Progressive Muslim Identities: Personal Stories from the U.S. and Canada is a recently-published anthology, edited by Vanessa Karam, Olivia Samad, and Ani Zonneveld. As described by Zonneveld in the book’s introduction,
Cover of Progressive Muslim Identities. Image via MPV.
“This is not a book of Islamic theology or history; a reader looking for that has other sources. This book is a snapshot that captures the brave face of individual progressive Muslims at this point in time. Their personal and honest narratives give readers a look into the lives of progressive Muslims in the United States and Canada. For the most part, the contributors are not professional writers or ‘famous Muslims.’ They are the voices you never get to hear.”
The writing included in the book represents an impressive diversity of ethnic backgrounds and religious upbringings, and it does indeed highlight stories of people generally not seen as representative of Islam or of Muslims. It’s not the first to do so, although I think it’s the first such anthology that I’ve read that includes perspectives from Muslim men. Books like Living Islam Out Loud, Voices of Resistance, and Shattering the Stereotypes, for example, all present some similar perspectives and personal narratives (even if they are not all framed explicitly as “progressive”), but are focused on Muslim women. (I haven’t read Omid Safi’s Progressive Muslims, which might bring in the male experience more clearly, although its focus is less personal.) Proceeds from the book go to Muslims for Progressive Values (MPV), and there’s a fact sheet about MPV and its principles in the back of the book.
I particularly liked Tynan Power’s reflections on his son’s work as a young “spokes-Muslim” post 9/11. Dizery Salim’s piece captures some tender and perplexing snapshots of her Muslim childhood; on the other hand, her concluding reflection that “Islam is difficult in a world that is not Muslim” could have used some further explanation. The chapters by Sahira Traband, Sumaya Cole, and Daaiyee Abdullah also included some particularly moving observations and experiences, although all seemed to drag at points, and would likely have been better if they’d been a bit shorter. There are, of course, people who will feel uncomfortable with some of the ways that Islam is interpreted within these stories (and I certainly had my own disagreements with some of them), but I think they convey the complexities of trying to find ways of living Islam in a culturally relevant and ethical way.
One thing that really impressed me – and I’m not sure this is a comment that I would have ever made (or thought to make) about any other book – is that the glossary is really well done. A lot of glossaries are just there to give quick translations of terminology that might be used, but this one takes the time to give explanations in paragraphs, exploring the meanings in much more depth, and acknowledging the variety of spellings of some of the words.
Overall, the writing itself is a mixed bag. Some of the pieces are poignant and eloquently written; others are, well, less so. There’s a recurring theme of life trajectories, often coming from rigid ideas of Islam towards something more progressive, and it starts to feel repetitive. I don’t mean to knock the validity of the stories and experiences shared here, but this kind of general memoir-style writing is most interesting when the person writing is either well-known or exceptional in some way, and given that this anthology is deliberately compiled from the stories of everyday, non-famous Muslims, there’s often nothing particularly unusual about their lives. In other words, the stories are often very honest and human, but (especially in chapters when the writing is weaker) they just aren’t always that interesting to read. At times, the book reads more like a series of testimonials about how people ended up finding a home with Muslim for Progressive Values, and some of the pieces would probably be better off on the organisation’s website than in a book about progressive Muslim stories.
I actually think this anthology would have worked better as a collection of more focused stories or reflective pieces on particular aspects of Islam, rather than looking so generally at the writers’ life paths as they relate to Islam. Mona Eltahawy’s piece, for example, takes as a starting point a moment while teaching that led her and her students to reflect on issues of sexual purity in conservative Christian and Muslim communities. This serves as a much more engaging chapter to read than some of the other “life story”-type pieces, and I would have liked to see more written in that style. I also would have been interested in hearing more about progressive communities aside from MPV, or about struggles or tensions within progressive groups. (I can’t be the only one who’s experienced that, right?)
Zonneveld writes in the book’s introduction that
“It is very likely that you have met many Muslims like us before. We are your neighbours and colleagues. And maybe, through the stories presented here, you will see yourself in us.”
Although the writing could have been improved, Progressive Muslim Identities reflects lives of a group of Muslims living and understanding Islam in unorthodox and imperfect ways, and challenges assumptions (from inside and outside of Muslim communities) about what it means to be Muslim.
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Tags: Ani Zonneveld, Muslims for Progressive Values, Progressive Muslim Identities
I am sympathetic to the concerns of progressive groups of Muslims, but less enthusiastic about attempts such as this to construct the progressive Muslim. Here it is done by describing the same life-trajectory over and over again; perhaps the aim is to suggest a normative response to our contemporary predicament. But how much is gained by adopting a label? Let us maintain our complex identities and diverse responses to contemporary dilemmas, while perhaps recognizing that the center of gravity of our community is shifting in a progressive direction.
“Let us maintain our complex identities and diverse responses to contemporary dilemmas, while perhaps recognizing that the center of gravity of our community is shifting in a progressive direction.” Why do you think our community is shifting to the progressive? Somehow that happens in a vacuum? From someone who was involved in the mainstream community, and who belonged to a mosque, its principles are no where progressive. Its only when you push, and prod, and challenge the status quo that the Muslim population awakens to a new possibility, a possibility and thinking that is not encouraged or allowed at our Sunday schools and mosques. We identify ourselves as Progressive for the set of principles we stand for. We are different than conservative Islam and happy to be so.
What a dishonest review! You make no mention of the reason WHY this book was put together. The answer to that is it is a push back to the bullying of Muslim children in schools. You make no mention of the LGBT Muslims in the stories, who converted to Islam after 9-11, who are discriminated by fellow Muslims for being gay AND who struggle with the prejudices of being Muslim. You make no mention of the struggles converts have in digging themselves out of Salafism, or the struggles of born Muslims who can’t stand the hypocrisy of conservative Muslims who live two different lives, one of that at the mosque and one of that outside the mosque. Tell me what Muslim community out there in America and Canada who are welcoming of Muslim women who marry outside their faith, and is welcoming of our LGBT Muslims? None! That is why Muslims for Progressive Values have grown as a community. By completely ignoring their struggles of becoming better Muslims as told in the book, you have made them irrelevant and disrespected them, not to mention what a dis-service to the Muslim and non-Muslim community at large.
Salaams Ani, and thanks for your comment.
When I wrote the review, I may have overestimated the familiarity that people have with progressive discourses within Islam, and I probably could have given more detail about the specific kinds of struggles that the people within this book have gone through. The stories of Muslims who identify as queer or trans, who have married outside Islam, or who have otherwise faced exclusion or alienation within more mainstream/conservative communities are definitely worth highlighting.
Just to be really clear, this is not a review of MPV as an organisation. It seems like the organisation is doing good work and having a really important impact among the contributors to this anthology, and that’s awesome. God knows its hard to find communities where we can feel fully accepted.
But this is a review of Progressive Muslim Identities *as a book*, and I don’t think that any of the impressions of it that I shared were dishonest.
Thank you for reviewing Progressive Muslim Identities and spreading word of it to your readers. To us here at MPV the everyday ordinary lives of Muslims are fascinating and not everyone knows that these voices are out there. We encourage Muslims everywhere to share their story and have their voices heard and steal the spotlight from all those “famous” Muslims we hear from all the time! Allah swt made us all different and given us the ability to share so that we may know one another and understand one another. Allah loves us all. Much salaams/peace from Canada. http://www.mpvottawa.com
Salaams Shahla,
A fellow Canadian! Thanks for stopping by. Just to clarify my comment about ordinary lives/experiences – these are, absolutely, incredibly valuable. What I was trying to say is that they’re not always especially suited for the style of writing in this book. In pointing to Mona’s piece, I didn’t mean to highlight her as a famous person who should be the spokesperson for Muslims (because I would definitely disagree with that), but rather that the style of her piece – taking one really specific moment and using that as a starting point for other, related, reflections – seemed more effective than some of the other pieces.
Mona is indeed famous, but I think her advantage here is that she writes for a living and is very good at drawing us into her story. In your comment you also highlight an unanswered question: what is the intended effect of the book? Is it simply to show how people come to identify with progressive values and organizations? You mention in the review that many of the stories seem like testimonials for the MPV organization, and you also acknowledge that they have done much useful work which should be recognized. But there is a limited range of perspectives expressed. We could compare this to the “I Speak for Myself” anthologies, which are much more wide-ranging. Many of the people in those collections could be described as “progressives”, but there the focus isn’t on developing labels and categories of Muslims.
Salam Ani,
I just wanted to comment on the accusation of dishonesty, which I think is antithetical to the spirit of this review.
In your comment you list omissions which you believe mean the review is disrespectful to, or has made irrelevant, the struggles of the people involved. But how can this be? This is not a judgement on the difficulty or commendability of their struggles, it is a review of their writings, as anthologized in this book.
This is an important distinction, as it suggests the writing should be judged on its merits, which the review proceeds to do, describing some parts as “poignant and eloquently written” and other parts as less successful. I see this as “here’s what was good, here’s how it could have been better” which I think is honest (rather than dishonest) constructive criticism.
I believe this is an honest review. We can lead very repetitive lives. There were many inexperienced writers in this book. I do not see that as a negative, but rather as a testament to the idea that Progressive Islam has a very “normal” side to itself. This is part of the reason many of our stories sometimes do not get any “airtime” and I do not necessarily believe that is a problem. I get frustrated when my more dry storytelling style gets trumped by people who know how to market themselves better, but it does not discourage me from believing this is a worthwhile and needed movement. This book is a gift to people who need hope and need to see parts of themselves in the stories. It was because of how I could relate to the folks of the Progressive movement that I was able to grow in my own spiritual path. The beauty of the situation is that no matter how the book speaks to one individual, there are those who will read it and realize that they are finally home.
This is definitely a worthy cause, however, until the fundamental issues within Shar’ia law that conflict with human rights accepted in democracies (as outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the UN)are addressed, there will not be peaceful progress in the West. “Challenges of the Progressive Muslim” suggests this can be done through the Islamic maqasid method. I am curious if this is seen as feasible by the authors of “Identities.”
Well, it depends on how you define sharia law. Many Muslims, including those involved with this anthology, would argue that the progressive principles expressed here are inherent to Islam.