On blasphemy in Islamic fiqh: Amidst all the sound and fury of the past week, the more observant will have noticed that the few salafi-jihadists in Norway and elsewhere who attempt to rationalize and legitimize the heinous terrorist attacks in Paris last week tend to turn to the Hanbali scholar ibn Taymiyya - a precursor of the rigid and Manichean puritanism of ibn abd al-Wahhab and later Salafi scholars in order to do so. This tells us that whether we like it or not - the view that this has got nothing to do with Islam doesnt quite hold up - and that the challenge of contesting interpretations of Islam - however perverted they may be - that provide sanction and legitimation for salafi-jihadisms current outrages against our common humanity still stands. Personally, I know of few other contemporary Islamic scholars better equipped to do so than South African-born Prof Ebrahim Moosa, formerly of Duke University, now at Notre Dame in the USA. So take some time off to read this highly relevant article of his, as I had the privilege of doing last night. academia.edu/10148400/_Muslim_Political_Theology_Defamation_Apostasy_and_Anathema_in_Profane_Sacrilegious_Expression_in_a_Multicultural_Age._Eds._Christopher_S._Grenda_Chris_Beneke_David_Nash_Oakland_Calif_and_London_University_of_California_Press_2014_169-188
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 08:28:14 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015