Turkey: A Pious Act

Turkey has embarked on a controversial project to carry out revisions of the Hadiths, the collection of sayings attributed to Prophet Mohammad.

I would highly recommend reading the entire article in order to have the full idea put into perspective. In the meantime, I would like to share with you few excerpts from the article that particularly drew my attention:

“The argument [for the revisions] is that Islamic tradition has been gradually hijacked by various – often conservative – cultures, seeking to use the religion for various forms of social control”

“Turkey is intent on sweeping away that “cultural baggage” and returning to a form of Islam it claims accords with its original values and those of the prophet”

It is interesting to see that the only secular Moslem state is the one taking such bold initiative. Would Saudi Arabia ever consider joining in with this crucial exercise that touches on the essence of Islam? Or would there be too much conflict of interest in having the support of the most religiously conservative Moslem country in the world? As Moslems, we always learnt that Islam was special because of its flexibility, agility, and ability to be the religion of all times. I hope we not only learn about it but also see this applied in action.

Assuming good will and best of intentions, this project should be backed by every Islam loving person because it has the potential to free it from the kidnappers that have sabotaged it for so long.