{"id":3458,"date":"2015-12-23T06:30:45","date_gmt":"2015-12-23T12:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=3458"},"modified":"2015-12-22T23:48:10","modified_gmt":"2015-12-23T05:48:10","slug":"from-the-library-mecca-and-main-street-muslim-life-in-america-after-911-by-geneive-abdo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/12\/from-the-library-mecca-and-main-street-muslim-life-in-america-after-911-by-geneive-abdo.html","title":{"rendered":"From the library:  Mecca and Main Street; Muslim Life in America after 9\/11, by Geneive Abdo"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p>Last book.<\/p>\n<p>In the prior two books I\u2019ve talked about, we saw that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/12\/from-the-library-the-muslim-next-door-by-sumbul-ali-karamali.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">there exists a form of Islam<\/a> that is very recognizable to Christians, and Westerners in general, in core beliefs of a merciful and just God, equality among all men and women, nonviolence, etc., but that this egalitarian Islam <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/12\/from-the-library-allah-liberty-and-love-the-courage-to-reconcile-faith-and-freedom-by-irshad-manji.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">is not the norm<\/a>, worldwide, and, according to our second author, is not at all mainstream but instead is only accepted by a minority of Muslims, in the world and in the U.S.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/01\/islam-needs-a-jewish-enlightenment.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">Some time ago<\/a>, I wrote about the Jewish Enlightenment as a potential model for a new kind of Islam, one which interprets the Qur\u2019an in light of these core principles. \u00a0And I linked to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/news\/ct-muslim-youth-outreach-met-20150116-story.html#page=1\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">an article in the Tribune<\/a> explaining how local Muslim leaders were attempting to intervene before their kids consulted extremist \u201cinternet sheiks\u201d for guidance:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>AlQaisi said the mosque and school rolled out a campaign, urging youths to bring their questions to him or a dozen other scholars in the community instead of Google. Not only does that guarantee children will get authentic answers in an American context, it keeps the lines of communication open and preserves the \u201cchain of narration,\u201d the traditional transmission of Islam from person to person since the time of Prophet Muhammad, he said. . . .<\/p>\n<p>At an assembly last week, Principal Omar Qureshi presented a verse of the Quran that begins with \u201cAnd slay them wherever ye find them.\u201d He showed the verses that come before and after the passage, explained that it referred only to military action and that only governments can declare war, not individuals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a whole due process in our religion,\u201d Qureshi said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>So what strikes me now in re-visiting this article is the difference between this explanation \u2014 of due process and \u201conly governments can declare war\u201d \u2014 and the explanation proffered by Ali-Karamali, that the so-called \u201csword verses\u201d really only spoke of defense of the fledgling community under attack. \u00a0Am I reading too much into this? \u00a0I don\u2019t know \u2014 hence, I\u2019m reading another book, this one profiling Muslim communities by a sympathetic author. \u00a0Do these Muslims believe in egalitarianism and justice first, and interpret the Qur\u2019an in that light, or do they follow the beliefs handed down to them by their fathers and grandfathers, no matter what?<\/p>\n<p>The author starts with a profile of Sheikh Hamza Yusef, a convert to Islam and one of its most public representatives, even having made a trip to the White House shortly after 9\/11. \u00a0(I\u2019m not sure how he got the title of \u201csheikh\u201d and google isn\u2019t any help; from the context it seems to be interchangeable with imam.) \u00a0She visits an instructional session in a hotel conference room, a weekend seminar of sorts, where he speaks to young adults, men and women \u2014 though the women (all with heads covered and wearing variants of abaya-like cloaks or shapeless skirts) sit off to the side, separated by a screen, and only receive an occasional glance from him. \u00a0Though his lectures are about the theology and practice of Islam in general, there is talk of extremism \u2014 or, rather, resentment that Western reaction to extremists cause these nonviolent Muslims to feel persecuted.<\/p>\n<p>What about Manji\u2019s\u00a0<span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cspirit of ijtihad\u201d from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/12\/from-the-library-allah-liberty-and-love-the-courage-to-reconcile-faith-and-freedom-by-irshad-manji.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">my prior book summary<\/a>? \u00a0Here\u2019s what Abdo says:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Young Muslim Americans don\u2019t want to practice their faith blindly; they want rational explanations for why behavior is acceptable or not. \u00a0Almost alone among prominent sheikhs in America, Hamza Yusef meets this need. \u00a0He relies heavily on his classical education to ground his rulings and advice about contemporary issues in Islam\u2019s great intellectual tradition, often consulting the four established schools of Islamic jurisprudence called madhabs. \u00a0He is determined to counter the new tendency among many Muslims to interpret the Koran for themselves in the absence of a legitimate imam. \u00a0(p. 19)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">What\u2019s more, most of the imams in America are either immigrants, not able to counsel young Muslims on how to integrate and still remain to their faith or are not educated. \u00a0Hence<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>They [Hamza and other like-minded scholars] interpret the texts by engaging in ijtihad, or independent reasoning. \u00a0Ijtihad allows the imams to reinterpret the faith for modern times while adhering to Islam\u2019s fundamental principles. \u00a0(p. 21)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Is this Manji\u2019s ijtihad? \u00a0It doesn\u2019t feel the same.<\/p>\n<p>Abdo portrays these second-generation students as looking for reliable doctrine and educated teachers. \u00a0At the same time, Hamza and his students take it as a given that head-covering, for women, and the long beard, for men, are important markers of piety, and, as least as far as headscarves go, a requirement except under exceptional circumstances, such as the post-9\/11 period when women feared harassment. \u00a0And as 9\/11, and the concern for interfaith understanding, faded, Hamza began to \u201cplace Islamic violence in context,\u201d that is, implying that it is justifiable. \u00a0(p. 25)<\/p>\n<p>(Incidentally, throughout the book, Abdo speaks approvingly of women choosing to cover, as either a requirement in Islam or at a minimum a sign of devotion to the faith and something to be celebrated\u00a0and praised. \u00a0She also regards the increasing move to veiling\/head-covering in Egypt not as a negative sign but a positive development, as a sign of a religious revival.)<\/p>\n<p>Abdo next features Sheikh Muhammad Yacoubi, a Syrian guest lecturer. He is Abdo says, \u201cmore conservative (p. 27) \u2014 and how! \u00a0He counsels early marriage, 5 hours of sleep, and more time spent on religious study, less on TV.<\/p>\n<p>Next up: \u00a0the Muslim community in Dearborn. \u00a0Abdo starts with a fifteen-year-old, daughter of Yemeni immigrants, whose parents decided it was time for her to marry, and a man twice her age, at that, thought at least the marriage wasn\u2019t consummated. \u00a0She sought support from her friends and from the imam in vain, and eventually demanded a divorce \u2014 but then remarried, again at her parent\u2019s behest, two years later, though at least to someone she thought more likeable. \u00a0But this, too, turned out poorly \u2014 she had a child immediately, but her husband, a recent immigrant, was only able to get a minimum-wage job, and shortly afterwards married a second time, by returning to Yemen, so the girl divorced him \u2014 though only civilly, as the imam wouldn\u2019t grant an Islamic divorce. \u00a0She later found a man she wanted to marry, but as he was black, an immigrant from Ghana, the community rejected him, and the former child-bride finally left her community for good.<\/p>\n<p>The Yemeni community in the Dix Street neighborhood has assimilated into American culture slightly, if at all. \u00a0Women are veiled, and at the mosque, they hear the imam only through a loudspeaker, wholly separated from the men in the basement. \u00a0The imam is Saudi-trained and the mosque, Saudi-funded. \u00a0All in all, \u201cthe Yemenis of Dix are more isolated than most Muslim enclaves in America.\u201d (p. 48) \u2014 a significant change from the early history of the mosque, founded by Lebanese immigrants, who have now all left when the Yemenis came, with their stricter version of Islam.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>[T]he Yemeni triumph at Dix foreshadowed the Islamic revival that was coming to Dearborn and the rest of the United States. \u00a0In the years that followed, the conservative takeover of mosques became more widespread, as Muslims became more involved in their faith and increasingly influenced by Islamic practice in the broader Muslim world. (p. 55)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Abdo\u2019s next profile is of Rami Nashashabi, a doctoral student at the University of Chicago whose father is a Palestinian, and a Jordanian diplomat and whose mother is (I think; Abdo\u2019s unclear) an American, but he did not grow up in the United States. \u00a0In Chicago, though, for the past decade, he has worked with an outreach organization to both help inner-city black kids and preach Islam to them, and attempt to build a multicultural Muslim society \u00a0through the Intercity Muslim Action Network, IMAN.<\/p>\n<p>And then \u2014 who should appear in a chapter on Muslims building their public image but our friend Irshad Manji?<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s what Abdo has to say about her:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Irshad Manji, the author of <em>The Trouble with Islam<\/em>, is one of the most damaging voice for the Islamic community. \u00a0Of all the professional Muslims to emerge after September 11, Manji won most attention from the non-Muslim world. \u00a0Her book was an international bestseller; she became a television pundit, and an essayist on the editorial pages of the world\u2019s most influential newspapers. \u00a0She earns thousands of dollars for speaking engagements on college campuses.<\/p>\n<p>Muslims, as well as non-Muslim expert, around the world \u2014 particularly in Canada, Manji\u2019s home and where she hosted a radio talk show \u2014 condemn her. \u00a0First, most don\u2019t consider her a Muslim, even though she was born as such. \u00a0She identifies herself as a lesbian, and homosexuality is considered a violation of the faith. \u00a0Her political views are the antithesis of Muslim feeling about nearly everything, from her favorable attitudes toward Israel in its conflict with the Palestinians to her support of U.S. policy in the Arab and Islamic world. \u00a0A scholar of Islamic studies who is a friend of mine calls her a Muslim Zionist, a label Manji would no doubt accept. \u00a0my own encounter with Manji was not encouraging; her opinions about Islam, she offered when I interviewed her in 2004 for the <em>Tribune<\/em>, had no basis in the \u00a0teachings of the faith. \u00a0As a result of her unorthodox views, many Muslims believe she claims to be a Muslim only to sell books; a Muslim denouncing the faith is a marketer\u2019s dream.<\/p>\n<p>To many non-Muslims, however, she is the voice of \u201cprogressive\u201d Islam. \u00a0Why progressive? \u00a0Because Manji\u2019s prescription for correcting the \u201ctroubles with Islam\u201d is for the faith to conform to the ideas of Western philosophy. \u00a0Essentially Islam would cease to be Islam.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>What\u2019s the bottom line? \u00a0It\u2019s hard to draw firm conclusions about what the Muslims that Abdo approvingly profiles believe, given that her focus is on their perception of persecution and their desires to practice their religion faithfully rather than give way to secularism. \u00a0She becomes more strident throughout the course of the book, and, in the conclusion, rejects calls for a \u201creformation,\u201d and perceives Islam as under \u201cattack by the Western world\u201d \u2014 listing as signs of this attack \u201cSeptember 11, the invasion of Afghanistan, the occupation of Iraq, the French government\u2019s ban on headscarves, and even the decision of some European news organizations to publish the insulting cartoons of the Prophet Muhamad\u201d (p. 200).<\/p>\n<p>But it\u2019s clear that they reject\u00a0Manji\u2019s description of Islam, and it would seem they reject Ali-Karamali\u2019s approach as well. \u00a0After all, she states multiple times that she feels confident that her faith allows her to let her conscience be her guide if something that Islam has traditionally commanded, appears to be unjust. \u00a0The new generation of imams might take greater care to explain doctrine, but that doctrine hasn\u2019t changed.<\/p>\n<p>So that\u2019s it for reading. \u00a0Up next: \u00a0putting this all together.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last book. In the prior two books I\u2019ve talked about, we saw that there exists a form of Islam that is very recognizable to Christians, and Westerners in general, in core beliefs of a merciful and just God, equality among all men and women, nonviolence, etc., but that this egalitarian Islam is not the norm, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>From the library: Mecca and Main Street; Muslim Life in America after 9\/11, by Geneive Abdo<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Last book. 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