User talk:Flynnjed: Difference between revisions

Hey! Great contributions to the QHS:FGM page. Just a quick reminder: don't use personal pronouns - if needed, just phrase the sentences in a passive voice (e.g. rather than "we can deduce from this", do "it can be deduced from this", or, even better - if there is actual precedence - do "it has been deduced from this"). This helps maintain a more encyclopedic tone.

Also, the idea of the sunnah being used to interpret the Quran is obviously a part of the Islamic tradition. However, the wiki aspires to incorporate historical-critical scholarship at some point, so it help to distinguish traditionalist methodology from what might be a more objective, historical perspective. So, you could say that 'traditionalists use the hadith to interpret this verse to mean ... [provide a source, cite a tafsir, if possible]' rather than saying 'xyz hadiths positively prove that the Quran means ABC'. The latter phrasing is misleading because, historically speaking, the hadith were probably made up to explain the verse. So we should distinguish between 'traditionalists say xyz based on the hadiths, etc.' and 'modern historians have discovered...'. Does that make sense?

Also, I realize in saying all this that a good deal of the wiki doesn't actually meet this criterea yet, but of course the work of restoring old content on the wiki is in progress atm and will be for some time. Keep up the good work. IbnPinker (talk) 16:32, 15 March 2021 (UTC)

Thanks IbnPinker - I appreciate your improvements and your comments make sense. I will try to integrate them into my style.

I don't want to come across as over-zealous and impatient, but I have a lot more I hope to contribute on FGM (and possibly eventually on MGM/circumcision). I think that the issue may be better presented over several pages. In the sandbox, I'm currently sketching out something on the social origins of FGM (the hadith that explicitly mention FGM do not alone explain the existence of FGM): Islamic doctrine - especially on polygyny - also creates conditions that are favourable to FGM, that can make FGM (or related practices) 'useful' or even 'necessary'. As far as I can tell, this is a new perspective on FGM (at least I've not read it articulated elsewhere) though it is entirely a product of established and authoritative work on FGM, polygyny and Islam.

I mention this because I'm working in the 'WikiIslam:Sandbox' and my worry is whether this sandbox is shared by other editors? And if it is, does that mean that if someone else uses it my work will be erased? If this is the case then I will need to save the page's coding on my desktop each time I finish a session. (in Editing Help there is mention of 'user sandboxes' - but I presume that I'm not able to create one yet). Apologies if my worries are a bit naïve... Flynnjed (talk) 06:13, 17 March 2021 (UTC)