BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.2.2.1//EN TZID:America/Los_Angeles X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/Los_Angeles BEGIN:VEVENT UID:10618@uucpa.org DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220108T160000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220108T170000 DTSTAMP:20220107T211052Z URL:https://www.uucpa.org/events/sacred-text-reading-group-2022-01-08/ SUMMARY:Sacred Text Reading Group (Abu Zayd ) DESCRIPTION:Sacred Text Reading Group (Abu Zayd ) \n\n\nA twice-weekly onl ine sacred text reading group. We meet on Saturdays\, 4-5\, and on Wednesd ays\, 12-1. All are wide open and you are welcome!\n\nUsing a spiritual-pr actice approach\, in each session we will explore a different brief script ural text in depth. The aims of the sessions are educational (learning som ething about the texts and traditions)\, spiritual/moral (discovering what the texts ask of us)\, and community-building (getting to know each other better). Our practice usually follows this version of Lectio Divina.\n\nT he facilitator will have a version of the text available to share\; “bri ng” your own if you like. All are welcome\, as are your suggestions of f uture texts. Group members also take turns facilitating\, if they want to try that role.\n\n\nOur text for Saturday\, January 8 is from Nasr Hamid A bu Zayd (1943-2010)\, a prominent liberal Islamic theologian. For many yea rs\, he was in the Department of Arabic Language and Literature at Cairo U niversity\, which is one of Egypt’s most prestigious universities. One o f his academic projects was to show there was a diversity of interpretatio ns of the Quran in the immediate aftermath of Muhammad’s death and that interpretations that have long been dominant have prevailed because their upholders have been materially powerful and that these interpretation adva nce the social and political agenda of those upholders. This work is detai led and very particular. However\, Nasr Abu Zayd has also written generall y about the nature of a sacred text and how our human capacity to understa nd a sacred text is limited by our cultural context. It is from these writ ings that today’s quotes come. In 1995\, he was declared an apostate by a Sharia court and fled Egypt to a job at Leiden University. He returned q uietly to Egypt near the end of his life and died there.\n\n\nThe [Qur'ani c] text changed from the very first moment - that is\, when the Prophet re cited it at the moment of its revelation - from its existence as a divine text (nass ilahi)\, and became something understandable\, a human text (na ss insani)\, because it changed from revelation to interpretation (li-anna hu tahawwala min al-tanzil ila al-ta'wil). (Mafhum al-nass (The concept of the text)\, 1995\, p. 27\, tran. Navid Kermani)\n\n[The Qur’an] is a me ssage from Heaven to earth\, but it is not a message independent of the ru les of reality\, with all the structures in which this reality is embedded \, the most important of these being the cultural framework. The Absolute reveals Itself to humans by means of Its speech. It 'lowers Itself to them ' (yatanazzalu ilayhim) \, by employing their cultural and linguistic syst em of meaning. (Mafhum al-nass\, p. 65\, trans. Navid Kermani)\n\nSource:\ n\nOxford Guide to Modern Islamic Intellectuals and the Qur’an. Oxford U niversity Press\, 2004. Chapter 6\, “From revelation to interpretation: Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd and the Iiterary study of the Qur’an. Navid Kermani. \n\nKermani is a prominent scholar of Islam based in Germany.\n\n\nTo have check-in time\, or if you are new and would like a brief orientation\, ar rive ten minutes early. And all are welcome to stay ten minutes after as w ell\, for more getting-acquainted time.\n\n\nHow to join:\n\n Join this c lass from your Web browser: https://zoom.us/j/578882781\n Join this class using the Zoom app: Meeting ID: 578 882 781\n Join this class by phone: 669 900 9128 US (San Jose)\, Meeting ID: 578 882 781\n Join this class by on-tap on mobile phones: +16699009128\,\,578882781# US (San Jose)\n Phon ing in\, but not in the bay area?  Find your local number: https://zoom. us/u/abL8clvIYT\n\n\n ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.uucpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03 /Online-Sacred-Texts-Reading-Group.png CATEGORIES:Adult,Classes,Learning,Small Groups END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Los_Angeles X-LIC-LOCATION:America/Los_Angeles BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20211107T010000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR