[Reader-list] "The backwards forward" - by Nadeem Paracha (II)

[Kshmendra Kaul]

In the earlier posted article by Nadeem Paracha, he writes:
 
" Most progressive Muslim scholars however, have pleaded for a more investigative look at Islam’s early history without the use of eighth- and ninth-century perspectives. To do that they beseech the need to be much more cautious about memorised accounts based on simple hearsay. They say that the hadith should be used watchfully and, perhaps, only when it supports or expands the teachings of the Qur’an and not as a legislative response to the political and social dynamics of modernity that can only leave Muslim societies hanging in a limbo between mythical historical narratives and modern material impulses."
http://blog.dawn.com:91/dblog/2009/10/01/the-backwards-forward/
 
In April '09 conversations with KM Venugopalan I had ventured the following comments:
 
""""""Most commentators on Islam including Muslims do wrong when they try to read the Quran in combination with the Hadith. The Hadith are sectarian and indeed political and may not always be in-line with the Quranic word, which makes some doubly suspect""""""
 
"""""""What the Muslims need to do is to go back to the basics. Study the Quran and the Quran alone and understand it along the lines .......:
 
- Self-declaratory by Allah. A generalised commentary on  Creator and the
Creations and expectations of Creator from Creations
- Advisories for Mohammed alone
- Advisories for everyone
- Advisories for specific times
- Advisories valid in perpetuity for ever after
- Commentaries of the times before Mohammed that may or may not
be advisories  in perpetuity for ever after
 
Once they agree on a common understanding they will find much in the Hadeeth and Rivaayat from the different sects that need to be discarded. They will find quite unimportant some of the difference they quarrel over. They will find a new understanding of what a true Muslim is that will not make them suspect in the eyes of everyone else.""""""""
 
For those who might be interested in further readings, some Hyper Text leads from Paracha's article are given below.
 
Kshmendra
 
 
- "Open the Gates of Ijtihad" - by Claude Salhani
http://www.commongroundnews.org/article.php?id=2579&lan=en&sid=1&sp=1
 
- Book review of "Quranic Studies: Sources and Methods of Scriptural Interpretation - by John Wansbrough"
http://i-epistemology.net/attachments/893_ajiss-23-1-stripped%20-%20Book%20Reviews%20-%20Quranic%20Studies%20-%20Sources%20and%20Methods%20of%20Scriptural%20Interpretation.pdf
 
- "Rethinking Islam" - by  Ziauddin Sardar (earlier posted by Sonia Jabbar in Apr '08)
http://www.ziauddinsardar.com/ri.htm
 
- "Between Two Masters: Qur'an or Science?" - by  Ziauddin Sardar 
http://www.ziauddinsardar.com/articles.htm
 
- "What is Political Islam?" - by  Charles Hirschkind 
http://www.merip.org/mer/mer205/hirschk.htm
 
- "The earliest biography of Muhammad, by ibn Ishaq"
http://web.archive.org/web/20040625103910/http://www.hraic.org/hadith/ibn_ishaq.html#last_illness
 
- " What do we actually know about Mohammed?" - by Patricia Crone
http://www.opendemocracy.net/content/articles/PDF/3866.pdf
 
- "Shariah, Law and Islam : Legalism vs. Value-Orientation" by Dr. Mohammad Omar Farooq
http://www.globalwebpost.com/farooqm/writings/islamic/shariah_value.doc