The Trouble with Islam

[ibrodsky]

The Trouble with Islam is an open letter from me, a Muslim voice of reform, to concerned citizens worldwide -- Muslim and not. It's about why my faith community needs to come to terms with the diversity of ideas, beliefs and people in our universe, and why non-Muslims have a pivotal role in helping us get there.

The themes I'm exploring with the utmost honesty include:

the inferior treatment of women in Islam;
the Jew-bashing that so many Muslims persistently engage in; and
the continuing scourge of slavery in countries ruled by Islamic regimes.
I appreciate that every faith has its share of literalists. Christians have their Evangelicals. Jews have the ultra-Orthodox. For God's sake, even Buddhists have fundamentalists.

But what this book hammers home is that only in Islam is literalism is mainstream. Which means that when abuse happens under the banner of Islam, most Muslims have no clue how to dissent, debate, revise or reform.

The Trouble with Islam shatters our silence. It shows Muslims how we can re-discover Islam's lost tradition of independent thinking -- a tradition known as "ijtihad" -- and re-discover it precisely to update Islam for the 21st century. The opportunity to update is especially available to Muslims in the West, because it's here that we enjoy precious freedoms to think, express, challenge and be challenged without fear of state reprisal. In that sense, the Islamic reformation begins in the West.

It doesn't, however, end here. Not by a long shot. People throughout the Islamic world need to know of their God-given right to think for themselves. So The Trouble with Islam outlines a global campaign to promote innovative approaches to Islam. I call this non-military campaign "Operation Ijtihad." In turn, the West's support of this campaign will fortify national security, making Operation Ijtihad a priority for all of us who wish to live fatwa-free lives.

That's the book. The question now becomes: What possessed me to write it? Once I tell you a little about me, I think you'll see where my own passion comes from.

Why I'm struggling with Islam

As refugees from Idi Amin's Uganda, my family and I settled just outside of Vancouver in 1972. I grew up attending two types of schools: the secular public school of most North American kids and then, for several hours at a stretch every Saturday, the Islamic religious school (madressa).

I couldn't quite reconcile the open and tolerant world of my public school with the rigid and bigoted world inside my madressa. But I had enough faith to ask questions -- plenty of them.

My first question for my madressa teacher was, "Why can't girls lead prayer?" I graduated to asking more nuanced questions, such as, "If the Koran came to Prophet Muhammad as a message of peace, why did he command his army to kill an entire Jewish tribe?"

You can imagine that such questions irritated the hell out of my madressa teacher, who routinely put down women and trashed the Jews. He and I reached the ultimate impasse over yet another question: "Where," I asked, "is the evidence of the 'Jewish conspiracy' against Islam? You love to talk about it, but what's the proof?" That question, posed at the age of 14, got me booted out of the madressa. Permanently.

At this point, I had a choice to make: I could walk away from my Muslim faith and get on with being my "emancipated" North American self, or I could give Islam another chance. Out of fairness to the faith, I gave Islam another chance. And another. And another. For the past 20 years, I've been educating myself about Islam. As a result, I've discovered a progressive side of my religion -- in theory.

But I remain a hugely ambivalent Muslim because of what's happening "on the ground" -- massive human rights violations, particularly against women and religious minorities -- in the name of Allah.

Liberal Muslims say that what I'm describing isn't "true" Islam. But these Muslims should own up to something: Prophet Muhammad himself said that religion is the way we conduct ourselves toward others. By that standard, how Muslims actually behave is Islam, and to sweep that reality under the rug of theory is to absolve ourselves of any responsibility for our fellow human beings.

That's why I'm struggling. That's why I'm passionate. And that leads me to what I consider to be the trouble with Islam.

The trouble with Islam is...

As I see it, the trouble with Islam is that individual lives are too small and the lies we tell to excuse that fact are too big. Neither has to be the case under a compassionate and merciful God, as Muslims like to describe Allah. The Trouble with Islam, then, is a plea for all of us, as citizens of the world, to help Islam fulfill its glorious humanitarian potential, so that we all gain in diversity, dignity and security.

At the beginning of my book, I call myself a "Muslim Refusenik". That doesn't mean I refuse to be a Muslim; it means that I refuse to join an army of automatons in the name of God.

In that spirit, I'm asking Muslims in the West a very basic question: Will we remain spiritually infantile, caving to cultural pressures to clam up and conform, or will we mature into full-fledged citizens, defending the very pluralism that allows us to be in this part of the world in the first place?

My question for non-Muslims is equally basic: Will you succumb to the intimidation of being called "racists," or will you finally challenge us Muslims to take responsibility for our role in what ails Islam?

The Trouble with Islam is a wake-up call for honesty and change on everybody's part. Through the book and this website, let's create conversations where none existed before.

http://www.muslim-refusenik.com/the_book_index.html

[ibrodsky]

Chapter Two: Seventy Virgins?

1. “In Pakistan, an average of two women every day die from ‘honor killings,’ often with Allah’s names on the lips of the murderers.” Source: Dr. Riffat Hassan quoting Amnesty International, in Neva Welton and Linda Wolf, eds., Global Uprising: Confronting the Tyrannies of the 21st Century – Stories from a New Generation of Activists (Gabriola Island, British Columbia: New Society Publishers, 2001), p. 214.

2. “In Malaysia, a Muslim woman can’t travel without the consent of a man.” Source: Personal conversations with Muslim friends in Malaysia. See also “Portraits of Ordinary Muslims in Malaysia,” part of PBS Frontline’s series, “Portraits of Ordinary Muslims.” Visit www.pbs.org.

3. “In Mali and Mauritania, little boys are seduced into slavery by Muslim hustlers.” Source: Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Freedom House and specific articles, including “Is Youssouf Male a Slave?” by Michael Finkel, The New York Times Magazine, November 18, 2001.

4. “In Sudan, slavery happens at the hands of Islamic militias.” Source: Charles Jacobs, “Why Israel and not Sudan, is singled out,” Boston Globe, October 5, 2002.

5. “In Bangladesh, artists who advocate for the rights of religious minorities have been locked up or driven out of the country altogether.” Source: Ruth Baldwin, “The ‘Talibanization’ of Bangladesh,” The Nation (online version, posted May 18, 2002). Visit www.thenation.com

6. “’A mob of men and boys gathered around them and began to hurl fist-sized stones at their heads.’” Note: To see the disturbing evidence, <click> here.

7. “Although it appears that Islam doesn’t tolerate homosexuality, he said, ‘anything’s possible’ with a majestic God.” Source: Charles le Gai Eaton, “QueerTelevision,” Citytv, April 8, 2001.

8. “Then, in London-honed English, he told Feiler that ‘you must follow the last prophet’ whom God has sent.” Source: Bruce Feiler, Abraham: A Journey into the Heart of Three Faiths (New York: William Morrow, 2002), p. 180.

9. “’Your imam represents the bulk of Muslims, at least around here.’” Bruce Feiler quoting local journalist, Ibid., p. 181.

10. “’Both believe in the absolute veracity and perfection of the Holy Qur’an. Both consider Muhammad as the last Messenger of God and struggle to imitate his sayings and 'practices.'” Source: “Report: Aug-Dec 2002,” Academy for Learning Islam, Richmond, British Columbia. Prepared for the Spirit of Islam Exhibition at the Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver.

11. “’God breathed life into a single soul” and from that soul, he “created its spouse.’” Source: Koran, 4:1. See also 4:57, which states, “As for those that have faith and do good works, We shall admit them to gardens watered by running streams, where, wedded to chaste spouses, they shall abide forever. To a cool shade We shall admit them.” Notice that the gender-neutral ‘spouses’ appear here, too.

12. “’Who’s the soul and who’s the spouse? It’s irrelevant.’” Note: So, when anti-gay protestors chant, “God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve,” let’s remind ourselves that the Koran may not agree…

13. “’Honor the mothers who bore you. God is ever watching over you.’” Source: Koran, 4:1.

14. “’As for those from whom you fear disobedience, admonish them, forsake them in beds apart, and beat them.’” Source: Koran, 4:34.

15. “Sure, one clause in the charter affirms that women and men enjoy equal dignity. But the next clause designates men as the providers of their families.” Source: Articles 6(a) and 6(b) of the Cairo Declaration. See also Ann Elizabeth Mayer, Islam and Human Rights: Tradition and Politics (Boulder: Westview Press, 1999).

16. “’Women are your fields. Go, then, into your fields when you please. Do good works and fear God.’” Source: Koran, 2:241.

17. “He assures me that the this ‘sexually enlightened’ verse serves as a defense of foreplay.” Source: On-camera discussion for “Hot Type,” CBC Television, taped March 5, 2003.

18. “’Khartoum’s onslaught has rekindled the trade in black slaves… The terrorized survivors are marched northward and distributed to Arab masters, the women to become concubines, the girls domestics, the boys goat herders.” Source: Charles Jacobs, “Why Israel and not Sudan, is singled out,” Boston Globe, October 5, 2002.

19. “’As for those of your slaves who wish to buy their liberty, free them if you find in them any promise…’” Source: Koran, 24:33. Another reference that justifies slavery can be found at 4:25.

20. “It extols Jesus as ‘Messiah’ more than once.” Source: Koran, 3:45 and 4:157.

21. “To boot, the Koran reminds us of the Jews’ ‘exalted’ nationhood!” Source: Koran, 2:47 and 2:122.

22. “Given all these warm fuzzies for our spiritual forebears, it makes sense that the Koran would advise Jews and Christians to relax, that they have ‘nothing to fear or regret’ as long as they remain loyal to their scriptures.” Source: Koran, 2:62 and 5:69.

23. “On the other hand, the Koran explicitly anoints Islam as the only ‘true faith.’” Source: Koran, 3:19.

24. “Different religions ought to exist, it says, so that human beings feel an incentive to compete in ‘good works.’” Source: Koran, 5:48.

25. “…the Koran also discourages Muslims from taking Jews and Christians as friends, lest we become ‘one of them.’ … There’s talk of smiting, slaughtering and subjecting non-Muslims to a special tax as a tribute to their Muslim conquerors.” Source: Koran, 5:51, 61:4, 61:7, 47:4, 39:71-73, 9:29.

There’s also a terrifying passage at 4:56, which reads, “Those that deny Our revelations We will burn in fire. No sooner will their skins be consumed than We shall give them other skins, so that they may truly taste the scourge. Surely God is mighty and wise.”

26. “A few weeks before September 11, I joined a panel of Muslims on national TV to ‘discuss images of the Islamic world.’” Source: “The Chat Room,” CTV, aired live on June 19, 2001.

27. “’Let there be no compulsion in religion,’ says the Koran.” Source: Koran, 2:256.

28. “With morose faces, we said that our faith had been ‘hijacked.’” Note: This metaphor had such credibility with mainstream press that it continued to be used a year after September 11, 2001. See, for example, Sheema Khan, “The language of Islam has been hijacked,” Globe and Mail, December 17, 2002.

29. “To quote one such voice, Allah ‘says in unequivocal terms that to kill an innocent being is like killing entire humanity.’” Source: Muqtedar Khan, “A Memo to American Muslims,” downloaded from www.islamfortoday.com.

I’m sorry to have to cite Khan as an example of whitewashing – sorry, because his work tends to be thoughtful and honest. In this case, Khan’s sanitizing goes to show how even the most forthright Muslims have a problem acknowledging the Koran’s support for violence.

30. “’We laid it down for the Israelites that whoever killed a human being, except as punishment for murder or other villainy in the land, shall be regarded as having killed all mankind.’” Source: Koran, 5:32.

31. “As he told CNN in 1997, ‘The U.S. government has committed acts that are extremely unjust… we have declared jihad on the United States.’” Source: “People in the News: Osama bin Laden,” CNN, broadcast on several occasions since September 11, 2001.

32. “Consider one high-profile argument that defends ‘authentic’ Islam as a religion of peace.” Note: The argument to which I’m referring is made by Abdullahi An-Na’im, “The Islamic Counter-Reformation,” New Perspectives Quarterly, Winter 2002. Download at www.npq.org.

33. “For starters, it’s not clear which verses came to Muhammad when.” Source: Many scholars back up this point, including Mahmoud Ayoub of Temple University. See his excellent chapter, “The Islamic Tradition,” in Willard G. Oxtoby, ed., World Religions: Western Traditions (Don Mills, Ontario: Oxford University Press, 2002).

Professor Ayoub writes, “The original compilers’ arrangement of the surahs [chapters] of the Qur’an was by length” and that “[t]his arrangement made it impossible to determine with certainty the chronology of the recitation of the Qur’an” (p. 357).

34. “In the note, he said, ‘It is enough for us that [the Koran’s verses] are the words of the Creator of the Earth and the planets… ‘Come hither, friend of God.’” Source: Atta’s note, contained in Barry Rubin and Judith Kolp Rubin, Anti-American Terrorism: A Documentary Reader (Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), pp. 233-238.

35. “A month before September 11, a recruiter for the Palestinian resistance-turned-terror outfit Hamas told CBS television that he dangles the vision of seventy virgins in front of candidates.” Source: Ibn Warraq, “Virgins? What virgins?” The Guardian, September 12, 2002.

36. “It’s a perpetual license to ejaculate in exchange for a willingness to detonate…” Note: Intelligence officers in Toronto, working with counter-terrorism experts around the world, have told me that suicide bombers often wear more than one pair of pants, or stuff newspapers down their crotches, to protect their genitals from the impact of detonation.

37. “He traces the Koran’s description of heaven to a Christian work written three centuries before Islam in a form of Aramaic, the language that Jesus likely spoke.” Source and note: At the time of writing, Christoph Luxenberg’s The Syro-Aramaic Reading of the Koran was available only in German, so I’ve relied on various professors of German. I’ve also consulted reviews and articles, including Alexander Stille, “Radical New Views of Islam and the Origins of the Koran,” New York Times, March 2, 2002.

By the way, www.badattitudes.com introduced the raisins/virgins story on its website with a headline screaming, “Good news for vegan martyrs!” Sometimes, you just have to laugh.

[ibrodsky]

38. “Sometimes the Prophet himself had an agonizing go at deciphering what he heard.” Source: See, for example, Karen Armstrong’s description in A History of God, pp. 139 and 148.

39. “Yet, the fact that Muslim philosophers throughout the centuries have told this story speaks to age-old doubts about the Koran’s perfection.” Note: Philosophers have also clashed on the number of virgins promised. Now, if math can’t be crystal-clear, then how can something more subjective – like the meaning of words – be considered absolute?

© Irshad Manji 2003

[andak01]

Let's start with that part that I agree with.


the inferior treatment of women in Islam

Any oppression of women under the guise of religion is wrong.


the Jew-bashing that so many Muslims persistently engage in;

Absolutely wrong.


the continuing scourge of slavery in countries ruled by Islamic regimes

Slavery is wrong, not just Muslim slavery. Our own American forefathers had a tremendously difficult time rolling back this scourge as much as they did. But we shouldn't kid ourselves that slavery has been totally abolished even in America.


The Trouble with Islam shatters our silence. It shows Muslims how we can re-discover Islam's lost tradition of independent thinking -- a tradition known as "ijtihad" -- and re-discover it precisely to update Islam for the 21st century.

If anyone still remembers, I have mentioned ijtihad in a positive light here on several occasions. However, ijtihad does not mean simply changing whatever it is you don't like about religion to suit yourself. I'm sorry, but no amount of ijtihad is going to lead to a Muslim equivalent of gay bishops. And I wonder how many Vatican councils it would take to name a gay pope.


People throughout the Islamic world need to know of their God-given right to think for themselves.

I thought that was called free will. She should mention that we absolutely believe in it.


My first question for my madressa teacher was, "Why can't girls lead prayer?

Because, standing behind a woman who is bending over doesn't put pure thoughts into the mind of man, the weaker sex. But among other women, a woman is certainly allowed to lead prayer.


If the Koran came to Prophet Muhammad as a message of peace, why did he command his army to kill an entire Jewish tribe?

First of all, this is a lie. There is no version of the story where the whole tribe is killed. Around 600 of the able bodied men, who had already been captured in battle and who were enjoining other tribes to break treaties or to attack the Muslims, were executed. The women, children and elderly were spared. Muhammad (SAW) married one of the women who outlived him.

If you want an example of a religious leader who killed an entire tribe (albeit not Jewish), go to the book of Joshua and look at the 12,000 men, women and children of the tribe of Ai.


"Where," I asked, "is the evidence of the 'Jewish conspiracy' against Islam? You love to talk about it, but what's the proof?"

That's a good question, and one for which there is no answer. Anyone that teaches such drivel should have their head examined.


As a result, I've discovered a progressive side of my religion -- in theory.

Note the word discovered, not invented. The progressive side to Islam has been there all along, buried in the dust.