Divine Logic

I would like to analyze the Quranic verses according to the rules of logic, especially symbolic logic. This project will have the following goals:

To check the validity of the Quranic arguments
To check the falsity of the opponent’s arguments quoted in the Quran
To expose logical fallacies committed by commentators of the Quran
To clarify the language of a verse
To refute criticism directed to the Quran
To clarify the nature and forms of the Quranic arguments
To construct arguments from premises sharing common terms, dispersed among verses of the Quran, and drive conclusions that are not stated explicitly

Irshad Manji

Irshad Manji is not a sheikh nor a mullah, but she is a brave muslim (a peacemaker, a peaceful surrenderer to God ALONE) who has not squandered her God-given mind and heart through the teachings of clergymen who arrogated themselves by claiming monopoly over the understanding of the Quran and by injecting themselves between individuals and their Creator. Irshad surprises me by her insight and courage. “Our duty to know God overshadows any guilt brought on by the artificial gods of family and nation.” This is not an easy task. The great majority of people follow the religion of loudest, crowdest, or the proximate bandwagon. It takes wisdom and bravery to search for truth, without condition. Throughout history, those who questioned dogmas and mythologies were shunned and declared heretics.

Idiots v Idiotmeters or I.Q. IQ TESTS

In this article I will focus only on one published test. I have the third edition of this book Test Your I.Q. by Alfred W. Munzert, Ph.D. (Prentice Hall, 1994). Its new editions are available into the mass market, and it is one of the most popular IQ Test books. The book contains great essays on intelligence; however its 60-question test is tainted with at least NINE flawed questions. This is more than enough to “reduce” an average person to a slow learner or to an idiot. Here are the flawed questions, followed by my criticism:

37 Books

37 books recommended by Edip Yüksel, in no particular order, except the obvious one.
1. Language and Symbolic Power, Bourdieu
2. Innumeracy, John Alles Paulos
3. Genius, Harold Bloom
4. Philosophical Investigations, L. Wittgenstein
5. Intelligent Design, William A. Dembsky
6. Losing Faith in Faith, Dan Barker
7. Exploring Islam in a New Light, Abdur Rab
8. Universal History of Numbers, Georges Ifrah
9. Jesus, Interrupted, Bart D. Ehrman
10. Islamic Theory of Evolution, T.O. Shanavas
11. Hegemony or Survival: Noam Chomsky
12. God & The New Physics, Paul Davies
13. The Blind Watchmaker, Richard Dawkins
14. Allah, Liberty and Love, Irshad Manji
15. Professor Stewart’s Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities, Ian Stewart
16. Introduction to Logic, Copi and Cohen
17. Discipline & Punish, Michel Foucault
18. 101 Ethical Dilemmas, Martin Cohen
19. NINETEEN: God’s Signature in Nature and Scripture, Edip Yuksel
20. 101 Philosophy Problems, Martin Cohen
21. Human Body: a Family Reference, Parragon
22. Power of Logical Thinking, Marilyn Vos Savant
23. Quran, Hadith and Islam, Rashad Khalifa
24. The Philosophy Gym, Stephen Law
25. Is God a Mathematician, Mario Livio
26. The Demon-Haunted World, Carl Sagan
27. Flim-Flam, James Randi
28. Why People Believe Weird Things, Michael Shermer
29. Doublespeak, William Lutz
30. Understanding Islamic Law (Shari’a), Raj Bhala
31. The Copernican Revolution, Thomas S. Kuhn
32. The Mathematical Experience, Philip J. Davis
33. Unsolved Problems in Number Theory, Richard K. Guy
34. Losing My Religion, Jeffrey Lang
35. The Math Book, Clifford A. Pickover
36. Perspectives from the Past: Primary Sources in Western Civ. (2 vol), James M. Brophy, et al.
37. Quran: a Reformist Translation, Edip Yuksel, Layth al-Shaiban, Martha Schulte-Nafeh

Mixing Politics in Yogurt and Falafil

I have been communicating with Noam for quiet some time. After I interviewed him on November 14 in his office at MIT, we kept in touch. With his permission, I decided to share with you a trivial but interesting email conversation so that you know what the two very serious people are talking about while others are celebrating the New Year 🙂

The Jinni and You: Who is serving who?

The list of benefits of carrying all those gadgets in one’s pocket is long, but the list of harms might be longer. So, do not fall in love with the jinni in your pocket. Use it carefully, and less. Watch people around you in malls and trains: they ears are plugged, their eyes are fixated, their fingers are tickled… Then look at ourselves. We are swallowed by corporate black holes. We are swallowed into a parallel universe dominated by plutocracy or global oligarchy: Facebook, Google, and similar mass-spying and manipulation programs. We need to start unplugging and get to know our neighbors and help each other.

Alcohol Makes You Smarter OR Another Bogus “Study” to Serve Alcohol Industry

The benefit of the wine comes from the grape juice, not the alcohol. A recent Yale study demonstrated a correlation flaw in the so-called studies showing the benefit of wine against heart diseases. Besides, the beer and wine industry spends billions of dollars annually to promote their products, and part of the promotion is sponsoring “scientists” to come up with good news about their products. I have heard the same story of benefits of wine, for years after years cooked and presented by the media as “fresh” news.

“Who influenced the uprising of Quranist movement?”

Rashad’s impact on modern Quranic movement is underestimated. Many of those who viciously attack him are unaware of the fact that many of the ideas and arguments used to defend the Quran alone and refutations of hadiths, originated from Rashad’s dedicated study of the Quran as a sincere seeker of truth. I am surprised that some Turkish people do not even know Rashad’s name, but they have received the message from a friend of mine who received it from me. We should not focus on Rashad or exaggerate him like some among Submitters do, but we should also beware of tendency of unfairly and unknowingly attacking and insulting a courageous monotheist.

Dead Philosophers Defend my Son, Yahya!

Philosophers Defend my Son, Yahya, for a Grade Change and the Grade Changes! Yahya Yuksel, mentored by his dad, Abu Yahya 23 December 2008 www.19.org Dear Professor and T.A., Excluding my personal learning experience during my adventure on this planet, my familiarity with philosophy and philosophers is limited with two low level philosophy classes that …

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Sit Down Before Reading this Letter

Edip’s essay presents a fine example of such analytic skills coupled with imagination and a strong sense of his own audience. It’s easy to see that he’s very concerned with keeping his reader interested and amused while describing how junk mail works its magic on an audience (at least upon gullible Mr. John Smith). Edip’s attention to detail—his line by line quotations from letter and fully developed responses to each new idea—show how a student can focus in on the text at hand and then expand on it through his or her own analysis and evaluations. Edip’s essay shows us that rhetorical analysis doesn’t have to be dry and serious. By entering imaginatively into hopes and dreams of one member of a text’s audience, Edip reveals the effects of that directly (and keeps us laughing as he does so).