Thought Provoking
I have been reading Benazir Bhutto's last book: Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy and the West
It is a thought provoking text made all the more poignant by her assassination.
I do think however that her experiences are a bit off the normal track considering who her father was but... it is interesting to gain perspective on Islam from a person of that faith and a woman at that.
Anyone who adores history as I do and particularly ancient history knows what a great civilization flurished in the Islamic world at one time. How it continued to flurish when Europe was lost in its Dark Ages. So it is a real tragedy that we now look on an Islamic world caught up in so much internal fighting (think Sunni v. Shia), tangled up in extremist rhetoric and so on. What was once great has been destroyed and the destruction began long ago.
The book points to Western colonialism as the cause of the troubles of today's Islamic world. And while there is a lot of merit to that (I could go on forever about that topic) I think it happened earlier. I think problems begain in the 1300s when Muslim rulers (and one in particular) decided they needed more control over the people and started to crack down on schools of Islamic thought that challenged their power. What had been dozens (if not more) of various interpretations of the Quran and a culture rich in art and music and equality and freedoms became a tight-fisted rule. To me, it is the age-old story of power at all costs.
Even Ms. Bhutto acknolwedges that after the Prophet's death there were power struggles and these were secular power struggles not faith-based power struggles. Followers wanted to rule the country, the guidance of the people in their lives of faith was secondary.
Today's extremists are really people in search of power, control and so on. They distort their faith to suit their own ends. We see this in the Christian world too. We call them fundamentalists or evangelicals but they too can twist the words of the Bible to justify their cause(s). Why else would one Christian group call the Catholic Church "The Great Whore" if not to agrandize themselves at the expense of someone else? Left to their own devices women would have no rights, education would be only what they deemed fitting and society would be made over in the ultra conservative image. I don't know about you but I'm pretty sure that such are the goals of the Taliban. After all, women have no rights under their rule, schools are highly regulated and their world is one of fear and ultra conservative tribal norms.
Granted Christians and Jews aren't blowing themselves up with the hopes of so many virgins in paradise waiting for them but hey, give it time... more people have died in the name of God on this miserable planet than for anything else. Anything else that is, that those starting the wars will admit to.
Read Ms. Bhutto's book. It is well worth the time you will spend with it.
It is a thought provoking text made all the more poignant by her assassination.
I do think however that her experiences are a bit off the normal track considering who her father was but... it is interesting to gain perspective on Islam from a person of that faith and a woman at that.
Anyone who adores history as I do and particularly ancient history knows what a great civilization flurished in the Islamic world at one time. How it continued to flurish when Europe was lost in its Dark Ages. So it is a real tragedy that we now look on an Islamic world caught up in so much internal fighting (think Sunni v. Shia), tangled up in extremist rhetoric and so on. What was once great has been destroyed and the destruction began long ago.
The book points to Western colonialism as the cause of the troubles of today's Islamic world. And while there is a lot of merit to that (I could go on forever about that topic) I think it happened earlier. I think problems begain in the 1300s when Muslim rulers (and one in particular) decided they needed more control over the people and started to crack down on schools of Islamic thought that challenged their power. What had been dozens (if not more) of various interpretations of the Quran and a culture rich in art and music and equality and freedoms became a tight-fisted rule. To me, it is the age-old story of power at all costs.
Even Ms. Bhutto acknolwedges that after the Prophet's death there were power struggles and these were secular power struggles not faith-based power struggles. Followers wanted to rule the country, the guidance of the people in their lives of faith was secondary.
Today's extremists are really people in search of power, control and so on. They distort their faith to suit their own ends. We see this in the Christian world too. We call them fundamentalists or evangelicals but they too can twist the words of the Bible to justify their cause(s). Why else would one Christian group call the Catholic Church "The Great Whore" if not to agrandize themselves at the expense of someone else? Left to their own devices women would have no rights, education would be only what they deemed fitting and society would be made over in the ultra conservative image. I don't know about you but I'm pretty sure that such are the goals of the Taliban. After all, women have no rights under their rule, schools are highly regulated and their world is one of fear and ultra conservative tribal norms.
Granted Christians and Jews aren't blowing themselves up with the hopes of so many virgins in paradise waiting for them but hey, give it time... more people have died in the name of God on this miserable planet than for anything else. Anything else that is, that those starting the wars will admit to.
Read Ms. Bhutto's book. It is well worth the time you will spend with it.
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