I started this week taking Classical Arabic classes with a new teacher, Barak, who is Muslim but only in name. A few years ago he went to university, read Neitze and other philosophers, and became an practical atheist though it is really hard to get him to admit it. In the Western world to be an atheist is in vogue but here, well, it’s a dangerous thing to say. So, pray for him.
In our class we are going through a national education program for illiterate adults to teach them Classical Arabic. So that’s what I am now, an illiterate adult. In the book are portions of the Koran and Hadith (like commentaries). Today we read one portion that says this:
“You have a neighbor that has one right. You have a neighbor that has two rights. You have a neighbor that has three rights. You non-Muslim neighbor has one right. Your Muslim neighbor has two rights: The right of the neighborhood, the right of Islam. Your Muslim neighbor for your family has three rights: The neighborhood right, the Islam right, and the family right. “
If that seems confusing you should try reading it in Arabic. Anyway, basically it says that you as a Kufar (infidel) have half the rights of a Muslim and one third the rights of a Muslim family member of your neighbor. Pretty comforting for the Muslim but not so much for the Christian surrounded by said Muslims. It really is a good thing that 99% of Muslims don’t know or follow the teachings if Islam. I shared with Barak the story of the Good Samaritan as told by Christ. He thought that sounded like a better plan in his pragmatic atheism.