Imams’ ignorance holds back muslim cultural development

Asia News

...There are people who take all this seriously. Once again, the increase in the number of fatwas clearly shows that there is widespread confusion and, at the same time, it also shows the effects of the fundamentalist interpretation of Islam: it is essential to know what is allowed and what is not. Common sense no longer comes into play...

...People's ignorance and the desire for religiosity have generated this structure of total dependence on religious figures. This makes me think of the scholars of the law of Jesus' time. That society too, given religious ignorance and, at the same time, the lack of any horizon other than religion, brought people to be totally subjugated to religious scholars. These "scholars" are no doubt experts in their speciality (law, traditions, sayings, etc.) but they can be ignorant from the humanistic point of view...

...But the real root of the problem is that imams, muftis and, in general, "men of religion", as we Arabs call them (rijāl al-dīn), are lacking a well-rounded education. Being ignorant, they also make the general public ignorant. Apart from the fact that many muftis and imams have proclaimed themselves to be such...

...Furthermore, imams receive no real training in sociology, psychology, literature that is not within the Arab horizon. Often, apart from Arabic (or their mother tongue, plus Arabic), they do not know other languages. It is very rare that they can read books in English, French or Italian. In fact, it is extremely rare: it can be said with certainty that not more than 5% of imams know a foreign language. All this creates a culture which is certainly very specialized, scholarly in fine points and in answers, but which is closed in on itself, as if in an airtight container. They are lacking the ability to situate the questions that they study in a larger, more universal framework; the ability to deal with a question from, among others, a historical, sociological, political point of view; in short, to have reference points which are outside their Islamic world...

H/T Democracy Frontline