The Daily Tar Heel
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893.
Thursday, March 28, 2024 Newsletters Latest print issue

We keep you informed.

Help us keep going. Donate Today.
The Daily Tar Heel

Speaker Defends Quran's Passages

Muslims strive for more understanding

"We need to have uppermost in our minds the search for truth instead of feelings and emotions," said renowned Islamic scholar Jamal Badawi from St. Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to the mostly Muslim group gathered in the Union Auditorium. "Of course it assumed greater importance after the tragic events of 9/11."

The speech comes on the heels of a controversy surrounding this year's summer reading program, in which incoming freshmen were supposed to read a book featuring excerpts from the Quran.

Badawi said that when interpreting Quran passages, the media, leaders of other religions and scholars often disregard a section's context, other related texts or the time period in which it was written.

He said many Muslims do not even understand the Quran, which he said was shown in the events of Sept. 11 and a more recent case regarding the capital trial of a Nigerian woman convicted of adultery. "The very term Islam itself comes from the Arabic root 'SLM,' which means peace and submission."

The idea of a holy war, or jihad, that the Quran commands Muslims to fight is also a myth, Badawi said. Religious differences are accepted by Islam, which professes that final judgment will be made by Allah, the one supreme god, he said.

"Nowhere in the entire Quran is there any foundation for the so-called holy war," Badawi said. "Nowhere in the entire Quran is there any foundation for a Muslim to fight another person based solely on religion."

Badawi said many of the misinterpreted Quran passages about holy war were written while Muslims were suffering heavy persecution and had to fight for their beliefs. Even then, the Muslim warriors would spare people who promised not to aid the enemy, he said.

"Unfortunately, people are still quoting these passages 1,400 years later, saying you should fight," he said.

Escalating problems between Muslims and Jews in the Middle East have led many people to believe that religion is a common basis for holy war in the Islamic faith, Badawi said.

But in the Quran, he said, Jews and Christians are respected as "people of the book" because they all share similar religious roots. "If you look at the totality of history, you will see more peace between Israelis and Muslims than with many other faiths."

Senior Sarah Khanani said she wished more non-Muslims had been at the speech to see Badawi's views. Intolerance of Islam can only be defeated by the spread of accurate information, she said. "People just believe what they hear. If you hear someone on CNN saying it, you're more likely to believe it."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.

To get the day's news and headlines in your inbox each morning, sign up for our email newsletters.

Special Print Edition
The Daily Tar Heel's Collaborative Mental Health Edition