The Quran is a Supermarket =(

Ali Eteraz shares with us some news:

Hasan Hanafi, a Philosopher Professor in Cairo, is in trouble for comparing the Quran to a supermarket where you can find whatever you are looking for (i.e. selective reading). He is being labeled and an apostate (and a Marxist, which is interesting because the epithet “Zionist” and “CIA agent” were still available).

Now here’s the thing I just can’t understand. A major part of becoming religious is understanding the logic behind the various aspects of religion. Therefore criticism and questioning in the spirit of intellectual debate is important. Why can’t I question things I find weird in my religion? Why do some retards find it so wrong? I swear to God I hate this damn attitude. It’s because of it, that many people have made religion become more of a cage rather than a source of comfort and enlightment. Hasan Hanafi is a Professor of philosophy so it’s natural he would say what he said. It’s only an expression for God’s sake. It doesn’t mean he’s insulting our holy Quran. I’m happy that some reformists are standing up.

Rarely do other thinkers publicly side with him, but one of them is Gamal Al-Banna, a Muslim reformist and, ironically, younger brother of Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan Al-Banna.

“I have to say it wasn’t very intelligent comparing the Quran with a supermarket but, in the end he’s not wrong,” says Banna, asserting that “one finds different opinions in the Quran”.

Some of the holy book’s verses are “very dense and confusing expressions” that require interpretation, he says, calling for a “return to the Quran,” interpreting it where necessary in the light of the whole corpus of Islamic theological writing.

Banna himself has been at the receiving end of criticism by traditional Muslim scholars.

Why am I not surprised? It’s a good thing that Hanafi is maintaining his intellectual stance though.

For now, Hanafi has chosen to remain silent in the face of his critics.

“It doesn’t bother me,” he told AFP. “It is in the heart of the university that these things should be debated.”

Reform starts with questioning and intellectual debate. If all Muslims become too afraid of questioning for fear of being labeled apostates, then the various aspects of Sharia that need reform will never be reformed. Yes, you read that right. Some aspects of Sharia do need reform. Sharia is not static, at least not all of it. The reason the Islamic Civilization at its golden age achieved so much was because of the fact that intellectual debate was always encouraged. It’s funny how things have changed since then.

By the way, I’m still holding on to my promises of putting up my first podcast and posting why Islam and Muslims should be distinguished. I’ve just been busy like mad.