Quote:
Originally Posted by Lmmsoat
A few reasons why Islam will never change. Islam has no central voice, such as the Catholic Pope. After the caliphate was destroyed the muslim world has had no guidance as a whole. Second, there is a term, "The book is shut". Several hundred years ago the most prominent schools of Islam thought came together to decide on the tenets of muslim ideology. After this islamic version of the vatican counsil they shut the book on the matter believing any further debate would counter the validity of the Koran therefore invalidating Islam.
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Once again, Catholics used to believe the same thing. Heck for over 1960 years Catholics believed only Catholics got into heaven. That is not the doctrine the Church now espouses.
The reason Christianity changed, is because the people willed it, AGAINST the will of the Church. The Church believed the book "to be shut" in essence themselves. A group of folks got together and decided what books would be in the Bible, and that hasn't changed in over a thousand years. But that did not stop the Reformation from taking place.
They became fed up with the hypocritical actions of the so called leaders of the Church. The people began to become literate and were able to read the Bible themselves, and could begin to interpret its meaning, instead of relying on the interpretation of the priests.
The only way Islam will NEVER changes is if they wall themselves off from the rest of the world, with no outside contact whatsoever. Until and unless that happens, they will be subject to outside viewpoints.
Think of it this way, in Islam their is no seperation between church and politics. If Islam had wished to remain "pure" there would be no Islamic politicians, there would be no Presidents of Iran, or Egypt or Turkey. They would be "lead" by the religious men. So in this one instance, Islam has "reformed" somewhat.
Additionally, if Islam was "pure" it would be practised the same way throughout the world, without cultural considerations. How do you reconcile the practise of Pashtunwali? Even as it relates to an infidel? If Islam was pure, this cultural consideration would not exist. But it does exist, and it exists because different Muslims practise Islam in different ways. If they practise it in different ways, then the thought that Islam can NEVER change, is false.
The key to Islamic Reformation is education. As long as students at madrassas remain illiterate, it will be hard for reformation to take place, but not impossible. If they become educated, can read the Koran and the Hadiths for themselves, and begin to interpret it in their own way, it will happen much faster.