John Renard & Abdur-Rahman Abou Almajd in the world of Islam

John Renard
Professor of Theological Studies, Saint Louis University, Theologian and Islamic scholar, he received a Ph.D. in Islamic Studies from Harvard University's Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations in 1978, specializing in medieval Arabic and Persian religious texts, art and architecture, and the history of Sufism. Since then, he has been teaching courses in Islam, history of religion, comparative theology, religious art, and medieval studies, at Saint Louis University, in St. Louis, MO, where he is Professor of Theological Studies.

He is the author of Responses to 101 Questions books on Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism, as well as editor of Ibn `Abbad of Ronda: Letters on the Sufi Path, Understanding the Islamic Experience, Islam and the Heroic Image: Themes in Literature and the Visual Arts, In the Footsteps of Muhammad: Understanding the Islamic Experience, Seven Doors to Islam: Spirituality and the Religious Life of Muslims, Windows on the House of Islam: Muslim Sources on Spirituality and Religious Life and Tales of God's Friends: Islamic Hagiography in Translation.

Q: You wrote a concise and readable work that demystifies Islam for the everyday reader. Engagingly, he approaches the world of Islam spiritually and experientially, using the image of "journey" or "pilgrim path" as his metaphor, how did you explore the three paradigmatic journeys of Muhammad?

Renard: In Understanding the Islamic Experience (a revised version of the book originally titled In the Footsteps of Muhammad: Understanding the Islamic Experience - this response applies therefore to item 9 below also), I tried to offer an integrated overview of major aspects of the Islamic tradition using the universal image/metaphor of journey.

Specifically, I argue that the three "exemplary" journeys of Muhammad (Hijrah, Hajj, Isra' & Mi`raj) function as models for Muslims through history of essential elements of Islamic faith and practice: the Hijrah as a model of trust in Allah, the Hajj as a model for global Muslim community, and the Isra' & Mi`raj as a (more distant) model of the kind of relationship with Allah that the Prophet enjoyed (not that the average person could actually hope to enjoy the same level of spiritual accomplishment).

Q: Why do you explore Islam only from a spiritual point of view?

Renard: No doubt you emphasize Islamic paradigms and metaphors that Christians and Jews will find familiar from their own traditions, taking a sympathetic approach to Islam, how did you attempt to refute the barrage of distorted images? In several books I have emphasized various aspects of the history of Islamic "spirituality" —the huge range of literary sources and the history of many culturally diverse modes of interpreting those sources— because it encourages members of other faiths to see similarities between their own traditions and those of Muslims. Unfortunately, too many non-Muslims have been seriously misinformed about the underlying values of the Islamic faith tradition, and I believe that laying out spiritual similarities is a first step in correcting those misunderstandings and prejudices.

Q: Please, mention some of distorted images and your great efforts to correct them.

Renard: Many non-Muslims assume that Muslims worship a wrathful, despotic deity who demands subservience from all his subjects.

I try to emphasize that in fact the two most important Names of Allah are the Compassionate and Merciful (as in your own name). Many non-Muslims are convinced that Islam (at God's direction) is focused on dominating the world through violent means (a profound misunderstanding of concepts such as jihad and Shari`ah). I try to emphasize that violence is not unique to any religious tradition, but a tendency of all human beings, and that Islam, like other traditions, seeks to restrain and minimize violence in all its form.

Q: In Seven Doors to Islam, how have Muslims been using the literary and visual arts in all their richness and diversity to communicate religious values?

Renard: Many non-Muslims (and Muslims as well) assume that the expression of "religion" and religious values is limited to a small package of sacred texts and a core of ritual actions required in those texts.

I believe this very narrow definition misses out on the enormous richness and creativity and diversity of expression of Muslim values as evidenced in the many global cultures in which the world's 1.6 billion million Muslims have lived.

Muslims have devised immensely important ways of interpreting and communicating their religious values and beliefs through the riches of architecture and the visual arts (e.g. illuminated Qur'ans, the art of the prayer rug, etc.). This aspect of the Islamic tradition also provides a richer array of approaches to introducing students to Islam and its peoples.

Q: It's a comprehensive tour of the exuberant landscape of Muslim religious life, past and present. With an impressive array of textual and visual works, Renard's kaleidoscopic survey sounds the death toll to the longstanding misconception that Islam is a dry and mechanistic religion devoid of spirituality, Could you elaborate on that
statement?

Renard: As I have begun to suggest in earlier responses, I believe the Salafi/Wahhabi rejection of history (everything since the Rightly Guided Caliphs is corrupted and Muslims need to go back to the earliest days to recapture real Muslim values) and culture (no art, minimal architecture, no devotional music [Anasheed] etc.) results in a very warped view of the complex and rich human tapestry that is the historic, multi-cultural global Muslim community. And the problem, pedagogically speaking, is that so many non-Muslims believe that Islam really is limited to the austere image that the Salafi/Wahhabi's would like to communicate, rather than a much richer and more vibrant tradition.

Q: How are Islamic spirituality and religious life seen?

Renard: I tried to respond to this issue in my earlier answers.

Q: There're more than thirty leading Islam scholars present translations originating from a dozen languages, including Arabic, Persian, Chinese, and Indonesian, could you show us some of them?

Renard: This refers to the anthology Windows on the House of Islam (1998). Among the Muslim specialist/scholars who contributed to that volume are Fatemeh Keshavarz, Ahmet Karamustafa, Sachiko Murata, Ali Asani, Mustansir Mir, James Morris and William Chittick (whose "muslim" names I do not know).

Q: You are specializing in medieval Arabic and Persian religious texts, art and architecture and manuscripts of religious texts, could you tell us some about the oldest Manuscripts that examined and studied by you?

Renard: I have studied, of course, Qur'an, Hadith, and important Tafasir (exegesis); also Sirah (biography) and major texts of Qisas Al Anbiya', as well as major Arabic and Persian religious poets such as Ibn Al Farid, Rumi, Sana'i; and other spiritual authors such as Ibn `Ata' Allah, Ibn `Abbad of Ronda, and `Abd ar-Rahman Jami. Some of these, and others, I have had the luxury of studying in illustrated manuscripts as well.

Q: In the Footsteps of Muhammad, what did you want to show readers? How can Muslims manage to tell the story of Muslim civilization, culture, practices and belief?

Renard: See response #1 above.

Q: Islamic stories about holy men and women translated from seventeen languages by more than two dozen scholars of Islamic studies, what did you add?

Renard: This refers to Tales of God's Friends (i.e. Qisas Al Awliya', 2009). In addition to organizing the project, I wrote the general introduction,  individual introductions to each piece, the appendix (a comparative chart showing important information about each piece in relation to the others), and contributed a piece on various "biographical" texts on Abu Bakr from both Arabic and Persian sources.

Abdur-Rahman: Thank you very much.