M A C V A Y S I A

Recently Marina asked me if I’d take part in a little initiative she and a few other bloggers have put together to promote understanding — or at least the basic beginnings of a shadow of a basic understanding — of Islam’s holy book, the Qur’an. Sounds good to me.

Many people, the wise and the not-so-wise, have read the Qur’an over the years, endeavours which have led to both keen insights and also terrible misunderstandings. The latter often result in the Qur’an and its message being taken completely out of context and misused by both Muslims (to justify their efforts to create a ‘perfect’ Islamic society) and non-Muslims (to justify their efforts to destroy Islam). There are plenty of verses in the Qur’an that are used by both sides. In fact, there’s a lot of potential for confusion when reading the Qur’an, because it’s both context-specific and timeless, both dense and simple. A hundred people could read it and come away with a hundred different understandings of it. 

There are also many different perspectives on the very idea of reading the Qur’an, ranging from “The scholars have read it and understand it better than everyone else so trust everything they say and ignore the rest,” to “Go ahead, read it and make up your own mind.” Whether you subscribe to one of these opinions, or something in between — and whether you consider yourself a true believer or a crusader against Islam or something in between — I think we can all agree that a thorough reading of the Qur’an (despite the inevitable confusion that will result anyway) is a necessary starting point for any decent argument. 

So let’s read the Qur’an, shall we? 

Here’s the text all participating blogs are currently displaying:

 

On January 1^st 2009, four friends Syed, Walski, Marina and Anas got together at Coffee-Bean Bangsar Village and decided to launch a campaign to encourage people to read and understand the Quran better. 

 

This campaign is not only for Muslims, but also for our brothers and sisters who are Christians, Buddhists Hindus, Sikhs and  those who believes in a God-Head but not so gung-ho about being in any brand of religion, too – come join us and share your ideas! You can join this campaign even if you are an atheist! 

 

The goal of this campaign is to encourage people to read the Quran in the language they understand most and find in it areas of common values in our day to day living.

 

What is the Campaign all about?

Read the Quran in the language that you are familiar with.

 

When will the campaign start and end?

January 15^th to February 14^th (Happy Valentine’s Day!)

 

Where?

Participating blogs in the blogospheres.

 

Why?

So more people know what the Quran says and what the Quran does not say and to match it to what is really said in our daily lives.

 

Who?

Everyone who wants to – the more the merrier! If you have a Blog, Facebook, etc carry the logo/icon.

 

How?

-          To join the campaign, place the accompanying logo/icon at your blog.

-           Write or share short articles based on the Quranic text.

-          Share what you find in the Quran with family and friends.

-          Ask questions about the Quranic message

-          Read the Quran – eg click here http://www.islamicity.com/QuranSearch , www.altafsir.com

 

Peace and Thanks,

 

Marina Mahathir

Syed Akbar Ali

Walski, and,

Anas Zubedy

 

Participating Blogs

 

1.        3540 Jalan Sudin                   http://www.nursamad.blogspot.com/

2.        Anas Zubedy:                          http://letusaddvalue.blogspot.com

3.        ARTiculations:                                     http://art-harun.blogspot.com/

4.        Being Human in the World:  http://www.peru.name/writing

5.        Cowboy Malaysia:                  http://cowboymalaysia.wordpress.com

6.        Disquiet:                                  http://malikimtiaz.blogspot.com

7.        Jebat Must Die:                       http://jebatmustdie.wordpress.com/

8.        Lunch at the Lake Club:        http://lunchatthelakeclub.blogspot.com

9.        MACVAYSIA:                          http://macvaysia.com

10.     myAsylum:                               http://asylum60.blogspot.com

11.     O.B.E.                                        http://shar101.wordpress.com/

12.     OutSyed The Box:                  http://syedsoutsidethebox.blogspot.com

13.     Poetic Justice:                         http://nizambashir.com/

14.     Rantings by MM:                     http://rantingsbymm.blogspot.com

15.     Rapera:                                     http://jahaberdeen.blogspot.com/

16.     Renovatio:                                http://stephendoss.blogspot.com

17.     Rocky’s Bru:                             http://rockybru.com.my/

18.     Write Away:                              http://elviza.wordpress.com/

19.     Writing By Amir:                      http://amirmu.blogspot.com/

Tagged: Islam, Qur'an, Religion