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Your letters - posted May 12, 2007

Posted in Q & A on May 12, 2007

Posted May 12, 2007

Friends and foes: Here’s more of your feedback to last month’s PBS premiere of my documentary film, Faith Without Fear. The indisputable star of the film is my mother, who wants me to stop speaking out so much because “sometimes, in this world, the truth doesn’t go too well with people.” But my integrity is more important than my security. Sorry to disappoint, ma. Let me take this opportunity to wish all the proud and worried moms of reform-minded Muslims a HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

“I am an African American woman who converted to Islam over 30 years ago. Do you understand that there are thousands of Muslims like myself who have had totally different experiences from yours, which proves that Islam is a perfect religion with imperfect people, as are all the religions.

I agree that the Muslim world is in disrepair and not only you but other Muslims speak out against social and cultural adaptations that are mistaken for Islamic traditions. But our approach is different. First of all we are not angry with men because we have never allowed ourselves to be oppressed by them. It is the obligation of every woman to learn religion and not be subservient to a man. I know that Islam does not condone male superiority and upholds the rights and dignity of women, and therefore I have never been disillusioned by my religion…

You need to come to terms with the fact that you are angry with men, and then you wouldn’t seek change by going to non-Muslims for support because you know that’s the only audience you have.” - Sheila/Salimah

Irshad replies: Sis, thanks for enlightening me that I’m angry with men and that non-Muslims are my only audience. Does my audience include non-Muslim men? Or am I angry with them too? Perhaps you can have that conversation with the following Muslim…

“As salaam alaykum, Irshad. Tonight I watched Faith Without Fear on PBS. My heart leaped to hear your call for change in Islam today.

I reverted to Islam from Christianity five years ago. While I love the religion that I read about in the Holy Qur’an, I do not see that religion at my local mosque. What I see is more culture than Islam. Equality of men and women before Allah? I have to sit behind a wall to listen to the khutbah [sermon]. I cannot interact with any speaker to ask questions. Women have no voice in the mosque and no seats on the committees. We are invisible. As I am not married, I have no source of information for mosque events or community information. All information is posted on the ‘men’s side.’ This is not the Islam I read about. If I was not so convinced that Islam is the straight path, I would have left it long ago because of what I see at my mosque.

God be praised that there are voices like yours rising up above the fundamentalists… Jazak Allah khair for your wisdom and your willingness to speak the truth, in spite of the personal risk. Ma’salaama.” - Janet

“You are known as a blasphemer, but this film was the first time that I was able to hear from you. Speaking as an American Pakistani Muslim, I enjoyed your documentary very much. I believe it offered some great insight into many issues facing us today, mainly the treatment of women in our religion…

You are absolutely right to say that when we equate debate with division, there is a problem. Another great point was that learning to take offense is a part of living in the larger society. This is what I have learned through Islam. It has taught me patience, civility and trying to resolve differences without resorting to violence. By me not burning flags of the US or cursing the Danish, most would think I am not a ‘true Muslim.’

But as a ‘true Muslim,’ my job is to educate myself so that I may build bridges, try to offer understanding of my religion and be tolerant of others. After all, when Islam began, many Muslims took a lot of ‘shit’ from the people of the region. But they fought only WHEN THEY HAD TO. They endured many tough times and hardships. Nowadays I feel a lot the fighting in the name of Islam is more of an excuse. What bothers me the most is that Islam is supposed to be a peaceful religion… and people of our religion have forgotten that.

Many say that you don’t seek to reform anything. Rather you seek to remake it into something new. What can you say about that? - Salman/Sal

Irshad replies: I say, those Muslims should restore faith with a beautiful passage of the Quran which states, “God does not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves” (13:11). I’m keeping the faith, and I invite my critics to do the same.

“I heard your name for the very first time on PBS, watching what I thought is going to be another depressing, violent image of us Muslims on the screen. Then I heard your voice say that more Muslims are being killed by other Muslims than by any body else. Right away I knew I had to keep watching.

As I listened to you, I started to cry. You hit and touched on every point. I never thought I would be alive long enough to see an intelligent, brave and selfless Muslim woman putting herself out there so honestly. You have given me hope. Hope that there is nothing wrong with Islam, but a lot wrong with the people interpreting it so selfishly…

I cried, because I thought I was alone in my questions and frustrations with mullahs who have interpreted Quran to control populations. I cried because you speak with no nonsense love for Islam, us Muslims, and all humanity…

BECAUSE OF YOU I WILL BECOME A BETTER MUSLIM, WHICH IN TURN MEANS A BETTER HUMAN BEING. Please keep up what you have started. I like it when you ask the West to challenge us. That will make us grow.” - Layla

“I feel your program would have been more productive if there was a larger emphasis on the role each specific culture plays in the interpretation of Islam, as opposed to a generalization that all Muslims, regardless of origin and culture, behave and think the same.

I mention this because in my view the Arabic culture and its strict interpretation of the Quran as well as the treatment of women are extremely different from the Persian culture. These societies are from two different backgrounds, and the tribal emphasis on the way of life which plays out in Arabic societies does not coincide with the way of life in a Persian society.

The Persian culture, regardless of religious beliefs, has been a great supporter of equal rights, expression, and higher education amongst all citizens, especially women. As a Persian woman, I am extremely proud of my heritage and its accomplishments throughout history. Within my society and culture I have never felt or observed the various discriminations experienced in other Muslim societies…

Overall, I feel that if we are to change the way the modern world views Islam, as well informing the Muslim world regarding the notion of change and acceptance, we need to emphasize the role of culture in the subsequent interpretation of religion. In my opinion this notion is valid for all the major religions and beliefs.” - N. Fouladi

Irshad replies:I couldn’t agree with you more that a tribal mentality, stemming from the Arabian peninsula, has colonized many non-Arab cultures in the Muslim world. That’s exactly what I attempted to show in the documentary. The fact that I included footage of women being stoned in Iran is not an indictment of Persians but a comment about how tribal practices persist into the 21st century. In your haste to defend your particular culture, please don’t forget to defend the universality of human rights.

The one thing I did not show is that “all Muslims, regardless of origin and culture, behave and think the same.” Of course we don’t, and that’s proven by several characters in my film: Arwa, the Yemeni writer who refuses to wear the burqa; Jamilla, who lost her daughter in the Madrid train bombings and denounces Muslim terrorists unequivocally; Mansur Escuadero, head of the Spanish Islamic Commission, who issued a well-researched fatwa against al-Qaeda and – lest we forget – my own mother, who appears throughout the film as a woman of reason, compassion and brio. Hell, her spirited disagreements with me on various issues is evidence that all Muslims don’t think alike!

As Muslims, our problem is not a lack of diversity; it’s a lack of courage to demonstrate our diversity by using our minds freely and speaking truth to power - no matter who’s offended.

“I am a devout Muslim. And so are you. Your continued work is critical.” - Simin

Irshad and some of “the brothers” at the Houston, Texas screening of her PBS documentary, Faith Without Fear.