Wednesday, July 28, 2010

New Blog

I've decided that "Blue-eyed Muslimah (to-be)", while not an inaccurate title for my blog, may perhaps be too specific. My spiritual interests include many things beyond Islam, even if Islam is my primary focus recently. Also, how I define Islam and how others may define it will usually be quite different - which is fine. They don't have a copyright on the term and neither do I. But maybe a broader term for my blog would be better for now, while I'm still developing my religious identity. So, I am moving to a new blog!


I'll keep this blog up for now, but future posts will be at my new blog, and I won't be adding/approving new comments here. I hope the few readers I have will follow me there. I will continue to discuss Islam: I have read half-a-dozen books on Islam that I want to review, as well as to discuss some of interesting philosophies I have discovered, like the Mu'tazilah school of thought. I am also hoping to discuss my favorite parts of the Quran, as well as other religious texts, like the Bhagavad Gita. It should be interesting, so hopefully I'll see you there!

TTFN! Ta-ta for now!
~ Blue (a.k.a. Sophia Batel)

Monday, July 26, 2010

Words like "Muslim"

After starting this blog, visiting numerous forums, and talking to some people in my life about possibly converting, I'm worried about something. A very dear, very wise person said to me, "If you want to be part of a religion, that's fine. But don't half-ass it or make a joke out of it". This was also following a conversation about a mutual friend who considers himself Jewish, but eats bacon and only practices on holidays... but still claims to be "more Jewish" than other friends who are Jews in name only.

I have read so many conflicting things about what it means to be Muslim. Then there are the different sects, each of whom is convinced is the only correct path. The Quranists, for example, believe the only correct Muslim path is the Straight Path outlined in the Quran, but they are a tiny minority. The big sects have their own beliefs too, legitimized by centuries of evolving tradition. The Islam that I want to follow is that which is outlined in the Quran, not the traditions that sprung up after... but is that really Islam? Islam today has pillars and special hygiene rules and religious figures to inform me of what I should believe... perfectly legitimate religious practices, but not what drew me to Islam... the Quran did that all by itself.

I want to call myself "Muslim", but is that an accurate definition of how I understand Islam vs. how the majority of Muslims see it? Words label us, and that can be a good thing: it provides a sense of safety and understanding. But if I label myself a Muslim, what if all I am doing is confusing and alienating others who hold their Islam dear and don't want some newb coming in and shaking up definitions? How compassionate is it to piss people off with just one word?

Originally, I thought that if people born into a religion can question it, then maybe converts can too. But maybe thats too simplistic, or even just misses the point. I want to be Muslim to be closer to God and to be a better person... just studying Islam has already made me a better person in small but significant ways: I care less about makeup, I'm letting negative emotions go more often then I used to, I'm being more considerate of others, I'm placing more value on my family... the list goes on. My motivation to become Muslim was not to simply give myself a new label. And if that label creates animosity and confusion in others when I apply it to myself, maybe its a bad idea to use it at all. The flip-side, of course, is that if I keep this label and re-define it for myself I won't be alone - many Muslims are re-examining what it means to be Muslim. They are a small group and maybe they could use one more person to re-define the label. But is that a religious imperative, or a political one?

Anyways, thats what I'm musing about. Do I continue here, a Muslimah-to-be, or do I become something else? Blue-Eyed Monotheist just doesn't have the same ring to it...

Thursday, July 15, 2010

On the Matter of Hadith

(Warning: this will probably piss off some readers, so if you prefer not to get all riled up please feel free to come back later when there is something less controversial to read)













Ok, here goes.

"Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri:

Once Allah's Apostle went out to the Musalla (to offer the prayer) o 'Id-al-Adha or Al-Fitr prayer. Then he passed by the women and said, "O women! Give alms, as I have seen that the majority of the dwellers of Hell-fire were you (women)." They asked, "Why is it so, O Allah's Apostle ?" He replied, "You curse frequently and are ungrateful to your husbands. I have not seen anyone more deficient in intelligence and religion than you. A cautious sensible man could be led astray by some of you." The women asked, "O Allah's Apostle! What is deficient in our intelligence and religion?" He said, "Is not the evidence of two women equal to the witness of one man?" They replied in the affirmative. He said, "This is the deficiency in her intelligence. Isn't it true that a woman can neither pray nor fast during her menses?" The women replied in the affirmative. He said, "This is the deficiency in her religion."

- Volume 1, Book 6, Number 301 of Sahih Bukhari. It is considered by many Muslims to be the most authentic book after the Quran itself.


This is just one example, I realize, but come on! THIS is equality before God? When I first read the Quran, I was blown away by how beautiful and inspiring it was. I couldn't understand where so many practices were drawn from it, so I began researching the hadiths since it seems a lot of the practices were "clarified" by the hadiths. I have been studying them a lot lately, and I have something to say:

I reject the hadiths.

There, I said it. I think whatever truth they held was likely corrupted by time, politics and sectarian interests. I think that many of them conflict with both the general principles of the Quran and in some cases specific ones. Given that, I feel I can't trust the weight of authority they have been granted throughout history. In fact, I wouldn't give them more authority than the gossip columns of celebrity magazines.

Bukhari collected these hadiths 200 years after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first to compile them. Hadiths are considered authentic by their "chain of transmission" - basically someone heard the Prophet say something, and told someone else, who told someone else, who told someone else, etc. If all those people had - wait for it - good reputations, then the much-passed-around-story is considered the verbatim word of God's Prophet! Because, of course, nobody would ever use religion for their own ends, right? Nobody would ever twist some important person's words to suit their own interests, right? Even if I believed that all the people who passed along the stories were completely honest, how could I imagine that all of them had perfect memories?

Rejecting the hadith is not even a new thing (I mean, Muslims were still Muslims during the 200 years before Bukhari started working... did they all do it wrong because they didn't have the "legitimate" hadiths to guide them?). And early Muslims are recorded as having issues with them too. Even Muhammad himself banned the practice of writing down his sayings (at least, according to hadith... ha ha). Today some scholars are de-emphasizing the hadiths or re-evaluating them, and some are completely rejecting portions as well. Many of these people are being labeled apostates as a result. According to the Quran, it is enough, it is fully detailed and complete.

Look, I'm not saying Muslims who follow the hadiths are wrong, or right. Some Quranists go so far as to accuse those who follow the hadiths of committing shirk! I don't think anyone has the right to make that accusation. I DO think we ALL have the right to say its wrong to accuse all women of being unintelligent and religiously deficient, its wrong to stone people to death for adultery, and its wrong (well, maybe not wrong, but really, really gross) to drink camel piss (ewww)! I really hope the Prophet didn't say these things, and I don't believe for one second that God condones these things. So I guess I'm going to be a Quranist Muslim. I'll continue to study the hadiths, but mainly to understand exactly which current practices came from the Quran and which came from elsewhere, and to better understand Islamic history.

*Sigh* All right, folks. Try to at least be respectful when you tell me I'm gonna burn in hell. (Just kidding, I'm sure everyone will see this as just another valid point of view.... right?)

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

The Beginning

I started this post because I have a long road ahead of me. Several weeks ago I read the Quran for the first time, and it had what I can only describe as a profound effect on me. I had been curious about religion and specifically Islam since I was a kid, having been raised in a relatively secular household (we had Christmas and Easter but with no mention of Jesus or church visits, what I refer to as "Hallmark Christianity"). I felt a need to find religion for many years, but none seemed to quite fit and I resigned myself to being an agnostic - not bad, really, but it felt like I was settling for less than what I needed.

When I read the Quran for the first time, it - quite frankly - moved me. It moved me to tears, in fact. I sobbed until I couldn't read the words anymore, whispering, "Thank you, thank you, thank you..." It was a shattering experience for a lifelong non-believer, for the daughter of a man who always scoffed religion, for someone who has no Muslim friends, or even devoutly religious friends, and who never saw this coming. Yet here I am, suddenly and irrevocably a believer. Part of me thinks I'm just going crazy... but most of me thinks that such a powerful response shouldn't be ignored.

All that said, I doubt I'll be a good Muslim. I'm WAAAAAAY too liberal to be orthodox, and even some of the more "moderate" elements of Islam are too much for me! But I think even becoming a bad Muslim would bring me closer to God and make me a better person, so I'm going to give it a try. I feel that religion is a tool for bringing us closer to the divine. Not every tool works for every job, or in this case every person, so you need to choose with intelligence and be open to new ideas. It can be a weapon in the wrong hands. Right now, I think Islam is the tool for me.