About
About the projectAbout the monkAbout the books
Halal monk has two aims: to be a concrete project of sincere interreligious dialogue and to seek for ways out of the cultural and religious impasse our world seems to be coming to.
Within efforts of interreligious dialogue the more difficult questions are often circumvented by superficials talks in which the different parties respectfully listen but seldom truly engage. Halal Monk therefore wants to revive the tradition of true interreligious debate and discussion like it used to be held between wandering monks, travelling artists and journeying preachers. Halal Monk does not do so for the sake of the argument but because of the hope that such deeper debate might lead to unexpected solutions for the problems this world is facing.
One of those problems is that fact that the portals of ijtihad (an islamic term which refers to the process of coming to a religious or spiritual conclusion through personal interpretation) are closed. Halal Monk wants to put those portals wide open again. Not only within Islam but within Christianity as well. And even within the whole world. For the whole globalized society is in dire need of a reinterpreting the position of religion and spirituality. If it does not do so, it will eventually succomb to the assumption of the clash of civilizations and the aggression such an assumption leads to.
Halal Monk tries to reach its aims in two ways: through interviews with important people of the islamic sphere and through personal interpretations of Quran verses.
|
The interviews
The islamic world is full of beautiful spirituality and mesmirising art. Both have the capability to fulfill the soul and bring us closer to God. The monk therefore wishes to learn from spiritual teachers and wants to listen to inspiring artists. He would like to dialogue with them in order to discover new ways of thinking. He wants to talk with them about the world's situation and how to solve its problems.
|
The Quran verses
Halal Monk shares his thoughts and views on the wisdom of his favorite verses in the Quran. Of course he interprets the texts explicitly as a Christian but he puts these personal interpretations in front of Christians and Muslims alike. To Christians he shows how the verses might spiritually inspire them and to Muslims he asks questions that came to his mind after reading the surahs.
|