During Muhammad's last speech that was heard by thousands of people, for which he said to be retold to those who couldn't hear, it was said - among some other nice things, such is the equality and partnership of a man and a woman - that no Arab is better than a non-Arab, neither is a non-Arab better than an Arab in religion (of Islam).
I was thinking about its meaning.
What ways can an Arab be better at all? Why did Muhammad chose to say those words in his last public speech, the largest speech he ever had?
I think that the sentences from this particular speech deserve more attention than any other narration (hadeeth).
This one, about nationality not being important is interesting and important for understanding religion.
We must know that Arabs can speak Arabic. Isn't that an advantage for them in terms of understanding the Qur'an?
Well, according to Qur'an - and this particular narration - it isn't.
It is said in the Qur'an: 49:14
"The bedouins say, "We have believed." Say, "You have not [yet] believed; but say [instead], 'We have submitted,' for faith has not yet entered your hearts"
However, in today's world, where the community means a lot more than belonging to a tribe, or living in a group of settlements, having faith should mean more. Especially with all the knowledge available to us today, knowledge about the universe, the depths of oceans, biodiversity, and all the nature basically.
Should we really rely upon what Arabs have to say about Islam? Not at all.
Muhammad, our prophet had told us not to.
However, this doesn't mean that we should take from other today's Muslim nations. Because, most of them, like Malaysia, is denying its own tradition and understanding of Islam, and is leaning towards the Arab version. Medina students are taught to propagate the Arab version.
I think that we should try to draw a thick line to distinguish what of the religion is Arabigion, and what is truly spirituality.
I think that whatever is related to geography, like: times of prayers, flora and fauna, length of day, climate, the path of the moon, weather, - should be completely ignored in religion (of Islam). Based on the narration of our prophet, proven to be sensible by the verse from the Recitation, that Arabs have got NO advantage over non-Arabs in terms of religion and piousness.
I think we should all reconsider things that are related to geography, as explained above. Furthermore, things that are related to the age of the beginning of the Recitation (7th century) combined with the location (Arabia, so; 7th century Arabia) should be reconsidered, or completely ignored when forming a religion and spirituality. That means, transportation, clothing, diet, food resources, language, tools, weapons, neighbouring nations and inventions, usable inventions (compared to inventions of Eskimos, for example), knowledge of continents, knowledge of chemistry, physics, astrophysics, approximation of the world's population, knowledge of diversity of cultures and customs, knowledge of customs influenced by the length of the day (In Norway, winter has very short days, and it's very cold, in summer, it has really long days, and ... well, it's not very hot, but the day never ends.)
My point is that the "rules" of Islam rooted in the prophetic narrations are to be disregarded as obligatory when these factors are considered. Those are to be only culturally observed. Things that are not influenced by whether and age or geography, like killing somebody, should stay considered for religious thought.
Another story is spiritual part of the religion, and I will not cover it here. But just liberation from the geography/age-based dogma should enable the Muslims to make a first step towards the spiritual side of the religion of ours.
I was thinking about its meaning.
What ways can an Arab be better at all? Why did Muhammad chose to say those words in his last public speech, the largest speech he ever had?
I think that the sentences from this particular speech deserve more attention than any other narration (hadeeth).
This one, about nationality not being important is interesting and important for understanding religion.
We must know that Arabs can speak Arabic. Isn't that an advantage for them in terms of understanding the Qur'an?
Well, according to Qur'an - and this particular narration - it isn't.
It is said in the Qur'an: 49:14
"The bedouins say, "We have believed." Say, "You have not [yet] believed; but say [instead], 'We have submitted,' for faith has not yet entered your hearts"
However, in today's world, where the community means a lot more than belonging to a tribe, or living in a group of settlements, having faith should mean more. Especially with all the knowledge available to us today, knowledge about the universe, the depths of oceans, biodiversity, and all the nature basically.
Should we really rely upon what Arabs have to say about Islam? Not at all.
Muhammad, our prophet had told us not to.
However, this doesn't mean that we should take from other today's Muslim nations. Because, most of them, like Malaysia, is denying its own tradition and understanding of Islam, and is leaning towards the Arab version. Medina students are taught to propagate the Arab version.
I think that we should try to draw a thick line to distinguish what of the religion is Arabigion, and what is truly spirituality.
I think that whatever is related to geography, like: times of prayers, flora and fauna, length of day, climate, the path of the moon, weather, - should be completely ignored in religion (of Islam). Based on the narration of our prophet, proven to be sensible by the verse from the Recitation, that Arabs have got NO advantage over non-Arabs in terms of religion and piousness.
I think we should all reconsider things that are related to geography, as explained above. Furthermore, things that are related to the age of the beginning of the Recitation (7th century) combined with the location (Arabia, so; 7th century Arabia) should be reconsidered, or completely ignored when forming a religion and spirituality. That means, transportation, clothing, diet, food resources, language, tools, weapons, neighbouring nations and inventions, usable inventions (compared to inventions of Eskimos, for example), knowledge of continents, knowledge of chemistry, physics, astrophysics, approximation of the world's population, knowledge of diversity of cultures and customs, knowledge of customs influenced by the length of the day (In Norway, winter has very short days, and it's very cold, in summer, it has really long days, and ... well, it's not very hot, but the day never ends.)
My point is that the "rules" of Islam rooted in the prophetic narrations are to be disregarded as obligatory when these factors are considered. Those are to be only culturally observed. Things that are not influenced by whether and age or geography, like killing somebody, should stay considered for religious thought.
Another story is spiritual part of the religion, and I will not cover it here. But just liberation from the geography/age-based dogma should enable the Muslims to make a first step towards the spiritual side of the religion of ours.
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