World religions 3 - islam - beyond the politically correct and the politically incorrect to the philosophically correct

1. 1
Beyond the politically
correct & the politically
incorrect to the
philosophically correct

2. - 570 - Born,
- 595 - Married to Khadija,
- 610 - Quran revelation begins,
- 619 - Hijra to Taaif, death of uncle Abu
Talib & Khadija,
- 622 - On to Medina with Abu Bakr,
- 624 - won at Badr,
- 625 - lost at Uhud,
- 630 - regained Mecca,
- 632 - Died

3. 114 chapters (suras) comprised of
verses (ayas)
Surat al-Fattiha: first sura of the
Quran
Ya-sin: 36th sura recited at death
The longest chapter contains
286 verses, the shortest only three.

4. Description of life and
sayings of Mohammed –
source of much of
Islamic law

5. Death of the prophet Muhammad: 632
First caliph: Abu Bakr (Mohajir): 632–634
Second caliph: Umar ibn al-Khattab: 634–644
Third caliph: Uthman ibn Affan: 644–656
Fourth caliph: Ali ibn Abi Talib (Ansar): 656–
661
Uthman’s followers assassinated Hussen Ibn
ali, the prophet’s grandson (Ashura)
Followers of Ali – Shias
All others - Sunnis

6. Jihad
Inner war
Defensive war
Aggressive war (?)

7. Taqqiya
Deception as a religious
virtue
Eg Mohammed massacred
Jews after assuring them of
protection if they
surrendered

8. Powers mix & mess up
Vedic culture: Intellectual
power & political power
separated: brahmanas &
kshatriyas
Mohammed: both spiritual
& martial leader

9. Wrong example emulated
Islam: Individually –
pious seeking of God
Socially – ferocious
grabbing for power

10. Wahhabi sect of Sunnis
Terrorism – attacking
unarmed, unalert civilians
- Total opposite of kshatriya
codes of warfare

11. Mohammed
Destroyed idols on entering
Mecca
Idolatry deemed the greatest
of sins, unforgiveable
among all sins

12. Idols vs Deities
Deity: Manifestation of God
Idol: Representation of God
Iconoclastic traditions:
Representation becomes
competition to God, thus
becomes Shaitan

13. Politically Correct
Post-modernity – focuses on
social justice
Eg. 200000 Australians
apology march to
aborigines across Sydney
Harbor Bridge

14. Politically Incorrect
Selective quoting from Quran
Label all of Islam as bad, all
Muslims as bad
If one-fourth of the world
population were terrorists,
the world would be hellish

15. Driving assumptions for
inter-faith appreciation
Most people are like us
They want to get along with life
– have same human concerns
They take to religion because it
gives their life some sense of
meaning and purpose

16. Driving assumptions for
inter-faith appreciation
Most people are like us
They want to get along with life
– have same human concerns
They take to religion because it
gives their life some sense of
meaning and purpose

17. Philosophically correct
People in three modes –
need to be dealt with
appropriately
Shastra & Shastra –
Brahmana & Kshatriya resp

18. ISIS
Ultra-Literalist – Don’t take
intellectual responsibility to
separate tradition’s essence
from its accretions
Pat answers to tough questions
No Islamic Renaissance

19. Balanced approach
Combat the extremists – kid
gloves won’t work
Empower the moderates –
reform has to come from
within