Tag: Islam

Promoted to the frontpage 

We need passionate participants.

Hi, All:

My name is Michael Reynolds.  I am a writer and filmmaker.  In the last week of April we will be shooting a documentary film in London, Paris, Amsterdam, Madrid and Barcelona.

Here are links to two documentaries we've produced:

http://screenmag.tv/feature.aspx?fid=541

http://www.fullframefest.org/about/film.php?filmid=105

The premise of the documentary in question is simple:  we believe there is more wisdom, honesty and truth to be gleaned from debating issues with regular people than from speaking with politicians and pundits.

We sit down with ordinary people in cafes, pubs, and homes and discuss -- sometimes heatedly -- the situation in the world.

The topic of this documentary - working title: Conversations Abroad --  is the nexus of Europe, the US and Islam. 

We are very interested in speaking with Muslims living in London, Paris, Amsterdam, Madrid and Barcelona.  The only requirement is that you have a point of view, that you are prepared to state it with some passion and defend it with conviction, and that you can do so in English.

Participants are not paid.  They will need to give us at most 2 hours of their time -- the actual 20 minute interview and some unvoidable standing around time.

We also need venues:  cafes etc... where we can shoot.  The venue doesn't need to be anything special, but it must accommodate our crew of 5 plus the usual equipment.

We want people from every part of the political and religious spectrum, holding all sorts of views.  The participants are the stars of this film.  I really hope some Eteraz readers will participate.  Please let us know if you are interested by emailing: reynoldsapplegate (at) mac (dot) com.

Thanks,
Michael Reynolds

In the West, Islamic Religiosity believes that it must offer a political vision. This is an idea perpetuated not just by the politicos but also traditionalists like Abdal Hakim Murad. This explains why even sophisticated DC Muslims are waiting for the "third way." (Beyond Democrat and Republican; Beyond Labor and Tory). Keep waiting, guys. Need I remind you Nader lost? Need I remind you Galloway is, and always will be, just an MP?

This phenomenon occurs in the Muslim world as well, in a slightly different form, as pointed out by Sami Zubeidah in this article:

Islamic religiosity, under current conditions, almost invariably entails an ideological vision.

He's saying that in the Muslim world people think that Islam is a political force as well.

Note, please note, that my observation has to do with Muslims in the West. Zubeidah's observation has to do with Muslims in the Muslim world. We need to be more emphatic in making this distinction; not because the West and Muslim world are in a clash, but because Muslim people in the West live in pluralist and democratic societies; while Muslim people in the Muslim world live in homogenous and non-democratic societies. Those Muslim nations which are pluralist and democratic, do not have Muslims who try to assert Islam as a political force (Malaysia).

You know, when this site started out, we aimed to cover Islam globally. We still plan on doing that. However, this should not mean that I believe (I certainly don't), that how I think Muslims should organize themselves in America and UK is going to be in any way similar to how Muslims should organize themselves in dictatorial countries which 99% of the people are Muslim. More importantly, Muslims in the West need to realize that we are not going to be able to organize ourselves here the way Muslims in Muslim majority parts of the world do. Muslim in Muslim majority parts of the world can afford to sit there and try and fashion a "Muslim" political theory. We in the West need not do the same, and then try to convince DC think tanks to buy into the "Islamic vision of social justice." All we need to do is "social justice" and the only time we should assert its Islamic basis is when we're at the mosque.

This doesn't mean you shouldn't be proud of being a Muslim. One should take pride in having ethics. However, next time you want to chest thump about introducing "Islamic concepts" into "the politics of the de-spiritualized West", ask if you see any Christians doing the same. They don't. And the ones that do: everyone calls them nutjobs, hicks, or Christofascists. Ultimately, in a pluralist society, trying to get people to give a shout out to your religion just because it happens to share a vision of a just society with the mainstream discourse, does nothing more than affirm your identity. It is not an act of sovereignty. It is nothing more than empty pride. 

On some progressive muslim channels I've gotten criticized for the fact that without progressives there wouldn't have been a number of positive advancements in the community -- like an increased focus on women's equality.

That may be true, however, that does not require that you have to be a "progressive" to support issues of importance. I can support women led prayer or question inheritance laws without having to be a progressive, or being lumped in with them.

Progressives want to hog activism the way Salafis and some traditionalists hog piety. I say no thanks.

I have a new slogan for us. Eteraz.Org: Islam Without Labels.Or how about: Eteraz.Org: Say No To Label Whores.

This exploding of how jihadi rhetoric hijacks the Quran is so beautiful and on point that I'm linking to it again.

The first and most important thing that this suggests to me is that militants do not represent, do not claim to represent and do not wish to represent ordinary Muslims. They call on the elite, not the common man, to fight in their 'holy' war. They're not interested in your Uncle Ahmad, who plays backgammon and watches football all weekend.  They want the people who are sure of their own superiority--so sure that they would respond to the words of a prophesy in the Qur'an itself. If this is not the picture of arrogance, I don't know what is.

Willow, it is an honor to know you. 

I really hope this article makes the rounds. This is a wonderful insistence by a regular believer standing up for the beauty of the Quran.

I am an American by birth, and my views though painstakingly shaped and molded to represent my understanding of the “Ideal Muslim” are in fact also influenced by my American upbringing. And so, when I say to you “On Theocracy and Liberty” keep in mind that the lens from which I speak is that of an American-born Muslim. As it were, during my college years when questioned on the position of Islamic Law (Shari’a), I would get upset and feel hurt and under-attack, but that was mainly because I didn’t have any kind of defense. Like many Muslims I was not knowledgeable of Arab and Muslim history beyond the 4th Rightly Guided Caliph.

This search lead me to argument after frustrating argument because I could find no non-Muslims - at the time - to stand in defense of anything Islamic! It was shocking, because it seemed to me that if all of my non-Muslim colleagues rejected my core beliefs than what do they think of me! Nevertheless, I came to accept the dilemma but what made the most significant impact on my acceptance of this dilemma - the dilemma of the American-Muslim - is an understanding of Islamic history, but not medieval history, we are talking more about history between the late 18th (Romanticism) and mid 20th centuries (Modernism). It was during this period that many of the problems we face in our present-day society originated, which brings me to the topic of this article.