Post by cleefarqhuar on May 22, 2014 16:31:43 GMT
Attended a recent lecture by an English Islamic Scholar. A very interesting sketch of the great contribution Islam has made to civilisation
Chatting to him afterwards I asked him if there is something inherent within modern Islam that holds it back, because casting even a cursory look at the modern Islamic world it is extremely rare to find democratic or liberally enlightened Moslem states - indeed quite the contrary. Islam seems to impose a dull acceptance of autocracy and practices which are abhorrent to the liberal European mind
He replied that no, he could see nothing within Islam that caused such puzzling phenomenon, bur reminded me that Islam is 600 years behind Christianity (the source of the enlightenment) and that as time progresses we can expect to see more enlightened and liberal versions of Islam arising
I told the professor that I was not having that.
Yes surely the 17thC enlightenment was a product of Christianity whereby Jesus taught that all men are equal and that one should treat others as one would wish to be treated oneself - (surely the very essence of the enlightenment) but the enlightenment arose from that very intellectual curiosity that Christianity (for all its faults) stimulated. The enlightenment itself was an intellectual blossoming, a discovery of new truths that seemed at once both revolutionary and yet self-evident.
From the enlightenment concepts of democracy evolved and the relationships between man and man and man and art and science and literature evolved that changed the world.
Although the enlightenment did not arise in a vacuum -it had Christianity a its source, the discoveries that were made were indeed novel and - well- enlightening! There was really nothing to compare with it - a new phenomenon arose and changed western societies for the better. It was a process of intellectual discovery -there was nothing quite like it heretofore
Islam, although it happened 600 years after Christ, has no excuse of 'discovery' - the enlightenment is there all around them- they are flooded with its ideas and the systems that are its product, yet Islam mainly rejects them. What can possibly be the process that inhibits the Islamic enlightenment for another 600 years?
No I said, the 600-year gap is just not on as an explanation for the general backwardness of Islamic societies.
The professor looked at me and told me a strange story - a story that is true and it is that truth that makes it strange
He said that recently ancient copies of the Koran have been discovered. They have been examined by Islamic scholars from Western Universities and are thought to be genuine. However they contain versions of events that differ profoundly from the current accepted versions of the Koran, The western Islamic scholars were advised by Arabic scholars not to publish their finding with the grave warning that their lives would be endangered if they did so. After serious consideration their work has never been published
So perhaps we really are awaiting the Islamic enlightenment?
Chatting to him afterwards I asked him if there is something inherent within modern Islam that holds it back, because casting even a cursory look at the modern Islamic world it is extremely rare to find democratic or liberally enlightened Moslem states - indeed quite the contrary. Islam seems to impose a dull acceptance of autocracy and practices which are abhorrent to the liberal European mind
He replied that no, he could see nothing within Islam that caused such puzzling phenomenon, bur reminded me that Islam is 600 years behind Christianity (the source of the enlightenment) and that as time progresses we can expect to see more enlightened and liberal versions of Islam arising
I told the professor that I was not having that.
Yes surely the 17thC enlightenment was a product of Christianity whereby Jesus taught that all men are equal and that one should treat others as one would wish to be treated oneself - (surely the very essence of the enlightenment) but the enlightenment arose from that very intellectual curiosity that Christianity (for all its faults) stimulated. The enlightenment itself was an intellectual blossoming, a discovery of new truths that seemed at once both revolutionary and yet self-evident.
From the enlightenment concepts of democracy evolved and the relationships between man and man and man and art and science and literature evolved that changed the world.
Although the enlightenment did not arise in a vacuum -it had Christianity a its source, the discoveries that were made were indeed novel and - well- enlightening! There was really nothing to compare with it - a new phenomenon arose and changed western societies for the better. It was a process of intellectual discovery -there was nothing quite like it heretofore
Islam, although it happened 600 years after Christ, has no excuse of 'discovery' - the enlightenment is there all around them- they are flooded with its ideas and the systems that are its product, yet Islam mainly rejects them. What can possibly be the process that inhibits the Islamic enlightenment for another 600 years?
No I said, the 600-year gap is just not on as an explanation for the general backwardness of Islamic societies.
The professor looked at me and told me a strange story - a story that is true and it is that truth that makes it strange
He said that recently ancient copies of the Koran have been discovered. They have been examined by Islamic scholars from Western Universities and are thought to be genuine. However they contain versions of events that differ profoundly from the current accepted versions of the Koran, The western Islamic scholars were advised by Arabic scholars not to publish their finding with the grave warning that their lives would be endangered if they did so. After serious consideration their work has never been published
So perhaps we really are awaiting the Islamic enlightenment?
