File spoon-archives/postcolonial.archive/postcolonial_2002/postcolonial.0203, message 47


Date: Mon, 04 Mar 2002 12:04:43 +0800
From: Colin Kenworthy <ckenwort-AT-marloo.ac.cowan.edu.au>
Subject: Re: holy places - fact sheet from India


Guhathakurta wrote that in India , a muslim holy place is open to all
religions, so is a Christian and a Sikh holy place. However, a non-hindu
is not allowed entry into Hindu  temples.

I am an Australian Catholic. When I was India, a few years ago, I was
taken by Brahmin friends to several Hindu temples, where I was made to
feel very welcome; and where I was encouraged to make offerings in
honour of the gods.

I was conscious of the holiness of these places. One felt that these
were places where men and women had been able to go beyond there
experience of temporal reality.

to be both in and out of time 

to be both still and moving

to be flesh and fleshless

etc.

I have experienced the same sense of otherness at the spring below
Delphi, at the site of Thomas â Beckett's martyrdom in Canterbury
Cathedral, at the church of St Francis below Assisi and at Amiens where
I seemed to exist in a world of light that utterly transformed quotidian
reality; that caused me to step outside of my worries, to admire the
actions and values of those who are celebrated at these places, to
identify with them, to want to emulate them, to acknowledge their
goodness and theri selflessness, to dedicate myself to being like them,
to review my life and to resolve to strive to be better that I had been.
And to identify with others, living and dead, who felt the same way
about them, about what they stood for, and about the places in which
they are honoured. 

There are other "holy places" like the grotto at St Emilion, which to me
seemed to have been given over entirely to sightseeing, where this kind
of experience was unavailable to me.   This is not to say that these
places may not have a transformative affect on others. 


Norman Cary wrote:
> 
> How do you define a holy place?
> 
> S.Guhathakurta-AT-indal.co.in wrote:
> 
> > In India , a muslim holy place is open to all religions, so is a Christian
> > and a Sikh holy place. However, a non-hindu is not allowed entry into Hindu
> > temples.
> >
> > "Kamran D. Rastegar" <kdr7-AT-columbia.edu>-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu on
> > 01/03/2002 13:15:34
> >
> > Please respond to postcolonial-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu
> >
> > Sent by:  owner-postcolonial-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu
> >
> > To:   postcolonial-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu
> > cc:
> >
> > Subject:  Muslim holy places
> >
> > just to offer a couple of thoughts on the discussion on non-muslims and
> > the islamic holy cities:
> >
> > although i certainly think it's accurate to call the barring of
> > non-muslims from the cities of mecca and medina "discriminatory", it is
> > important to note that the measure of who is a muslim is something that is
> > not meant to be set by men. a rather famous sura in the quran (which, i
> > grant you, may be contradicted by another i am unaware of - such are the
> > holy texts) states "la ikrah fi din" - there is no compulsion in religion.
> > this is often read to mean that each person must determine alone if he or
> > she is a muslim - others cannot determine it for them, or impose such
> > determinations upon them. thus, the only question that is to be asked to
> > make a determination of muslim identity is "are you a muslim?" - to answer
> > in the affirmative would intimate you have accepted the validity of the
> > five pillars of islam. in this it technically should be very easy for
> > anyone to enter a muslim holy site (even should they not be muslim and
> > want to lie)... in practice, of course, authorities at certain sites
> > attempt more stringent determinations - asking about family lineage, or
> > wanting proof of knowledge of parts of the qur'an, etc.  these
> > examinations  are not in my understanding valid determinations of who is a
> > muslim. the bottom line is that anyone, at any time, can convert to islam
> > simply by uttering "la ilah illa allah" (there is no god but God). my
> > point is that there is a constant tension between islam's universalist
> > calling - that all humans can and should become muslims - and the need
> > (which does very much exist in some muslim communities) to have identity
> > rest on more "solid" factors, such as heritage, lineage and the like,
> > often in order to simply maintain the notion of difference and distinction
> > between various ethnic or cultural groupings.
> >
> > a second point: this discrimination, i think, is not simply aimed at
> > "infidels" (if we use that english term to translate the arabic "kuffar")
> > as jews, christians and, in certain interpretations zoroastians (and even
> > at times hindus) have been exempted from this term - kafir means "atheist"
> > or "unbeliever," not "non-muslim." i make this point as many people,
> > confused by discourse on al-qa'ida and other groups, seem to think that
> > islamic orthodoxy deems jews and christians and all non-muslims "kauffar"
> > - infidels - when none of the major theological schools has or would ever
> > make that argument, so far as i know. it's worth also mentioning that in
> > this classificatory system, there exists another category "munafiq"
> > (hypocrite) which generally is viewed at applying to muslims or
> > monotheists who are corruptors of their traditions... heritics and
> > dissimulators. these are deemed the lowest and most reprehensible
> > category, even below kafirs.
> >
> > finally, we should not confuse the history of religious practices in
> > hejaz and nejd (where the holy areas are located) with the state policies
> > of the present government that controls these areas - saudi arabia. the
> > saudi policy is based on wahhabist interpretations that are often very far
> > removed from those of earlier periods - ummayyid to ottman. i am not sure
> > that the present discrimination again non-muslims held the same meaning in
> > these earlier periods, or that it had the same intonation that it has
> > today. i would appreciate it if others on the list who might know more
> > about this would clarify if this has been the case throughout islamic
> > history, or if it's moreso a result of the last 200 or so years of
> > wahhabist ascendency in the hejaz and nejd.
> >
> > -kr
> >
> >      --- from list postcolonial-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
> >
> >      --- from list postcolonial-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
> 
>      --- from list postcolonial-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---

-- 
Colin Kenworthy
School of Education 
Edith Cowan University
2 Bradford Street
MOUNT LAWLEY
WESTERN AUSTRALIA 6050
<c.kenworthy-AT-ecu.edu.au>
+61 (0)8 93706203, fax +61 (0)8 93706044
Mobile 0407998966


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