Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Ya-ta Boy]

If you are as sick as I am of extremists like BJWD with his weekly anti-Islam diatribes, you may be interested in �No god but God: The Origins, Evolution and Future of Islam� by Reza Aslan (2005).

In structure, it is a historical recounting of Islam, but in content it is a reformist�s account of the development of the religion. He points out where and when other interpretations than the current Traditionalist interpretation have been made and could be resurrected.

One point that really struck me was about the Moslem Reformation, which he considers to have begun in response to the crushing of the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. It was following that event that Moslems began trying to figure out ways to reform Islam in ways to accommodate the modern world. It�s his contention that 9/11, London, Madrid, Bali are side issues. It�s not about us. The real story is the conflict within the Moslem World over the future of Islam. That has the ring of truth to it.

Time and again Aslan makes the point that all religion is about interpretation. It makes the citing of Koran verses by BJ look silly and pointless. More, it makes the point that it requires educated scholars to interpret religious scripture. It�s astoundingly arrogant for a non-scholar to do it.

Aslan says that millions of Moslems inside and outside the Moslem World are making adjustments to Western ideals of tolerance, pluralism and secularization, and making them on the basis of historic trends within Islam itself. I wish he had developed this theme more.

A good book and a healthy antidote to the bigotry and ignorance too often displayed on this forum.

[TML1976]

I agree, the book is quite good and I'm suprised the Iranian or another muslim gov. has not issued a fatwa against Aslan yet. After all the book seriously demystifies Mohamad as a prophet and the early years of Islam.
Its also quite interesting how the division between the Shia and the later to be called sunnies came about.

As for people like GDW or whatever they are called, what you have to understand is that they are of the same kind as those muslim extremists who say and think the same about other religions. The best thing to do is ignore them. Trust me, these type of people don't have the capacity for growth and change.

Get your hand on Robert Fisk's The Great War for Civilization. The bloody thing is 1200 pages, but its really good and eye opening.

[Pluto]

You mean this Robert Fisk?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=gov5EAaLrt0

[chris_J2]

Yes, BJWD can be every bit as dogmatic & fixated in his Islamaphobic views, as any of his Moslem adversaries. This is worth a read, too (S.P. Huntington).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clash_of_Civilizations

[CentralCali]

[cerulean808]

That the best you can do Pluto? Some amateur Youtube posting?

Not sure which is flakier, that or the nonexistent inaccuracies in his work claimed by right wing extremists.

[chris_J2]

centralcali wrote:

[CentralCali]

Thanks for the clarification. By the way, Muslim is the current spelling, not that I'm into PC but there's a bit of baggage assigned to the old spelling.

[igotthisguitar]

The Journey To Nangchen
http://www.pundarika.org/nuns_video.html

[chris_J2]

I found this in a search: (HNNHistory News Network)

Why Do People Say 'Muslim' now, instead of 'Moslem'?
By Yii-Ann Christine Chen
(Ms. Chen is a student at the University of Washington and an intern at HNN.)

Is it Muslim or Moslem?

When Baby Boomers were children it was Moslem. The American Heritage Dictionary (1992) noted, "Moslem is the form predominantly preferred in journalism and popular usage. Muslim is preferred by scholars and by English-speaking adherents of Islam." No more. Now, almost everybody uses Muslim.

According to the Center for Nonproliferation Studies, "Moslem and Muslim are basically two different spellings for the same word." But the seemingly arbitrary choice of spellings is a sensitive subject for many followers of Islam. Whereas for most English speakers, the two words are synonymous in meaning, the Arabic roots of the two words are very different. A Muslim in Arabic means "one who gives himself to God," and is by definition, someone who adheres to Islam. By contrast, a Moslem in Arabic means "one who is evil and unjust" when the word is pronounced, as it is in English, Mozlem with a z.

For others, this spelling differentiation is merely a linguistic matter, with the two spellings a result of variation in transliteration methods. Both Moslem and Muslim are used as nouns. But some writers use Moslem when the word is employed as an adjective.

Journalists switched to Muslim from Moslem in recent years under pressure from Islamic groups. But the use of the word Moslem has not entirely ceased. Established institutions which used the older form of the name have been reluctant to change. The American Moslem Foundation is still the "American Moslem Foundation" (much as the NAACP is still the NAACP--the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). The journal The Moslem World--published by the Hartford Seminary in Connecticut--is still "The Moslem World".

Sources:

Center for Nonproliferation Studies
Religious Studies Program, University of Wyoming

I'm a babyboomer, & grew up using the terminology 'Moslem'. I always pronounce the 'mos' part, the same as mosquito, never the derogatory 'muz'. I often see 'Muslim' erroneously spelt as 'muslin' too, which is a cloth not a religious adherant.

I'm sure BJWD will be along shortly, to launch a scathing diatribe of ad hominems against me. His avatar says it all.