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“The average person cannot readily believe, for instance, that the Socialism of today is a very different thing from the Socialism of 1890, or 1900, or even 1910. He is apt to assume that Socialism is a fixed, stereotyped body of ideas and propositions, and that it cannot undergo any material change without ceasing to be Socialism.” Yarros, Victor S. “Socialism and Individualism in Evolution.” International Journal of Ethics Vol. 29, No. 4. (Jul., 1919), pp. 405-413.

The above is from an essay by Victor Yarros. And while the article primarily talks about Socialism I find the words emphatic, percolating my thoughts about the current condition of Muslims here in Philadelphia, and the broader America community. It is true, at least in my experience, that a great many Muslims do not conceive that Islam today may not be the same as the Islam that came before it. By this, I mean that the historical context that informed Muslims of yore is not the same context that is informing us today [or at least it shouldn’t be]. Given Islam’s many universal maxims, this makes this imagined space very difficult to conjure up without fear of blasphemies being uttered where they should not be. But this should not be the case.

I can see no reason for Islam’s universalities [not to be conflated with uniformity] to not stay firmly intact while looking ahead. But how does one navigate this path, where there are so many pitfalls lurking in dark patches? One of the things that I see entangling us are the branches of Tradition. Not the essence of Tradition, which in reality, holds many gems for us to examine and use, but rather the blind, verbatim following of Tradition, as if the entirety of the Past were precedent for the Future. This is often where I see many a foot caught in the bramble. But, God willing, if we but examine the undergrowth, we may be able to not only untangle our feet, we may discover many a gold nugget down there to light our way ahead. Read more this entry »