I wanted to start with some passages from the Quran. The Quran is literally means "The Reading" or "Recital". And so they're used to be recited so I'm going to recite a few verses and
then look at after Cleary's translation
of them
<QURANIC Recication>
These were rendered in English by Dr. Cleary:
<Translation removed due to Transcription Errors>
The Quran itself is called a
book of science and the in fact a word
that is used for verses in Arabic
literally means signs and what the Quran
essentially is telling us is that
creation is signing with the whole of
existence
sign and that the Quran itself is fine
for people to in a sense decode the
signs outside of themselves and what the
importance of that is is that we tend to
forget about fines and we tend to most
people go through life really not
reflecting on the sign what I talked
about finding yourself and in the
horizon and another unfortunate matter
and a good example from this passage in
the crown is it says from your tongue in
your complexion
these even tell the sign of God and what
people tend to do is miss read the time
and say for instance because the person
is white they see that as a sign that
they're superior with somebody that is
black for instance and so the result is
is that times becoming when they're
misunderstood have tragic consequences
and the Quran itself reminds us in the
in the chapter called the merciful that
God created man or humankind and talked
them see and this teaching of speech
release Diane which is articulation or a
way of articulating the sign and this is
the gift of language is it is a way of
articulating reality and the I think the
importance of this book in my mind and
dr. Clara's translation in particular or
Western people is that we're living in a
time where people would like to see
confrontation there are a lot of people
that have vested interest in
confrontation I give a recent example in
a an article but outside the foreign
policy journal which is the Journal of
the Council on Foreign Relations
there was an article there that
describes the world as being divided
into three three sections the Confucian
the Islamic and the Christian or the
Western and this man saw the
confrontations of
the future would be between these
different blocks and unfortunately if
things continue as they're going that
scenario is not that unlikely but what I
think mr. Cleary is trying to do is give
us tools right to break down some of
those barriers and that's why I think
his work is so extremely important in
fact I really personally believe that it
is something most important work going
on here you because if if that scenario
is true then we need to learn about the
the peoples of the eat as opposed to
thing with enemies
seeing them as people that they are
trying and that and also the these lot
of people as opposed to seeing the enemy
is saying that they are mindless gods as
well and so that's what he's giving us
because I think the hon describes
something as a book of science but we
need to decode the sign and what he is
in there doing watching people to do is
by putting in a to the symbols that we
understand and he's giving us the tool
of looking at it and being able to
decode for ourselves what is beneficial
for us and there's certainly a great
deal in there and I'm looking forward to
kind of hearing what dr. Cruz has to say
about the benefits of Islam to the West
so with without going on in further
election welcome dr. Cleary and thank
you in school and dr. clear for giving
this opportunity thank you
is it but we all know K I think it's
interesting that my mom then I picked
out some of the same passages to read
tonight without prior discussion say my
dad
now the question can the West last in
this month I think it's pertinent to
point out the West have learned from
this farm already let me read a brief
passage from an article which I think
summarizes this quite well interestingly
this article is from a magazine devoted
to economic issues in time it has a
magazine called future it's published in
the United Kingdom the subject of the
article was the importance of the
cultural aspect of international trade
and diplomatic relations this regards
the relation of Islam of the west and
quote Islamic revival as we can be
interpreted as the second intervention
of Islam in trying to bring Weston
I repeat Western civilization into
balance when Europe of the Middle Ages
preoccupied with a religious supremacy
which even ruled over reason and science
it was Islam which reintroduced Greek
rationalism and science into Europe as
pointed out by Norfolk Islam gave the
West through its Arabian University in
Spain much of the source material and
the Enlightenment which made the West
what it now is today Islam was trying to
reintroduce the idea of the holy into
the Western society which has enshrined
the market as a religious hang I picked
out a number of topics to focus on and
pursue this question the issue of from
what's referred to here at the second
intervention of his mom in trying to
balance Western society reintroducing
the idea of the holy into everyday
society I'd like to focus on mental
culture first and leadership business
society home
and individual conscience and conduct
not part mental culture is comparing the
Prophet said speaking knowledge is
incumbent on every Muslim he also said
the word of wisdom is astray of the one
who believes who has the better right to
it wherever it may be found and the
fourth successor of the Prophet Ali's
did lay hold of wisdom wherever it is
for wisdom stammers in the heart of the
hypocrite until it leaves and comes to
rest by its link in the heart of a
believer so I think that the idea of
seeking knowledge without preconceived
boundary doing the knowledge belongs for
whom it's appropriate it's something
that we certainly can use here in the
West I think particularly we need today
human understanding on a level to catch
up with the power of his the political
and economic and technological
developments that have already taken
place and at the same time I think that
this human knowledge knowledge of human
nature human understanding needs to be
generalized enough widespread enough so
that understanding of human
psychological weaknesses in particular
cannot be used to manipulate people
quite so much now in particular Quran
recommends knowledge of human history
for example in the chapter on Rome
travel the earth and see how those
before you ended up again I think that
in a democratic society where to some
extent individuals are responsible at
least in theory for the behavior of
their governments and societies it's
rather important to understand what the
prospects of given attitudes and the
policies really are and one way of doing
that is understanding what has already
happened to us already and tries what
taken place on the face of the earth
here I think this is an area that is
especially weak in our educational
system I understand the history of
courses the difficult subjects
because it is inherently impossible to
record all the relevant data and so I
think part of them the study of history
needs to be against study of the kinds
of objectives biases that enter into the
reporting and the understanding of
history I think that particular chord
for us today because our general
knowledge of history is heavily inter
larded with political expediency and
also with a great deal of fantasy i
think the popularity of fantasy in this
culture has gotten a bit out of hand to
point where it invades subjects like
history and unfortunately can influence
attitude in a detrimental way because it
really doesn't equip us to deal with
realities are to be able to have some
sense of foresight in predicting how
particular attitudes and policies will
get such a result they're likely to
produce now we've already heard the
passage from the beginning some roam
among the pines of God is the creation
of the heavens and the earth in the
diversity of your languages in their
complexion surely in that is a sign for
the knowing now saying what later on in
the chapter and the chambers the
apartments the Quran explains the
purpose the meaning of this sign in one
sense of humankind it says we created
you from a male and a female and we made
you a plurality of races and tribes for
you to know each other then goes on to
pain the most noble of you in fact in
God's perspective is the most
conscientious
of you so I take this to mean that
people of different races and tribes are
not superior or inferior to each other
by virtue of their membership in a
particular grace of trying but by virtue
of their individual qualities in a
pluralistic society such as we live in
here I think it's imperative for us to
learn home to
appreciate people and deal with people
on the basis of their their individual
qualities as they really are obviously
stereotypes won't let me do the job now
let me give an example of why I think
this need is so very critical here in
America at this time not only for the
internal peace and harmony of this
society but for the peaceful coexistence
of the society with other societies on
the face of the earth no the Prophet
also is reported to have said seek
knowledge even as far as China now for
the moment I'll take that literally and
quote a recent statement by a scholar a
university professor on the subject of
Chinese thinking perception and
cognition now I'd like to point out that
this was written in 1993 which is
approximately two hundred and eighteen
years after the initiation of commercial
relationships between the United States
and China
I don't know how well-known that fact is
but the first shift from America fell
for China the year after the Revolution
that was one reason why the northeastern
merchants wanted to be free from England
anyway they heard what we've learned and
here's what I confess entertaining after
200 years of acquaintance and I quote
there seems to be little concern this is
about China and Chinese meaning there
seems to be little concern to recover an
intelligible pattern from what seriously
threatens to remain formless and
meaningless jorge luis borges captured
this Western perception in his
well-known citation of quote that
certain Chinese encyclopedia unquote use
the category animal is divided into one
belonging to the Emperor to embalm 318
for suckling pigs five sirens six
fabulous seven stray dogs eight included
in the present classification nine
frenzied ten innumerable eleven drawn
with a very fine camel hairbrush
12 etc 13 having just broken the water
pitcher and 14 that from a long way off
look like flies
now that the distinguished scholar
continues summing up this vast body of
evidence from the perspective of the
more rationalistic Western point of view
the penalty that Chinese must pay for
the absence of that underlying
metaphysical infrastructure necessary to
guarantee a single ordered universe is
what we take to be intelligibility and
predictability now then can you imagine
what international trade and diplomacy
could be like based on this type of idea
now this individual is not anomaly
professor he's director of the Center
for Chinese Studies certain university
was made over there's no no will draw
the curtain a charity described I might
add as one of the leading interpreters
of Chinese philosophy in America today
this book is described in each turn the
author's understanding of the
philosophical and cultural background
make this the most profoundly erudite in
intellectually stimulating translation
and analysis of the great Chinese
military classics
well first of all I what interests me is
that this individual doesn't even
understand the writing of this brazilian
jorge luis borges
so we'll just I repeat there's no
contemporary writer Westerner he looks
for realist and he likes to point out
that there are many different ways of
looking at reality and this is exactly
what he's talking about in this passage
from this mythological should there's no
such Chinese encyclopedia perhaps this
book this scholar and I noticed he
didn't put a footnote on there you know
where where you can find this
encyclopedia anyway so first of all he
doesn't understand his own the forefront
of his own civilization and you know the
idea that the Chinese have sacrificed
intelligibility and predicted
please how can you have a language
without intelligibility or
predictability that language is the
vehicle of intelligibility and
predictability means that people have
one of the most sophisticated written
languages in the world
well let me just conclude this
disgraceful chapter with no an actual
quote from a genuine Chinese proverb
that illustrates I think both the nature
of this type of scholarship and the
danger in society of rejecting this type
of material as though it were and
anything serious or real and that
proverb goes as follows when one dog
barks a thousand dogs howl of course no
conception of predictability in there
all right let me turn the leadership
obviously we can only hope and pray that
the leaders of our nation do not go
through standards of Chinese studies or
investment wind but the Chinese have on
their mind now at work leadership is
concerned this is something that I
really believe in a Democratic Society
is giving imperative for everyone who
studies issues with leadership whether
or not they're formally in position of
leadership and that's not just because
of the responsibilities of being a
member of a Democratic Society but it's
also responsibilities be managing
yourself now here in America
particularly where we don't have much in
the way of extended family for life with
us don't anyway and the the fabric of
society in some senses rather looser
then surely any more traditional
societies the responsibility of managing
oneself and taking care of one's own
business therefore becomes more and more
critical the more ones left to one's own
devices let me begin by quoting
again Ali the fourth success of the
province who said whoever sets himself
up as a leader of other people should
start educating himself before educating
other and let him teach by his conduct
before teaching by his tongue and the
education and refinement of oneself is
more worthy of respect than the
education and culture of other people
and the Quran we have actually many
examples of recommendations for behavior
that could be referred to requisites of
leadership and example ISM the chapter
in love might adopt the middle course in
your walk and lower your voice for the
worse this sounds is the brain of an ass
keep that in mind around election time
flash on the television you get up there
you just sign asking that out a number
of things with the Prophet which I think
are relevant to dealing with the
requirements of leadership in terms of
sincerity truthfulness modesty fairness
and justice the Prophet said anyone whom
God has placed in charge of the citizen
name but he does not take care of them
in theory will not even get a sense of
fairness the Prophet also said god
forbid paradise to any ruler of a Muslim
citizen Enoch who dies all he is
deceiving them in one of the most
interesting things we do not assign our
tea to one who asked for it or to one
who covered it imagine what elections
would be like under those conditions the
catsuit ones we're running away but I
think it is a very cogent point the idea
that in public service to the public
service not for the the privileges and
perk that the individuals who are in
those positions may maintain and I think
among the citizenry of this country
there is a really a great cry for this
kin