CERTAINTY #2

did any of you seeds catch last nite's document tree on c4?
the qur'an by anthony thomas
a rare uninterrupted couple of hours
in front of the goggle box for fireseed
but mmmm...a real eye-opener!
the qur'an
the recitation...
first off i now know where that apostrophy goes
second off i've learnt how to actually pronounce the word
'koor-ahn' rather than 'koo-rahn'
hence the position of the apostrophy...
a few other things i learnt:
the qur'an is the word of god
as dicatated by the angel gabriel to the prophet mohammed
but mohammed never wrote anything down
he memorised what he had been told and passed it on to his scribes
the text of the qur'an has no real beginning, middle, or end
its structure is nonlinear like a web
jesus gets more mentions than mohammed
jesus is believed to be the son of mary but not of god
as distinct from christianity
though he is a prophet
the virgin mary is the most respected woman in the book
abraham is the father of both arab and jewish nations
in fact the qur'an shares much in common
with the torah and old testament
more muslims have been killed by other muslims
in internecine warfare between the sunni and shia factions
than by those of other faiths
the sunni-shia schism is reminiscent
of the catholic-protestant-orthodox divide
sunnis believe each muslim has his own direct relationship with god
while shias believe ordinary people cannot access god directly
but only through an interpreting intermediary
a cleric such as an imam
sunnis allow no visual representation or description of god
shias believe in a divine successor to the prophet mohammed
his son-in-law imam ali who assumed leadership of the faith
the shias accuse the sunnis of falsifying the qur'an
then there are the sufis
the 'whirling dervishes'
explorers of the mystical dimension of islam
saudi arabian islam represents a paradox
although saudis are sunnis
a clerical hierarchy has emerged there known as wahabism
which bears similarity with shia iran
iran has the most per capita executions in the world
including the death penalty for possessing alcohol
nowhere in the qur'an does it say that women must cover their faces
the wording appears to be ambiguous
the role of women
the legitimacy of violence and taking up arms
these both seem open to interpretation
although the qur'an is written in arabic
controversial recent studies by a german scholar called luxenburg
suggest that an understanding of aramaic
the principal language of the middle east at the time of jesus
reveals new meanings of the qur'an previously overlooked
due to various nuances and subtleties of meaning
caused by the presence or absence of punctuation marks
luxenberg has been dismissed as a european orientalist...
all of this and more left my head spinning
what to make of it?
most of the programme's contributors
spoke with utter conviction
it brings us back again to that word 'certainty'
in common with other major belief systems n philosophies
christianity
judiasm
buddhism
the important thing to my mind
as a closing commentator said
is that the qur'an offers not dictums but guidance
it sets out a framework of challenges and choices
that invites us to reflect carefully
to think again
and to keep thinking and questioning
in search of truth
it is a creative companion
it sheds light on a complex world
without such guidance and discipline
we humans can easily go astray
lose connection with morals and values
lose respect for ourselves and others
until anything goes!
an atheistic culture
one that turns its back on this kind of light
is a culture in trouble