Seyyed Hossein Nasr - "Sunnism and Shi'ism: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow"

okay begin in the name of God Muslims on traditional Christian levels begin everything begins with a man as with them I was invited to give the beautiful Moorea lecture this seminary where I first lecture over 40 years ago which are no well I was very glad to accept but this was a matter of great honor and scholarship who made the greatest contributions related to Muslim Christian understanding of a sudden there's respect and after this resolution began as a missionary school together Islam the people I surrender and so forth they transform itself into one of the major centers for the understanding Islam and has remained so thanks to the first of the Jenny Smith my dear friend number other scholars Ravi who died personally unfortunately and many others who contribute over the years and others among men who've spent in the last part of the scholarly career in the seminary I wish them all well and I think they know further than anybody else how important the task of creating better understanding that in Islamic Christianity is about Muslim Christians non-muslims and non-christians and also don't believe in anything is important for all of humanity whatever has to deliver this lecture on purpose I chose a rather wide theme remember the Sunnah hard work of the very great German Orientalists called helmet Ritter and they say was writing his last great masterpiece of Islamic studies that are written major works on Sufism strong and stoic philosophers overall awaiting it and the book came out would only spoke that only Germans who write a thousand pages both sentences in Arabic hundred gerund is to send us about trivia trivia trivia I thought that we should live our life when instead of giving the lecture a simple sentence of mobile support so after which I don't remember years to now turn house over 50 years of study meditation work and travel and meeting of people to speak about some larger things which bring together their remarkable opportunities which God has provided in my life to study Islam but other religions and many different levels and so I chose the subject is very very difficult to speak up that is solely the mushiya and have only today but yesterday today or tomorrow and to bring our something of the significance of the subject for our world today then begin by just a few definitions because the poignancy is comprised of both were known scholars and advanced students and those who perhaps would do not know much about the subject and every morning to open up the New York Times the worst one is that adjacent there somewhere or somebody have put a bomb to kill the flu Shiites and Pakistan of the next day somebody put a bomb to give a few Sundays so they have heard of these terms although in very unfortunate circumstances not only perhaps are aware when these two words come from they review very much the context a perspective that each follows within the totality of Islamic orthodoxy and I used that term carefully the work that Sunnis them of course means those who follow the tradition of the Prophet and assume that which are now in Arabic and the word Shiism his nose who are the partisans of their blasted apartments and draw that she alcoholic and in those word were partisans of any a term which the Prophet himself used in his own lifetime the number of haha who were very close associates I so both soon as the machines don't go back to the are generous lammeter terminology but they were not used in this way until the century or two later but if you did not meet in the streets of Medina or the Prophet of Islam Islam was walking around a set of establishing a business area essentially that exists but the reality of mental crystallize into at least two different aspects of Islam has roots actually in the Quranic revelation and in this inner being and the Prophet himself and the inner being and Prophet himself they were already you might say the spiritual rules over a molecular Imam of an ally under Ottoman they were all within the soul of the Prophet what we were rather that manifested themselves as his most important companions were family and so forth so the term is not a new term I should not be confused the catholicism and protestantism processes that came 1,500 years after the foundation of Christianity and she said did not come 1500 years or even five years after soon as a mission began together from the crater an origin of the Islamic revelation said ibly Chisholm has always remained a minority religion reflecting the very moment of the death of the Prophet that is when the Prophet died here in the Jordan the community went to wash them bury him and Hamas would not be threatened by the Saudi area not written to be destroyed but let's hope they don't make fun of those or than they have on this doesn't happen I'm taking every opportunity possible as a Muslim of here I can't sleep I'd like the things that read that might be happening to the tomb of the Prophet and the muscle of property Medina they saw it saw the koshmar of the fence a terrible nightmare which you'll see we shall see but then while they were busy trying to bury him there a small number very small number of people assembled around Ali and the numbers were not ever the same especially the people when then to the hall where there was the first show our first meeting of Muslims who decide to adversity the prophet and Ali on a few people of the family remained to finish the burial ceremony and they were not participating that very very important event we determined everything later on Islamic history to our own day practically so she will always remain a minority religion and to this day about 15 percent of Muslims for she writes 85% of swimmies and service M is the largest single minority of the majority religion in the world as a very very important fact understand Islam we must understand if you take Buddhism Christianity Hinduism and talk about the major interpretations that say Mahayana Mahayana Theravada schools of Buddhism or catholicism protestantism orthodoxy or talk about Shibata mr. Biden reserve Hinduism there's no single school such a large majority domination numerically a Sunni Islam as illness in Islam and yet and yet look at the central lands it was wrong that is from Egypt to the Punjab in that lambda there's much greater equity or they're not majority of between Sunnis and Shiites and the two have played a very important dynamic duo you might sell role throughout Islamic history it's also very important to realize that as soon as the machines are not static division within Islam I always give this examined city of Tripoli whether it was fighting just yesterday just yesterday they were killed in northern Lebanon in what is called another lasers was the Shiar Center whereas today is a completely sunny Center the coming of the Crusaders the defeat of the Muslims in hand of the Crusaders in many countries such as Syria emerge to the Jordan and Palestine and so forth changed also allegiances from seven monkeys - and to Sudanese an ambassador so many events like that have occurred so the dynamic relationship between the two much more so than let's say the presence of process metropolitan France sister rise across where the from the family to the novice down we have a small French apart from America that's more or less permanent invisibly their capital majorities are very important with you to understand and that would determine corrode respect the dynamic of the relationship between the two in the future as well as what happened in the past not with the claim that the two subjects which are the most greatest importantly the two most important subjects or problems facing the slavic world today and indirectly the rest of the world as big as is affected by these two themes of four subjects one of them is of course the interaction in this long form of the west and modernist into each other not local the second is allegedly the study's initiation within Islamic world this would not have been so important politically had not the West discovered it as a very important means a manipulated situation in this one world if you live with the history of British colonialism going back to the nineteenth century and the manipulation of study Shiite differences you will see how this has has a long long history and what is going on Iraq right now has a history that goes back a long time and which is not all to be put at the foot of the Muslims themselves and Muslims gave a wonderful excuse for those who wanted to dominate over them to make take advantage of the what would actually be a decision between the two communities and peel them to read backwards which is totally false today there is no country where see I said the Achilles in Pakistan killing each other except for Iraq with this alibi that is doing it because Wahhabism is based actually he'd have season and certain foods and that's his mom I diverted the foundation but putting the rock Assad is no country like Pakistan and people said was always like that which is totally false the founder of Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah was picture hangs in every office in Pakistan whether in Lahore clarity or Stalin everywhere else was of course an attack year before we Marcia and so was the first Prime Minister of Pakistan via telephone and nobody ever thought of this questions of 4050 years ago the very first dear honor ambassador to Pakistan both my uncle said that in US and when Gina people allege the country running to spend the state our family home Assam the group's early ministers nobody said our u.s. certainly or Shiite and Auggie to send our new room nobody talked about these matters this is not something which had deep stall groups but then system provided excuse for what we see today that is the most powerful force for having Muslims at each other's throat and now you see the worst example of it is Syria which is something when the greatest tragedies of our times I don't know who's making class where these tragedies but whatever it is is absolute suicide you will see one day where I say tonight for the people in the West were behind the scene for Syrian people but again please the question of Halloween and Sundays and what hobbies and Serapis and soberness or right to the fourth whereas in fact this was not the case in Syria all the time at all for centuries she likes to live together 11 in the same way the hardest 500 families our families where the husband is certainly the widest tiger the husband is Jared wife Estonia so over the soil nobody even thought of this division that you see before you now so the situation this question becomes now of paramount importance not only because of itself but the court was manipulation by global powers as no other force of manipulated within the stomach world as no other person manipulated so let's try to understand the little ellipsis I said yesterday today and tomorrow s begin with yesterday the great British story the toilet harbor for a long time Sam Hamilton gift from the greatest english-speaking story and that this part of the world reproduce of Islamic history once said that everything in Islamic history our own day I was in the 1950s when he said they've been determined by the Battle of Satine everything is there how come about our safety let me just start with this famous statement made by Western Orientals not by Muslims Oliver I think quite a cogent observation I don't want to go into the details of how the boxing ring came about but I've been very quickly and the death of the Prophet I'll go back the kid in the first kailath the small number of people thought that Ali's Whitaker competed but Ali himself accepted Abu Bakr insulted by them and with a lot of modesty I'd say it's not true some preachers go and say curse Abu Bakkar this not at all the historic bullets on the side of the coin of what I was calling the Shiites robbery or something like that and then two other Cade escape of course Oh mah mah and then Ali himself who shares considered it succeeded the Prophet became kailath but that this world can it was not accepted what are the relatives at the third period of mine who was a very very shrewd and very remarkable elite military leader are we have our dia who was then governor of Damascus Syria and I need establishes rule of Islamic world fought the Battle City and a battleground to present a Syria and Iraq against mafia and that was a determining battle because all the Irish Army had one mafia loosely rules trick and had his only come out with or rather the glasses and said that of Iran decide between us and so I accepted and say oh the joke Coulomb obvious and chat Winston Churchill as our traitor and Alison a cent to the from his side bascially and of course the other side lost and number Muslim believed that this was not the way to go an assassin in the rally and they wanted to assassinate Mario but my within dark it was kind of cold that they go so this is over the whole course of Islamic history the Caliphate there Russia don't return end the nuclear target Caliphate was very fairy and if the kind of Islamic kingship began was never accepted by Shiites and lasted of course for several centuries and did the Mongol invasion and then other forms of government came to power so the origin of a sort of contention a house not a political dimension from the very beginning but it was not only political as one of the things that must be understood if we understand more deeply what's going on today will be gone tomorrow but many do you renounce every book that the division between Sunnis and chefs came about on the question of who should succeed the Prophet that's not at all the case the vision was what are the qualifications of the person who supports us receive the product that's the question whether they differ so to believe that the problems has come to an end presidency sees the Prophet must fulfill his functions as the ruler of Islamic community to guard the borders to preserve the law to preserve least this is how classical works certainly political theory going back to Bo Bardi the early sources or as the chefs believe that you had to have both knowledge and had to be inerrant masoom you had to be sinless a condition which is not fulfilled by ordinary human beings all of us have been touched by the wing of sin as they say so this was a very different conception that we should succeed the Prophet but of course the Sunnis agreed the shots that all prophets work inherent but as to call a warrior in era there was some different theological differences of the novel between novels very complicated matter start with this legend but it was very important that the Sunnis did not connect this attribute with the successors of the Prophet in fact the tinglies would not he was supposed to be read experts in Islamic law that's why the power gamma remain independent of that of a Caliphate whereas the Shiites believe the evil wolf of the song community should be not strong at the same time should be Lerner the law and if you learn in the inner of Sciences in their Zotero Sciences and spiritual sciences and so two different conceptions were there at the beginning who is not the question whether the person's name should be a boo by her ally that's incidental to the conditions set for being the leader of the Islamic community and the term itself was used the term leader in very different ways the Muslims in general will determine either at the Arabic word Imam which means come from a mama in Arabic which means to stand before to stand in front of you or in the work the amount of mosques in Hartford and so forth but issues in Qingdao a very special meaning of being related to dysfunction Aveda idea rule of islamic community which was fulfilled only once we are gonna have your calculator pally and which will not come about until the appearance of the vimana matter mister view of god Marcis despite it is believed that their Emmaus continued on earth and came out underground said not I never got a call that they are hidden from view and they come up with the Fatima's in Egypt and Tunisia and they approved with one out centuries and still wrong but the total marks believe that ideal rule occurred only was for a few years amid Nanak Paragon every form of government is actually imperfect this is one of the major theological problems especially around today this is one very very major problems great all of our Bera have discussed this is an issue which Arturo how many had to address when he brought out the doctrine of the valley which is all of which the consequence of this way of looking at a government except they do interpretation of the which never existed earlier and shared history be anyone to cut the story short from this difference of view of who the rule should be developed the majority community which put the quality of inerrancy in the community itself there is no religion which does not have a criterion or the protection of the the stock Catholicism weather talk about the authority of the Pope when he speaks as a vendor of the traditional Catholic sweetness now whatever said everything doesn't matter anymore but for centuries Hindus in the same way with no same way in every religion there must be some guarantee of authenticity and inerrancy of written authority now the question was beautiful our dress is how did the discerning solvers the song resolve this on the basis of medieval profit but my community shall never agree upon earth so so now that jihad the word jihad employs majority community goes back to this that is God guaranteed that the Islamic invisible would never agree on her through the errors and ever not the community as a whole so let's just this inerrancy resided in the leader for the son is a result and the community but the idea was always there is not say that we will not find any single religion that survives historically without some kind of a guarantee of inerrancy continuation of authority that's authentic otherwise justice to transform ourselves of what day and nothing really left obviously anyway on the base of this the dynamics of early Islamic history place I currently do Street but oh my god they're very very much against the family of a league and as we know just a few days ago inside of the death of the son of a B+ nollie in Kerala which was I was astounded to see was celebrated by a hundred thousand Nigerians for the first time I was absolutely stunned it was an symbol shot in Nigeria in the 1950s on earth where they came from but as in Egypt of course are enough to talk about Iran Pakistan India you know the biggest operatic Theatre Centre in the world is in Lucknow where had Natasia the traditional past errors related mostly to the death of saying I came to the year sixty one of them is relative the market profit which insists crystallized crystallized more than any other event the opposition of the miles with hamburger alley and the opposition are the followers of Ali to the oh my god and other there are other approaches and most are others and find that the marks of the maggots with the help our people but sure probablility although they did not choose a shared among they went first to amongst ourselves a shared among the members are in medina he refused to accept the culprit but in a very famous sentence he said this campaign is not a campaign this time is done art art and he rejected that the only one cousin a busted branch and they chose one of them's a teen who became the founder of our said color with a second major calorie which was more Pro she I not completely Pro sure but less anti scared included under my ass I'm gradually developed about the third or fourth Islamic century you became a major force now very different than the situation in Iran today many Iran officially nationalists make the grave mistake of thinking that Shiism is a kind of part of the Iranian character your honor and pleasure is all purple nonsense from a point about scholarship I've been investigated direct in Tehran for saying this but were say nevertheless because at that time Iran was solidly swimming centers from the semaphore Assad as for all the great allama mithoon scholars of hadith Ojai Muslim Germany they all came in return what is the Iran Afghanistan Central Asia and those areas are as green which is a little dislike within Iran but one of the great scholar and equals an are they all came from this region for example Ross womenís so many of the scholars have silica body and so what I saw on so it wasn't that person with Shiites are were so nice this is totally totally false in the fourth century we look at the map from very different Syria and Egypt with the centers of faith and to some extent yenna where the center of soon ISM was perfect and this peripheral reaches more of a regions there was a mixture in South Kona India a stronger than sweating and graduated in India there was a beginning of the spread and swamp and in North Africa there was very little presence of shiism seven were local condition that arose once or twice in Algeria and Tunisia but they're minor so interpreter service that was in the central region of the Islamic world between Egypt and the Punjab as I already said but not the way to look at it today I said Persia Iran suddenly swimming within the whole promise of Gaza the great fossa which embraces president Persia of Khorasan western Afghanistan and southern Central Asia that the great forest I'm going all over Mahara seriously our summer Saldivar with majority shield once town nation who rules all the great classical cities the complete extermination chefs living here but it was not what we have today so this continued to the moment period moment equation destroyed the power political power of citizen Paulo could feel the last apostle kailath and the solution of acalypha came to an end and then senator Porter stood up took place but the grass a mulatto rejected embraced Islam and his 12 she art form he formed the conference who was sending Iran to which invited Christians Jews sir Australians and Muslims both Sunni and Shiite to discuss the relation instead listen to all of our arguments are going to choose what are his most listened to me and a llama clearly stood and not necessarily to see presented the totem on shyah shyah protected against of the moment of our undead and became shot so that caused the changes gradually to take place and also the sufi orders played a very very important role in this intermittent state in which that central authority had been destroyed by the Mongol invasion an institutional destroyed the orders were offered the bridge not always always offering bridge to solution is chasing some of them were staunchly anti-shia at the national India were Persian and to share came later others logistics played a very important role and especially the new battery or their people as a bridge between the two anyway gradually situation began to change in the 13th century as a result of this monumental event took place and then the Ottomans happiest established the powerful Empire the Ottoman Empire and incorporated a large number of shares and then probably with a shared population until a number of Turks got Persian ships in the eastern Anatolia region an occasion began to rise against the panic is Felicia the Ottoman Empire and there were the vessel Bosch and members of the salami or their border Foreman's just that they didn't have to be deep with their individual city in Iran next to the capital C and the founder in order and as both the Sufi order I share should be ordered took over Persia charge my personally 13 years old and horseback unless denominator either held at the army the capture Theresa after the capture the whole of Persia and we got too powerful and Mars the Ottomans the most part of our world attack that was swimming and they summer is the largest in order to protect Iran from the Turks adopted she is known as official the country first unleash Islam 900 years after the founding of Islam she then became the official religion of Persia and within a 50 year period there was the two sides sort of once I pressed its sure population once at the Sunni population some migrated some appealed and for all kind of things took place but within a century this years of Turkey have gone underground as a Louise they always have president turkey major problem for Turkey not a major problem there were the remnants of the Shiites of Turkey world after Soviets came to power and in Persia some of the leading thinkers migrated to India which is left others because of this remaining 10% of Persia is Sunni today 90% is sure so the whole climate change and the hard country is also the dynamic change somewhat Iraq which had been part of a personal part was taken over with Ottomans and here on earth were never able to recapture it politically but it was religious right in the center of shared learning a tremendous enter shikari okay and also today before the American asking about the questions she r77 in Agra I was astounded that no one was making decision about the lives of millions of people hundred foggiest idea how their religious structure Muraki my knowledge of Swahili literature was about this is absolutely practically nothing as I said the thickness is bad there's one thing worse than again this applied in assembly that applied science causes pollution sighs to self is enjoyed applied rigorously the worst of all things but anyway we had this fella within several Arab countries Yemen absolutely have shared Aurora majority she I cannot rule West Indies and this will continue until Saddam Hussein and fall of Saddam Hussein Mendte a new leader for centuries of repression of a majority all these zillions of dollars being surrendered all we think times in Washington while working her aware of is why we I mean what is going on why I was so ignorant this intentional ignorance is the worst thing in the world and it's terrible when you happen to know something who really suffer happier the ignorant to what whole life you know walking like that Louis very now but we really know what's going on it's very very extremely thankful I've had the reverse honor of being in this position many times in my life and I still am but I stand here right before you now I could see that their love was going to have in Syria and everybody just headlong into a major catastrophe all the way from Turkey Jordan on to the United States the United States and I'm not sure they till they have a bar that state in the North instead of the party but without anyone to get their stuff so and then have the last part of the stomach world in India as Indian Islam it was from the very beginning is a remarkable presence of both Sunnis and Shia majority certainly but very large she met minorities the moguls established a great Empire in the north it certainly is Kentucky the Batman needs Indicom which is 12 among shared and the mobile never able to take over the Batman is in many of the cities Lahore and the Gujarat sin they're always both populations and the dynamic evolution is realism issues in India Pakistan itself is a very very different story very interesting story much less so and what became East Pakistan returned to the Bangladesh there weren't many shares there so the dynamic a circular system plays out in history in a very very complicated manner over the vast area that excluded the two extremities of the story that is Shiism is not consequential Southeast Asia in the Malay world it's only beginning now in Malaysia have been back the government banned any talk of chief America when it comes to powers that was changed for the moment situation our contacts and the students of mine have major professors in Malaysia a lot of contact with him covers various realities but Indonesia Celinda tender Chapelle the doors opened there's not a major Shia community in Georgia Carta and in Jakarta itself so there's some fear presence is very very minor conduct or negative people here 200,000 shares over it's a very small Mart and at the other end of the Slavic world from Tripoli or even Benghazi quest she does not play a role Satan 8000 she's hidden in the form of the love of the family of the Prophet is for example very strong in a Moroccan monarchy which Kings are descendants of the Prophet and major shot celebration like a shoelace or firm are held in North Africa as well but then we have a very very complicated dynamic which continues to our own day on which over the course began to be affected ever since in the 19th century especially British agents the northwestern provinces northern India began to for a play and it played with these ideas and unfortunately outside of the 20th century of course the United States and some extent Russia were part of the stomach world now feel this is the historical part and of course I don't have time to go into everything but one also to save word clarify things on the theological relationship between socialism and she is certainly shiism must not be judged according to what Salafis and hobbies right garage they were really bad service them welcome is a solid ISM are not Orthodox tradition did not traditional Ferguson there are a particularly development within traditional Silesia if I get very little an English doctor does your son ISM it's a very very straightening nothing the first series will ever the Camaro a system was a good food was commissioned in Iran by an American scholar Kenneth crack to Parliament about the way had wanted me to supervise director the famous will share that Islam if you can share this domicile taught in many universities the published in towns of all my trusted myself into English under our longest direction of what it did non-english for the person that had written the over complain another more books and she's under socialism if I want to start a book to my students to read about traditional citizen itself might have you where we go that was our interests and there are books written by the Salafi from modernist order a whole library or the ship full of books written by them but that's not traditional stone isn't that's a very very important point to realize what I'm interested is in a relation between traditional Sunnism and she recently the similarity in two perspectives is much greater much much greater than the similarity between Protestant Catholic Christianity much much better first of all the three fundamental principles of Islam to heal Nabokov our heart that is unity unity of God the institution prophecy as far as probable Oh God and our eschatology our returned back to God which also determines our life in this world of moral actions the consequence of how we live and all of those I incorporated that are held together between some internships it is a cardinal to alcohol the question of divine justice most families interpret as being so extrinsic to God because she always has been intrinsic to the divine nature that is the word best or other which in having his justice is considered by many greats from a theologian as being a name of God many shut the water they said God is not only just he is justice that justice has identified the divine nature now that's a very subtle metaphysical theological difference but nevertheless I'm trying to point out there are some differences the question of the Sharia 90% of all more than 95 percent of all the Karma judge to the Sharia are shared or citizenship I mean the major acts daily prayers fasting the rest relax Hajj and so forth are the same there are small differences which are no more than difference between high school story love there is none so holy schnikes say the prayers of standing like this my mother of always to stand like this then he can pray for to Casablanca where everybody's not icky and they stand like this so if there are some small differences but they're no greater the question inheritance is like that there are very small differences that are technical but by and large the general understanding of our law how it works in everyday life the principles of the religion verse 11 and 14 are very very close there is the question of about one minute for some reason the extra heart that is giving front review on matters of law based on the principles of law came to an end about a thousand years ago about the gate that extra-hard was closed that many reformers so problem occurred reformers in the stomach wall have tried to open up a store or in the last century systemic Anwar spoke about them in 1850 60s and since then many many other people insured Islam that must always be a living much better in order for the integration of Islamic law to be accepted said the very other extreme as you have to follow and live in much life so the gate that which God has always been opened and this is one of the points that many of the most influential and profound suddenly Jew little finger than the last century have tried to study and try to apply to citizen so there's also no interaction going on between them when the difference comes the major downside is this question of authority and authority over what if you add a super center should needs to December and shariati was the logical solution is very closely share position but the order is shown in position speaks of maloca of the Prophet and then the function of the ha'la'tha his successors for this västerås who do not share in either the power of spiritual direction or interpretation of the law or anything like that there's the rules I get according to the law the function of the Calif is not to make to interpret the law is that they might be family on the side it's to promulgate the law now before she eyes I said there's also an achene ^ novo by para Mariah this work is very very difficult to translate into English which can be pronounced as Ayodhya and wilayah both of them are correct the government to our different Arabic words I want to get to semantics here but it could be called the power of initiation power of guidance all kinds of things and the term that was quite quite enough for many evaluated fabric the rule of the jurisprudence which the foundation of the presentation are transferred that word of course much greater meaning as to do with word Millea which is st. without so and Islam and only are the sense of God as the process it's a very very rich term but the power of functional R'lyeh must always be present also was know what what comes to an end it is not true as some people have said that it shares do not believe that the prophets was the last problems he was the other processor but they believe that after prophet the power over came to an end but the power of elijah continued and continues today and will continue to the end of the world there is no temporal end to the power of the light as many which means first of all there always be a witness on earth of god's presence for the Son of God I was president that this power of darkness will always be there who will never be terminated the government never through his mercy bring this to an end there are many many other things that follow from now one last point without the siblings to the dementia Zamunda stopped not all schools of swimmers Emma - correct schools became the most popular is the function of out of the internet now both certain issues of course emphasize out or on keeps emphasizing importance epochal which miss intellect and not only reason and adduced an inverter for both house in arabic which we were lost in english are trying to divide the 18th century who said that turn to internet to internet which is English is very good of an English reduce in Shakespeare and so forth 16 times I remember the shape son was it or not but anyway the world on whose is it the Yahoo and I have lumen and so forth and use it in a verbal form non not work and so of course all of us who believe in our except the game in after art school after innocence eclipsed by the will of God that is what God wills that Apple is able to understand as the memorial whereas for shared she has done God cannot not be backward as a nature of God so I will comes back to the nature are not to the will of God in one and theological understanding and to the world in India and that has had a very consequences and that is a survival of the Islamic intellectual traditions in a much more congenial atmosphere shared a summons from Islam the fact that with the last 400 years every single major Islamic philosopher has been either a shark or certainly in an ambience like Indian and stuff some of the ultimate world which accepted this share of an understanding and I shall assume has not produced a single major thinker of that cart this is has a lot to do with Islamic history to which I will not go now my time is running out I have so many very such things to say but so much promotion an event took place which determines the now of the relationship mr. mr. Marsh's and Isabel did not a pleasant schism took place in shamanism mr. Ross of the Wahhabi Salafi movement in the history the original the origin of this movement was not directly caused by the Western presence in Islamic world one who is that which is the official ideology of Saudi Arabia came at a time when it was not reacting to the influence of the West Was of the Western action at that time but all the later history of this movement is related to interaction and response to various forms of modernism that weather began to penetrate into the Slavic world while I was there from which so the salad is another same thing as long as but they're interrelated I wanted solution but they're not the same some people think this is a segment in western scholars do that's not the not sending Salafi a woman is a larger movement with but its origins very merciful having point of view it's based on a kind of puritanical rationalistic interpretation of Istanbul it's other said as position is defined by the opposition to both soon ISM and Shiism all the tools are the sense of northern Mali which were destroyed last month razed to the ground some a thousand years old the side of this the son of this this is the father inspired Mojave salad a moment in northern Mali which is shallow deceivers so but it's destroying order some of the most important monuments in North Africa and back east with the tremendous power of the Ottomans they put them down I killed all the talk to kill other Wahhabist when they invaded South Arabia that I was on a salary but then they did pregnant and asked and rose again and they came north and in 1810 for just a few days to capture Kerala and they killed 10,000 years the master content out equivalent is four days so then the back of the ideological background is extreme opposition to love the traditional Islam which have any mystical or intellectual content intellectual content and so this has created a situation which affects very much the president relationship between Sunnism shares them that there's no parallel movement in she's them related today to this right now staggering they're spending millions of dollars indirectly in trying to create a shiite Salafism southern Iran among the Berluti and even amongst us is a new wave of a kind of Shia television if I can call this the college intern but we've seen several places will buy or we the spirit but it's going on to this acceptor which is really a catastrophe but this this element concerns very much the relationship between soon she's them today and if you want to know how paranoid this situation is the greatest quantitive li transfer of technology in human history took place in the 1970s to the 1980's of the right stages algorithm most extensive transfer technology in community to place to identity the southeast are lovers of machines that have gadgets on I mean every Saturday bottom in there the meteor that runs the show any kind of gadget in a cellar the Saudis very easy this Madon Madon building bigger than the Empire State right next to the Kaaba a imaginative turn the Kaaba suffer a lie to a nightclub whatever that's worse it's just unbelievably unbelievabl and all of these things go on so the great lovers of modern technology but they hate Apple they hate philosophy I would just tell you the story 1983 the Sabbath decided to create history of Science Museum in southern the can't you see I was in Boston a minute harbor with some Saudis to come and they said you know the great Authority and strong science we want you to guide this as well Museum is a very important cultural statement it can be devastated cultural it's not just neutral on our booth for the provider dissonance there are areas that we do so I went to Saudi Arabia and I was giving a talk to the minister of higher education minister of this Minister that there's another twenty thirty people I was talking to them at that very moment my book islamic sized and anticipated study which are the transgender arabic our local is lana was being carried by one of my students back to Saudi Arabia and he was arrested the frontier because Allah's book with it because the book contains chapter on Islamic philosophy there was an only about science that is not enough intelligence to understand that Western technology relies on Western science Western science is really particularly of the world and within a vacuum you cannot create either Western science or the requested knowledge without the science you can only buy time which is the best thing to do you get the money from the Oregon user you collect it and send John back which is what we've been doing the last fifty years anyway the next job I've made my last trip to the Hajj so I'm not worried about mr. Allen many trips Lester and them without fear are my duty the personal inequalities in both practical and theoretical news never saw so many decades to bring up the salient features - what a completely technologically are the society without any reference to up to intelligence and to solve the thing in general are on a particular sport philosophy - thinking - thinking is really a great inner power loss of a partner she doesn't know which one to name it but that's the situation that affects today the dynamics between Iran and the short country and Saudi Arabia that are meeting the standard of sort of certainly opposition to Iran there play this card very strongly and they're the most emphatic on which the United States to side with them against making peace with Iran I won't talk personal now that was salmon anybody NASA he wrote a book called sherry warmer which is basically I did is a core arc of sheriff Lewis from Lebanon all the way to Iran and it's very important United States to try to understand this and for the common terminal rather is relying on Egypt on Saudi Arabia as star so many countries against this he was invited White House President Bush wrote - aw poor surely nobody listened and that was just put on the side completely and of course Mubarak fell and one of the staunch supporters whether that they ought remains but this way of looking at these effects very much with the relation in Sufism and she's in itself and is want to be overlooked the Sunnah that these are to say about these matters of humanist by tomorrow in contrast what they're really the Western press and we hear a CNN 24 hours a day it's not true that Buddhism as she's them either had been are always at each other's throat but it not even politically you know politically Hamas is not a shared organization it's sunny there she is a Palestine but it's good for us politically with Iran so it's not always the one block here one block there Egyptians are all shoppers but they're probably more Pro Shia than another country further their history to call themselves Seattle Fire sheer happiness a miracle yet impossible and the cry of a crow just our own country is the country that allowed people are very close over there so it's it's not that simple but there are both forces for division and for upper flow in this comic or less for sanitary system are concerned it's not that we we're always at each other's throat let me clarify the sport but 50 years ago when chairman of the NASA came to power he realized that shocked me that is suddenly like Egypt is the School of Law has followed in Egypt Charlie law like most of us only thou knewest inheritance towards immediate family but also providing Americans who brothers sisters siblings which is one of modern society is more atomized and the immediate family descendants are most important to what to do the committee studied and they realize that in sure law there's a greater favor given to the immediate family sons and daughters and wife Travis acidnam brothers and so NASA backed actually didn't create impact the movement had begun at the hostel member gsella Tom Bashar al-assad share started to create an organization for venison is machine if you got me supported at that company Robin Hood relational agent before the breakup tradition just be impossible but anyway Kieran also agreed but soon thereafter relations in 2007 and Ursula came to power and they created art operate in Cairo and they sent one of the major Iran installs from bartolome to Cairo and they started the journal called on recovering all of which were dedicated to bring in Sunnis and Shia together and this was it not only beginning to rather be in ease in Pakistan as well as a very importantly in the Arab world especially in each of whose the central Arabic country intellectually and culturally and religiously and it went on for some time despite the curtailment of diplomatic relationship between Iran and Egypt Iran on its own and attempts to avoid them even in the 1980s so many such sensitive things about this show the region that in the southeast they lost millions of dollars at they run a revolution to this Wahhabi 101 to write those terrible books in our opinion she is if you go to an airport in 1980-81 it was full of these books against isn't severe attacks all people saw the government minister of interior of Saudi Arabia's City Monday said what we better travel mistake what do we do and I said look you cannot do anything just stand behind the curtain and let there be a Congress initiative supported from UNC Egypt the ideal country to try to revive a better relation as soon as I mash it and that it was held and a number of serving all Imam participate that number of shared for Allah and here on itself is very interesting in Iran itself has never been any contention instruments and shirts at this time and company sees this footing on a muffin for the star motorists on and on the place of weather service once a year and they have their own matter says that have their own schools and so on and so on and there are a lot of one among both sides are divided for a very much in favor of close relationship between Sunnis and mushy ISM chef Ali John the Grand Mufti of Egypt a very good friend of mine he's one of the people who was at the forefront are trying to have a kind of united stand and so many issues for some of the issue of Islamic world with the faces but it has to face in the United Way all the way from the destruction the climate the clouds that come full of dust over the Middle East and on the ceiling whose son is the sheriff's other than that political matters cultural matters the medical matters to scientific matters all these to try to increase cooperation but there starts against this very strong interest within the Islamic world for better understanding between song under the dysphemism issues them tremendous forces against this and then they're usually paid for by foreign powers supported indirectly at the forefront of this of course is a Lada which makes it a point not only to kill Americans in Afghanistan but also to kill Shia suspicious Shiites in Iraq and now in Syria Turks at Syria I think met mr. wonderful for them or something Menethil is paying them there are violent forces violent forces there are no Shiite militia trying to kill Sonny's the small group was formed in Iraq was very soon disbanded the way they wanted to answer the attacks against them but there are these sort of terrorist small groups especially groups but how are our similar groups who think that they can serve the cause of Islam but creating this court and what pretty especially but killing shiatsu so it's a very very tragic situation a country like Pakistan and India which other invention too was a date when in the who walked one of the young professors for the hora there was a month we never asked where a person was Sunni or Shiite I used to be of legend a thousand people in some condo they invited a few month ago they said we better not come that it's a McMichael Obama come to know we wore on different Iran there's the whole situation segment of my generation so this is one of the most critical essential issues of the Slavic world and by extension of other parts of the world because what will happen in the future relationship between Egypt and Iran Egypt Iran and Turkey the future of Syria what will happen if 11x goes again and so where the sovereign effective everybody but I think everybody on my Hummer of you is that people who playing on this division already playing with fire is a popular folkloric person poem that says the vibe and his life it's by God whoever tries to blow it out only person on the earth his thing is the Messiah were my god every religion is will to be more than one interpretation in order to protect diversity in his creation and today they postpone a great challenge and great opportunity for the Slavic people and also major problem for the because of the use and misuse these allegiances that we see before you all the time anyway let me come back to me to tell this lecture in his memory pray peace and blessing upon us all and what he always had in mind also standing between Islam and Christianity and also that understanding of Islam itself is multifarious manifestation of course and I hope tonight will be a small step [Applause] [Applause]

Channel: Hartford Seminary

Views: 32,979

Rating: 4.7085018 out of 5

Keywords: Shia Islam (Religion)

Id: 0BYHtLPbi84

Length: 65min 15sec (3915 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 07 2012