Reply to Islamic Scholar Hamza Yusuf: Is Reform Possible?

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[quote=Anonymous]I kind of agree with having knowledge of seventh century Arabic.  Christians rely on scholars with knowledge of ancient Greek and Hebrew for determining the meaning of passages in the old and new testaments.  This is not a one time affair but an ongoing effort as most scholarly pursuits are.  new documents are found, archaeology sheds light on passages, and interpretations of what the original meant evolve as scholarship progresses.

But here is the kicker:  These scholars are not necessarily men (or women) who are believers.  And absolutely no one believes they need to be Christians to be qualified to do this work.  There are enough scholars around to debate with them endlessly to keep everyone honest.

There are not that many people with that kind of intimate knowledge of seventh century Arabic to do this work.  But some of those who are are definitely not Muslim scholars.  One is a former professor I had in college.  But he is an American of Hungarian origin and not Muslim.  There is more likely than not several Jesuits who would also be qualified.

I like the idea of renovation, but if Muslims really want to do this well, they need to include these sorts of people in the linguistic analysis.  If the Islamic renovation movement were open to this, I would have much higher hopes for it.  All too often I've heard Muslims say only a Muslim can teach Islam--even super basic Islam for kindergartners.  This is nonsense.  I am a Christian and took a class on Jesus and his times or something like that from a Jewish professor who did a fine scholarly job. [/quote]

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