pujab Univ.-Pakistan
Question
some US scholars has written that we donot want WAR against Muslims but we want War with in Muslim???what is ur opinion over this statement.
Answer
Yes, Samuel Huntington, who advocates the "clash of civilizations" theory that says Islam is, by definition, an enemy of "Western" values, suggestions that the West "exploit the differences among Muslims." That fighting among Muslims certainly makes Islamic-majority nations weaker. I think the persecutions of different groups in Islam of other groups (Shi`ites, Sufis, Sunnis) etc. causes divisions in society. If all Muslims could respect one another, it would give those societies more success, more solidarity, and make them more able to pursue justice in places like Kashmir and the Middle East.
So unfortunately, those in the West who wish to exploit differences and see Muslims fighting Muslims don't have to work hard. The Iran-Iraq war is an example. It killed a million Muslims, helped impoverish Iran, destroyed the economy and educational system in Iraq, and did not accomplish anything. What a terrible, terrible waste!
When I go to the Middle East, I often hear Muslims calling other Muslims Kafirs. When I read the Qur'an, Allah says that Allah is the Sami`, the Basit, the Khabir, the one who knows inside the human heart and knows who is a true believer and who is not. So I am surprised at how easily people judge one another as Kafirs. This constant takfir causes, in my view, fitnah or division in many Muslim societies, makes people afraid to express ideas, and turns Muslims against Muslims.
Well, these are some thoughts on this important question.
Michael
Name
iman
- United States
Profession
Question
What new theories can you inform us about on why European Civiliztion has continually represented muslims in a Pejoritive manner. Other writers like Edward Said, Norman Danial, Maxine Rodinson and etc have tried to explain this phenomonan, but do you have something unique to contribute to previous attempts to understand these currents that run in the West.
Answer
I think I have something new to say, but it would be too long to go through it hear. I have two books that are coming out on the topic. The first is called "The New Crusades: Constructing the Muslim Enemy" which I co-edited and to which I contributed. The second is tentatively called "Jihad and Crusade: Islam and the West beyond the Clash of Civilizations" which is written entirely by myself. I hope, God willing, that these books will appear in 2003.
Name
Selima
- Mexico
Profession
Academic
Question
Thie term, "crusaders" means that the world Jihad is against the catholic church or against the west?
Answer
Great question. There are two ideologies of "clash of civilizations." One says that Islam is against the modern, secular Western state. The other says that Islam is against Christian or "Judeo-Christian" values. But really both are tied together, since many of those who see Islam as the enemy, say that the modern, secular state is itself an expression of Christian values and an outgrowth of them. But theorists say that Islam, by nature, is against democracy, freedom of expression, just treatment of women, and tolerance, which they say are all "Western" or "Christian" values.
Name
Haroon
- United States
Profession
Question
Hello Dr. Sells,
What inspired you to write a work dealing with the Qur'an and what reflections do you have after researching the topic and actually writing the final text that you came up with?
Answer
Dear Haroon,
I'm afraid I don't have time now to answer this question. In an earlier response I wrote to someone why I felt it important to write the book on the Qur'an, to allow Americans to sense what the Qur'an was like in Arabic and in Islamic life, and how it differed from the impression they get when they pick up a "translation" and try to read it from beginning to end.
All I can say is that in the introduction to Approaching the Qur'an, I set out all these issues.
Best wishes,
Michael
Name
Angie
- United States
Profession
Question
I was so excited to find that a book like your's existed. However, if I understand correctly, APPROACHING THE QUR'AN does not cover the entire Qur'an, but only the early Makkan revelations. Do you have a work that covers the entire Qur'an, or do you have another book in the works? Thank you very much.
Answer
It took many years to write Approaching the Qur'an. God willing I will write further books on other sections of the Qur'an!
