levitra au maroc acheter viagra en ligne forum acheter cialis sur la net viagra sin receta medica potenzmittel cialis generika cialis barato venta levitra viagra online cialis generika aus deutschland cialis 5 mg precio cialis luxembourg comprar cialis barcelona sildenafil farmacias ahumada comprar cialis por internet comprar levitra original viagra medicamento viagra holland rezeptfrei cialis pharmacie en ligne compra cialis generico comprar cialis generico en españa vendo sildenafil comprar viagra en andorra kamagra kautabletten pharmacie cialis viagra es con receta comprar viagra fiable prix tadalafil viagra aus indien cialis pharmacie andorre cialis comprimidos sildenafil precio mexico viagra similares kamagra ajanta precio cialis 10 mg levitra bayer precio tarif viagra cialis quotidien cialis generique en pharmacie kamagra pillen foro cialis viagra tadalafil para mujeres cialis pour femme vardenafil 10 mg viagra o similar comprar levitra 10 mg achete cialis vardenafil precio foro viagra levitra pastilla tadalafil tadalis pille 20mg cialis generika viagra precio en españa tadalafil en argentina cialis duree d'action tadalafil rezeptfrei viagra kosten vente cialis cialis se vende en farmacias cialis no me funciona cialis ventajas levitra 20mg vendo cialis madrid comprar viagra feminino vardenafil generique generic sildenafil sildenafil 50 mg venta cialis en andorre receta cialis medicamento levitra foro viagra natural viagra por correo comprar levitra por internet tadalafil indien cialis commander precio viagra argentina levitra pas cher cialis precio farmacia pille rezeptfrei cialis farmacia ahumada viagra se vende sin receta sildenafil bajo receta erektionsstorung precio cialis tadalafilo viagra precio ecuador viagra generico madrid kamagra oral jelly bestellen kamagra sicher kaufen vardenafil bayer cialis foro compra cialis online venta viagra españa comprar viagra españa pastillas viagra viagra precios farmacia precios viagra comprar levitra generico tadalafil uruguay sildenafil efectos en mujeres viagra apotheke holland sildenafil pastilla comprar viagra a contrareembolso viagra niederlande rezeptfrei kamagra gel comprar viagra cialis viagra generica funciona levitra similar levitra 20 mg comprar comprar viagra contrareembolso cialis generique achat kamagra 100 mg comprar viagra generico contrareembolso comprar viagra con paypal levitra 10 mg precio original cialis cialis contrareembolso viagra generico comprar tadalafil 20mg preis kamagra madrid venta viagra viagra barcelona viagra donde comprar precio viagra en farmacia viagra sustancia activa viagra in holland kaufen remboursement viagra levitra receta viagra 50 cialis de 5 mg cialis apotheke cialis farmacias similares viagra deutschland comprar viagra generica en españa veritable viagra cialis sin receta comprar viagra internet comprar cialis sevilla preisvergleich cialis generika comprar viagra sin receta en españa comprar viagra sin receta en barcelona acheter viagra en pharmacie viagra nombre generico kamagra billig kaufen precios cialis viagra a vendre pfizer viagra 100mg viagra foro comprar viagra autentica comprar viagra online viagra soft tabs cialis de 10 mg cialis tadalafil bestellen comprar cialis andorra cialis original livraison rapide tadalafil generika medicament cialis 5mg acheter viagra paris cialis apothekenpreis sildenafil colombia cialis espana cialis pharmacie levitra pour femme sildenafil magnus kamagra rezeptfrei cialis vente en ligne vente cialis france viagra gratis opiniones cialis generico viagra tunisie sildenafil laboratorio chile viagra genericos tadalafil preis sustituto viagra sildenafil farmacias del ahorro potenzstorungen levitra en suisse sildenafil marcas comerciales vendo viagra original viagra farmacias del ahorro precio viagra generico cialis vente levitra sur le net commande viagra canada online apotheke viagra cialis moins cher precio viagra españa cialis vente libre levitra generica sildenafil peru kamagra apotheke comprar viagra andorra cialis donde comprar comprar viagra por internet viagra tabletas viagra generica en españa viagra barata cialis farmacias tadalafil farmacias similares comprar viagra cialis venta libre cialis andorra precio vardenafil generico mexico levitra contrareembolso cialis espagne viagra de pfizer venta viagra madrid magnus sildenafil naturliche potenzmittel acheter viagra en ligne comprar viagra en españa generico tadalafil cialis instrucciones sildenafil magnus 50 mg vardenafil en mexico medikament viagra pastillas levitra sildenafil para mujer mejor viagra o cialis levitra moins cher venta viagra generico cialis tabletas cialis generika ohne rezept viagra laboratorio pfizer kamagra kaufen forum acheter viagra pharmacie cialis generique acheter cialis pharmacie paris sildenafil pfizer sildenafil precio colombia commander viagra cialis media pastilla cialis ca marche cialis en ligne tadalafil generico precio ventas viagra sildenafil nombre comercial viagra le moins cher comprar viagra en madrid cialis generico en españa precio cialis españa comprar levitra 20 mg pharmacie viagra disfuncion erectil tratamiento achat levitra levitra andorra andorra viagra sin receta sildenafil generico mexico pildoras cialis firmel sildenafil cialis le moins cher cialis generika erfahrung levitra precios cialis generico españa firmel cialis medicament cialis 20mg viagra rezeptfrei in holland commander cialis generique commander viagra en ligne cialis diario precio viagra verpackung achat de cialis sildenafil en bolivia comprar cialis contrareembolso viagra receta citrato de sildenafil precio cialis en andorra acheter cialis paris cialis europe acheter viagra en espagne comprar levitra sin receta cialis compra viagra necesita receta comprar viagra en barcelona comprar viagra con seguridad cialis sin receta medica comprar viagra mar del plata kamagra kautabletten forum precio levitra en farmacia sildenafil precios viagra generico funciona kamagra rezept cuanto cuesta el viagra tadalafil en mexico levitra medicament marcas viagra apotheke online cialis kamagra shop schweiz viagra venta cialis 5mg generika cialis remboursement secu viagra magnus vendo viagra concepcion niederlande viagra tadalafil generico españa cialis precio en farmacia viagra ersatzmittel acheter cialis en pharmacie viagra im ausland kaufen comprar cialis sin receta vrai cialis cialis prix en pharmacie viagra se vende en farmacias venta cialis barcelona comprar cialis en españa viagra medicament kamagra barata viagra receta medica cialis a vendre montreal commander cialis generic receta sildenafil cialis generika indien foro sildenafil cialis au maroc sildenafil comprar cialis que es cialis chez la femme tadalafil achat venta de sildenafil cialis vrai cialis generico en peru precio levitra 10 mg viagra ersatz foro levitra sildenafil espana tadalafil generique comprar generico viagra cialis a vendre viagra nombre comercial viagra espana sildenafil 50 mg magnus viagra pfizer medicamento cialis kamagra oral jelly kaufen comprar cialis en madrid sildenafil citrate tablets viagra farmacia similares viagra farmacias viagras sin recetas comprar viagra sin receta en andorra vendo viagra viña del mar original viagra tadalafil generico colombia comprar viagra de marca viagra sevilla levitra precio farmacia viagra vrai cialis mallorca kamagra barato precio farmacia viagra levitra 20 mg generico comprar cialis 20 mg viagra comprar sin receta

About the Author

author photo

Andrea Useem, creator and publisher of ReligionWriter.com, is a freelance journalist and editor based in Northern Virginia who specializes in writing about religion. Andrea holds a Masters of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School, as well as a Bachelors degree in religion from Dartmouth College. Previously, Andrea worked as a freelance journalist in Eastern Africa for four years; she has also lived in Muscat, Oman. She is married and has three sons.

See All Posts by This Author

The Optimistic Muslim: David Liepert and the “Faith of Life” Network

Over the last several months, I’ve corresponded with David Liepert, a Calgary anesthesiologist and father of four. His new book, Me and You: Beyond Belief, Toether: A Path to Peace All Our Faiths Can Share, tells the story of his conversion from Christianity to Islam, and all the insight he gained along the way. He looks deeply into the Bible and the Qur’an and argues: “Our holy books agree: From God’s perspective, we start off the same and become better by doing good and living well.”

Personally, I don’t think scripture and theology matter much in the current “Islam vs. the West” situation; I think it’s much more to do with politics. So Liepert’s observations that the Abrahamic scriptures have so much in common and why-can’t-we-all-just-get-along — well, they don’t grab me. But Liepert is not jaded in that way, and I think that is where his value lies.

Yesterday, Liepert described to me how he became a Muslim. First, he talked about his life as a Christian:

I can’t remember a time I didn’t feel I served God, or didn’t feel I had a specific personal relationship with God. There was a time, though, that I stepped so far into Christian doctrine that it affected that relationship and required me to come to Islam. Up to that point, I listened to and followed Jesus, but I didn’t worship him — I did not embrace that concept of the Trinity. I think if you believe that doctrine in the wrong way, you can believe you have power over God [i.e. that you can ensure your passage to heaven.] It’s the same problem the suicide bombers have. They blow themselves up believing they have an immediate pass to heaven. You can’t try to gain control over God.

He said he first learned about Islam in his 30s, while experiencing some “significant tragedies” in his life:

I discovered the people around me who were supporting me at that time just happened to be Muslim. I decided to prove to them that the Bible supported Christianity and use the Qur’an to show them that it, too, led to the path of Christianity. Instead exactly opposite happened. I discovered the two books had the same message, a message of submission, of trust and obedience.

But it wasn’t all smooth-going for Liepert. Becoming Muslim, he said, was in some ways “profoundly terrifying:”

I read the Qur’an, and it described my faith exactly. But there were aspects of Muslim practice I found noxious, particularly the treatment of women. There’s an ayat [verse] that seems to allow men to beat their wives. And then there is the verse about killing enemies wherever you find them. But when I looked at these verses in the context of the Sunnah — the life of the Prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him — that completely changed the meaning of the verses into something wonderful.

Liepert then shared the common apologetic readings of those verses: that the verse about husbands and wives in fact restricted men’s power over women, and that when it came to warfare, the Prophet only led his men into battle when it was a matter of self-defense, and even then he was restrained. Back on the women question, Liepert shared the view often heard among mainstream Muslims that men and women have unique and distinct roles. This language is often translates into practice as “a woman’s place is at home, caring for the family.” But Liepert didn’t go that route. He talked about his relationship with his wife, who is also a doctor:

I serve God by caring for my wife, and she serves God by caring for me. I’m not subservient to her, and she is not subservient to me.

That view — that marriage is an equal partnership — is actually quite a radical break from mainstream Muslim interpretation, which usually conceives of the man as the head of the household and the leader of the family. So this is what I find amazing about Liepert: On the face of it, he accepts conventional Muslim explanations of problematic aspects of the religion, but in the very next sentence, he will put a radical spin on things. Sometimes I wonder if he is aware of how much some other Muslims would disagree with him. For example, in his book, he writes:

Muslims have been fighting over the [meaning of] the Quran for the last thousand years…Fighting over the path has driven us so far from it that many of us don’t even recognize it anymore.

Liepert implicitly criticizes the strict adherence to details of the religion developed by scholars in the centuries after the death of the Prophet, and he criticizes Muslims for coming close to worshiping the idea of their religion rather than God Himself. If Liepert brought some of these observations down to a detailed level — he might perhaps argue, for example, that headcovering for women is not mandatory — they would cause considerable controversy.

And Liepert does not work alone. He is founding director of the Faith of Life Network, which seems to have a mildly progressive approach to “educating, informing and engaging in dialogue within the Muslim community and building bridges with society as a whole, in order to address the negative and inaccurate perceptions of Islam and Muslims.” The key phrase there might be “engaging in dialogue within the Muslim community” — therefore recognizing that Muslims have a big role to play in building bridges with other civic and religious groups. The network publishes its own magazine, which you can read here in PDF form. The spiritual leader behind the group is Imam Hamid Slimi, who I know little about, but who seems like a pretty interesting guy.

I started out talking about David Liepert’s value, and here’s how I see it: Orthodox Muslims who work from within the mainstream Muslim community have the greatest chance of transforming the Muslim community. I see this important work being done by bloggers like Tariq Nelson and even, to some extent, in the leadership of Ingrid Mattson, who is currently president of ISNA, the largest umbrella organization of Muslims in North America. So Mr. Liepert, carry on — You have an optimism and lack of bitterness that not everyone shares. I hope it will do some good.

There Are 5 Responses So Far. »

  1. Can’t wait to read his book - sounds interesting - thanks for reviewing it. But I have to disagree w/ your conclusion that it’s “Orthodox Muslims who work from within the mainstream Muslim community have the greatest chance of transforming the Muslim community”. I value the diversity from Muslims from all ends of the spectrum - why should the most orthodox (do you mean conservative?) dictate the future of Islam, especially in the West? I see more embrace of community service, educational outreach, & interfaith activities being undertaken by the unsung Moderate Majority…but their events are often snubbed by Orthodox Muslims due to petty details such as the presence of music, discussion between the sexes, refusal to acknowledge the importance of interfaith discussion etc. We all need to come together in tolerance & productive unity rather than hewing to the most narrow interpretation of the faith.

    Also - I do view marriage as an equal partnership - I don’t think that’s an unIslamic viewpoint. After taking into account our biological differences - I’ve seen plenty of happy Muslim marriages where men may believe that they are the head of their household…alas, they are sadly mistaken!

  2. This should be an interesting book; I too am looking forward to reading it!

    As a Muslim convert myself, I would like to point out: When God Speaks, He does not Stutter! There is an Ayat where Allah (SWT) tells us “I have made women for you to be a comfort AND A HELP” (emphasis added)

    I beleive when He said this, he meant “help” to mean FAR more than “Woman, go do the dishes.” I believe he meant it in the context of, she’s a doctor? Go practice! Help the family be lucrative! I’ve got my head in the no-sunlight region? Help me see daylight! PLEASE!

    Sorry, Brothers, “Help” extends far beyond the “Me Tarzan You Not” that most of us seem to believe…

  3. [...] Go to article… [...]

  4. Faith and Life:
    Every creation of God is in the act of Tasbih (praising God). Qur’an says from heavenly bodies such as stars,etc., to God’s creation on the Earth, such as trees are in the act of prostration (and bowing) to God, meaning every creation is in the act of following God’s laws, which may be physical or social. Only human being have been given the power of choice. For a perfect Muslim, all our actions are religious, hence he tries to fulfil God’s commands and his happiness in every action. If he ever gives in to the temptations of life then, then it is as if he is defying the laws of God who has given him the freedom to follow Hid commands or not.
    Therefore, from simple things such as eating food and drinking water which are needed to sustain life, to work to make this World a better and just place are all actions for which we shall be rewarded in the hereafter, because in doing them we are establishing the laws of God. Thus it is very correct that I serve my God by caring for my wife, and she serves God by caring for me. I’m not subservient to her, and she is not subservient to me.

  5. “Personally, I don’t think scripture and theology matter much in the current “Islam vs. the West” situation; I think it’s much more to do with politics.”

    Proof is what Sheïkh Osama Bin Ladin himself said in one of his video tapes aired on aljazeera. “When I saw U.S. planes bombing towers in Beirut in 1982 (…) this rankled within me and I vowed to take my revenge one day by doing the same to the Americans on their own soil”, said Bin Ladin, in essence. In other tapes, he declared (addressing Western governments), “If you stop aggressing us, we’ll stop our attacks on you”. The problem is that some people in the West too want to look at things from a religious perspective.

Post a Response

google