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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| The Trouble With Islam |
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| theOriginal |
| 11/16/03 at 20:36:30 |
| [slm] Okay, so most of us have probably heard about the hype around this book. And if you have not, head to a Chapters, grab yourself some mocha, and skim. (Don't buy it, though)... I really don't want to bash her (Irshad Manji), since there are all sorts on the planet, and I do not deserve the right to do any such thing. And this is possibly not the best place to ask for moderation when talking about her book, character, or viewpoints... Having said that, I'm deeply disturbed by her book and at the same time sad for the amount of influence she is having on the public portrayal and perception of Islam. It's funny, her site has a partial Ayah from Surat-un-Nisaa (4:135), which says that we should stand up for truth and justice even if it means going against ourselves, or our parents, the rich OR the poor...Immediately following that Ayah (in 136), Allah says, "O you who believe! Believe in Allah and His Messenger, and the scripture which He Has sent to His Messenger And the scripture which He sent to those before (him). Any who denies Allah, His angels, His Books, His Messengers, and the Day of Judgment, has gone far, far astray." Maybe she's right, in that our faith is a bit of a paradox. We believe in the Qur'an because the Qur'an asks us to. But I guess the trouble with The Trouble With Islam is that it overlooks the fact that without this belief, we cannot identify with the Islamic faith. It is a part of what makes us Muslim, and if we reject that part of being a Muslim, then we have truly forgotten the essence of Islam. May Allah (awj) keep us all safe within the folds of Imaan. Wasalaam. |
| Re: The Trouble With Islam |
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| faith |
| 11/16/03 at 21:16:49 |
| [slm] I dont think there is any paradox in Islam. By putting those two verses side by side, there is no contradiction to speak of! The verse that commands believers to stand up to justice even against one's family, rich or poor, is that Allah commands His believing servants to stand up for justice and fairness and not to deviate from it, right or left. They should not fear the blame of anyone or allow anyone to prevent them from doing something for the sake of Allah. They are also required to help, support and aid each other for Allah's sake. In the following verse 4:136. O you who believe! Believe in Allah, and His Messenger, and the Book (the Qur'an) which He has sent down to His Messenger, and the Scripture which He sent down to those before; and whosoever disbelieves in Allah, His Angels, His Books, His Messengers, and the Last Day, then indeed he has strayed far away.) Allah commands His faithful servants to adhere to all the elements of faith, its branches, pillars and cornerstones. This is not stated as mere redundancy, but from the view of completing faith and the continual maintenence of it. Allah's statement, "and the Book which He has sent down to His Messenger,) " refers to the Qur'an, while "and the Scripture which He sent down to those before (him)" refers to the previously revealed divine Books. Allah then said "and whosoever disbelieves in Allah, His Angels, His Books, His Messengers, and the Last Day, then indeed he has strayed far away.)" meaning, he will have deviated from the correct guidance and strayed far away from its path. So, what paradox was she referring to? |
| Re: The Trouble With Islam |
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| theOriginal |
| 11/16/03 at 22:28:31 |
| [slm] I agree with you... Just to clarify...she only has the first Ayah on her site (135), but her book is filled with the idea that the Qur'an must be revolutionized, and it's basically the age-old myth that Muslims believe in something written by a man (Na'oodhubillah)... The point is, I picked up my translated Qur'an, and checked out that Ayah, only to find that the Ayah that directly followed it commands belief in the Qur'an. She picked up the part of the message that furthers her cause, but then rejects the one that doesn't, even though they follow each other. Actually, she even rejects 4:135 because that Ayah says that we should stand up for truth and justice, EVEN if it means going against ourselves, and it kind of defeats the purpose when a Homosexual woman uses that Ayah to defend her faith (which btw, she doesn't seem to define). Basically, this was just an incessent ramble, because I was actually hurt by her book. I didn't feel offended, I felt hurt. To answer your question...her paradox is in statements like these: "I believe in Qur'an, because the Qur'an says to believe in it." And from a logical point of view, that statement does not make sense. But once again, she misses the point. Wasalaam. |
| Re: The Trouble With Islam |
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| deenb4dunya |
| 11/17/03 at 00:46:07 |
| Assalamu Alaikum, Br.Riad Saloojee, the Executive Director of CAIR-CAN published this article in the Montreal Gazette some time ago about this book... ______________________________________________________ Book review: Irshad Manji's "The Trouble With Islam" Saturday, October 04, 2003 12:08 pm Montreal Gazette, 4/10/2003 Riad Saloojee Riad Saloojee is Executive Director of CAIR-CAN With the media spotlight on Islam, media entrepreneur Irshad Manji's The Trouble with Islam has hit a vein of publicity. Part autobiography, part call for Islamic reformation, the book's value falls short of its fanfare. A personal narrative, the book begins with Manji’s childhood in the Vancouver suburb of Richmond. In both her community and private life, she experiences the disconnect of a young girl from the religious absolutism around her and learns both the pain and merit of asking questions. As an adult writer, Manji problematizes much, and justly so: authoritarian structures within Muslim societies; shrunken spaces for women's dignity and participation; attitudes of victimization among many Muslims and a reluctance to engage in self-criticism. Manji's questioning is not novel. Others, including contemporary Muslim thinkers, have grappled with the same issues. But the similarity ends there. Far from a multi-dimensional analysis of Muslim malaise, Manji sets her sights unrelentingly on Islam. "Is Islam more narrow-minded than the rest of the world's religions?" she asks. If anything, one might expect a comparative exercise here; instead, her pointed conclusions on Islam are frequently proved by non sequiturs, reductive generalizations and kitschy anecdotes. For example, she inquires: "Is Islam the uber-oppressor of creativity, dynamism and democracy?" while citing the case of Pakistan, which refused to allow one of its citizens to play on a doubles tennis team with an Israeli. The Israeli faced no similar restriction from his own country. "Surely," argues Manji, "this dichotomy has something to do with each nation's ethical compass," which is, "animated by each nation's religious values." Here Manji makes an unbelievable leap, from a politically motivated Pakistani tennis-team policy to a generalization about a religion’s impact on a society’s values. Though she insists "on giving Islam a fair shake," her arguments about the Koran come with numerous flaws. Overlooking centuries of vigorous interpretive discussion, diversity and dialogue on the Koran (there are no references to any such scholarship; reading Manji you would think it non-existent), Manji seems to shop selectively for verses, divorcing them from both their context and mainstream interpretations. Without, it appears, any knowledge of Koranic hermeneutical criticism, she creates a caricature of Islam, projecting her own conclusions on the text much like, ironically, the literalism of Bin Laden. Regarding Islam's alleged dark side – anti-Jewish sentiment, oppression of women, violence and slavery - Manji violates the premier rule of Koranic textual interpretation: that all verses on a subject are to be read together, contextually and coherently. One verse, revealed in one circumstance, might comment on a particular situation and should not be universalized. In many instances, the Koranic critique of the Jewish community falls into this category: many Koranic passages address conflicts between the early Muslim and Jewish communities that were primarily political. But God is, in Arabic, al-'Adl, the Just, and numerous Islamic texts lay down moral absolutes, like justice and equity in dealing with all people. As well, historical examples of symbiosis and harmony are too numerous to premise Islam being anti-Jewish. Manji makes similar mistakes when discussing women (Her interpretations are certainly not those shared by the ever-increasing number of educated Western women converting to Islam.) And, certainly, most mainstream Islamic scholars would differ with her portrayal of Koranic passages dealing with physical Jihad (as opposed to Jihad as a spiritual struggle) as providing a licence for violent acts against non-Muslims. An oddity of the work is that although Manji accuses Muslims of using Israel as a lightening rod for their own malaise, much of the book is a sentimentalized apologetic for Israel. Sounding more like a publicist than a critical thinker when discussing Israel, the self-proclaimed I-pull-no-punches Manji is not recognizable. Critical projects are best when infused with realism, refined analysis and love. Tareq Ramadan's To Be a European Muslim, and Noah Feldman's After Jihad are two fine examples. By contrast, Manji's work, seemingly interested primarily in hamstringing traditional Islam, cripples itself by its profound failure to consider both centuries of Islamic scholarship and the many secular influences, both political and social, that have had a hand in shaping the Muslim world. Justifies Manji: "I know I'm oversimplifying, but oversimplification runs rampant in the development of God-awful laws.” Unfortunately, her book suffers from the same flaw. Better had she heeded the words of Gandhi: Be the change you wish to see in the world. |
| Re: The Trouble With Islam |
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| timbuktu |
| 11/17/03 at 10:12:13 |
| [slm] the effort is now intensifying to cut muslims away from the roots of our deen. i am amazed at what is being published. on IOL discussion forum, there are at least a dozen non-muslims, & some muslims dedicated to this task, & only three muslims defending the truth. |
| Re: The Trouble With Islam |
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| deenb4dunya |
| 11/20/03 at 15:41:53 |
| Assalmu Alaikum, Another awesome review of "The Trouble with Islam" by CAIR-CAN chair Dr.Sheema Khan... www.caircan.ca/downloads/LRCKhan_0312.pdf EnjoY!. Wasslamau Alaikum, Deen :-) |
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