Fascinating!
Categories: Atheism, Bible, Christianity, Converts to Islam, Dr Tim Winter, Europe, European Muslims, France, Islam, Judaism
Fascinating!
Categories: Atheism, Bible, Christianity, Converts to Islam, Dr Tim Winter, Europe, European Muslims, France, Islam, Judaism
Good timing as I’ve just been reading Surah Ali-Imran which talks a lot about the Abrahamic lineage upon which the Qur’an, in part, bases its legitimacy. At the root of it lies the belief that Abrahamic monotheism has always possessed a consistent message right through the ages and while spanning time, culture, and therefore expression these truths of the Oneness of Allah and the importance of performing one’s religious duties (prayer, fasting, pilgrimage, and doing good deeds) has not been lessened.
That same chapter, however, talks about how ‘they became divided…only after the revelation was given’: this division is described at the beginning of the chapter due to people’s preferences over ambiguities over the clear verses so that their own opinions can be inserted.
This seems to be the case amongst the far-right across Europe and the US: a crisis of identity born out of the emergence of atheism in the 19th and 20th centuries which has left a void of meaning where Christianity used to be. It’s difficult to be a patriot and call for nationalistic pride when that pride was centered on a culture that saw religion at the heart of it. Consider the likes of King Arthur or even the plays of Shakespeare who regularly reference and assume that religious framework.
Much like Surah Ali-Imran, the answer seems to be in the need to return to that ‘rope’ which is spoken of: a unifying faith in transcendence, in metaphysics, in a unity born of shared ideals and experiences, held up to a standard with which can be generally agreed upon. I doubt this can happen in the current climate but perhaps the future will reveal a path beyond such petty and naive ideas of Imperial renewal and nationalism devoid of its religious fulcrum.
Brilliant patrobin – thank you!