Dante Controversy - Hamza Yusuf

Dante Controversy - Hamza Yusuf

"For example, I gave a talk to a group of Christian theologians, ministers, and students about the ill effects of usury, in which I argued that Christians had abandoned their prohibition of usury that had lasted for almost two thousand years. I used Dante Alighieri's Inferno as a frame for the discussion. During the talk, I pointed out that Dante viewed the Prophet, God's peace and blessings be upon him, as a schismatic Christian as opposed to a false prophet, as I wanted them to reflect on Dante's subtle acknowledgement of the doctrine of Islam, as argued by the Catholic priest and scholar, Miguel Asin Palacios. Hence I told them that I wanted to "defend Dante a little bit." These Muslims seized upon my use of the word "defend," by which I meant, "explain," which is a synonym of "defend." On this basis, they argued that I "defended" Dante for insulting the Prophet, God's peace and blessings be upon him -- a claim so patently false and unfair, not to mention absurd, that I won't even entertain refuting it." Shaykh Hamza Yusuf

Sticks and Stones May Break Our Bones, but Fitna Really Hurts Us:
http://sandala.org/blog/2012/10/06/sticks-and-stones-may-break-our-bones-but-fitna-really-hurts-us/

Between Militarism & Extremism: The Excluded Middle with Hatem Bazian, Zaid Shakir and Hamza Yusuf: http://youtu.be/Jo1z_eSHdHE