In Marrakech, Morocco (Wikimedia Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019m beginning to wind down with my note-taking from\u00a0John L. Esposito and Dalia Mogahed,\u00a0Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think<\/em>\u00a0(New York: Gallup Press, 2007), which I actually read quite some time ago. \u00a0Some of these items are merely reminders to me of points that I want to make \u2014 or perhaps have already made, but want to be sure not to omit \u2014 in a book manuscript that I\u2019m readying for submission and in another paper that I\u2019m actively working on:<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
The religion of Islam and the mainstream Muslim majority have been conflated with the beliefs and actions of an extremist minority. (x)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I strongly agree with their assertion above.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
An interesting fact that represents the close relationship between Islam and Christianity:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jesus\u2019 mother, Mary, is mentioned by name more times in the Quran than in the New Testament. \u00a0(9)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Esposito and Mogahed cite several Qur\u2019an passages that I need to be sure I\u2019ve included and discussed. \u00a0I\u2019m not sure what translation they\u2019re from, but I will make my own translations for my writing. \u00a0(A trivial complaint: \u00a0Why, in the passage immediately below, give the English form of the name Abraham<\/em> rather than the Arabic form Ibrahim<\/em>, while retaining the Arabic Ismail<\/em> instead of the standard English Ishmael<\/em>?)<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe in God and what has been revealed to us; in what was revealed to Abraham and Ismail, to Isaac and Jacob and the tribes, and in what was given to Moss and Jesus and the prophets from their Lord. \u00a0We do not make a distinction between any of them [the prophets]. \u00a0For we submit to God.\u201d \u00a0(Qur\u2019an 3:84, cited at page 8)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
The purpose of citing the passage above is to illustrate Islam\u2019s contention that all prophets have taught the same message of belief in, and submission to, the same unique God, and, thus, that all of them were, in an important sense, \u201cMuslims.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The following passages represent the Qur\u2019anic view that human diversity, including our variety of beliefs and cultures and traditions, is intentional and part of the divine plan:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
If God had so willed, He could surely have made you all one single community: but [He willed it otherwise] in order to test you by means of what He has given you. \u00a0Race one another then in doing good works! \u00a0(Qur\u2019an 5:48, cited at page 9)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Among His signs is the creation of the Heavens and the Earth, and the diversity of your languages and colors. \u00a0Surely there are signs for those who reflect. \u00a0(Qur\u2019an 30:22, cited at page 9)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
O humankind, We have created you male and female, and made you nations and tribes for you to get to know one another. \u00a0Indeed, the noblest of you in the sight of God is the one who is most deeply conscious of Him. \u00a0Behold, God is all-knowing, all-aware. \u00a0(Qur\u2019an 49:13, cited at page 9)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 I\u2019m beginning to wind down with my note-taking from\u00a0John L. Esposito and Dalia Mogahed,\u00a0Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think\u00a0(New York: Gallup Press, 2007), which I actually read quite some time ago. \u00a0Some of these items are merely reminders to me of points that I want to make \u2014 or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
Unity, diversity, and the Qur\u2019an<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\" I'm beginning to wind down with my note-taking from\u00a0John L. Esposito and Dalia Mogahed,\u00a0Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/11\/unity-diversity-and-the-quran.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Unity, diversity, and the Qur\u2019an\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\" I'm beginning to wind down with my note-taking from\u00a0John L. Esposito and Dalia Mogahed,\u00a0Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/11\/unity-diversity-and-the-quran.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sic et Non\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-11-09T17:20:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-11-09T17:26:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2016\/01\/Marrakech_Morocco_5422809520_6.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/11\/unity-diversity-and-the-quran.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/11\/unity-diversity-and-the-quran.html\",\"name\":\"Unity, diversity, and the Qur\u2019an\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-11-09T17:20:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-11-09T17:26:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\"},\"description\":\" I'm beginning to wind down with my note-taking from\u00a0John L. Esposito and Dalia Mogahed,\u00a0Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/11\/unity-diversity-and-the-quran.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/11\/unity-diversity-and-the-quran.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/11\/unity-diversity-and-the-quran.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Unity, diversity, and the Qur\u2019an\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/\",\"name\":\"Sic et Non\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\",\"name\":\"Dan Peterson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dan Peterson\"},\"description\":\"\\\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\\\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Unity, diversity, and the Qur\u2019an","description":" I'm beginning to wind down with my note-taking from\u00a0John L. Esposito and Dalia Mogahed,\u00a0Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/11\/unity-diversity-and-the-quran.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Unity, diversity, and the Qur\u2019an","og_description":" I'm beginning to wind down with my note-taking from\u00a0John L. Esposito and Dalia Mogahed,\u00a0Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/11\/unity-diversity-and-the-quran.html","og_site_name":"Sic et Non","article_published_time":"2018-11-09T17:20:57+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-11-09T17:26:03+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2016\/01\/Marrakech_Morocco_5422809520_6.jpg"}],"author":"Dan Peterson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan Peterson","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/11\/unity-diversity-and-the-quran.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/11\/unity-diversity-and-the-quran.html","name":"Unity, diversity, and the Qur\u2019an","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-11-09T17:20:57+00:00","dateModified":"2018-11-09T17:26:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045"},"description":" I'm beginning to wind down with my note-taking from\u00a0John L. Esposito and Dalia Mogahed,\u00a0Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/11\/unity-diversity-and-the-quran.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/11\/unity-diversity-and-the-quran.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/11\/unity-diversity-and-the-quran.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Unity, diversity, and the Qur\u2019an"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/","name":"Sic et Non","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045","name":"Dan Peterson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dan Peterson"},"description":"\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67209\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Marrakesh,](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2016\/01\/Marrakech_Morocco_5422809520_6.jpg\")
<\/a>