In 2011 I was invited by Muslims in Britain to think about solving some problems of Islam. I am not an expert in Islam. The language spoken was English. We discussed the need for understanding words in a cultural context which is different from the cultural context in which they were originally used.
An example was “submit”. In the time of Muhammad [pbuh], the normal relationship between people was to submit or be submitted to. Naturally the relation between humans and Allah must be one of submission. However, today, a person to whom someone submits is at fault: a person is not supposed to be submitted to, he is supposed to convince the other. Therefor, instead of translating the Arabic word which is conventionally translated to “submit”, we should translate it to “accept freely and willingly”.
Another example is “fear” of God. Better: “AWE” of God.
Honor [Sharaf?] – is not only in the eyes of the society in which the person acts: an honorable behavior must also be perceived as honorable in the eyes of the beholder, even if he is not Muslim. A person who, in the eyes of others, represents God, must always behave in a way that ALL people think he is a exemplary person, otherwise he causes disgrace to God in the eyes of others.
تحيه طيبه
في بدايه نرسل بتحيه الي حضرتكم ونثمن فيه على دوركم الثقافي الذي يعزز التسامح والاخاء بين الاشقاء ونحن كي شعب فسطيني نؤمن ايمان كامل في تحقيق الاستقلال والحريه الي شعبنا الفلسطيني على حدود 67 والقدس الشرقيه عاصمه دولة فلسطين ولهذا نتطلع الي بناء علاقات طيبه مع حضرتكم ان شاءالله
مع تحيات
سعد خليل
فلسطين/ رام الله
Yeshayahu Hollander
In 2011 I was invited by Muslims in Britain to think about solving some problems of Islam. I am not an expert in Islam. The language spoken was English. We discussed the need for understanding words in a cultural context which is different from the cultural context in which they were originally used.
An example was “submit”. In the time of Muhammad [pbuh], the normal relationship between people was to submit or be submitted to. Naturally the relation between humans and Allah must be one of submission. However, today, a person to whom someone submits is at fault: a person is not supposed to be submitted to, he is supposed to convince the other. Therefor, instead of translating the Arabic word which is conventionally translated to “submit”, we should translate it to “accept freely and willingly”.
Another example is “fear” of God. Better: “AWE” of God.
Honor [Sharaf?] – is not only in the eyes of the society in which the person acts: an honorable behavior must also be perceived as honorable in the eyes of the beholder, even if he is not Muslim. A person who, in the eyes of others, represents God, must always behave in a way that ALL people think he is a exemplary person, otherwise he causes disgrace to God in the eyes of others.
اللجنة العلاقات الفلسطينية العراقية/ فلسطين
الي الاستاذ والاخ/ حامد الشريف…المحترم
تحيه طيبه
في بدايه نرسل بتحيه الي حضرتكم ونثمن فيه على دوركم الثقافي الذي يعزز التسامح والاخاء بين الاشقاء ونحن كي شعب فسطيني نؤمن ايمان كامل في تحقيق الاستقلال والحريه الي شعبنا الفلسطيني على حدود 67 والقدس الشرقيه عاصمه دولة فلسطين ولهذا نتطلع الي بناء علاقات طيبه مع حضرتكم ان شاءالله
مع تحيات
سعد خليل
فلسطين/ رام الله