Is Muslimwakeup.com
Undermining the Progressive Muslim Movement?
By Dr. Muqtedar Khan
Director of International Studies
Chair, Political Science Department, Adrian College
Non-Resident Fellow, Brookings Institution
Washington, DC
Muslimwakeup.com [MWU],
a very popular Muslim e-zine, has definitely enriched
and shaken up the American Muslim public sphere
and is also being noticed by Muslims overseas.
It has also received rave reviews from the mainstream
press in America, which is thirsting for proof
of diversity within the Muslim community and MWU
is a flaming example of that.
Importantly MWU is part of the rapidly coalescing
of progressive Muslim forces in North America
and is perhaps their most important vehicle for
communications. Along with the book Progressive
Muslims, edited by Prof. Omid Safi, Asra Noamani’s
mosque protests, and Amina Wadud’s leading
of Friday prayers, MWU is easily one of the key
Progressive Muslim moments in the history of American
Islam.
Thus, MWU has clearly carved a place for itself,
in the American Muslim public sphere.
Since the Friday prayer initiative, I have been
engaged in many debates and discussions with Muslims
of all types in many Internet forums, conferences
and on phone calls on the subject. While in most
cases I was trying to defend the importance of
the progressive agenda of the Progressive Muslim
Union [PMU], I was also defending my right to
dissent against Progressive Muslims who were attacking
me for not endorsing the Wadud initiative.
Before I make my arguments, I would like to state
in the interest of disclosure that I am connected
with both the Progressive Muslim movement and
with Muslimwakeup.com. I am on the advisory board
of PMU and several of my articles have been published
by MWU in the past. This article should be read
as advise from someone invited formally to sit
in an advisory position and be read and engaged
in the spirit of constructive criticism. I am
essentially reporting, with some analysis, the
criticisms of MWU that I receive. There are other
nasty and eminently false allegations being made
by some mainstream Muslims about MWU being a conspiracy
of Rand Corporation and Neoconservatives in the
US. I ignore them. There is no room for rational
discourse with those who subscribe to conspiracy
theories. For them their own imagination serves
as evidence and it is irrefutable.
The conclusion that I can draw from all these
debates and discussions is that while majority
of Muslims sympathize and may even endorse the
agenda of Progressive Muslims (1) seeking gender
justice, (2) struggling for social justice, (3)
advancing a moral inclusivist theology, and (4)
opening the doors of Ijtihad for reinterpretation
of Islam in the contemporary context, they strongly
oppose the method and style of MWU.
I repeat, most American Muslims seem to sympathize
with the causes that underpin the philosophy of
Progressive Muslims, but they strongly disapprove
of MWU’s style. This raises the question:
will MWU in the long run undermine the very movement,
the Progressive Muslim movement that it seeks
to promote.
Based on my discussions these are the main reasons
why MWU may be undermining the PMU.
[A] Style: There are several aspects of style
that seems to bother average Muslim readers. The
tendency to immediate mock and ridicule prominent
American Muslim leaders and organizations - a
song that calls Siraj Wahhaj a fag is often cited.
Most people have no problems with criticism, but
they object to the complete lack of Islamic adab.
Regardless of what ploy MWU editors may use to
defend this - “Oh it is under the section
satire, or humor “ - the distasteful content
speaks or rather stinks for itself. This is not
the Islamic way. One thing that many people told
me was that they were deeply hurt by the manner
in which MWU either dismissed or mocked traditional
Muslim scholars of the past and the present.
[B] Islamic content: The manner in which many
articles on MWU approach debates on Islamic theological
issues are also an issue with many readers. Remember
these are not complaints from fans or regular
readers. These are complaints from most mosque
related mainstream Muslims who have visited MWU
once or twice to gauge what progressive Muslims
are up to and have been turned off.
The woman-led Friday prayer has attracted a lot
of attention to the Progressive Muslim cause and
increased traffic to MWU. But the arguments advanced
in several articles published by MWU has sent
Muslims two messages:
(1) Progressive Muslims are arrogant, full of
themselves and condescending of other Muslims.
(2) Most importantly, Progressive Muslims are
empty when it comes to knowledge of Islam and
Islamic sources.
While the first accusation may be applicable to
several other Muslim outfits, the second one is
most debilitating. If MWU will convey the message
that Progressive Muslims do not know their Islam
then the cause is lost, PMU might as well convert
to Buddhism that shares many of the same goals.
The most commonly cited examples of this flaw
in MWU articles are Hussein Ibish’s responses
to Hina Azam and Louay Safi. They are read as
insulting and above all completely and absolutely
devoid of any Islamic content. They seem to be
written by someone who knows nothing about Islam
and on a more scary level, does not really care
for Islamic sources at all. Many Muslims also
seem to recall that Ibish had declared on national
TV that he was an agnostic and did not practice
Islam or something to that effect.
I agree with the traditional Muslims’ argument
that Progressive Muslims are methodologically
weak, essentially because the progressive Islamic
jurisprudential tradition has yet to begin. That
is understandable. But to engage in a theological
discussion without engaging theology is absurd
to say the least. Surely Ibish and some of his
friends may get a good laugh out of it, but I
am afraid the joke might be on PMU.
Ibish is an important activist of the American
Muslim and Arab communities and has already served
them brilliantly. Islamic thought is clearly not
his forte and while he may have interesting observations
to make about the state of Muslim affairs from
a progressive standpoint, he would do better to
eschew engaging theological issues.
It is incumbent on the scholars associated with
the Progressive Muslim movement to provide the
Islamic theological justifications for their initiatives.
Progressive Muslims have always claimed that Islam
is a progressive faith and progressive values
are embedded in its sources and it is our job
to extract and articulate them. This was an opportunity
to do so. The traditional and conservative traditions
engaged Progressive Muslims seriously and systematically
for the first time. I must say that the Progressive
Muslim response lacked the same intellectual depth
and vigor [with regards to Islamic thought] and
MWU compounded this by frequently indulging in
unbecoming conduct. Instead of using the opportunity
to deeply engage Islamic sources, to highlight
its progressive nature, MWU unfortunately engaged
in ridiculing traditional arguments.
[C] Sex: This is a source of great contention.
Many Muslims have a problem with the discussion
of sex itself, others have a problem with how
some prominent Islamic personalities have been
dealt with in some of this sex columns. I think
the sex columns do more to establishing the personality
of MWU with their fan base and may not directly
undermine the progressive Muslim movement as long
as they do not seek to reform theology through
fictionalized discussion of sex. But I guess that
is the objective of the column, not only to subvert
the Victorian values that have crept into the
Muslim world, but also to problematize orthodoxy.
[D] Intolerance: This is the irony and tragedy
of the Progressive Muslim Movement, that it is
accused of intolerance. Most Muslim readers argue
that MWU while preaching loftily for tolerance
and inclusion are vociferously intolerant towards
Muslims who disagree with them. “They have
made a big show of hugging Jews”, said one
sarcastic young woman to me, “how about
hugging some Muslims who disagree with them”.
Her point is valid. I can personally testify to
the rampant intolerance that characterizes several
progressive Muslim groups. Not only do many articles
on MWU, but also several postings in the discussions
reflect a culture of animosity and intolerance
for Muslims who do not share their views. This
of course is not limited to progressive Muslims
but is displayed widely across Muslim groups of
all ideological inclinations.
Though Progressive Muslim Union and Muslimwakeup.com
do not have any formal relationship, a few months
ago the decision to separate MWU and PMU was taken
and now there is no formal relationship between
the two. The only thing common is the presence
of Ahmed Nassef, the editor of MWU, on the executive
board of PMU. The justification for the Friday
Prayer initiative that Omid Safi wrote was not
even published on MWU. But MWU clearly has become
the vehicle for some progressive Muslims to push
their causes. Its novelty value continues to attract
both mainstream and Muslim attention. But hopefully
MWU will settle down and focus on pressing issues
of progressive reform in the Muslim community,
abhor juvenile tactics and distasteful style.
One cannot ridicule and alienate the very audience
one seeks to reform. Most importantly, when serious
issues are raised, MWU should give it due respect.
It must show respect for the issue and for those
who disagree with it. There is no point in advocating
tolerance and acceptance of the other if one does
not practice it. How can progressive Muslims preach
an inclusive theology if MWU adopts exclusivist
tactics?
Both PMU and MWU are uniquely American Muslim
institutions. They have a lot of good to offer
to Muslims and to the rest of the society here
and abroad. Let’s not squander the opportunity
and the meager resources available to our community
through juvenile and distasteful packaging.
In the coming years the battle for the soul of
Islam will rage across the world. Already one
can see the beginning of a global impact of the
woman- led Friday prayers. We will be engaging
contentious issues more regularly. Progressive
Muslims, all of us including myself, cannot have
an impact on the practice of Islam in Muslim communities
without practicing Islamic and progressive values
of tolerance, adab, inclusion and acceptance of
the other.
(M. A. Muqtedar Khan is a Non-Resident Fellow
at the Brookings Institution and a Senior Fellow
of the Institute of Social Policy and Understanding.
He is also a member of the advisory board of the
Progressive Muslim Union. His website is www.ijtihad.org).
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