|
Baba Taher
Ideas
Let the occasional chalice break
Abdolkarim Soroush and Islamic liberation theology
Ahmad Sadri and Mahmoud Sadri's introduction to a volume of articles
by Abdolkarim Soroush -- Reason, Freedom and Democracy in Islam --
to be published by Oxford University Press in the summer of 1999.
Soroush belongs to the genre of the "religious intellectuals."
The Charisma of the first generation of post coup d'etat super-intellectuals
like Mehdi Bazargan and Yadollah Sahabi emanated from their mastery of
modern exact sciences while maintaining and revising their lay piety in
the light of modern science. "Yes," they would aver in words
and deeds "it is possible to be religious, modern, and nationalistic
all at once."...
Soroush's magnum opus, is a tome entitled The Hermeneutical Expansion
and Contraction of the Theory of Shari'a. It ... poses such question as,
"What can we as mortals hope to know about the mind of God, and to
what extent ought we take the edicts deduced by Islamic Juristconsults
as literal and immediate divine commandments?" The clergy who have
posed similar quandaries, do not object to these discussions as such. They
are, however, outraged by Soroush's recklessness for exposing the laity
to such sensitive subjects... GO TO FEATURE
* Barbie, 'Titanic' Show Good Side of 'Great Satan'
By John Lancaster
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, October 27, 1998; Page A01
TEHRAN - Sasson, 28, is a child of the Iranian revolution, reared on
a diet of anti-American bile. He grew up in a country that marks the 1979
takeover of the U.S. Embassy here with public celebrations, where newspapers
denounce the United States as the "Great Satan" or "Global
Arrogance." In high school, he heard his teachers blame Washington
when they ran out of chalk.
When it comes to American-made entertainment, however, Sasson has nothing
but praise.
Not for him the propaganda-laden war epics or mournful, chaste love
stories that fill Iranian movie screens, if not theaters. Like thousands
of Iranian young people, Sasson is nuts about "Titanic," the
lavishly produced Hollywood blockbuster that began circulating here on
bootleg videocassettes -- taped inside movie theaters with hand-held cameras
-- within days of its U.S. release... FULL TEXT
More Letters
* Why insist on being around Iroonies?
Nargess Shahmanesh writes: Circumstances, political upheaval, forced
geographical relocations, have admitidly changed our people, but so have
many other nations been faced with similar, if not worse, historical/political
upheavals in the past decade. I'm not sure if these changes are necessarily
for the worse. For every LA nouveau riche tacky Iroonie, there are hundreds
and hundreds of highly original minds, very exciting and innovative individuals,
who are also a lot of fun to have around.... FULL
TEXT
Mark your calendars: During November 13 - December 3 Walter Reade Theater
in New York will present a retrospective of Dariush Mehrjoui's films plus
films by other directors made before 1979. Be there... PROGRAM
INFO
Thanks to Babak Nassirian
... CLICK
HERE FOR DETAILS
Book of the Week
Scent of Saffron:
Three Generations of an Iranian Family
By Rouhi Shafii
Recent
featured books
THE IRANIAN
Bookstore
New! Bestsellers
New! Books on Rumi
|
More
news
Central Bank wants end to fixed rial rate
TEHRAN, Oct 27 (Reuters) - A senior Iranian
Central Bank official called in remarks published on Tuesday for dropping
fixed rial exchange rates, saying this would make the economy more resilient
to shocks such as a slump in oil prices. ``The fixed currency system has
outlived its use...and cannot be effective anymore,'' the daily Hamshahri
quoted Central Bank Deputy Governor Mohammad Jafar Mojarrad as saying...
FULL TEXT
* The dollar now offered at up to 670-680 tomans
Khatami tries to push Iran reforms
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Outfoxed in a national
vote for a powerful clerical assembly, allies of Iran's moderate president
are now turning to upcoming city and town elections to try to push forward
his reforms. Supporters of President Mohammad Khatami said Tuesday that
because a hard-line council will not have to approve candidates -- as it
did in last week's balloting -- moderates will stand a better chance in
the elections in Iran's 10,000 municipalities... FULL TEXT
Conservatives 49, Moderates/independents
37
Tehran, (HAMSHAHRI) - Break down of which factions
won seats in Friday's elections... FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN
U.S. rights group backs jailed Iran cleric
DUBAI, Oct 27 (Reuters) - A U.S. human rights
group expressed support for a Shi'ite Moslem cleric jailed in Iran after
he published articles supporting women's rights. The New York-based Lawyers
Committee for Human Rights, in a statement received by Reuters on Tuesday,
urged lawyers to write on behalf of Mohsen Saeidzadeh to Iranian head of
judiciary Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi and Iran's envoy to the United Nations
... FULL TEXT
Soccer players in good shape
Tehran, (HAMSHAHRI) - After first day of training,
national soccer team nominees appear to be in good shape... FULL TEXT IN
PERSIAN
Young chess players pass first round
Tehran, (HAMSHAHRI) - All six members of the Iranian
youth chess team have come out victorious after the first round of the world
youth chess championships in Spain... FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN
$ Rate
The
dollar now offered at up to 670-680 tomans
Source: Sehaty Exchange (U.S.) Tel:602-595-0777
Business
news
The Web
Iran
Azin
Decorative arts and architecture monthly magazine now online from Tehran.
It looks like Iran's version of "Better Homes and Gardens" - very
colorful.
More
web sites... & the Web site of the day - beyond Iran
Quote Unquote
Breakthrough
If, as the Christian West has shown, the establishment of, and disenchantment
with, a visible "City of God" leads the way toward the "Secular
City," then Islamic civilization is on the verge of a decisive, and
more importantly, familiar, breakthrough.
Ahmad Sadri and Mahmoud Sadri
"Let
the occasional chalice break"
The Iranian
October 27 1998
Photo of the Day
Mount damavand
More
photos
Music
Musician of the Week
Ebi
Five songs from his greatest hits album.
Music
artists index |
