Irshad Manji
A Muslim plea for introspection
Will we defend the very pluralism of interpretations and
values that makes it possible for us to be here in the first place?
http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
As a kid growing up just outside of Vancouver, I would spend five hours
every Saturday at madresa, religious school for Muslims. There, I imbibed
some petrifying lessons: That if I'm a bad Muslim, my coffin will come to
life and squeeze me so hard that my screams will be heard by the people
walking above ground. That reciting the call to prayer with a "white accent"
distorts its meaning to the brink of blasphemy.
And, perhaps most frightening for a child in a pluralistic suburb, that it's
sinful to befriend non-Muslims, especially Jews. Mind you, not every madresa
pumped such prejudice into the souls of its nine-year-olds. Only members of
the purest sect got that privilege.
This member also got the boot. After a few years of probing and prodding, I
asked one too many questions: something starting with, "But how do you know … ?"
"Look," Mr. Dewji sputtered, "either you believe or you don't. If you don't,
go. Go now. Leave and never come back!"
"Jesus Christ!" I bellowed, kicking open the door as my chador grew sweaty
around my throbbing temples. At that moment, I had crossed the threshold
into a wider world called Canada. Praise be to Allah.
Since Passover and the latest wave of suicide bombings, folks have been
asking me, "What does it take to whip a human being into the kind of frenzy
that makes him a suicide bomber for G-d?" Because I've never equated
fundamentalism with faith, I don't understand it. Neither do most Muslims I
know. But instead of acknowledging that there's a serious problem with the
way our religion is practiced, even in cosmopolitan Canada, we romanticize
Islam. The peer pressure to stay on message -- the message being that we're
not all terrorists -- seduces us into avoiding the most crucial of jihads:
introspection.
Enough of this adolescent capitulation to peer pressure. It's time to
question publicly whether Islam lends itself to fundamentalism more easily
than other world religions. Here's my case for why it might:
We Muslims are routinely told that The Holy Koran is a book about which
there is no doubt. By building upon the Torah and the Christian Bible, the Koran
perfects their teachings. No need to interpret the final draft of G-d's
manifesto. It is what it is, and that is that.
Which relates to Islam's other "great" contribution --- getting it all in
writing. Mohammed formally codified the laws that Moses introduced and Jesus
embodied. Small mystery why so many Muslims proudly proclaim that Islam is
more than a religion; it's a way of life.
Forgive me for cringing. By now we know that once guidelines are encoded, be
they sexual harassment policies or articles of faith, they acquire a sense
of permanence. Particulars infused with urgency -- an urgency responding to
the circumstances of the era -- become inflated, then congeal into
universal, timeless truths. Welcome to the modus operandi of
fundamentalists.
Of course, it's the MO of fundamentalists in every religion. Still, at least Jewish and
Christian leaders are aware of the intellectual diversity within their
ranks. While each can deny the validity of the other's Biblical
interpretation, none can deny that a plethora of interpretations exists.
Heck, the Jews even publicize debates by surrounding their scriptures with
commentaries and embodying challenges into the Talmud itself. I wonder if
this embrace of discussion makes it safer for Jewish kids to grow from their
curiosities.
I don't know. What I can testify to is that Muslim youth are rarely
permitted, never mind encouraged, to question. Does that alone create
suicide bombers? Of course not. Does knowing G-d's final manifesto prevent
us from challenging our own prejudices? Let us come clean to our Creator, if
not to our community as well.
Some may be tempted to argue that now is not the time to air
vulnerabilities, lest Muslims be further targeted for backlash. That's a
rationale more appropriate to a tiny refugee rump than to the "integral
presence in Western society" that Muslims have become, according to the
president of the Canadian Islamic Congress. If we're integral, we have the
power to change things, including ourselves, without fear of reprisal,
except from ourselves.
And there's much to change. Witness our profound anti-Semitism. If it starts
with Islamic countries outlawing their citizens from merely visiting Israel,
it certainly doesn't end there. I can't count the number of times I've been
warned by relatives in the U.S. and Canada to serve Islam by leaving my work
in the media, which -- I should realize -- is owned and thus manipulated by
Jews.
Earlier this year, employed at a channel owned by a nice white
Anglo-Saxon family, I produced a special about gay and lesbian Muslims
around the world. The most common complaint of Toronto-area Muslims who
caught the show? That the homosexual "pigs" and "dogs" whom I featured must
have been Jews off-camera. Damn those Zionist plants!
Fast forward to the days following Sept. 11. The Canadian-Muslim Civil
Liberties Association urged politicians to attend its press conference and
speak out against anti-Muslim bigotry. Among those who did: an openly gay
legislator. I hope he can expect reciprocal outrage the next time a gay club
or bookstore is firebombed.
This is a watershed moment for North America's Muslims. Will we remain
spiritually infantile, shackled by cultural expectations to clam up and
conform, or will we mature into citizens, defending the very pluralism of
interpretations and values that makes it possible for us to be here in the
first place?
As always, Mr. Dewji, I look forward to an honest
Irshad Manji is a broadcaster with Vision TV, the world's only multi-faith TV network. Comment by clicking here.
02/14/02: Take a leaf from the Prophet, Yasser