"academics" and Islam...

Submitted by J.S. (Canada), May 29, 2006 at 18:35

The Muslim community here has created (thanks to the University and matching government funds) a chair in Islamic Studies. I am extremely sceptical about this endeavor. Even the "intro" video presents a spiel that sounds like propaganda -- it's propaganda masquerading as "academics" -- designed to gain support for Islam. Thus, it's not academic -- it certainly doesn't follow in the traditional Western concepts with respect to what an "intellectual pursuit" means. In the West it means critical appraisals -- not bowing down and worshipping X.

In an article published in the National Post, a "prof" who teaches "Islamic law" at the University of Toronto, faculty of law wrote about how non-Muslims were treated. His excuse? He writes: "..the religious prohibitions [sic -- he's speaking about dhimmis] were intended to preserve Muslim identity admist non-Muslim majorities (Christian, pagan and otherwise) in areas recently conquered by Muslim forces. It was a doctrine that focused on the integrity of the Muslim commjnity to bolster a nascent identity in a pluralistic context." (!!!) Now, I don't have time to go into the particulars, but this is outright propaganda. Making excuses.

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