Excuse Me, Have You Seen Beauty?
February 8, 2006
This book maps out the moderate–puritan divide with astonishing clarity, a product, no doubt of the years the author spent meditating on the subject — in his personal quest for Beauty. El Fadl outlines, very methodically, how distant the puritans are from the moderate, middle way. While the puritans may be shouting the loudest slogans and burning the most flags, it is refreshing to listen to the quiet deliberate voice of a moderate academic who has decided to draw the line in the ‘battleground for faith’.
It is also important to note the author’s background in law, for nothing polarises the moderate and puritan more than the subject of the nature and function of (Islamic) law. While all muslims believe in the centrality of Sharia, the puritans — in their understanding of the law — have given it a bad name. The word ‘Sharia’ now conjures so many negative images in the minds of people that it evokes genuine fear. However, we intuitively know that this should not be the case. Law must be understood before it can be applied in any meaningful way. The goal of law is godliness (not ugliness). When the puritans ignore the jurisprudential tradition, they are turning their backs on the collective effort of 1400 years of scholarship and sophistication. It is no wonder that the ‘law’ they enforce is literalistic and crude, ushering ugliness.
The search for Beauty continues, for that is what HE Loves.
Title: The Great Theft, Wrestling Islam From the Extremists
Author: Khaled Abou El Fadl
You might be interested in these:
- Review of The Search for Beauty in Islam
- Best Reads of 2005
- Conference of Insights
- Good intro to the richness of Islamic thought
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