78Harris Except that there are more and less plausible
readings of any text.
Nawaz Yes, okay. I can’t sit here and say to you that
I’ve got a reading that justifi es eating bacon. That’s
a very good example you gave. However, the civili-
zational challenge of our age isn’t going to come
down to eating bacon.
Harris I’ve known a few people who might disagree
with you. But I take your point.
Nawaz There’s another approach. Let’s use bacon
here to symbolize something bigger—an ability to
move away from viewing religion as a set of legal
injunctions. For example, in one tradition, the
Prophet speaking in God’s words narrated, “Oh, my
people”— this is God addressing the believers— “If
you don’t sin and repent, I will bring a group of
people more blessed than you who will sin and who
do repent, because I want your repentance.”
This and other passages like it led to a school
within traditional Islamic thought that rejects any
aspiration to human perfection or achieving utopia
on earth. Indeed, many Sufi groups, including the
Mulaamatiyya and the Qalandariyya, became quite
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