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Pssst… Please eavesdrop

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts, Q & A on Jun 11, 2009

“As an American woman with a Jewish cultural background married to a Catholic raised man, I am most grateful for your informed views, thoughts, and ideas. It gives me hope for a world of more freedom for all. However, I am disheartened by the dearth of thoughts coming from the Western Muslim community regarding Islamic introspection. If you hear anything, please make it available to us non-Islamic folk. Is there an interfaith forum for self-reflection that we can all be privy to?” - Lorri Paulucci

In a word, “yes.” In two words, “please eavesdrop.”

Reform-minded Muslims invite you to read our message to fellow Muslims through a brand new book that challenges the complacency, passivity and denial of the so-called moderates in our faith.

Hot off the presses is Critical Thinkers for Islamic Reform, a collection of essays to which I’ve contributed and which you can buy on amazon.com. It’s the product of a recent conference naughtily named, “A Celebration of Heresy.” I blogged about it here.

Now, the conference organizers are giving you access to what was thought, expressed and debated at the heresy hoe-down. “The 30 scholars and activists who contributed to this book do not necessarily agree on every issue,” confess the editors. “However, we all agree on the imperative of a radical reformation in the Muslim world — a reform under the guidance of the Quran and with the light of reason, our Creator’s greatest gift to us…”

But wait! There’s more. We also hope you’ll tune into a TV documentary that captures the revolt of a reform-minded Muslim at a mainstream American mosque. That reformer is Asra Nomani, single mom, defiant journalist and ardent foe of segregation — a widespread practice in the Muslim sanctuaries of the United States.

Asra takes on the tribalists in her forthcoming PBS film, “The Mosque in Morgantown.” Watch the trailer, then catch the entire program on June 15 at 10 pm Eastern.

With Asra Nomani at a shared book-signing, New York 2005. (Courtesy: Aachara Kinan)

And for God’s sake, fear not the political incorrectness of peering into Muslim conversations. As Martin Luther King Jr. pleaded, “Never again can we afford to live with narrow, provincial, outside agitator idea.” In an interdependent world, there is no outsider. Like it or not, we’re in this mess together.

I, for one, am grateful that Lorri Paulucci wants more information. May she embolden other nosey non-Muslims.