perhaps the word Islamic can be used in a similar fashion to the old Woody Allen joke: “I’m not a Jew, I’m Jew-ish”

Note the involvement of American Protestant churches in this region — not dissimilar to Saudi-funded Salafi preachers in the West…

Some lump together all forms of Islamism as a deadly enemy, akin to fascism and communism. A more accurate analysis, and a better strategy, would be to disaggregate the problems. The rhetoric of the “global war” on terrorism only strengthens global jihad. As the West learns the limits of force, it is Muslims, not foreign soldiers, who will defeat al-Qaeda.

What authority will this board hold? Who will define the label ‘Muslim’? Ministers are quoted by the BBC as saying the board will “reflect the diversity of Islam and Muslim communities in the UK”. What does that even mean? Does this include Muslims who may hold unpopular views regarding women, liberalism or gay rights? Or how about those on the other side of the spectrum (e.g. Muslims who are also gay, people who self-define as ’secular Muslims’)?

At first glance, this looks like an extra-legal attempt to set up so-called  ’sharia courts’, but without the accountability element.

No separation of church and state, please. We’re British.

Meanwhile, whole congregations of the Anglican communion are in negotiations with Rome to become Catholic, and a whole different group boycotted the Lambeth Conference.

You couldn’t pay me enough to take his job!

The problem, besides a level of inherent obnoxiousness, is that this muddles up existent identity politics. In the West, Islam is deeply tied to ideas of race, cultural identity and immigration. When white converts come in, rhetorical guns blazing, to talk about Who Muslims Are and Are Not, the narrative gets skewed. Thirty years of postcolonial activism, meant to take the Muslim/non-western narrative out of the hands of white scholars and put it back in the hands of the people who live it, becomes confused. The unspoken bottom line is this: to some people, the fact that white Muslims exist is very inconvenient.

My solution: we, educated white converts, have to accept that we don’t get a unified cultural identity. We just don’t. Not this generation. If we work hard, our kids will. We no longer fit seamlessly into the white majority and we can’t tack ourselves on to the immigrant/emergent American/British community, because *we’re not from there*. (Hello? White dude in the thobe with the fake foreign accent? I’m talking to you.) We are, for now, identity-less. Rather than denying it, moaning about it or getting a martyr complex about it, we should accept it, poke our heads up and see how this can be useful.

Next: How to Be White, Muslim and Vocal Without Co-opting Everything

1. America, as the sole nation on earth where religious freedom is guaranteed to all, is the greatest Islamic country on the face of the Earth.

2. It is the duty of an American muslim to be a law-abiding citizen, to work hard and with integrity, and to be an asset to their community both inside and outside the masjid.

3. Shari’a is a divine code to live by, and trancends Man’s Law. Trying to mandate the practice of Shari’a by using Law is against Islam, as per Qur’an ayat 2:256: There is no compulsion in religion.

4. The American muslim will not allow non-muslims to define the faith. Our core concepts such as hijab and jihad shoudl be routinely embraced and deliberately used in dialouge with non-muslims. We do not accept the value judgement of any non-muslim upon our religious practices.

5. The American muslim is bound to excercize Al Aql al Insaan (the Reason of Man) in interpreting Islam. The American muslim is free to be a conservative or liberal, and owes no allegiance to any political party or leader.

If perhaps we can tweak these to our collective satisfaction, we might consider publishing them in some fashion.

This is how our son will be raised — with American folk songs, Muslim prayers and Indian salutations. He is all smiles and burps at this stage, absorbing it all effortlessly. But I remember a time when I thought those three traditions could only ever be at war, and the battleground was within me.

http://tinyurl.com/6yhse2