Remote Observer
31-05-2007, 16:18
I keep hearing that the Koran is the ultimate perfect book, and because of this, it has to be read in Arabic, so that the person reading it gets the perfect meaning from it (apparently, there's no need to interpret its writings, because what the Prophet wrote was perfect).
Which brings to mind the fatwas, or official interpretations by various sheiks and imams over the centuries. Why would there need to be an official interpretation if the book is perfect? If it's perfect, if I have a problem, I should be able to just point to a page that mentions my type of problem, and there should be a solution.
It sounds to me more like any other "holy book" and the usual habit of people putting themselves in a position of "holy interpreter" so they can tell people to do something ridiculous, like breastfeed adult males or drink urine.
Fat chance of this ever happening ('http://www.dailystaregypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=7439')
Yes, the suggestion has been made after over a thousand years that maybe, just maybe, they should all agree on what interpretation they should make of the Koran and the Prophet. You know, interpretations over a perfect book that requires no interpretation.
Hopefully, it's not the one that involves drinking urine.
Gomaa himself is the author of a controversial book which claimed that Prophet Mohammed’s (PBUH) companions used to drink his urine, considering it a blessed act, as reported by Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper.
Gomaa stuck to his position despite criticism, claiming that everything which emanated from the Prophet is pure and sacred.
“We hope that we will no longer have to see another fake and incorrect fatwa similar to those that have been released recently about breastfeeding adult men and the Prophet's Mohammed’s (PBUH) urine,” Sheikh Mohmoud Ashour, former deputy of Al Azhar and member of the Islamic Research Center, told The Daily Star Egypt.
"If implemented properly [Gomaa’s recommendation] will prevent fatwas from becoming a business not a science as it should be," Ashour said pointing to the sheikhs who appear on TV and profit from making controversial and incorrect fatwas.
Which brings to mind the fatwas, or official interpretations by various sheiks and imams over the centuries. Why would there need to be an official interpretation if the book is perfect? If it's perfect, if I have a problem, I should be able to just point to a page that mentions my type of problem, and there should be a solution.
It sounds to me more like any other "holy book" and the usual habit of people putting themselves in a position of "holy interpreter" so they can tell people to do something ridiculous, like breastfeed adult males or drink urine.
Fat chance of this ever happening ('http://www.dailystaregypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=7439')
Yes, the suggestion has been made after over a thousand years that maybe, just maybe, they should all agree on what interpretation they should make of the Koran and the Prophet. You know, interpretations over a perfect book that requires no interpretation.
Hopefully, it's not the one that involves drinking urine.
Gomaa himself is the author of a controversial book which claimed that Prophet Mohammed’s (PBUH) companions used to drink his urine, considering it a blessed act, as reported by Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper.
Gomaa stuck to his position despite criticism, claiming that everything which emanated from the Prophet is pure and sacred.
“We hope that we will no longer have to see another fake and incorrect fatwa similar to those that have been released recently about breastfeeding adult men and the Prophet's Mohammed’s (PBUH) urine,” Sheikh Mohmoud Ashour, former deputy of Al Azhar and member of the Islamic Research Center, told The Daily Star Egypt.
"If implemented properly [Gomaa’s recommendation] will prevent fatwas from becoming a business not a science as it should be," Ashour said pointing to the sheikhs who appear on TV and profit from making controversial and incorrect fatwas.