tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9864334.post116121143675230668..comments2023-10-24T05:49:04.269-04:00Comments on The Chaliceblog: It's official: Chalicesseurs know more about Islam than either CC or the people running the intelligence for the warChalicechickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07781469958573869914noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9864334.post-1161233407858336632006-10-19T00:50:00.000-04:002006-10-19T00:50:00.000-04:00As important as knowledge for the sake of knowledg...As important as knowledge for the sake of knowledge is, I don't think knowing about the original schism is nearly as important as knowing which each of the players are. Taliban? other Afghans? al Qaeda? Saddam Hussein? Iraq? Iran? Turkey? Saudi Arabia? Palestinians? Lebanon? Pakistan? Chechnya?<BR/><BR/>There's also the problem of which school of thought someone belongs to within the two main divisions. Sufi Sunnis are pretty chill and sit around thinking about about the spirit, while being criticized by the Salafies (more commonly known by the derogatory term Wahhabies) who are originalists/ textualists and focused on law. I don't think there's much inherent to Sunnism that makes it more "radical," but the fear of change that seems to characterize Salafies makes some of them antagonistic to liberalism in a way that Sufis are not.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9864334.post-1161215779398883772006-10-18T19:56:00.000-04:002006-10-18T19:56:00.000-04:00I'd like to move beyond even this level of knowled...I'd like to move beyond even this level of knowledge. I'm almost embarassed that as a religious studies major I didn't know more. (Admittedly, I haven't had a class that focused on Islam). <BR/><BR/>OK, so what? The caliphate has been discontinued since 1924. No one has heard from the 12th imam since 873 (unless you're Baha'i). So... what still seperates these two groups? <BR/><BR/>What Jaume said is a good start, "Shiites tend to rely on sages and clerics, sometimes even raising them to saintly status, whereas Sunnies are more legalistic and rely not only upon the Qur'an but also upon the Sunna (traditional sayings)."<BR/><BR/>David Throop's questions are ones I'd also like answers to. <BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadith#Views" REL="nofollow">Wikipedia</A> is a good starting place on the differences of ahadith as Kim and I mentioned in the previous post.<BR/><BR/>There's also another area here I'm foggy on: What exactly is the ecclesiastical structure in Islam?<BR/><BR/>As UUs, what depth of knowledge should we be expected to have about other traditions?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com