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Defeating Islamophobia

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts, Q & A on Apr 25, 2009

A few days ago, I wrote about Aska. She’s a university student in Poland who wonders how to combat Islamophobia. Specifically, what can she tell her friends and teachers who seem to believe that Muslims are inherently arrogant and misogynist hell-raisers? Read the beginnings of my response.

Of course, I affirm the humanity of Muslims. But I won’t romanticize Islam or sanitize how we widely practice it. The fact is, Muslims can be remarkably arrogant when accounting for the human rights abuses that we inflict on each other, never mind how we so often treat those outside of the ummah (global Muslim community).

Rather than own our dysfunction, we reflexively blame America, Israel, Christianity, materialism, MTV, McDonald’s, and the ever-convenient Jews. An equally popular coping mechanism is to remain mute about our self-inflicted shortcomings, for fear of damaging relations with our higher-ups — be they parents, imams, or even secular leaders of our communities.

Bottom line: Our prickly defensiveness stops Muslims from presenting ourselves as complex, multi-dimensional beings. In effect, we’re conspiring against ourselves, giving Aska and other non-Muslim allies precious little ammo to confront bona fide bigots.

So how can this young woman of good will persuade her peers and educators that Muslims are capable of both humility and humanity?

The key, I believe, is to promote the voices of reform-minded Muslims. These people remain faithful to the just ideals of Islam, but acknowledge the trouble with Muslims today. (Hmmm… “The Trouble with Muslims Today.” What a great idea for a book title!)

Reform-minded Muslims struggle not so much with Islam as with the fear that comes from speaking truth to power within Islam.

When publicizing their sincere struggles, we send two messages: First, Muslims who value reason and freedom actually exist. Second, they deserve to be brought out of the shadows — for everyone’s education.

Here, then, are the words of three reform-minded Muslims who wrote to me after Aska emailed her question about fighting Islamophobia. Their words are the antidote to anti-Islam prejudices on the part of non-Muslims, and anti-modern biases on the part of Muslims:

* “I read The Trouble with Islam Today and can’t tell you how much of an eye opener it was for me, the muslim woman, who was raised up with fear of the dad, the teacher and God. For the first time, the things I was brought up not questioning, became questionable. I started thinking and reasoning facts, I’m 37, too late in life, I know, and I just wish I read it earlier…

There’s turmoil now in my brain, and I’m glad there is. I still can’t help relating every small bad thing that happened to me to God’s wrath for something I’ve done, though I’m very innocent :), I’ve always lived by the book and did the right thing. I guess fear is so embedded in my soul, and hopefully one day, I get rid of it.” - Mona El Samaty, Egypt

* “I have come to know about your mission to resuscitate the true spirit of Islam [as] a voice of sanity in this psychopathic world of biases. Being in Pakistan with an inquisitive head on my shoulders, I have some idea of the travails that you have chosen to face…

We have a female breed here which seems to buy constrictive dogmatic notions to such a degree that it takes the likes of me, arguing in favour their liberation, for which I am seen as less faithful and even immoral. Moreover, the biased way in which our mothers treat their male and female children, makes me dare propound that today it’s more the ‘women against women’ than the ‘men against women’, at least in Pakistan.

I really feel sad when I see that the practices in Islam, rather than giving the courage and confidence to live a free and inquisitive life, renders most of my fellow-religionists to live as ‘born’ cowards. I call them born cowards because the religio-cultural training behind this in our societies starts right from the moment of the birth.

Respected Ms. Manji, people like you serve as a source of energy for the ones like me, living in Muslim states, who cannot afford to ’speak out loud’. I tried to, but I was made to realize that I would offend many and win almost none, with harassment being the cherry on the top. May Allah always bless you with the best. And bless me with the courage to stand up, like you have chosen to.” - Muhammad Khurram Yaqub, Lahore, Pakistan.

* “Thanks so much for posting the reformist translation of the Quran. I converted 7 years ago and the basic faith principles were appealing, but I quickly learned that my views were NOT accepted by mainstream muslims. I wondered if I really was muslim?

But I always thought that the hadiths [reported words and deeds of the Prophet] were a bunch of lies made up by men with beards and that religion can be often contorted by man, so I felt like at some point I will have more clarity and I should stick with my gut feeling.

Now I have some material to read and help me interpret the Quran. For many, many years I’ve been searching for an English translation that makes sense! Keep posting great things on your site, I will be checking often.” - Julie, USA

These are the Muslims whom Aska should bring to the attention of her university friends and teachers. They are the Muslims who speak to the corrupt reality of contemporary Islam, while holding fast to the ideals for which Islam once stood — and, in its best moments, still does.

Above all, these are the Muslims whom other Muslims should support if they’re frustrated with being framed through one lens. Mona, Muhammad and Julie are proof positive of the diversity within our faith, if only we allowed ourselves to express it. Out Loud.

The first step to fighting Islamophobia is that we Muslims must stop stereotyping ourselves.