Spectator letters: Interpreting Islam, and Spectator-reading thieves

Chapter and verse on Islam

Sir: Irshad Manji’s generally very sensible article on ‘Reclaiming Islam’ (29 March) suggests using the Qur’an sura 3:7 as a verse to challenge Islamists who claim a fundamentalist reading. She quotes the verse as saying that ‘God and God alone knows the full truth of how the Qu’ran ought to be interpreted’. I don’t speak Arabic, but unfortunately in my English translation this isn’t quite what the verse says. What it says is ‘only God and insightful people know their true meaning’. Sadly then the verse, I suspect, would be next to useless in challenging fundamentalist interpretations — as most Islamists would, I suspect, consider themselves to fall within the category of ‘insightful people’.
Fr David Palmer

Nottingham
 
Sir: I read with interest the article by Irshad Manji and in particular her quote of Chapter 3 verse 7 of the Qur’an which states that God and God alone knows the full truth of how the Qur’an ought to be interpreted. It reminded me of a minister in Northern Ireland being interviewed in the 1960s about the controversy about ‘Sunday swings’ that were locked up in observance of the so-called ‘Ulster Sunday’. The reporter tried to put across the viewpoint that people should have a choice. If they did not want to go to the parks on a Sunday, then fine, but why should people who did want to go be stopped from doing so?

He was somewhat nonplussed when the minister replied: ‘But, my dear man, I know what God wants!’ Clearly not only Muslim extremists have a hotline to the Almighty.
John McErlean

Bedford

Majorly into adverbs

Sir: My friend Miriam Gross frets about the disappearance of the adverb, as in ‘He’s doing terrific’ (Diary, 29 March). She would be less concerned if (as I admit does not seem very likely) she watched bicycle racing on television.