What does the Islamic religion mean to you?
How does your religion help you find meaning in life?
How do you pray?
Have you ever experienced any discrimination
because of your religion?
How are your religion and culture intertwined?
How does your religion affect social relationships
with others, including family?
Have you ever explored other religions?
If yes, what led you to explore other religions?
What is the Shi'ite view of Islam?
When I studied History of the Mideast, I
was told that the crossroads where the Shi'ites moved away from the other Sunni Muslims
was the ambush where a descendent of Muhammed was killed with his soldiers. My professor
argued that the Shi'ite movement when it was crystallizing, vowed to avenge this
death, and that to some extent this spirit of pain, anger, and revenge stayed with
the Shi'ite community ever since. What do you think of this view?
Do you believe that Christian/Muslim political,
economic and social tension will ever be resolved? How?
What is the future of the Muslim
religion in the context of the changing world? The industrial world? The developing
world?
Do you feel that the religion of Islam
has been the oppressed or the oppressor in the past centuries of its existence?
I have heard that Islamic marriage is primarily
just a legal contract with little of no spiritual dimension. Is this true? What is
the meaning of marriage in Islam?
I have a problem with the arbitrarty limits
Islam sets on creativity in science and art. I don't believe that there should be
no limits...but I believe in the kind of performance limits that are expressed by
ethics or morality - limits whose boundaries are the harm done to others, not limits
set by a particular ethnic tradition. What do you think of this view?
To what extent can we analyze the current
rising conflicts in Palestine and within the Arab world between the so called "Secular"
and the so-called "Fundamental" elements using economical and social description
of abuse and inequality.
The meaning of the Qur'an depends on its
interpretation - what makes someone elses interpretation more valid than my own?
Why is it not enough for me to read some verses and the corresponding hadith that
explains the historical context (the circumstances in which the verses were revealed)
of the verses and then make my own decision as to the meaning?
The Muslim New Year (1st of Muharram) is
a time of joy and celebration for the majority of Muslims. How do Shi'ites regard
the new year in light of the fact that the Prophet's family were killed during the
month of Muharram?
I have heard that Shi'ite's believe the
Prophet and some of his descendants to be "sinless". Is this true?