The Holy Koran: Cultural and Political Implications

byTefel Hall

LanguagePoliticsArt

Origins

570 – 632 C.E.

Mecca

The Kaaba

Al-Uzza

Sabean Moon BullAl-Lat

Moon and Venus

Cave at Hera

630 Entering Mecca

Hadith = collections

Koran = recitation

Classical Arabic

Politics

• Statesman

• Soldier

• Judge

• Governor

. . . charity, marriage, orphans, fasting, gambling, vanity, pilgrimages, infidelity, polygamy, incest, divorce, modesty, inheritances, prostitution, alcohol consumption, collecting interest, female dress . . . .

Let’s get back to basics.

A prostitute should get 100 lashes.

A man should have no more than 4 wives.

If your wife disobeys you, reprimand her, and if that doesn’t work, beat her.

If you want to divorce your wife, say, “I divorce thee,” 3 times then wait 3 months.

Let’s get back to basics.

Love thy neighbor and follow the ten

commandments.

Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and unto God what is God’s.

When the enemies of Jesus tried to trick him into saying that it was wrong to pay tribute to Caesar, Jesus cleverly evaded the question by saying, “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and unto God what is God’s.”

This book is a manual of

moral government.

A civilization which gives no weight in public life to faith, is incapable of achieving for mankind the happiness that men seek. Indeed, a civilization which so regards human life is bound to bring upon mankind all the calamities which have befallen our world in the recent centuries. - Muhammad Husayn Haykal (1888-1956)

If a Christian nation fails, we look to its political and economic system for an explanation, but when a

Muslim state fails, it is only because, as V. S. Naipaul put it, "men had failed the

faith." Disaster in a Christian nation leads to a search for a new political form; disaster in a Muslim

one leads to a reinvigoration of the faith.

James Q. Wilson

James Q. Wilson

Bernard Lewis

• Western imperialism• oil-driven foreign policies

• prescribes harsh punishments for fornication, adultery, etc.

• since these laws were prescribed by Muhammad himself, they’re not easily brushed aside

• provides no basis for a separation of mosque and state

Art

No pictures of humans or animals!

No graven images!

Time Magazine, 16 April 2001

• Arabic is the official language of Islam.

• Islamic empires thrived under a common set of laws.

• Koranic laws may be may be hindering efforts to modernize civil government.

• Islamic art is decorative.

Key Points:

The End