From reading "Islam is the Road to Happiness" and then discussing the essay in class, I would be very inclined to say that Tabataba'i feels that Islam is not just a road to happiness, but the only road to happiness. To me, he's quite clearly stating that in order to be happy you must do everything that the Islam religion specifies in order to reach this level of happiness. Chittister takes quite a different approach. The approach she takes is one of guidance. She's very simply giving a guide to happiness. She's not saying that you need to do everything word for word that she says, but that you should use what she says as a guide along with you own instinct to lead you to happiness. The rule that she gives to help you is the Rule of Benedict. It is to be used when a person is confused to help them move along through life. The most important aspect of this rule is not necessarily one of a spiritual nature. Instead it calls for connectedness. Chittister describes this rule as a plan for life. And I think we all have a plan in life that we are striving to stay on. We might not call it that, we might just call it our life goals. But at any rate, as with all plans, we rarely follow them exactly as we plan them. And Chittister lets us know that that's ok. Because our plan is just a guide to help us along our path is life. If we get off course, that's ok, because our plan will help us to get things back together. I think that Chittister's ideas are much easier to relate to because her ideas fall more along the same lines of what our society tends to follow. People who are not Islamic would have a very hard time trying to relate to Tabataba'i.

-- Anonymous, March 08, 2000