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University of Toledo professor cites positive impact of Islam on West
Islam's contributions to Western culture are many and varied, including setting high moral standards, asserting women's rights, and promoting good citizenship, according to Mashhad Al-Allaf. He added that unlike most Western religious leaders, Islamic clerics would have spoken out about the immorality of actors Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes having a child out of wedlock.
| And her appearing in public without wearing a burqa. And her appearing in public with an unmarried man. And her appearing in public period. |
Mr. Al-Allaf, the University of Toledo's first professor of Islamic Studies, spoke to about 150 people in an hour-long lecture Wednesday night at UT's college of law. The professor, a native of Baghdad who received a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Tennesse at Knoxville, cited numerous verses from the Qur'an, the Islamic holy book, to support his assertion that Islam has been a positive influence on culture.
| Conveniently neglecting the verses that had a different spin ... |
For example, he said, the Qur'an, written by the Prophet Mohammed in the 7th century as a claimed revelation from God, states in chapter 24, verse 31, that women should wear veils or head coverings, called hijabs, to assert their equality with men and keep them from becoming sexual objects. "These duties of women are based upon worshipping God, not in their being women," Mr. Al-Allaf said. "The rights of women and men are equal."
| Like in Sharia, for example ... |
He displayed a slide showing the visual similarities between Islamic women in hijabs and a portrait of the Virgin Mary with a head scarf and a photo of a Catholic nun in a habit. He added that Islam promotes reverence for Mary as "a woman obedient to God."
He said the West has put too much emphasis on materialism, and said it also has created a gap between science and religion that is not found in Islam. He cited the Roman Catholic Church's heresy trial of astronomer Galileo in the 17th century as an example. Islam, on the other hand, does not view science as a threat to religious beliefs and Islam, founded in Saudi Arabia, "easily blends with any culture," Mr. Al-Allaf said.
| As long as you belong to the Master RaceĀ ... |
The professor said Islam sets high moral standards that are beneficial to society, including a ban on sex outside of marriage. It makes a special point to ban adultery among neighbors, a sign of the importance Islam places on community.
He said religious leaders in the West should have criticized Cruise and Holmes for having a child born seven months before their November wedding. (During a question-and-answer session that followed the lecture, an audience member pointed out that Cruise is a Scientologist, not a Christian; there was no mention that Holmes, a Toledo native, was Catholic.)
Posted by: ryuge 2007-04-07 |
