Madiba:

Many thanks for the informative article on "Moderate Islam."  Our own
Dr. Sulayman Nyang was quoted in it as saying: "Most of these groups we
call fundamentalists have a rigid idea that everything is sealed in
concrete and there is no elasticity in reinterpretation.  We need to
inject life back into Islam and open it up in light of new realities."

 "Many Muslims see an even more pervasive impact of puritanism-robbing
Islam of its richness and flexibility"  This Nyang calls "the
mummification, ossification and fossilization of Islam."

The article on "Glenn Loury's About face" was also very instructive.
Like religion, this article showed the shifting character of ideology.

I am glad that you also had the opportunity to meet Dr. Lamin Sanneh of
Yale.  He is very impressive, a fine and prolific scholar who has
written extensively on Islam, Christianity and The Jahanke as well.  I
met him a little over a decade ago and often run into him at
conferences.

Drs. Nyang and Sanneh are Gambians  and scholars of international
acclaim who continue to serve as models.

Abdoulaye

<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>

To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]

<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>