Islam in a nutshell, talk at Unity Church of Arlington

The Unity Church of Arlington has begun a series on teaching world religions and I was pleased to present “Islam in a nutshell”. The program was to be for an hour, and we ended spending 2+ hours, the discussion were quite intense and intellectual.

This group has made a decision to learn about different faiths, and that is the right thing to do. If we want a society where no one has live in fears of the others, then we have to get to know and learn about each other. Familiarity takes the fear and phobias out of you, doesn’t it?

I speak on pluralism/ interfaith, Islam, politics, India, cohesive societies, peace and justice. But when I speak about Islam, I make an effort to present a copy of the Qur’aan translation that is nearly right. In the picture, Janet Ellis is receiving the translation of Quran by Muhammad Asad, the most popular translation today and one of the best translations. I also recommend the reformist Qur’aan translation by my friend Edip Yuskel. 

God willing if I accomplish my current mission of taking America Together Foundation in to every town in America, my last wish is to compile a translation of Quran from a pluralistic point of view that every religious person can relate with. I have begun the work and if God gives me the life to finish it, it will take a decade or more to finish it. 

This is what I wrote on the first blank page, “Quran is a book of guidance, and it can be compared to nuclear power; in the right hands it is a blessing and beneficial to humanity and in the wrong hands it is destructive. Quran and Nuclear power in itself or not good or bad, it is the greed, insecurity and falsity in individuals that determines what they make of Quran or any holy book.” A majority of people get their religion right while a few don’t, those who don’t make their religion look bad, again it is not the religion, it is the individual. 

Please remember God loves every one of his creation without reserve, and that love is reflected in the guidance in every holy book. God has not signed a deal with Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Christians or others behind our back, if he did, who wants a God like that? It is not God; it is our selfishness that makes him a villain or the Hero. 

There are 25 translations on the market and two of them are wrong – they have messed with 60 verses. Thank God, no one has messed with the Arabic Version of Qur’aan and it gives me peace. About three are great translations, and about 15 others are OK, but two of them are bad. The Original mistranslationwas done by the European Kings to paint Islam in bad light – and all the ill-talkers of Islam in the nation like Pamela Geller, Robert Spencer and their likes have their foundation in the wrong one. While the other was done by a Muslim for political reason… and it appears they have made corrections to the Muslim translation in the year 2011. Thank God, but there are millions of copies out there in the hands of the people. 

Finding the truth is one’s own responsibility. Karen Armstrong says, if you read a sentence in a holy book and it does not sound right, keep reading several sentences before and after, many time until it makes sense.

 Some of the anti-Islam feelings are caused by a mistranslation of the Qur’aan. Steve Blow of Dallas Morning News wrote, (http://www.dallasnews.com/news/columnists/steve-blow/20100919-In-defense-of-Islam-pursuing-9397.ece )

[“Ghouse said he can understand fear and criticism of Islam because he went through a time of similar feelings. As a teen, he was troubled by passages of the Quran. He called himself an atheist for a while.

But he said deeper study led him to realize the Quran had been purposely mistranslated down through history. In the middle Ages, European leaders commissioned a hostile Quran translation to foster warfare against Muslim invaders.

Later, Muslim leaders produced another translation to inflame Muslims against Christians and Jews. "It was all for politics," he said. Ghouse said he hopes to present Jeffress with a modern, faithful translation and challenge him to find evil verses.

"If he can, I will convert. I will join his church," Ghouse said. "If he can't, I will call on him to retract his statements and become a peacemaker.”]

Years ago, I conducted 13 workshop series sharing the wisdom and essence of each tradition including Atheism to Zoroastrianism and every one in between and have done 500+ hours of Radio talk show on the same group of religions and I was pleased to share about Islam at this congregation.

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MikeGhouse is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He is a professional speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, civic affairs, Islam, India, Israel, peace and justice. Mike is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he writes weekly at Dallas Morning News and regularly at Huffington post, The Smirking Chimp and several other periodicals. His daily blog is www.TheGhousediary.com