Understanding Islam

Note:  More about this video, below…

I consider myself a friend of all the worlds’ major religions, including Islam.  In addition to the evening news, my understanding of Islam has been mediated by the following:

• Wahiduddin’s Web and the daily Bowl of Saki featuring Hazrat Inayat Khan

• A number of Islamic poets–including, but not limited to:
  • Omar Khayyam, Rumi, and Hafez
  • Other Muslim/Sufi Poets & Poetry

• Anti-Islamic websites and memes–for example:
  • Citizen Warrior: The Terrifying Brilliance of Islam
  • Stop Sharia Law (typical examples of anti-Islamic memes)

• My reading of the Quran, from cover to cover, in these two translations:
  • The Qur’an: A New Translation by M.A.S. Abdel Haleem
  • The Koran Interpreted: A Translation by A.J. Arberry

• Rather conventional sources such as:
  • The World’s Religions, by Huston Smith
  • TED Talk on the Qur’an by Leslie Hazleton aka The Accidental Theologist
  • The Koran: A Very Short Introduction, by Michael Cook
  • Living Islam: Islamic Tradition
  • The Role of Arabic in Islam

• Other very critical points of view, for example:
  • The Reality of Islam, by Sam Harris
  • Why Islam Is More Violent Than Christianity: An Atheist’s Guide, by Robert Tracinski

So while I am by no stretch of the imagination an expert on Islam, neither am I simply a beginner (though there is a sense in which I am, in all things, a perpetual beginner, but that’s another story).  Be that as it may, this week, my understanding of Islam was unexpectedly raised a notch or two by these videos of Sheikh Imran Nazar Hosein of Trinidad–the one posted above on Basirah (Islamic Spirituality) and the one posted below on Islam and Russia’s Tryst with Destiny.  These videos probably won’t change your general attitude toward Islam, but they will almost certainly increase your understanding thereof.  I highly recommend them.

Postscripts:

[2/16/15]  This article on ISIS is also rather illuminating:

What ISIS Really Wants
“The Islamic State is no mere collection of psychopaths. It is a religious group with carefully considered beliefs, among them that it is a key agent of the coming apocalypse. Here’s what that means for its strategy—and for how to stop it.” ~ Graeme Wood (The Atlantic, March 2015).

[1/30/15]  In the event the imbedded videos, above, don’t work for any reason, here are the direct links:

Islam and Russia’s Tryst with Destiny by Sheikh Imran N. Hosein
http://vineyardsaker.blogspot.com/2014/12/islam-and-russias-tryst-with-destiny-by.html

[Sheikh Imran Nazar Hosein] Basirah : An introduction to Islamic Spirituality
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9yRbdMMmec&t=24m23s

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