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My latest in The New York Times

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts on Oct 31, 2008

For me and my family, October 31 has always been significant. Not because it’s Halloween, but because that’s the day we arrived as refugees to a free part of the world…

Read the entire commentary here.

Big shoes

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts, Announcements on Oct 29, 2008

Here’s a lovely email I just received about the Moral Courage Project’s event tonight:

“I check in to your site regularly to keep me inspired, and wanted to wish you well on your public dialogue with Edgar Bronfman. It reminds me of the book, Moments of Meeting: Buber, Rogers and the Potential for Public Dialogue.” [Irshad’s note: This book, according to its back cover, “tells the story of a uniquely important event in 20th century intellectual history, the 1957 public dialogue between philosopher Martin Buber and psychotherapist Carl Rogers, and explores the practical implications of that event for contemporary social and cultural theory.”]

Back to the email…

“I am currently in the process of designing a semester-long student intergroup dialogue course on the Middle East conflict based on our model here — dialogues that happen in a small, safe, trusting yet challenging setting. Where I have seen that, I have also seen hearts, minds and actions shift.” — Dr. Adrienne Dessel, The Program on Intergroup Relations, University of Michigan

From Abraham Lincoln, who delivered one of his seminal speeches on the same stage as ours, to Martin Buber and Carl Rogers, we’ve got big shoes to fill tonight. But I suspect we’ll also have fun.

See you at 6:30 pm.

Let the kvetching begin

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts, Q & A on Oct 26, 2008

Note to the gentiles: “Kvetching” is a Yiddish word for “complaining.” Now, I’m used to hearing complaints from Muslims. But Jews, too? Oy.

In my previous blog entry, I advertised an upcoming event being hosted by the Moral Courage Project. Describing it as a “dialogue between happy heretics,” I explained that my conversation partner would be “Edgar M. Bronfman, former head of the World Jewish Congress.”

Why him? Because he’s just released a book called Hope, Not Fear, in which he challenges North American Jews to transcend victimhood, welcome the intermarried, and embrace the creativity of outsiders. I went on to ask: “Not exactly received orthodoxy, is it? You might even call it moral courage.”

To which I received an annoyed response from one of you:

“Your line: ‘Not exactly received orthodoxy, is it?’ is at least part of the reason Mr. Bronfman’s book is yet another misdirected message. He would do better to target all forms of offense to Jewish people, subtle and overt. Jews seem to be consistently forced into a huddle. From the news anchor who asks why, if she sometimes works on the Christmas holiday, ‘could Jews not work on Rosh Hashana?’ to a recent invite to a media gathering that read ‘the liberal Jew media will be arriving after sundown following Yom Kippur,’ the list is long.

And while logical, it is also frustrating that we hear these lofty principles from billionaires who live behind tall iron gates and at the summits of long windy driving paths…’”

Slow down, sir. Before you mount your high horse a little too comfortably, read Edgar Bronfman’s book. He writes it as a proud Jew who seeks renaissance in his faith and culture — renaissance being a far more constructive aspiration than resentment. One need only observe how far Muslims have progressed as a nation and civilization to understand the debilitating effects of chronic complaint.

As for Mr. Bronfman living behind “tall iron gates” — having never been to his home, I can’t confirm your tidy assumption. What I can tell you is that fences or no fences, this guy doesn’t insulate himself from opposition.

In 2002, while still chairman of the World Jewish Congress, Edgar Bronfman wrote a letter to the New York Times in which he affirmed the humanity of Palestinians. He was defending a statement made by the noted hawk, Paul Wolfowitz, who conceded that ‘innocent Palestinians are suffering and dying in great numbers’ alongside innocent Jews. Having delivered this statement at a pro-Israel rally, Wolfowitz found himself roundly hissed and heckled.

Rather than scurry behind tall iron gates, Edgar Bronfman exposed himself to severe criticism by publicly calling for Jewish humility: “Those who booed should be ashamed of themselves and should be made aware of the passage in the Haggadah [Passover story],” Bronfman said in his letter to the Times. “God chastises the angels for cheering as the Egyptians were drowning while chasing the Israelites who had crossed the Red Sea. God told them, These are my people, too. Palestinians are dying in this war in the Middle East. My sympathies are for Israel and its people, but we must all be aware that Palestinians are people, too.”

It’ll be an interesting event on October 29. If you live in the New York area and wish to put me and Edgar Bronfman in our places — peacefully — RSVP here.

Yo New York, what are you doing on Oct. 29?

Posted in Announcements on Oct 22, 2008

 

Abraham Lincoln gave his most influential speech about slavery at Cooper Union in New York City. Many say it’s the event that catapulted him into the White House. So what could possibly live up to that legacy? Read on…

This is your personal invitation to attend the major Fall event of the Moral Courage Project. To be held at Cooper Union, it will be an on-stage dialogue between happy heretics — me and Edgar M. Bronfman, former head of the World Jewish Congress.

Here’s what makes Bronfman a heretic: He’s just come out with a book called Hope, Not Fear, in which he challenges North American Jews to transcend victimhood, welcome the intermarried, and embrace the creativity of outsiders. Not exactly received orthodoxy, is it? You might even call it moral courage.

We’ll explore what it takes to speak truth to power in your religious community, along with other questions of leadership that affect students, citizens and, yes, U.S. presidential candidates.

This event is FREE.

Join us in The Great Hall at Cooper Union (7 East 7th @ Third Ave.) on the evening of Wednesday, October 29. Doors open at 6:30 pm.

I know that’s the same night Barack Obama has bought airtime on the cable networks. We’ll wrap at 8 pm, so rest assured that you can get home in time to catch Obama it if you’re so inclined.

For security reasons, please RSVP here.

Launch this! (Except in Jordan.)

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts on Oct 19, 2008

At a time when a love poet in Jordan faces detainment and possible charges for carrying out his craft, it’s a relief that freedom of expression is winning somewhere. Sherry Jones has found a U.S. publisher for her controversial novel about A’isha, the Prophet Muhammad’s child bride. That’s the same book recently cancelled by a fearful Random House New York.

I’ve already received emails from “concerned” Muslims about my endorsement of The Jewel. One of the critics even claims to have read it — and, “disgusted by the content” of Sherry’s fiction, now refuses to read my book. As he puts it, “If Irshad Manji can promote [The Jewel of Medina] then I have no intention to read the filth that she will be peddling regarding my faith.”

Bummer.

Moving right along, I’m elated to report that Sherry’s book launch went smashingly — despite the weirdness of being surrounded by security. At my request, she’s written an account of the launch for you. As you read it, keep the embattled Jordanian poet in mind…

Never mind the plainclothes police guarding my every step. As I headed into my debut reading and signing of my novel, The Jewel of Medina, the greatest fears on my mind were these: Would anyone show up? And would the audience be friendly or hostile?

Hostility, I’m sorry to say, has become the normal response to my book — mostly from people who haven’t read it. They’re reacting not to the story in The Jewel of Medina, or to its depiction of A’isha, Islam, or the Prophet Muhammad, but to the reckless rhetoric of a university professor who called it “soft-core porn.” Thank goodness that charge has now been disproven again and again by literary critics who are reading The Jewel of Medina.

Since my book had arrived only a day or two before the independentstore hosting this event, I knew that nearly everyone who attended my presentation — all two of them, I worried — would not have read it. Would they, like so many others, deride my book as a “bodice-ripper” (this from a critic who admitted there is no sex in it) or as “trash”? Would they scorn me for my book’s positive portrayal of Islam as a religion of peace and its prophet as a wise, compassionate leader who respected women and gave them rights?

I had already learned from experience that the relatively small Muslim population in this city was no guarantee of a friendly reception for my book. During the brief time that I administered a weblog, I received more angry comments from Muslim-haters than from Muslims. I was just as likely to encounter hostility from these people, who have deemed me an “Islamo-panderer” and accused me of “sugar-coating pedophilia.” These bigoted slurs, so injurious to my soul, played a big part in my decision to shut down my blog.

Escorted by an elegantly polite policeman wearing a suit, tie, and headset, I walked into the upstairs meeting room at the book store and caught my breath. Nearly every seat was filled — more than three hundred in the audience! A few were friends, but, since I’ve only lived here for one year, most faces were new.

I took a few minutes in a smaller side room to sit, collect my thoughts, and say a quick prayer for strength, wisdom, peace, and love — my spiritual cornerstones. I invited A’isha to infuse me with her courage, and I asked for help remaining calm no matter what might happen.

Then I stepped up to the podium and began to speak. “My name is Sherry Jones. But I’ve been called a lot of other things these past few months.”

As I ran through the litany of insults and, yes, praise, I heard chuckles. I looked at the faces before me and saw many smiles. “Some Muslims have criticized my book, also, for deviating from the history that they know,” I explained. “But, as I keep saying, this is fiction.”

Across the room, people nodded. They still smiled. And I breathed a sigh of relief. Someone understood me — at last!

On my right, however, were two young women, college-age, who began to speak heatedly about my right — or lack of a right — to “ally myself” with another culture. I suspect these women had studied Edward Said’s Orientalism, and so were suspicious that my “appropriation” of ancient Arabian culture and history amounted to a form of racism.

I disagree. I approached my research for The Jewel of Medina in reaction to the racism I heard all around me in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 World Trade Center attacks. I discovered ideas about Islam that gave me joy. And I wrote my book for this reason: To bring to the Western world the story of A’isha, one of the most remarkable women in the history of Islam and of the world — a girl whose life was controlled by men, who overcome formidable obstacles to become a self-empowered political leader, highly regarded Islamic scholar, and the most beloved wife of one of the most charismatic men of all time.

I turned to my audience. “The Jewel of Medina isn’t the definitive version of A’isha’s story,” I said. “It’s just my version, based on my interpretation of historical events and my imagination. Whatever you think of it or of my intentions in writing it, I think it’s a great book.”

The room filled with applause, and I signed books for a full hour.

It was, for me, the culmination of my entire life’s work, since the second grade when I began dreaming of writing novels. There, at a bookstore in my city, I connected for the first time with readers. With lovers of books.

The successful launch has now inspired my U.S. publisher, Beaufort Books, to send me on bigger tour of America. Already they’re wedging me into bookstores’ crowded schedules. I’m eager to meet you all.

Buy The Jewel of Medina here. Learn more about Sherry’s fight for free expression here.

The challenge of liberal democracy today

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts on Oct 15, 2008

 

(Photo: Michelle Douglas)

As I told Vaclav Havel’s gathering in Prague, the citizens of any open society face urgent questions today.

Among them: How do we balance being a nation of open minds while standing by a core set of values? In other words, can we be pluralists without becoming relativists?

I’ll tackle that question vigorously in my next book.

As a starting point, read my latest column in The Globe and Mail.

Why I love Prague — and Elie Wiesel

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts on Oct 12, 2008

Prague, Czech Republic

(Courtesy of WikiCommons)

I’m in gorgeous Prague at the request of Czech dissident- turned-president Vaclav Havel. Every year, his foundation organizes a conference called Forum 2000, which aims to “identify the key issues facing civilization and explore ways in which to prevent the escalation of conflicts that have religion, culture, or ethnicity as their primary components.”

This year’s theme: Openness and Fundamentalism in the 21st Century. The delegates range from Gary Kasparov, Russia’s main opposition leader to Ammar Al-Hakim, Vice President of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (who’ll be debating a Catholic priest — God help them both).

Sprinkled throughout the programme are dissidents from Burma to Zimbabwe. The point here isn’t merely to theorize democracy, as so many prestigious gatherings do, but to practise it by giving voice to the morally courageous.

So I’m not surprised to learn that one of our era’s most visible exemplars of moral courage, Elie Wiesel, helped found Forum 2000. Being in Prague right now feels like the book-end to my “week of Wiesel,” which started in New York City with a personal tribute I paid to him. It was his 80th birthday.

I’m sharing an excerpt of my tribute both because it seems the proper thing to do as I wrap my week of Wiesel in Prague, and because the world can never have enough profiles in moral courage. I began my remarks by speaking directly to Prof. Wiesel. After a cracking a small joke with him, I turned to the audience…

Ladies and gentlemen, let me explain why I love Elie Wiesel. Bobby Kennedy characterized moral courage as the willingness to speak truth to power within your own community for the sake of a greater good. Because calling out injustice within always incites backlash, Senator Kennedy deemed moral courage to be more rare, and therefore more valuable, than bravery in battle or even great intelligence.

Elie Wiesel exemplifies moral courage by insisting that his tribe be reconciled to our world. Here’s how I know. As a young journalist in 1993, I remember feeling pained by global indifference to the suffering of Muslims in Bosnia. I also remember hearing about Elie Wiesel’s chutzpah in front of President Bill Clinton.

You see, the US Holocaust Memorial Museum had just opened, and as the original chair of the project, Professor Wiesel joined President Clinton on stage. The professor used this platform to compel the president into action, arguing that something — anything — must be done about the slaughter of Muslims in Bosnia.

Some of his fellow Jews criticized Elie Wiesel for capitalizing on this hallowed forum to raise the Bosnia problem. But Elie Wiesel wielded moral courage as his personal compass. He told his detractors that the museum itself is not a sacred site, and that “Jews do not have the right to be silent” when “men are dying, when innocent people are subjected to rape and torture, when cities are being transformed into cemeteries.”

Jews do not have the right to be silent. Wow. Instructive words for a Muslim woman who would, less than a decade later, have a similar message for her tribe.

[TURNING TO ELIE WIESEL] Professor Wiesel, identity protectionists may bristle at the thought you, a Jew, are teaching us Muslims about moral courage. Let them cringe. You’re in the finest company of border-busters. Gandhi, a Hindu, taught Martin Luther King Jr., a Christian, about the virtues of soul force and non-violent resistance.

Another teacher of Reverend King was Lillian Smith, a white, Southern woman whom fellow liberals smeared as an extremist for her outspoken opposition to segregation. She embraced that smear, arguing that in times of moral crisis, moderation is cop-out. You must be an extremist — of love.

Lillian’s lesson came in handy, especially when eight “progressive” clergymen, a rabbi among them, accused Reverend King of creating needless tension. To which MLK replied, “I must confess I’m not afraid of the word tension… Constructive, non-violent tension is always necessary for growth.” The fact that a white woman guided a black man about to how to fight for his civil rights reveals our shared humanity. And it captures why I, as a Muslim, believe that you, as a Jew, are such a mentor to my co-religionists.

Your actions help address one of the most vexing questions of the early 21st century: Can open societies produce pluralists — people who appreciate multiple perspectives and truths — without producing relativists, people who will fall for anything because they stand for nothing? The answer is yes! A joyous, jubilant “yes!” For proof, just watch Elie Wiesel.

On this 80th birthday and many more to come, may God bless and keep you, sir.

To learn about the Moral Courage Project, click here. To see how it fits into my work with the European Foundation for Democracy, click here.  And to understand how this journey to moral courage began with my foundation for Muslim reform, Project Ijtihad, click here.

Wall Street versus Grameen Bank

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts on Oct 08, 2008

As a lot of you know by now, I’m a mega-fan of micro-business. Restoring humanity and reason to Islamic practice begins, I believe, with engaging the entrepreneurial talents of women in the Muslim world.

How? Through small loans — the kind dispensed by the celebrated Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. I’ll be writing more about this in a forthcoming issue of Newsweek. Hang tight.

Of course, I realize that amid the global financial credit crunch, it takes chutzpah to propose a solution that requires lending of any kind.

But if you really want to know why micro-credit rocks, even as we’re all being hosed by the bulls (or bulls***) of Wall Street, read this excellent piece by Indian journalist Salil Tripathi.

By the way, irshadmanji.com will soon profile Salil as an Agent of Moral Courage. He’s coming out with a book about censorship by Hindu nationalists.

May God(s) bless the dissidents of all faiths — especially those who think of, write about and recommend reforms in our universal religion of Greed.  In God we trust. In Need we invest. In Greed we speculate.

Which of these impulses does micro-credit tap info? Before you answer, reflect on Salil’s article. And once you do, consider giving a micro-loan of your own. Here’s a great site to start.

The best Eid gift ever

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts, Announcements on Oct 02, 2008

“Happy Eid” from Turkey 

This week, Muslims the world over are observing Eid ul-Fitr, the celebratory end to our month of fasting. On this occasion, as a kid, I remember being served kheer (a type of rice pudding), scooping it up with puri (a type of fried bread) and hoping to bite into a Canadian dollar (a type of esteemed currency). For me, the Eid adventure of fishing for coins without choking on them was gift enough. I figured if Allah wanted me dead, She could have easily arranged it.

Similarly, if God wanted me to shut up once and for all, this year’s Eid gift wouldn’t be what it is. Infinitely more valuable than money. Priceless, you might say.

It’s a defense of the freedom to criticize Islam — and every other religion.

Today, in Washington, several groups will hold a press conference to launch the Coalition to Defend Free Speech. Among its leading members is the non-partisan Freedom House, which has supported Egyptian democracy activists and others for years. A quote from their press release:

“Freedom House is part of a new coalition seeking to safeguard freedom of speech and freedom of expression from an international campaign that aims to limit and in some cases criminalize criticism of religion. This campaign, led by countries such as Pakistan and Egypt, regularly proposes resolutions at the United Nations that would prohibit ‘defamation of religion,’ in effect curtailing speech that some find offensive and stifling religious debate and discussion.”

Since Islamic countries are spearheading the UN effort to quash religious dissent, you can bet that many Muslims will label the Coalition to Defend Free Speech an “Islamophobic” conspiracy. Try telling that to the International Quranic Center, one the Coalition’s founders.

Then there’s this inconvenient truth: Lack of freedom restricts inter-faith understanding by killing opportunities for conversation, replacing inquiry with inquisition. That’s a conspiracy alright. A conspiracy of silence, not of Islamophobes.

Above all, criminalizing criticism of Islam hurts Muslims first and foremost. It stifles our consciences. It also legitimizes other forms of authoritarian abuse against us. Paula Schriefer, advocacy director at Freedom House, explains:

“The movement to limit speech that is deemed critical or ‘blasphemous’ to religions has been pushed most strongly by self-appointed governments of Muslim-majority countries, and their citizens by far have been the most victimized by measures to restrict their speech and thought. By limiting the very ability of people to raise questions, ideas and opinions, one undermines not only freedom of expression, but intellectual, academic and religious freedoms as well.”

Sing it loud, sing it proud, sister. God knows I did in this blog entry several months ago. Glad that we’re starting to hear each other.

In that spirit, I’ll be contacting the Coalition to see how Project Ijtihad and the Moral Courage Project can join this campaign. The European Foundation for Democracy, with which I’m a scholar, is another prime candidate for membership.

And you? If you want to participate in the mission, subscribe to my mailing list and sign the anti-death threat petition. Both can be done for free. Both should be done for freedom.

Meanwhile, let me use my freedom of speech to wish you Eid Mubarak not only in Arabic, but also in the languages of three secular countries. Bayramınız Kutlu Olsun (Turkey). Selamat Idul Fitri (Indonesia). How many bowls of kheer do I need to down to cough up a Loonie, eh? (Canada).

Have you signed up?

Posted in Announcements on Sep 28, 2008

For my e-newsletter, of course! Every few months, I send my mailing list an electronic newsletter about what’s happening with this mission for Muslim reform and moral courage.

The most recent newsletter went out last week. Read it here.

Want to catch up on past newsletters, including my dispatch from Indonesia and my tribute to Bobby Kennedy? Click here.

But why wait for me to remind you about this resource? Be pro-active. Subscribe to my free, confidential and personal mailing list by clicking here.  That way, you’ll be among the first to receive my updates.

On a related note, some of you are asking why I haven’t yet added your signatures to the petition against death threats. One word: technology. Hit with a virus, my email program recently froze and wouldn’t allow me to access your names. Rest assured that I’m in the process of recovering this data.

Feel free to re-send your signatures — but only if you don’t see your names on the petition already.

Thanks for signing the petition, and signing up for the newsletter. Both are easy, quick and important ways to get involved.

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