UC Forum Highlights Diversity in Islam

[The Straight Story]

UC Forum Highlights Diversity in Islam
By JUDITH SCHERR
Special to the Planet (04-26-05)

The practice of Islam, like the practice of other religions, responds to the cultural context of the countries where it takes root. Scholars discussed the many faces of Islam and addressed Islam’s intersection with democracy in a day-long conference, “Democracy and Global Islam,” at UC Berkeley on Friday.
“In a world where people travel and immigrate, we have a marketplace not only of goods but of ideas,” said panelist Oliver Roy, research associate at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris. In many countries, especially where Islam is a minority religion as in China, India and Western Europe, there is a disconnect between the dominant culture and Islam. However, where Islam dominates, as in Afghanistan, “people don’t differentiate between religion and culture,” Roy said.

So in France, where they account for just 5 to 10 percent of the population, Muslims may have difficulty finding halal meat; they may change their dietary practice accordingly. Second generation Muslims may further modify the way they practice Islam.

The issue of whether women wear the veil is a cultural one, one panelist said. It is actually a question of what is considered dressing with modesty in a particular cultural setting.

http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/article.cfm?issue=04-26-05&storyID=21246

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Very good post

I don't pretend to understand or speak for all of Islam. I am an American born Sufi initiate. The post is very right about culture-most American born Sufis I know dress like everyone else-in other words, you couldn't tell we were Sufis just by looking at us. I don't eat pork or drink alcohol, but I didn't do these things before I became an initiate. Sufis in my order sing and dance as part of our worship, which would be frowned upon by other Muslims in other countries-but, interestingly enough, here in the US, Muslim friends who aren't Sufi don't seem to have any problem with this.

[PsychoDad]

2. Sufism and Islam.

There are many shades of Sufism as there are many shades of Islam.

In my limited experance as a muslim convert, I have found that many Muslims practice a varying degree of Sufism in their religious life, often in a form of dikr (zikr), such as the chanting of the names of Allah, chanting of Bismillah, etc.. and most are tolerant of Sufi practices and beliefs, of course, various other groups/sects denounce it, such as the wahabbi school, which itself is a fairly new movement, just as evangelical american christanity is a fairly modern invention of the 1800's.

Personaly, In my humble opinion, as long as one states the shahada and claims to accept the 5 pillars of Islam, they are Muslim. peroid... no matter weither they wish to call themselves Sufi, Sunni, Wahabbi, Shia, whatever, they are still a Sister or Brother in Islam.

And Allah knows best. :)