Discussion

A friend and I were discussing...and this is how it went (feel free to disagree - while respecting other's opinion)


My friend said, "I won't take a course with xyz, because they are salafi" I gave her a look, and said, "that's stereotyping!".


"Maybe it is. This is how I look @ it- there are these bins, and everyone falls into one bin or the next. That's just the fact. I'm not saying one's right, the rest are not. It's just they have differences in opinion."

"Okay, fine. there's a difference in opinion. But why classify them into groups! Doesn't that create more division in the society?"

"I think it's important to know where someone comes from. If I'm listening to Scholar A, I should know which organization (or which school of thought) he belongs to - so I can hold my guard and not just absorb everything."

"but don't you think we should ignore the differences, and just get along. After all, we should be united!"

"hm. We should acknowledge the differences, and get along! When people call this generalizing - i ask them to look @ the million personality tests (like Myers-Briggs) - are those generalizing? The purpose of the tests is to understand others, and see where they come from. It teaches you how to deal with others."

"I see what you mean."

2 comments:

Faraz Ahmed said...

I think it's important to know where a person comes from but on the other hand, I see what you're saying too.

The problem arises when the differences begin to cause divisions instead of 'well, you do your thing and i'll do mine.'

But of course that never happens. It's always: i'll do my thing and i'll try my darndest to make sure you do it my way too!

Hafsa said...

i hear you. the idea sounds great in theory, but in reality hard to find around us

But then again, we teach by example.