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Progressing towards a union<\/div>\n

<\/p><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

They\u2019re mostly young, mostly urban, and they\u2019re tired<\/a> of the traditional Muslim leadership in North America. They\u2019ve worked on issues of women\u2019s access<\/a> in mosques, debated homosexuality<\/a> within Islam, and addressed international issues where Muslims aren\u2019t necessarily on the \u201cgood\u201d side. They share with the mainstream Muslim community similar viewpoints on domestic and foreign policy, but part with them when it comes to social issues and religious dogma. And as they finally organize<\/a> as an international movement, the Progressive Muslim Union<\/a> does not come without controversy<\/a>. \u201c[This is] more than just a bunch of Muslim people who just happen to be socially progressive,\u201d said PMU Chair Omid Safi<\/a>, who is also editor of the book \u201c Progressive Muslims<\/a>\u201c. \u201cWe\u2019re confronting a lot of problematic practices that are part of our faith and our community, while also admitting and acknowledging that there are incredible reservoirs<\/a> of wisdom for us to draw upon from our faith.\u201d Within parts of the Muslim community, reaction has been mixed \u2013 they\u2019ve been attacked from the politically progressive left<\/a> (mainly for \u201copening the tent\u201d wide enough to include Republicans and others whose politics don\u2019t toe the line) and from more traditional Muslims<\/a> (whose main beef is the lack of any defined Muslim identity for group, despite a well-defined \u201cprogressive\u201d one). The reaction from major Muslim groups and leaders has been a conspicuous silence, perhaps waiting for more details of PMU\u2019s activities & membership to emerge, and the reaction from outside the Muslim community has been cautiously optimistic at best (although Daniel Pipes already accuses<\/a> PMU of \u201capologizing for extremism\u201d). The group\u2019s leaders aren\u2019t letting any of this initial reaction get them down, however. They\u2019re already planning for a national conference at the Harvard Divinity School next March, and are hoping to expand the already-existing \u201c meetups<\/a>\u201d that happen across the country. \u201cMy commitment is to washing<\/a> the dirty laundry,\u201d says Safi in response to concerns some Muslims have about self-criticism in the post-9\/11 era. \u201cAs a Muslim community we have issues we need to deal with.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/i><\/p>\n

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.\n<\/p>\n

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