the first word

A depressing line from a publisher:

“We always say, ‘How about a little novella that we can sell for 99 cents?’ ”

In an age of verbal hyperinflation, is this so surprising? Every desire is but one click away from being gratified, instantly 'downloadable'. The free flow of capital producing the free flow of information.

~~~

The origins of Islam.

As long as Islam has been about there has always been the claim that, well, actually it's just a copy, a heresy of sorts, borrowing from (take your pick): Gnosticism, Byzantium, Iraq, Judaism, Christian mystics and so on. 

This question of borrowing is an odd one. For who could deny that any "idea" or religion takes on the shape and language of the culture and society it finds itself in? But the criticism cuts deeper than institutional forms etc. It is, rather, to point out that if we could trace out the origins we'd see, clearly see, it was all concocted, that the religion "itself" (if we can make such a distinction) is somehow a corrupted version of the "true" faith. 

My problem with that is, firstly, why is there a need to show that one's position is the only true one? This is far more interesting, in my opinion. Against a view that there can only be, and has only been, one "true" revelation it is not surprising that everything else must appear to be in some sense derivative. Secondly, it seems like a futile thing to aim for. I mean, religions have been around for centuries, thousands of years. The question, therefore, is not simply why should you want to change someone else's views but, rather, can you. This is one reason missionaries grate on your nerves so much. 

The difficulty for a certain type of Muslim (perhaps the majority) and for some people of other faiths, is that Islam is so pluralistic. One of the central claims it makes is that it is not new! It is, or so the claim goes, just the last in a series of revelations. If muslims are supposed to "compete" with people of other faiths in good acts then they're also supposed to recognize that some of those other people are "righteous" (a momentous word)and what distinguishes people is not their class, religious orientation ('kiblah') per se but their "intentions" and their "acts". 

Islam is “at its best” when it grounds the formation of a community “out of nowhere,” in the genealogical desert, as the egalitarian revolutionary fraternity.

--Zizek. 

Perhaps. For a certain type of radicalism or zealous puritanism can also follow from that...If Islam emphasizes balance and moderation above all else, then it's city & desert, home and homelessness...

In any case, this bores you. More interesting than that is the dialogue (internal and external) between faith and modernity. What interests you more is the notion that the 'religious spirit' is not only found in other religions (this is almost a matter of doctrine in Islam, in my understanding) but that it survives and flourishes even without the institutional forms associated with religion.