On Mon, 20 Dec 2004 10:27:58 -0600, Susan Maneck <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> "No, I don't just mean random Bahais off the street coming up with > stuff off the top of their heads. I mean the interpretations of more > knowledgable Bahais and people whose interpretations and readings seem > faithful and connected to the writings as a whole." > Dear Gilberto, > Still not a good comparison. You're not likely to find any Rumis or Ibn > Arabis on this list, much less on SRB! The only real comparison you can > make is between the Qur'an itself and Baha'u'llah. No. You don't seem to understand. The constant is the Quran. And what I am comparing are Bahai interpretations of the Quran (which will reflect the words of Bahaullah) with Muslim interpretations of the Quran (which will reflect the words of past saints, mystics, and philosophers) Which are deeper? More meaningful? More plausible? > "What seems consistent [among Bahai interpretations of the Quran] is that > > the Quran is read in ways which deligitmize the Muslim community. And > that is done by "spiritualizing" and reading metaphorically doctrines which > > Muslims tend to take seriously. And by uncharitable legalistic readings of > > passages which Muslims would actually be more flexible on." > Uh, Gilberto most of those legalistic readings are precisely the ones the > *majority* of Muslims take. Gilberto: I don't actually believe that is true in the cases I have in mind. And even if it were true, Bahais generally don't care how Muslims read the Quran so I'm not sure why that point would be relevant. (I mean if you don't care when Muslims tell you "khatam" means last, why would you choose to read "daraba" as beat. "daraba" in Arabic also can bear multiple meanings and doesn't have to be read in gross, physical, brutal terms.) A good example would be the discussion in soc.religion.bahai between a certain Bahai and myself on the subject of retaliation. And the Bahai was trying to argue that the Quran was saying that if a man murders a another man's wife, the Quranic punishment would be to kill the murder's innocent wife!! Something which I don't think any Muslim scholar has argued. Or again, another exchange where a different Bahai was arguing that the Quran gives a husband a right to beat his wife, while I know of plenty of Muslims who would argue the opposite, and base it not just on the Quran but on the sunnah as well. The problem is the inconsistency (or from another perspective, the consistency) of the Bahai approach. > > > Which gems did you have in mind? > > The gems in the Qur'an? We can start with the Surih of Rahman.;-} > I mean, gems in the Quran which are substantially missing from the Bible. although personally I am more moved by the Quran and I feel it speaks to me more clearly than the Bible and my heart finds more satisfaction with Islam than with the Bible, I wouldn't necessarily want to make unwarranted criticisms of the Bible. I think contentwise, the theme of being grateful for God's many blessings is certainly found in the Bible and in particular there is a Psalm somewhat reminiscent of that Surah. Peace Gilberto "My people are hydroponic" __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:archive@mail-archive.com To unsubscribe, send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, use subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:bahai-st@list.jccc.edu Web - http://list.jccc.edu/read/?forum=bahai-st News - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Public - http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.net New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.edu
