"At first, the Prophet Muhammad forbade the writing down of reports of what he said or did in everyday life. The Prophet distinguished what he said in revealed language (included in the evolving Qur'an) from what he pronounced of his own opinions, instructions, or decisions. Yet his followers regarded his decisions and opinions as God's guidance for them; in this light, the Prophet forbade them to write down anything that he said or did which was not explicitly the Qur'an."
Scott Siraj al-Haqq Kugle, Homosexuality in Islam (p. 77)
I'm continuing my reread of Kugle's Homosexuality in Islam. I don't know why I download book on Kindle (well, I do know why I download books on Kindle) when I'm almost certainly going to end up using them in class - which means that I need to then buy a hard copy that I can make notes on; granted, I can make notes in my Kindle, but then that wouldn't give me the exact page numbers to use when talking to my students. However, I don't know how many copies of Crime and Punishment or Winesburg, Ohio or the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius I have, all marked up, but never necessarily the same physical copy that my students have in front of them at that moment. I don't normally mind different versions, especially if it's something like the Quran because the different translations - and thus word choices - can facilitate discussion.
Kugle makes a point here that I had never heard before, but which I find completely believable: that is, that the Prophet discouraged his followers from writing down his personal comments that were not direct revelations, the very words that would form the ahadith later. I need to check on this, but it makes perfect sense because the Prophet makes clear that he was just a man, and he had to know that there was a slippery slope in venerating your own personal prophet too profoundly. We can't criticize the Christians for turning a prophet into a god and not turn around and do the same thing as well. Anyway, I'll do some research and revisit this question.
Scott Siraj al-Haqq Kugle, Homosexuality in Islam (p. 77)
I'm continuing my reread of Kugle's Homosexuality in Islam. I don't know why I download book on Kindle (well, I do know why I download books on Kindle) when I'm almost certainly going to end up using them in class - which means that I need to then buy a hard copy that I can make notes on; granted, I can make notes in my Kindle, but then that wouldn't give me the exact page numbers to use when talking to my students. However, I don't know how many copies of Crime and Punishment or Winesburg, Ohio or the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius I have, all marked up, but never necessarily the same physical copy that my students have in front of them at that moment. I don't normally mind different versions, especially if it's something like the Quran because the different translations - and thus word choices - can facilitate discussion.
Kugle makes a point here that I had never heard before, but which I find completely believable: that is, that the Prophet discouraged his followers from writing down his personal comments that were not direct revelations, the very words that would form the ahadith later. I need to check on this, but it makes perfect sense because the Prophet makes clear that he was just a man, and he had to know that there was a slippery slope in venerating your own personal prophet too profoundly. We can't criticize the Christians for turning a prophet into a god and not turn around and do the same thing as well. Anyway, I'll do some research and revisit this question.
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