Category • Faith & Practice• Folk Islam
Comparing Traditional Islam to Folk Islam & Christianity
Dr. Larson highlights difference between Folk and traditional Islam, and then shifts gears and contrasts Islam with Christianity.
Dr. Larson highlights difference between Folk and traditional Islam, and then shifts gears and contrasts Islam with Christianity.
Too often I hear questions posed that imbed what might be unhelpful assumptions:
As a philosopher, I immediately begin to consider whether questions such as these assume as fact what may not be fact. For example…
Can you trust your Muslim neighbor during this month of Ramadan (and beyond), when they show kindness to you? How should you respond if they invite you to an iftar (the breaking of the fast at the end of each day) this month?
The argument goes that we cannot trust in the good faith of any Muslim among us, since Islam permits them to dissimulate their real intentions at their leisure. This belief is held particularly by those nonMuslims convinced that Islam has the intention eventually to conquer the world. But is the fear factor triggered by such understandings justified?
The idea that Christianity is the white man’s religion exported to Africa recently is a vast misconception that is deeply detrimental to missionary efforts across the continent. Very early Arab sources indicate a Christian presence in Somalia beginning in the 10th century. It is speculated that Christianity remained in Somalia as late as 1500 until Islam overtook and became the religion of the nation.