Posted on 05/22/2008 8:37:47 PM PDT by Fred Nerks
Accounts from Turkey suggest that the government is attempting a bold re-interpretation of Islam.
Its unusually named ministry of religion, the "Presidency of Religious Affairs and the Religious Charitable Foundation," has undertaken a three-year "Hadith Project" systematically to review 162,000 hadith reports and winnow them down to some 10,000, with the goal of separating original Islam from the accretions of fourteen centuries.
The hadith reports contain information about the sayings and actions of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam. They augment the Koran and have had a major role in shaping the Shari‘a (Islamic law), thereby deeply influencing Muslim life. Despite their importance, Muslim reformers have devoted little scrutiny to them, due to their vast size, unwieldy nature, and the challenge of discerning "sound" from "weak" hadiths.
One of the project's 85 theology professors, Ismail Hakki Unal of Ankara University, explains its goal: "The Koran is our basic guide. Anything that conflicts with that, we are trying to eliminate." The project website explained that its work is "an important step for carrying the universal message of the Prophet of Islam to the twenty-first century."
Mehmet Görmez, a senior lecturer in hadith at Ankara University and the vice-president of religious affairs, adds that the purpose is a scholarly one, to understand the hadith better: "We will make a new compilation of the hadith and re-interpret them if necessary." More broadly, Görmez explains, "The project takes its inspiration from the interpretations of the modernist vein of Islam. … We want to bring out the positive side of Islam that promotes personal honor, human rights, justice, morality, women's rights, respect for the other."
This means, for example, reinterpreting hadiths that "present women as inferior beings," such as those that encourage female genital mutilation, honor killings, and the prohibition of women traveling without their husbands. One participant, Hidayet Sevkatlı Tuksal, goes so far as to declare some hadiths as bogus because they intend "to ensure male domination over women." However, despite the intense current debate in Turkey over the headscarf, the project avoids that particular issue. Another sensitive topic concerns the right of Muslims to convert out of their faith; the project permits such conversions.
Some Turks have great hopes for the Hadith Project, which aims to produce a multi-volume book in Turkish, Arabic, and Russian by year's end. Taha Akyol, a political commentator, sees a revolution taking place. "In other countries you have reform of Islam pushed through by despotic or modernist regimes but in Turkey you are seeing the reform taking place in the middle classes. And that is real reform." Another commentator, Mustafa Akyol, believes that the revised hadiths "will be a step to change mindsets."
Fadi Hakura of Chatham House goes further, calling the project "somewhat akin to the Christian Reformation." He applauds the project being sponsored by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. AKP involvement means that "this reform movement is not being implemented by a secular group, but by the ruling [party, which] is very religious and conservative. So this is an authentic internal process of change."
Other observers are more skeptical. Hashim Hashimi, a former MP, for example, states that "There are established views on Islam and how it should be practiced that have been in place for 1400 years. And they aren't going to change any time soon." Even the head of the ministry, Ali Bardakoğlu, acknowledges that "we are not reforming Islam; we are reforming ourselves."
What to make of this initiative? Serious efforts to modernize Islam, which this appears to be, are most welcome. At the same time, one has to wonder about agendas when government intercedes in the subtle and even subversive domain of religious reform. Specifically, the AKP's Islamist nature arouses mistrust that the Hadith Project will limit itself to the relatively easy social issues and avoid the tougher political ones in order to fashion an ideologically more defensible Islam even while maintaining some of its more problematic aspects. Does the project's avoidance of the headscarf topic also imply its not taking up female legal rights, women marrying non-Muslim men, ribba (interest on money), jihad, the rights of non-Muslims, and the creation of an Islamic order?
By limiting its subject matter, the project might forward Islamism more than modernize Islam. True reform awaits true reformers – not Islamist functionaries but independent, modern individuals intent on aligning Islam with the best of modern mores.
A modest proposal:
(1) Whittle the hadith report list down to zero.
(2) Begin studying the Bible.
http://www.danielpipes.org/article/5554
Interesting comment posted to Daniel Pipe’s article:
Submitted by Lactantius Jr. (United Kingdom), May 22, 2008 at 09:52
Bukhari (Abu `Abdullah Muhammad ibn Isma’il ibn Ibrahim ibn al-Mughira al-Ja’fai), the famous commentator and collector of hadiths of the 8th/9th century i.e., 810-870 A.D. His collection is known as Sahih (authentic) Bukhari, said to be a result of sixteen years of labour. al-Bukhari was one of the first also to compile traditions that stresses the marks of ‘authentic’ traditions, namely the long chains of narrators (isnad), it being said he only wanted to record authentic traditions. Out of 600,000 hadiths that he examined, he accepted only 7,397 as authentic (some others say 2,602, 9,082 with repetition). Of the more than 590,000 hadith he rejected, plenty of those he accepted as authentic, don’t exactly flatter Islam and Muhammad its prophet.
The second most famous hadith collection amongst Sunni Muslims, is the Sahi Muslim collection. Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj (817-874AD), collecting, like Bukhari, large numbers of hadith, and rejecting most of them, collecting it is said, 300,000 and rejecting 296,000 of them, accepting 4,000 based on stringent acceptance criteria, checking each hadith for its compatibility with the Qur’an, painstakingly establishing its chain of narrators.
Muslims never claimed to collect all authentic hadith, trying to collect only those on which Muslims agreed on about their accuracy.
With Muhammad dying in 632 AD, the Sahi hadith collections therefore, date at some 200 years after Muhammad’s death, and that time interval doesn’t lend itself to accuracy of the hadith collections, does it?
Just a ploy to get into the EU.
I can't think of any other reason.
Yup, you can't 'reform' a religion that is based on what they believe to be the 'inspired' Word of God. In the case of Islam, the religion is based on the word of satan (i.e., it is a hate letter from hell). The only reform is to end it. Acknowledge that it was a mistake, perpetrated by a duped man (Mohammad), and to turn to the Word of Truth (the Bible).
Turn from the darkness to the light.
You can't 'reform' darkness - you must find the light.
"we are not reforming Islam; we are reforming ourselves...(versus)
What to make of this initiative(,) the project might forward Islamism more than modernize Islam. True reform awaits true reformers – not Islamist functionaries but independent, modern individuals intent on aligning Islam with the best of modern mores."
I don't normally disagree with Mr. Pipes but let's see if there is any chance that internal reform can come from 'official' effort (by a state that is not traditionally hard core islamist).
In the meantime, I'm not impressed by calls for "true reformers...independent, modern individuals intent on aligning (X) with the best of modern mores."
I'm up to my chin with "true reformers".
It doesn’t change the fact that Islam’s greatest contribution to civilization has been treachery, lechery, and death.
It doesn’t change the fact that Mahomet was a liar, a trucebreaker, a pedophile, a pirate, a polygamist, a rapist, and a murderer.
The Bible teaches that “the enemy”, Satan, comes to kill and to steal, and to destroy.
That sounds a lot like Mahomet himself.
In fact, it sounds a lot like Mahomet’s “Allah”.
While Mahomet’s “Allah” commands others to kill and to die for him, the Christian God, YWHW, came to Earth as Jesus to die for mankind.
While Mahomet slew thousands, and personally beheaded people whom he treacherously betrayed, Jesus prayed, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do,” even as the Roman soldiers were nailing Him to the cross.
There is NO WAY that Mahomet’s “Allah”, and “YHWH” of the Jews and Christians can be the same God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whose adult name was “Israel.”
Thanks Fred.
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