"In my childhood, the traditional ulema [clerics] – who are so powerful today – were regarded as rather quaint objects and often ridiculed in private. Centuries ago the greatest poets of Persia, like Hafiz and Rumi, stripped away the mullahs’ religious pretensions and exposed their stupidity. Today, however, those same mullahs have taken control of the Iranian republic. The answer lies just as much in the domain of world politics as in theology. Khomeini developed the doctrine known as “guardianship of the clergy,” which gives the mullahs much wider powers than they generally exercised in the past. Instead of being simple religious leaders, they now became political leaders as well. This echoes the broader Islamic fusion of the spiritual and the temporal.… The traditional ulema are indeed a problem, but they are not the biggest one; the biggest problem is Islamism, a radical and often militant interpretation of Islam that spills over from the theological domain into national and international politics. Whenever and wherever religious fundamentalism dominates, blind faith clouds objective and rational thinking. If such forces take hold in a society, they create a mindset unfavourable for critical inquiry, including scientific inquiry, with its need to question received wisdom."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Anti-war activistsElectrical engineersAcademics from PakistanPhysicists from PakistanEducators from Pakistan
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
quoted in Tarek Fatah - The Jew is Not My Enemy_ Unveiling the Myths that Fuel Muslim Anti-Semitism-Signal (2011)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pervez_Hoodbhoy
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Pervez Hoodbhoy
3 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Pervez Hoodbhoy →
Related Quotes
"The 'recasting' of Pakistani history [has been] used to 'endow the nation with a historic destiny'."
"But Hoodbhoy declares the belief in “laws” to be the basis of physics because of his ideological and colonial commitm…"
"Space technology can help in mapping and tracking United Nations' sustainable development goals such as zero poverty,…"
"So far we have launched two satellites. The one launched in 2017 [suffered] an orbital failure. Last October, we laun…"
"We can't make a Mercedes in Uganda but we can make something fit for our local market."
"The opportunity is there, what lacks is the willingness to do it. There is a lot more discipline and constraint neede…"
"I graduated from the University of Nairobi in 1974, with a Bachelor of Science, Honors degree, in Electrical Engineer…"
"Knowledge is key in the proper regulation of the electricity subsector. I possess a mix of practical experience and t…"
"My most memorable moment as a woman in this sector is marrying and raising six children without it impeding my profes…"
"When mothers are well off the entire society is well off."