Whom To Believe?

So. We hear a lot about Islam these days, don’t we?

Our President told us that its teaching are “good and peaceful” and that terrorists are trying to “hijack” Islam itself. There is an organization that, in an attempt to “enhance understanding of Islam” will send you an almost-free copy of the Qur’an. There are Muslim groups who condemn “violent extremism done in the name of Islam.”

But every day there are also news reports about the violent and reprehensible activities of members of that religion. There are those ― former Muslims themselves ― who say that “there is no such thing as moderate Islam,” and that anyone who claims Islam is a religion of peace simply doesn’t understand Islam. There are college professors who praise anti-American terrorism. There are even those who question the motives of Muslims who publicly condemn terrorism.

Whom to believe?

One possible response is to throw up your hands in despair and say, “Who knows? Who cares?” and go on living your life. After all, you probably don’t really understand quantum mechanics, capitalism, the Hegelian dialectic, or your television set either. So why try to understand Islam?

Another possibility, though not one you will likely choose consciously, is to believe the message you hear the most. Advertisers and media people calculate this exposure using “Gross Rating Points.” (an interesting, but complicated, discussion of GRPs and the Iraq war can be found here.) Simply put, it is possible that your opinion is subconsciously formed by the message you hear the most.

You could also try doing a little research. I chose to start by going straight to the heart of the matter: the Qur’an.

Islamic scholar Robert Spencer has recently started work on an excellent online resource for those interested in learning more about Islam and the Qur’an. It’s called Blogging the Qur’an. In it, Spencer takes us on a section-by-section tour of the holy book of Islam, helping us understand “how mainstream Muslims who study the Qur’an will understand any given passage, and what its import might be for non-Muslims.”

One laudable feature (among many) of Spencer’s work: he refers to many Muslim commentaries on the Qur’an to make his explanations, rather than relying solely on his own interpretation. This, to me, goes a long way in averting the potential concern with having a non-Muslim interpret the Qur’an. Also, in reading through the entire book consecutively, is able to sidestep the oft-leveled charge of “taking things out of context.”

As you might expect, not everyone is a fan of Robert Spencer. To be honest, though, I probably wouldn’t be able to read through the entire Qur’an without someone to help. Weekly postings of small portions of the text make the task manageable. I recommend Blogging the Qur’an as a valuable tool to anyone trying to learn more about Islamic teaching.