THE DAILY TELEGRAPH – EXTRACT: …Simon Schama, 66, the historian, said that the Muslim adherence to the Koran and utter certainty in its tenets is depressing.
Schama joked that a fatwa would be issued against him for speaking out against Islam. While the Koran is “sane and compassionate and merciful” in parts, strict adherence to it can be at odds with modern society, he argued.
He said: “I suppose like bits of the Old Testament it is really immoderate. Islam, as I understand it, means submission. And there is a kind of adamant, utter certainty about the Koran.
“In the Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible which I know well, people are constantly arguing with God.
“The Koran isn’t really quite like that. It has a lyrical softness combined with a fierce sword-sharpened intemperance which you can’t help but register.
“In some sense, the notion that anyone holds up a book based on revelation as an absolute law around which the entirety of civil society be constructed is still depressing.” Bob Geldof: I was detestable ... until love saved me » | Anita Singh, Showbusiness Editor | Monday, June 06, 2011
