Rachel Hoffman Superstition
religion and islam.
A light hearted article in Tablet Magazine caught my eye today. The writer, Allison Hoffman, is a reform Jew who is in the midst of a pregnancy.
As a reform Jew, Ms. Hoffman takes pride in her enlightened, rational, science and fact based beliefs. She is not superstitious, nor does she use halacha as a guide for living her life. Like many reform Jews, she may equate the two as one and the same.
The problem for Ms. Hoffman is that during her pregnancy she has developed some nasty superstitions. Like many women who are carrying a fetus inside their body, Ms. Hoffman has developed a need to protect her baby at all costs. And this includes tapping into tried and true superstitions like not calling the baby by name until the baby is born and formally named.
We’ve …show more content…
While the first category of experiences is the province of Science and is subjected to continuous study and appraisal, the second category is unclear because there is normally no way of intelligently grasping and, at times, confirming the veracity of it. Magic and superstition belong to the latter category.
True Islamic understanding would encourage scientific enquiry and put no restrictions on its pursuit, except the ones that are either immoral or faith-challenging. In both cases, Islam would expect its intelligent followers to put across its case to show that the apparent scientific enquiry is either immoral or illogical. However, Islamic guidance would urge its followers to be very careful while dealing with experiences that have to do with magic and superstition since they derive their conclusions from the unseen world.
There are two different questions that arise about magic: Is it a reality? Are Muslims allowed to indulge in
A light hearted article in Tablet Magazine caught my eye today. The writer, Allison Hoffman, is a reform Jew who is in the midst of a pregnancy.
As a reform Jew, Ms. Hoffman takes pride in her enlightened, rational, science and fact based beliefs. She is not superstitious, nor does she use halacha as a guide for living her life. Like many reform Jews, she may equate the two as one and the same.
The problem for Ms. Hoffman is that during her pregnancy she has developed some nasty superstitions. Like many women who are carrying a fetus inside their body, Ms. Hoffman has developed a need to protect her baby at all costs. And this includes tapping into tried and true superstitions like not calling the baby by name until the baby is born and formally named.
We’ve …show more content…
While the first category of experiences is the province of Science and is subjected to continuous study and appraisal, the second category is unclear because there is normally no way of intelligently grasping and, at times, confirming the veracity of it. Magic and superstition belong to the latter category.
True Islamic understanding would encourage scientific enquiry and put no restrictions on its pursuit, except the ones that are either immoral or faith-challenging. In both cases, Islam would expect its intelligent followers to put across its case to show that the apparent scientific enquiry is either immoral or illogical. However, Islamic guidance would urge its followers to be very careful while dealing with experiences that have to do with magic and superstition since they derive their conclusions from the unseen world.
There are two different questions that arise about magic: Is it a reality? Are Muslims allowed to indulge in