October 30, 2002
Democratic culture and extremist Islam
This may could answer of Dita's comment on my previous posting. Yes, from many of Islam praying, and its laws, there're generally could say Islam stand behind individualism rather than under state law. Even, as far as I know, the top of Islamic spirituality is likely came from self-experience spirituality, which also said in another term to be mystical spirituality, sufism or thasawwuf practises. Plese note to correct me if I'm wrong by this statement. If you want to know more about this, i think you should try to search it on Google by these terms.
Are Islam and democracy incompatible? The evolution of a radical Turkish Islamic group in Germany suggests that the pursuit of ‘fundamentalist’ goals can itself create the space for a rational appraisal of tradition. By seeking truth in origin and scripture rather than history, successive generations of Islamists may be drawn – even despite themselves – towards a more flexible commitment to a network society of social individuals. This may not yet be democracy; but it is reformation.
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The Islamic vision of the network society also has consequences for theological argument about the nature of the self in the Islamic order. Islam emphasises the divinity (and thereby the social nature) of man. Nefis is the principle of desire and egotism, but also of autonomy, which causes him to forget his divinity and social nature. In Islam, the idea of true self-discovery can be understood in terms of self-surrender.This idea can be spelt out in mystical terms or in terms of ethical rules. The mystical idea is more easily accessible, because it connects to widely familiar experiences. In the act of love, always the model for the mystical finding of self, one experiences oneself most intensely (and only then) in forgetting oneself, by disappearing into or merging with the other. Surrendering oneself does not, therefore, mean denial of fullness of being – on the contrary.
Also: Where is Islam going?: responses to Werner Schiffauer
Posted at October 30, 2002 05:08 AM | Perspective
