Obama has been the single worst president in modern American history in dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Reza AslanEven the Quran, which Sufis respect as the direct speech of God, lacks the capacity to shed light upon Godโs essence. As one Sufi master has argued, why spend time reading a love letter (by which he means the Quran) in the presence of the Beloved who wrote it?
Reza AslanI think if you place Jesus firmly in the historical context... you can make very educated hypotheses and guesses about how he lived.
Reza AslanThe way you confront an organization like that is twofold. No. 1, you kill their militants. There is no room for discussion or negotiation when it comes to an ISIS or an Al Qaeda militant. They donโt want anything concrete. And if you want nothing thatโs measurable or concrete, there is nothing to talk about. You must be destroyed.
Reza AslanBut perhaps the most important innovation in the doctrine of jihad was its outright prohibition of all but strictly defensive wars. โFight in the way of God those who fight you,โ the Quran says, โbut do not begin hostilities; God does not like the aggressorโ (2:190). Elsewhere the Quran is more explicit: โPermission to fight is given only to those who have been oppressed ... who have been driven from their homes for saying, 'God is our Lord' โ (22:39; emphasis added).
Reza Aslan