Reza Aslan: evaluation

Transcript context

…Sunni Islam, let’s say. Islam does have, obviously, a conception of an end of time. Obviously, a notion that there will be a moment in which all of creation will come to an end, and a perfected society will arise. Islam does have a messianic figure that they called the Mahdi, although that figure, to be perfectly frank, plays a much larger role in Shi’a Islam than it does in Sunni Islam. Sunnis will say, “Yes, sure, I believe in the Mahdi.” Shi’a Islam begins with belief in the Mahdi, that the end times and the Messiah to come. In fact, many Sunnis would say the Messiah is Jesus. Jesus will come back as the Messiah, and then the Mahdi will maybe come before or after him. It’s very confused, the traditions. But I think you have this really interesting point because the way that Muslims understand their scripture is quite different than the way that Christians understand their scripture. It has actually much more in common with the ways that Jews understand their scripture. For Muslims and Jews, the scripture itself is holy and divine. I don’t mean to say the meaning of it, the interpretation of it. I mean, literally, the words on the page. The Quran itself can be a divine body of sorts, right?…

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