Replies to post #308466 on $Stock*Shop*Charts*News*Option$

[MinnieM]

Islam, Virgins and Grapes

ksquared...it isn't virgins they'll have fun with. One of the interesting things about these martyrs is that most of them are illiterate and don't realize the common mistake they are all making. The actual meaning of "houri" in the Koran means grapes and not virgins. I first learned of this in a religious studies class in college in the mid nineties. There isn't much motivation for radical leaders to correct this since virgins are a far better recruiting tool than a bunch of grapes. lol

Here's a recent article dealing with it:

April 23, 2009, Op-Ed Columnist, Islam, Virgins and Grapes
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

In Afghanistan, 300 brave women marched to demand a measure of equal rights, defying a furious mob of about 1,000 people who spat, threw stones and called the women “whores.” The marchers asserted that a woman should not need her husband’s consent to go to school or work outside the home.

In Pakistan, the Taliban flogged a teenage girl in front of a crowd, as two men held her face down in the dirt. A video shows the girl, whose “crime” may have been to go out of her house alone, crying piteously that she will never break the rules again.

Muslim fundamentalists damage Islam far more than any number of Danish cartoonists ever could, for it’s inevitably the extremists who capture the world’s attention. But there is the beginning of an intellectual reform movement in the Islamic world, and one window into this awakening was an international conference this week at the University of Notre Dame on the latest scholarship about the Koran.

“We’re experiencing right now in Koranic studies a rise of interest analogous to the rise of critical Bible studies in the 19th century,” said Gabriel Said Reynolds, a Notre Dame professor and organizer of the conference.

The Notre Dame conference probably could not have occurred in a Muslim country, for the rigorous application of historical analysis to the Koran is as controversial today in the Muslim world as its application to the Bible was in the 1800s. For some literal-minded Christians, it was traumatic to discover that the ending of the Gospel of Mark, describing encounters with the resurrected Jesus, is stylistically different from the rest of Mark and is widely regarded by scholars as a later addition.

Likewise, Biblical scholars distressed the faithful by focusing on inconsistencies among the gospels. The Gospel of Matthew says that Judas hanged himself, while Acts describes him falling down in a field and dying; the Gospel of John disagrees with other gospels about whether the crucifixion occurred on Passover or the day before. For those who considered every word of the Bible literally God’s word, this kind of scholarship felt sacrilegious.

Now those same discomfiting analytical tools are being applied to the Koran. At Notre Dame, scholars analyzed ancient texts of the Koran that show signs of writing that was erased and rewritten. Other scholars challenged traditional interpretations of the Koran such as the notion that some other person (perhaps Judas or Peter) was transformed to look like Jesus and crucified in his place, while Jesus himself escaped to heaven.

One scholar at the Notre Dame conference, who uses the pseudonym Christoph Luxenberg for safety, has raised eyebrows and hackles by suggesting that the “houri” promised to martyrs when they reach Heaven doesn’t actually mean “virgin” after all. He argues that instead it means “grapes,” and since conceptions of paradise involved bounteous fruit, that might make sense. But suicide bombers presumably would be in for a disappointment if they reached the pearly gates and were presented 72 grapes.
One of the scholars at the Notre Dame conference whom I particularly admire is Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, an Egyptian Muslim who argues eloquently that if the Koran is interpreted sensibly in context then it carries a strong message of social justice and women’s rights.

Dr. Abu Zayd’s own career underscores the challenges that scholars face in the Muslim world. When he declared that keeping slave girls and taxing non-Muslims were contrary to Islam, he infuriated conservative judges. An Egyptian court declared that he couldn’t be a real Muslim and thus divorced him from his wife (who, as a Muslim woman, was not eligible to be married to a non-Muslim). The couple fled to Europe, and Dr. Abu Zayd is helping the LibForAll Foundation, which promotes moderate interpretations throughout the Islamic world.

“The Islamic reformation started as early as the 19th century,” notes Dr. Abu Zayd, and, of course, it has even earlier roots as well. One important school of Koranic scholarship, Mutazilism, held 1,000 years ago that the Koran need not be interpreted literally, and even today Iranian scholars are surprisingly open to critical scholarship and interpretations.

If the Islamic world is going to enjoy a revival, if fundamentalists are to be tamed, if women are to be employed more productively, then moderate interpretations of the Koran will have to gain ascendancy. There are signs of that, including a brand of “feminist Islam” that cites verses and traditions suggesting that the Prophet Muhammad favored women’s rights.

Professor Reynolds says that Muslim scholars have asked that conference papers be translated into Arabic so that they can get a broader hearing. If the great intellectual fires are reawakening within Islam, after centuries of torpor, then that will be the best weapon yet against extremism.

In Reply To 'ksquared'

LOL... hope they're having fun with their virgins.
Thanks for the pleasant bedtime story.
Hope more of them destroy themselves while our people and our allies stay safe.

[Stock Lobster]

BL: Asia Stocks Rise on Improving Economic Outlook; Pound Drops for Sixth Day

By Linus Chua and Weiyi Lim

March 2 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rose to the highest in five weeks as gains in U.S. consumer spending, South Korean exports and lower unemployment in Japan signal faster economic growth. The Australian dollar traded near a one-week high.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.3 percent to 119.33 as of 1:25 p.m. in Tokyo, the highest since Jan. 26, and the cost of protecting bonds in the region from default fell. The so- called Aussie climbed after the central bank raised interest rates. The pound dropped for a sixth day versus the dollar, and futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index declined 0.1 percent.

U.S. consumer spending and South Korean exports increased for a fourth straight month, while Japan’s unemployment rate unexpectedly slid in January, one of the first signs that a rebound in overseas shipments is benefitting workers. The data lifted investor optimism for stable economic growth.

“We are expecting global recovery to come through, and this should be a reasonable backdrop for stocks,” said Shane Oliver, Sydney-based head of investment strategy at AMP Capital Investors, which oversees $90 billion. “Economic indicators have been consistent, showing a gradual recovery.”

South Korea’s Kospi Index climbed 1.1 percent. Taiwan’s Taiex rose 0.5 percent. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index advanced 0.6 percent.

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., an Apple Inc. supplier, climbed 2.3 percent in Taipei. Li & Fung Ltd., a Hong Kong trading company that sells goods to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp., rose 2.6 percent.

Technology Stocks

Technology companies gained the most among the 10 industry groups in the MSCI Asia Pacific Index. South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s biggest maker of computer memory chips, climbed 3.2 percent in Seoul. Toshiba Corp., Japan’s biggest memory-chip maker, rose 1.6 percent in Tokyo. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world’s biggest maker of customized chips, gained 0.5 percent.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 0.7 percent, led by HSBC Holdings Plc, which slumped 6.4 percent to HK$80.85 after the bank reported lower-than-estimated profit.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index pared gains of as much as 0.6 percent, rising 0.1 percent after the rate increase. The Australian dollar briefly climbed to 90.31 U.S. cents, its strongest since Feb. 23, after the decision which was forecast by 14 of 19 economists in a Bloomberg survey. The currency was little changed, trading 89.89 cents.

Bond Risk Falls

The cost of protecting bonds in the Asia-Pacific region from default fell. The Markit iTraxx Australia index dropped 2 basis points to 89.5, according to Citigroup Inc. The Markit iTraxx Japan index lost 2 basis points to 140, Morgan Stanley prices show. The Markit iTraxx Asia index of 50 investment-grade borrowers outside Japan fell 1.5 basis points to 109 basis points, according to Citigroup Inc. Credit-default swap indexes are benchmarks for protecting bonds against default, and a drop shows improving perceptions of credit quality.

“The market is becoming comfortable that the U.S. recovery is in place,” said Tim Schroeders, who helps manage about $1.1 billion at Pengana Capital Ltd. in Melbourne. “There is still a pervading caution given the volatility in markets.”

The pound dropped after polls showed Britain may have its first minority government since 1974 and ahead of a report forecast to show that a recovery in consumer confidence stalled in February. The pound was at $1.4941 in Tokyo from $1.4991 in New York yesterday when it dropped to $1.4784, the lowest level since May 1. It was at 90.56 pence per euro from 90.47 pence yesterday after reaching 91.50, the weakest since Dec. 1.

Copper Dips

Copper for three-month delivery dropped 0.2 percent to $7,385 a metric ton as Codelco and Anglo American Plc ramped up output in Chile after power was restored following the Feb. 27 earthquake. Codelco, the world’s largest copper producer, said it will be able to make up for “minor” production losses at its mines later this year.

Oil traded below $80 a barrel in New York as the dollar gained, before a report that is expected to show U.S. crude supplies increased for a fifth week, signaling demand from the world’s biggest energy consumer may be slowing.

Oil was trading at $78.79 a barrel after dropping 1.2 percent yesterday as the dollar advanced against the euro, making investments in dollar-denominated commodities less attractive. Crude inventories in the U.S. probably rose 0.5 percent last week, according to a Bloomberg News survey before an Energy Department report this week.

To contact the reporters for this story: Linus Chua at [e-mail]; Weiyi Lim in Taipei at [e-mail]

Last Updated: March 1, 2010 23:27 EST