aziz
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10:25:01 am on July 23, 2008 | # | |
Our own Andrea has an op-ed in Newsweek, about Emergent Islam:
I long for a Muslim environment that is spiritually fresher, deeper, and untainted by a Saudi-style conservatism or bitterness over the war on terror.
read the whole thing!
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Willow 10:40 am on July 23, 2008 | #
Nice hat-tip! Mabrook Andrea.
Sy 11:46 am on July 23, 2008 | #
Overall, I thought it was excellent, and she does a great job in pointing out our communities’ inability to see how and where ardent conservatism leads to voids in subsequent spiritual fulfillment. As someone who has met and is friends with many converts with most, to my knowledge, having hardly undergone a ‘Salafi’ phase, this was a refreshing and necessary perspective for me.
As an aside we really do need rejuvenation in the quality of our khutbahs. There is nothing more annoying than when our local Pashtun khateeb relates a few anecdotes, stories, and qur’anic verses relating to respect for one’s parents and then ends with ‘Blease, blease, do not watch the movies. They are the # 1 haraam.’ While its hilarious the first few times, this kind of thing grates after awhile, and is, unfortunately, all too representative of the blind dogmatism pervasive in many mosques.
Anyway, I’m optimistic things will get better, if only because people like her exist and speak out.
P.S. I would advise discretion in reading the comments; Eboo Patel regularly gets hammered unfairly there, and I’m sure the trolls are spewing all manner of hateful tripe Mrs. Useem’s way. Unless of course, you like spiking your bp.
Salam.
Andrea Useem 1:10 pm on July 23, 2008 | #
Ah yes, trolls. Actually, reading Eboo Patels comments helped me prepare for reading through my own.
But what do you all think? is it possible to have some mosques that are different, more open?
Sy 2:10 pm on July 23, 2008 | #
I think part of the answer lies in the chicken-and-egg question: what will come first the progressive muslims who will conceive such an institution or the institution started by a very few who can construct the progressive muslims? I suspect that in different areas it will be a combination of both, but I like to think this will be rendered moot by the growing base of diverse-practicing American-born ‘ethnic’ and convert muslims. As it is, I still feel like most American muslims practice a pretty conservative brand of Islam (not necessarily Salafi) that would make it hard to create a ‘open’ mosque.
But I also think we need to ask ourselves what the ultimate vision of this ‘emergent’ Islam will be, in effect, how open will this open mosque be? I hate to practice the same minutae-harping that our Salafi brethren engage in, but would muslim men and women pray side by side? Would there be no dress regulations? I know that the real goal of reform is to change attitudes, not answer some minor questions, but I think questions like these are important in addressing the practicality of building an open mosque in the face of present conservatism.
Sorry to answer with more questions, I’m just curious as to what others think.
Willow 2:53 pm on July 23, 2008 | #
The first few comments on Andrea’s piece read like communiques from outer space…
muhammad mushtaq 8:07 pm on July 23, 2008 | #
no. it is not possible to have open mosques unless its basically you and your friends.
why dont we just ditch mosques and open culture centers instead. there can be a room in it for prayer. the rest for intellectual partying and insulting all neo-con panderers since that’s really what being a progressive and liberal muslim is all about.
aziz 8:22 pm on July 23, 2008 | #
But I also think we need to ask ourselves what the ultimate vision of this ‘emergent’ Islam will be, in effect, how open will this open mosque be?
Its a good question. I think though that you need to step back and look at emergent islam not at the mosque level, but rather at the community one. You will have a vast diversity of interpretation and belief and muslims will gravitate to mosques that most fit their own interpretations. Likewise, muslims will shape their mosques in a feedback loop. Ultimately islam will be very fluid as far as the details to which you refer go - people will simply group themselves and communities will form.
thabet 10:46 pm on July 23, 2008 | #
Not sure I understand what is meant by an Islam that is ‘untainted by bitterness over the war on terror’.
Tariq Nelson 5:31 am on July 24, 2008 | #
@ Andrea
Sometimes I am not sure that it is possible to have the change that you are talking about, but the fact that this dialogue is being held gives me hope
Sy 8:54 am on July 24, 2008 | #
I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but the future of Islam that Aziz envisions looks awful lot like modern Christianity, at least here in the US. The hopeless optimistic/romantic in me hopes that such differences in belief are confined to homes and communities, and that some middle, universally-acceptable ground can be reached at the mosque. But hey, the hopeless romantic in me also thinks that “Before Sunset” is how love should be, and I know I aint gettin no Julie Delpy.
Abu mushtaq al mushrik 10:04 am on July 24, 2008 | #
Brother sy I’ll date u. Have u ever considered the other team?
I’ll even call u debbie
- ur brother in islam
Oh come on! U walked into that with that film reference.
Abu mushtaq al mushrik 10:07 am on July 24, 2008 | #
What is all this talk about change?
Its like islam is like a big underwear we are all wearing together
Kinky
aziz 10:14 am on July 24, 2008 | #
Sy, is that a bad thing? Christianity in the US is wildly diverse, ranging from extremely orthodox (Amish) to hper-liberal (Unitarians) and spanning evangelists, catholics, and every flavor of protestant in between.
aziz 10:15 am on July 24, 2008 | #
probably more diverse than anywhere else in the world, I might add - and Islam here in the US has exactly the same potential for success.
Sy 10:49 am on July 24, 2008 | #
It’s not a bad thing perse, but one of things I personally love about the American mosque is this very diversity. You can go into lots of mosques in both urban and suburban areas and see African, African-American, Asian, Brown, White muslims ranging from liberal to very conservative all in one place. I know that self-segregation has already started with Shia mosques, African American muslims separating from immigrant muslims; I was simply expressing my naive optimism that type of unity could continue unabated especially given the strong community emphasis found in our faith.
And lets face it abu mm, I’d be willing to bet 9/10 straight guys like Before Sunrise, but nearly all of them would be too afraid to admit it.
aziz 11:33 am on July 24, 2008 | #
I think that there’s no reason that all diversification would be along ethnic lines, though much surely would be. The multicolor aspect of Islam will always persist in some fashion, though theres real value in ethnic cultures grouping themselves as well, because that way they can preserve their traditions.
historylover 10:26 pm on July 24, 2008 | #
Having read the article a number of times, I am sorry I still do not understand what Andrea means by emergent Islam. What does it actually mean in practise ?
Kaleem Kawaja of the Indian Muslim Council has made a number of points to which I hope Andrea responds here.
I did not have the patience to go through all the comments there.