Asani: Islam a Varied Creed

Cultural and doctrinal diversity are the hallmarks of modern Islam, Professor of the Practice of Indo-Muslim Languages and Culture Ali Asani told an audience of about 20 yesterday at Harvard-Radcliffe Hillel.

Asani said Islam has been robbed of its rich diversity and has been subjected to negative associations because of Western stereotypes.

Asani attributed these injustices to longstanding tensions between the Eastern and Western worlds.

"[They are] the result of a long history of political of conflict, of relationships based on conquest and reconquest," Asani said.

Asani cited examples of Muslim stereotypes. "[The assumption is] that the only thing that makes a Muslim 'tick...' as a human being is his religion," he said.

Asani said he sought to counter what he called prevailing assumptions and to "give a sense of the diversity of the faith."

Within Islam, doctrinal interpretations abound and vary, spanning the full spectrum from liberal to fundamentalist, Asani said.

Nonetheless, Muslims are unified by the nature of their worship and by a single fundamental doctrine, which is voiced in daily prayer, Asani said.

The word Islam, used only by non-Muslims to identify the religion, means submission in Arabic, or the act submitting oneself to one God, Asani said.

"The one concept that is the essence of the faith...[is that] God has laid down a path for people to follow...the right path," the professor said.

Asani distributed a transliteration and translation of the first seven lines of the Qur'an to the audience, He concluded his talk by reciting those lines.

Asani's address was the first in a Hillel-sponsored series of three lectures entitled "What Does it Mean To Be a Muslim?"