Reza Aslan was wrong on many fronts as well....interesting read

[Southie]

Re: Reza Aslan was wrong on many fronts as well…interesting read

@psyah

Peace Southie

Islam requires us to discern well … Going deep into Islam requires us to discern very well …
Islam requires us to be compassionate … Going deep into Islam requires us to be very compassionate …
Islam requires us to be strict on ourselves and lenient on others … Going deep into Islam requires us to be more free of material concerns
Islam allows retaliation but prefers forgiveness … Going deep into Islam means less retaliation and more forgiveness
Islam is about not being guided by biases or desires, but by wisdom and principle … Going deep into Islam is eradication of bias, subdued desires height of wisdom and adherence to principles.
Islam is about taking the middle path … Going deep into Islam means never moving from the middle path.

Going deep into Islam is the hardest position to take … the extremists are not going deep into anything … they are taking short cuts to fulfilling political ends, justifying their hatred and fueling their passions. You think that religion is the cause of extremism - that is why you have said that going deep in to any religion leads to injustices … that is not true … People lose tolerance for others in black and white situations … piety in Islam means you increase your tolerances for others … So I don’t know how wrong you can be … the people killing are over-zealous about cherry-picked statements that they have taken outside the calibrated body of Islamic knowledge and hence applied different meanings and different interpretations result … their wrongly interpreted basis leads on to extremes as you can see … the problem is not because of the religion - it is due to their already imbalanced states, imbalanced ideals, impatience, despair, rage, not seeking out the authentic scholars with approved transmissions, etc … they put the cart before the horse … they view the religion from behind their preconceptions and slants … Any person seeking the truth will view a matter by first trying his hardest to understand the religion in its context, then at each stage seek second and third opinions about each of his insights and understandings to ensure he is treading the right path and be humble enough and empty enough to adjust, but while all the time seeking rectification with the heart and with society and the broader Islamic spectrum because we have been given strong guidance in this matter … To know we are on the right path we have to look towards the majority scholarly opinion … it is easy …

Peace Psyah.

Babri Masjid happened because some felt that was Ram’s janmabhoomi. While those of us who consider Ramayana something to learn from were aghast at this. That is an example of extreme religion gone bad.

I concede all your points. Except the last 4 lines. Especially the last two lines. Case in point the majority deciding who can call themselves Muslims. And making it illegal for some to call themselves Muslims.

Since you brought up “rectification” , I would submit that situation needs it.