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Episode 30: Islamic Principles #5: The Arabic Language
How can we make sense of Islam today? This is not only the name of this podcast, but a question that I’ve been obsessed with for decades. This series shares several first-principles that we need to keep in mind as we seek to answer this question. Some will seem basic (but need repeating) and others might be new. In both cases these meta-principles are essential tools to make sense of it all.
Episode Notes
Quran Mentioned
“ if your parents struggle with you disbelieve..”, (31:15)
“Fighting has been prescribed to you but you dislike it”, (2:216)
“are they equal those who know and those who don’t know?”, (39:9)
Hadith Mentioned
“Best form of charity is effort the poor person”, (Abu Dawud)
“We have returned from lesser jihad to the greater jihad..the jihad of the person against themselves”, (Bayhaqi)
People Mentioned
Imam al-Shafi’i
Sibawayh
Selected Links
Risala of Imam Shafi’i
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Understanding the Muslim Mind
If we could take all of Islamic intellectual history, what sort of patterns and principles could we deduce? More importantly, if we found someone who actually knew all this information, what would they look like, think like, talk like, etc.?
What is Usuli Islam?
In The Clock of the Long Now, Stewart Brand argues that religion is one of the most durable institutions of civilization that helps ground us all in timeless values. In his concept of the forces of innovation (rapidly changing) and durability (slow changing) of civilization, religion would definitely be amongst the more slow adapting forces.
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