[Rhodes22-list] A little more on Islam

[Bill Effros]

Great stuff, Mike!

I'm hopping onto a plane, and won't be able to catch your next post 
until I find an Internet Cafe, but I'll be looking for it.

The WindRider is a kick.  I test drove one in Norwalk, thought of not 
coming back.  Have you tried the big one that hydroplanes?

Many Jewish texts are in Aramaic, most notably the Kaddish spoken for 
the dead.  I have only seen Aramaic written with Hebrew characters.  Can 
it be written with Arabic characters, also?  I assume Arabic is a phonic 
language.  How many different characters?  Does it have vowels?  Are 
there regional pronounciation differences?  So many questions, so little 
time.

You bring much new material to the discussion.  It is both welcome, and 
a welcome change.

Bill Effros



M. Abdullah wrote:

> Howdy Bill and all,
>
> Yep, I'm still sailing my little WindRider 17 Trimaran in the lakes 
> around Austin, crewing on big boats in Houston with my homies, and 
> dreaming of when I can get a Rhodes 22.
>
> To set the record straight I'm not a native Texan, I'm much better 
> than that - I was born and raised in Savannah, GA just down the road 
> from Rummy. Dad is from Sudan and Mom is a Gullah from SC. Gullah is a 
> low country culture and language. There's plenty of Gullah info on the 
> web. Anyway I learned Arabic from my father and while on stays in 
> Sudan and later working in Saudi Arabia. So my languages are Gullah, 
> English, Arabic, and now Spanish (really Texmex) in that order.
>
> Arabic is a Semitic language. The other modern Semitic languages are 
> Hebrew and Amharic (the official language of Ethiopia) and Aramaic 
> (most scholars say this is what Jesus spoke - I don't know). I visited 
> some Christian communities in Iraq that spoke Aramaic. This was way 
> before Gulf War 1 which I was against because Kuwait is historically a 
> part of Iraq. And the Kuwaities were screwing Saddam by slant 
> drilling. And the Kuwaities are a bunch of slave traders. I wish we 
> had never gotten involved. What was Saddam going to do with the extra 
> oil? Drink it? No, he was going to sell it to us a low price.
>
> Ancient or classical Arabic is the language of the Quran. Modern 
> Arabic is both different and similar. The easiest way to explain it is 
> to compare Shakespeare’s English to modern American English.
>
> The Arabic of the Quran is mesmerizing in its style, substance, and 
> subject matter. It’s like a high form of very advanced poetry. The 
> Quran is the only miracle of Prophet Muhammad. Muhammad was accused of 
> being a mad poet. People would put their fingers in their ears and do 
> the la-la-la-la thing so they would not become enchanted. LOL
>
> Sidebar: In Quran Muhammad is mentioned by name only 3 times, Jesus 25 
> times, Moses, Abraham much more. If you read an English translation 
> you'll see Muhammad many more times but this is just the translator 
> giving his opinion. I've read a few English translations but have had 
> problems with some of the text. If you ever do read an English 
> translation and something just hits you as wrong it more than likely is.
>
> Arabic just like any other language can be manipulated to your own 
> good or evil ends. Example: "Mary had a little lamb, little lamb ..." 
> Did Mary own a lamb, or did she have lamb for dinner, or was Mary part 
> of a DNA experiment and have birth to a little lamb? Quran tell 
> believers to "follow the best meaning" to me this means that you pick 
> the most sensible and moral meaning. But y'all know how people are, 
> especially non-sailors.
>
> Bill, I'll tell you what I think of hadiths in another post.
>
> Mike Abdullah
>
>
> Bill Effros wrote:
>
>> Mike,
>>
>> Glad you're still here.
>>
>> I would love to know as much as you care to send. It's hard to find 
>> anybody who knows what they are talking about on this topic. Will 
>> formulate and get back with specific questions.
>>
>> Do you read/write/speak Arabic? Let's start with that. How are the 
>> Arabic languages connected? What are they? Who uses which? Is ancient 
>> usage different from modern? Were the political texts written in the 
>> same language as the Quran? How are the hadiths organized?
>>
>> Many more questions to come.
>>
>> Bill Effros
>
>
>
>
> __________________________________________________
> Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
>