I’ve been thinking lately, as we’ve been making our way through the Qur’an, that religion is a really cool thing to study because we can (and kind of have to) view it through both an academic lens and a personal lens. We consider the foundations of a religion—we learn about its origins, sacred texts, significant beliefs, and can look at these things in a factual way. But as we do this, we also get to think about how these things apply to the every day lives of people who practice these religions today, all while considering how our beliefs and values compare and contrast to those we’re studying. I know we have talked about this in class, as now that I’ve typed it out it seems pretty obvious and basic, but I was just feeling appreciative of the fact that we get to learn about things like this.
I was especially thinking about this recently as I was reading Sura 12. The story of Joseph is the story from Abrahamic religions that I am the most familiar with (yes, because of the Andrew Lloyd Weber musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. It’s pretty cheesy, but the music isn’t all bad!). Initially I felt that I was getting a lot more out of the reading when I already knew the content through a different lens, but then I thought more about how I might be getting more when I’m reading for the first time through the perspective of Islam. All this to say—I think there are pros and cons to being able to relate a religious study to prior knowledge.
I too often find that writing things down I appreciate things – even things that are perhaps obvious on one level – in new and deeper ways!