Renovatio 6: The Silence of God

Fall 2019, Vol.3, No.2

This issue reflects upon how we continue to “hear” God, even after the close of revelation.

On the authority of Jurthūm b. Nāshir r.a., the Messenger of God s.a.w. said:

“Verily God the Almighty has laid down religious obligations, so do not neglect them. God has set boundaries, so do not overstep them. God has prohibited some matters, so do not violate them; about some matters, God was silent out of compassion for you, not forgetfulness, so seek not after them.” [Al-Dāraqutnī]

Contents

Counting the Minutes

/ Sophia Vasalou

Every single thing we do, every moment of waking awareness, every instant of our lives might carry value, be significant, and be ordered to some meaningful end.

The Sound of Silence

/ William C. Chittick

God’s speech is real, true, and authoritative; the speech of anything else, in and of itself, is unreal, false, and unreliable.

Can an Islamic Natural Theology Explain God’s Silence Today?

/ Shabbir Akhtar

In our age of rage and reason, we must examine the implications of the God of Abraham remaining silent, even in the face of widespread rejection.

Do We Mistake Our Passion for Truth with Its Possession?

/ Reuven Kimelman

God has given the Abrahamic family a window of opportunity to advance beyond sibling rivalry in the direction of fraternal cooperation.

Pia Fraus: Our Words and God’s Truth

/ David Bentley Hart

Is it possible that there are times when our words more faithfully reflect God’s truth because they do not conform or correspond to what happens to be the case?

Breaking the Cycle of Oppression

/ Hamza Yusuf

The tyrant in the palace and the bully on the street corner are easy to see, but spotting the tyrant within our own souls is far more challenging.

Muslims Are Not a Race

/ Caner K. Dagli

Many intellectuals believe Islamophobia is a form of racism, but the ultimate presuppositions embedded in this view are antithetical not only to Islam but to religion as such.

The Oneness of Being

/ Rosabel Ansari

By affirming multiple levels to being, Islamic scholars rejected the flattening of being and the notion that a thing either is or is not.

After Revelation, Where Does Reason Lead?

/ Mohammad Fadel

With the end of revelation, Muslim scholars established a framework that allowed us to continue to “hear” God’s word, without the pitfalls of pure fideism on one hand and free interpretation on the other.

Things in Their Proper Places

/ Zaid Shakir

In Western philosophy, the conversation about justice has been long and winding. How has this conversation proceeded among Muslims?

“Everything Other Than God Is Unreal”

/ Faraz Khan

A sound ontological argument would show that even without human experience of the world, pure reason itself necessarily arrives at the existence of God.