The Manrilla Blog | Life. Art. Religion. Culture.

I was honored last night to be asked to attend the Town Square Meeting at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Center City Philadelphia. The meeting was presented by Philadelphia Green and was about the merging of faith-based organizations and the stewardship of those religious groups and how they are or can be engaged in environmental activities. It quickly came to my attention that Muslims at least in this area have been woefully absent. Absent either due to ignorance of such activities or because it’s simply not on the radar. For the concerns of this post, I will address the latter.

Like so many topics and events today, Muslims seem to either be swept along by the Zeitgeist of the day or bypassed all together. This is an issue that we as a Muslim community need to address more seriously if we wish to have our voice taken seriously – otherwise, it will be taken away. By Zeitgeist I am referring to the trend that many Muslims allow popular consensus or dominant voices dictate to us what is or is not important. One example that comes to mind is a conversation I had with a Muslim brother who said we needed to take a tougher stance towards homosexuality. When I inquired as to what he meant, he was referring to the unions of gay couples and homosexual marriages. He was quite passionate about the topic and felt that Islam was somehow being eroded by this lapse in what he saw as social immorality. I calmly reminded the brother to consider the following: homosexuality is not permissible in Islam. God has made this readily apparent and therefore he should take comfort in this incontrovertible truth. In other words, the question has been answered by the Highest Authority, therefore why approach the topic as if it could be reopened for discussion [and ultimately, permissibility]. Read more this entry »

Today was an odd turn of events that had the building which houses my office on UPenn’s campus, play host to a talk on Islam by one of today’s most darling Muslim pundits, Irshad Manji. A self-proclaimed Muslim reformist, activist, human rights lobbiest and lesbian, Irshad gave a talk to an attentive audience which was comprised of both Muslim and non-Muslim, old and young alike. Dr. Leonard Swidler, from Temple University, was also on hand to add to the discussion. But, unfortunately, like her book, The Trouble With Islam Today, the talk was filled with nothing more than drivel. And that’s just the good part.

So much of the dialog today regarding Islam is in how it can fit into the master narrative of Western discourse. This encompasses everything from morals, ethics, to aesthetics, such as standards and concepts of beauty. When Islam fails to authenticate a narrative that falls within the margins of the dominant culture, it and vis-a-vie, the Muslims, are condemned as being backwards, barbaric, and even morally, ethically, and intellectually bankrupt. And when a people are deemed barbaric or morally bankrupt, the slippery slope to subjugation, whether it be figuratively, psychologically or physically can never trail far behind. This process of brutalization bears striking resemblance to the types of psychological terror that have been visited upon various minority groups in the West, especially in America, when they failed to meet the criterion of a dominant force that often have a pattern of “moving the goal post” when it suited itself opportune.

A major portion of my critique on Manji’s arguments and positions as well as comments that Dr. Swidler gave, were that neither Manji nor Swidler are scholastically equipped to answer any such questions regarding the intellectual tradition of Islam. Manji is a journalist of questionable objectivity and Swidler’s expertise lies outside the fold of Islam. Manji often relies on crude reductionism coupled with a woefully absent basic familiarity with the Islamic Tradition. Buzz words like ijtihad, fatwah and of course, the crowd pleaser, jihad, are tossed out to lend to her some Islamic academic credibility. In fact, Swidler’s presence is somewhat questionable as Temple University could have certainly offered up someone who would have been far better suited to the task at hand. In light of access to scholars like Khaled Blankinship, it remained a curiosity as to why Manji chose a non-Muslim religious professor to engage in talks about Muslim reform.

But to take things a step further, Manji’s book, The Trouble With Islam Today, is guilty of the same crime that many of its contemporaries are: making the personal experience an ontological narrative. To help further explain my point, let me offer this explanation: because of the trials and tribulations that Manji faced as a child, because of the personal experiences that Manji had and the choices she’s made, she has taken the sum of those experiences and built the foundation of her argument around them such that they take on a scope that is completely inappropriate. That because they were or are issues for Manji they must be equally important issues for all Muslims in all times and in all places. A great deal of Manji’s contemporaries, such as Ayan Hirsi Ali to name one, frame their arguments in the same manner. But to reiterate, these criticisms of Islam do not simply stop at personal narrative, they apex again at how Islam falls short on a laundry list of items such as equality, human rights, tolerance and progression. In where Islam fails to be equal, tolerant or progressive in the “Western” paradigm that Manji offers up, Islam is deemed to have a problem. So this left me asking some simply but pertinent issues. Are any of these issues true? And if so, how, and in what way? And again, if so, what would be the best way of looking for resolutions. Read more this entry »

“How can we sleep when are beds are burnin’?” It’s amazing the hikmah one can find in an old 80’s pop song. Indeed, the time has come. Not to worry, this isn’t a signing off memo for the author of this blog. Instead, it’s a manifesto or perhaps a mirror in which to examine myself within the greater context of that which I live. For those of you who have been consistent readers over the last several years, that would indeed seem to be much of the underlying point of this blog. The proverbial steam has reached 45 degrees.

A quick scan of the Muslim blogosphere, particularly the Blackamerican blogs, renders a mixture of angst, indignation, soul searching and a mixed bag of other emotions. To put it simply, [Black]American Muslims are having an existential crisis. From lack of authority to lack of learning, Modernity circles the camp, constantly threatening, constantly throwing confusion into the mix. This blog has tried to be a voice of reason, a voice of the alternative amidst this crisis. But after even a periphery scan amongst fellow bloggers it would seem we’ve gathered enough data to come to the conclusion that what has been put forth is not bearing fruit for Muslims today. So the question that begs an answer is what are we, as [Black]American Muslims going to do about this deficit? I for one say it’s time for a little less pixelation and a bit more connectivity of the face-to-face variety. In other words, as Hall & Oates put it, “One on one, I want to play that game to night…”

For me, my part was to get directly involved in the game. Over the past several months, I have come into contact with a variety of Muslims who have been earnestly seeking out some type of guidance. Everything from new Muslims who have been left in a state of dysfunction after the big hoorah of their shahadah to Muslims who’ve “fallen off the wagon” but are searching out some rehabilitation. It immediately occurred to me that blogging was going to do these people no good. And while one of them even recognized me from my blog, it wasn’t more Internet fatwahs that the individual was after. Rather, a living, breathing mentorship that could provide simple yet concrete answers to his/her questions. This has resoundingly been the case with the rest of the Muslims I have been conducting a class for - a class on Muslim development and spiritual growth. I am not stating this as a means to garner attention to myself [riya’] but rather to state that this is simply what we need more of. I will provide a couple of case points to back up my assertion.

It would be doubly redundant to state that new Muslims are left to the sharks when it comes to Muslim growth. Most masajid that I have encountered have poorly functional classes for new shahadahs if they even have one at all. One Muslim, after having taken his shahadah some three to four years ago, is barely able to recite two suwrahs [al-Fatihah and al-Ikhlas] for his obligatory prayers. The criticism [and most certainly not of the individual] isn’t that s/he hasn’t taken the time to memorize more suwrahs but that s/he was never give the means to do so in the first place. This points to an even greater disparity as is the case with many of the Muslims I have encountered through this class, is that they are so afraid to approach the Qur’an due to their lack of Arabic or other skills, that they simply don’t approach it at all.

The second profound issue is that most of them are lacking in basic, fundamental creedal knowledge of their religion. Many have now been filled with a laundry list of ideas and concepts from a salad bar Muslim education that many harbor doubts about their faith. Simple things that they encounter like popular science’s attack on religion to the susceptibility of erroneous information leave them every way but up when it comes to what they really believe. It is a sad, woefully sad testimony of our condition when we turn out people to the streets armed with little more than a scant notion of their religion and leave them to be devoured by the waswasat that wonder every street corner, that emanate from every television and media outlet. But not to despair. Like a plant that has been parched even a little water can resucitate the individual. And in addition, I have found the experience thus far to be exciting, rewarding and in sha’ Allah, showing signs of success in that if given a balanced, systematized way of learning their religion, with roots connecting them to the Tradition of Islam, but an articulation of the religion that opens up psychological spaces for them, they are able to banish major doubts and begin work on other matters of the soul.

As I stated, and I do heartedly so again, this is not to bring more attention to myself nor is this a call to gather more students. In fact, I am at my limit in terms of time and capacity at this point. Indeed, I will be the first to admit that this is not an ideal situation as I am only one individual and can only teach a few other individuals - the numbers of those who are in need, those who are seeking, is far larger than one person to handle alone. So it is my hope, that a process and a system can be realized and implemented that will educate new Muslims about their religion, giving them the tools, pre-shahadah, to function as Muslims in this society and God willing, even contribute something to it. It should also be a system that provides education and spiritual growth for Muslims that, upon entering Islam, their spiritual growth arrested. Classes in hadith methodology and usual al-fiqh are not sufficient by themselves and may not even be appropriate for individuals who have not grasped the basic creedal fundamentals.

So in the end, while this is not farewell post, it is a call to lay down the pen of criticizing for a bit. I have come to the conclusion that we all understand there’s issues now. Perhaps it’s time to get our hands dirty a bit, reach out and see what we can do to get things going. Negativity breeds more of its own ilk than can a barrow full of rabbits.“A fact’s a fact. It belongs to them. Let’s give it back.”

I will joining fellow bloggers Tariq and Umar this Saturday, God willing if my back holds out, on 900AM, WURD, for the Living Islam Show. The info’s below.

Please join us Saturday February 9th, 2008, with host Nafis Bouie on the Living Islam show, 5-6 p.m. (E.S.T.), on 900amWURD, your information station committed to solutions.

Nafis will have Marc Manley, Umar Lee, and Tariq Nelson as guests. All three brothers have developed blogs on the web that focus on varying issues that specifies concerns of the American Muslim community. Their links are below, check them out before the show and become part of the discussion.

Marc Manley

Tariq Nelson

Umar Lee

Calls are welcomed at 215-634-8065, toll free 866-361-0900. You can also listen on the net www.900amwurd.com, 5-6 p.m. (e.s.t.)

For information about advertisements, please contact our executive producer Abdul Kareem Salahuddin at 215-990-9242 or allworld2u@yahoo.com.

Thank you Wa salaam Nafis Bouie 215-439-8725 bouiebus@msn.com The Living Islam Show, a presentation of the Threshold Media Group.

A good brother recently brought to my attention a disturbing video of a Muslim openly bashing and berating a group of Nation of Islam men standing on a street corner in the UK. I watched the video with a sense of shock and disgust. The antagonist obviously had only one thing in mind – to act or perform for his audience and to denounce the “kafirs“, as he termed them, for all to see. Chalk up another victory for Islam.

My frustration and anger do not stop at the video. On the site that’s posting the video, the brother describes the NOI brothers as, “nuts”. I am curious to examine the potential reasons behind this NOI bashing in an attempt to find some validation for it.

Let me start my vent with a short statement: polemics is a waste of time. I have yet to ever see any good come of it. Nor should healthy dialog and debate be mistaken for polemics and especially visa versa. Is is because they claim Islam that they deserve such a scathing public display? For me, it is a real shame that Muslims today [with special emphasis placed on Blackamerican Muslims] cannot find the room to find a dialog with the Nation. They are simply stripped of any value and tossed aside. How utterly ignorant and shortsighted this is [not to mention thankless - we would not have had a Malcolm X without the Nation!].

While other Muslims seem to enjoy the ability to foster care, concern and dialog about their own people, regardless of religious affiliation [the Palestinians come to mind], the same room is not afforded to Blackamerican Muslims who wish to address the Nation. In fact, Blackamerican orthodox/Sunni Muslims in my opinion, tend to be the biggest offenders. Why? Have we forgotten the contribution that the Nation of Islam has made to Islam being a viable and tangible mode of Americana for blacks in this country? I would hope no one out there would be absurd enough to forget that blacks in America [for the time being] have the capacity to move from Christianity to Islam without sacrificing neither their Americanness nor their blackness. This shift has been greatly made by the efforts of the Nation. This simply cannot be emphasized enough. The sooner we all come to openly recognize this and appreciate the reality of this, the sooner I believe we can repair a rift between the Nation and other orthodox/Sunni Blackamerican Muslims.

The gentleman in the video seemed to frame his arguments against the Nation around three central points: that they’re kafirs. That they murdered Malcolm X. And that their theology isn’t “true” Islam. I shall attempt to look at each of these critical points.

Before analyzing the brother’s takfir [calling them kafirs], we must examine this word kafir and see what type of value is placed on this word now and if so, how does that value compare to previous historical values that have been used by Muslims in the past.

Undoubtedly, in the Modern context, kafir is a dirty word, akin to calling somebody a son-of-a-bitch [or in reality, much worse – so use your imagination]. But beyond epithetical value, the word is also used to strip someone or a whole group of people, of their humanity. If one is a kafir, in this sense, then one isn’t even fully human. And historically, we have seen the darker side of humanity when one group of people imagines the other without human value. But in pre-Modern times, kafir was used to simply denote a person who fell outside the religious fold of Islam. Not whether or not they had value as a person or a human being. And while it’s not within the scope of this post to do so, there are numerous sources that will support my opinion here including Prophetic ones. For further reading, research some of Dr. Sherman Jackson’s work on this term, kafir.

As for the murder of Malcolm X, this is not in repute nor dispute. Rather, what is important, in the immediate case, is that were any of the brother’s in the park personally responsible for brother Malcolm’s murder. Communal guilt is not a practice that can be legitimized in the religion of Muhammad of Arabia and I find no reason to instigate that bid’ah. Conversely, Usama bin Laden and his cohorts were responsible for the mass murder of some 2, 998 people. And yet we as Muslims, worldwide, have been clamoring against precisely the same thing – communal guilt. That we are guilty by religious association, for the deaths of those 2, 998 people [God rest their souls]. I have no doubt, that if put to the question, Mr. Abdur-Raheem Green, would agree that he in no was is responsible for the actions of the nineteen hijackers despite his religious affiliation with them. So why then are the NOI brothers held in duplicitous guilt? I can find no facts that support this presupposition and move to have the case dismissed.

Mr. Green’s final point, that their Islam isn’t “real” Islam, again, is a dog barking up a wrong tree. I don’t think any moderately educated orthodox/Sunni Muslim [in his/her religious tradition] could condone the Nation of Islam’s theology as valid according the strictures of the religion that Muhammad of Arabia brought. The fact is besides the point and ties back to the misplaced value and making takfir on them. Nation of Islam or not, kafir or not, does not give one the reason to chide these people. But let me further my case with some Sunnah.

Any orthodox/Sunni Muslim worth his or her salt knows that the Prophet loved his people. Religious affiliations aside, he loved his people. It is apparent in his actions and most evident in the love of his uncle, who is recorded in more than one authentic narration, died in a state of kufr [disbelieve]. If one were to give the life of the Prophet a thorough, detailed study, you will find a man who was deeply troubled about and for his people. That throughout his Prophethood, he dearly wanted to make concessions to make Islam more attractive for Mekkans/Arabians. Which is why Allah shows to us in the Qur’an that He had to strengthen the Prophet’s resolve or he was have conceded more to them than was proper. That is the real Muhammad, Mr. Green. That is your real Prophet, of which your actions show you are woefully ignorant of. And to toss gasoline on a fire, Mr. Green actually proceed to yell out verses of the Qur’an, in Arabic, of which his target audience was most likely ignorant of. In my opinion, this is akin to shouting fire in a burning house full of deaf people. It does no one any good and saves no lives. What would you do, Mr. Green? Keep shouting at those poor, miserable deaf bastards until the house falls down on them or learn to communicate with them and try to save some lives?

Nuts? Only nuts I’ve seen lately were in the snack isle. But I have seen some crazy stuff on the Internet lately…

And God knows best.

Above photograph was shoot outside the United Muslim Masjid, South Philly, Jumu’ah Prayer, 2002. © Marc Manley

There has been much air and debate tossed around about the future of Islam, especially in America. For me, the primary community of interest has and continues to be the Blackamerican community. For many reasons, one that I’ll give here, it remains a key ingredient in my book, regarding the success of Islam as a genuine entity in the American social space. One of the biggest reasons is that Blackamerican Muslims remain to this day, the only indigenous Western community/racial group that have experienced a large, mass conversion. I have read the numbers on conversion rates and populations. I am not here to debate or inflate the numbers but as the facts stand, Blackamericans are the only group that have had a significant number of their population embrace Islam. This cannot be said of Latinos or whites. And while the number of second and third generation Muslims continues to grow, they are still very much seen as a foreign enterprise. And for the growing number of whites who are choosing to embrace Islam, they still face a tough road of skepticism, cynicism and out right bewilderment from their fellow white Americans, who see their religious choice as some sort of racial apostasy or abandonment. Indeed, Blackamerican Muslim enjoy a special kind of insulation in that blacks can convert, change their names, even where foreign regalia and still be seen as authentically black. This should not be under appreciated or go with out significant notice.

So aside from acceptance, what else does this mean? What significance should this have for us as Blackamerican Muslims? Have we even acknowledged this fact and taken advantage of it. From my day to day run-ins with various Blackamerican Muslims around Philadelphia, I must give a cautious “no”. By no means do I think that some of the Muslims I’ve met in Philadelphia represent all Muslims elsewhere but I will nonetheless use them as a test case. For in my sixteen years of having embraced Islam, many of the sentiments I’ve heard echoed by some of Philadelphia’s Blackamerican Muslims have been echoed elsewhere. It is my hope that some of this short post will provide a bit of food for thought on the subject.

It may be a cliché that to want change one must recognize that one needs to change. Status quo can be a dangerous and comfortable set of chains. Bound by our thoughts, we have forgotten that we constrained and when time, circumstance or situation demands action, we just keep singin’ that same ol’ song. Much of the tension that I see between younger Blackamerican Muslims and the Old Guard is the lack of vision or clairvoyance to see that a change is needed. But change for the sake of change’s sake won’t cut the bill. Serious thought and soul searching must be engaged to see what it is that needs to be changed and in what manner. If there’s one community that has suffered so terribly from the baby-and-the-bath-water syndrome, it’s the Blackamerican Muslim community. So desperate were we to escape the confines of “black life” in America, many of us donned costume and script from some one else’s play and we played the part [at times better than they did themselves]. What I’m getting at is what I heard from a colleague lately, who criticized Black Muslims for out Arabing the Arabs. What many don’t realize, is that the hidden impetus behind this shift, this searching, had a great deal to do with the pain that many of us felt. Stifled by the glass veil of white values [not the KKK, per se], we were eager for an outlet. An outlet that would allow us not only to express out blackness in a valid way, but our very humanity. Our souls. And while I will fault no one for those feelings, it has not proven to be a successful operation. In my opinion, one of the stumbling blocks was due to what I’d call the eclecticism of Blackamerican Islam in the wake of the Nation of Islam. I shall try to elaborate. Read more this entry »

Over the years [16 of them for me now] I have seen a disparagingly absence of manners amongst the Muslims. We have no couth in how we talk, critique and debate one another. In a recent post I came across, I felt compelled to write a little piece. My apologies if it seems to border on the polemical but I felt it needed saying anyway.

So here we have it. Muslim vs. Muslim in a virtual cage match. I have observed many of these volleys and have tried to put it to pen and pixel. It’s not an easy task. But, here ‘goes.

I think one aspect that some of the critics of Eteraz miss or don’t even look at is why does Eterez say that things that he does. Why do “liberal Muslims” say the things they do. To be sure, there are some who may have fallen into the trap of post-Enlightenment religious thinking and that is to make religion subservient to personal desires - in other words, jettison whatever is inconvenient or doesn’t reinforce our ill-perceived independence of God.

But Muslims today are under tremendous pressures from the dominant society to author and practice a version of Islam that caters to their fears, prejudices and proclivities and not towards what Muslims think is pleasing to God. As Muslims, we should be very much cognizant of this and take this into account when we have truck with our fellow brothers and sisters.

Before I continue, I should point out that I have not agreed with everything that Ali Eteraz has written. In truth, I have not read many of his posts in a while as I feel out of touch with what it was he was writing – but to say that he’s not entitled to write it, well, I think we have to tolerate and debate in a way that would uphold the ethics and standards of our Beloved Example. Simply trashing Ali Eteraz and making comparisons between him and Shaytan is in my opinion, ridiculous, unwarranted and uncouth.

But the critique doesn’t stop there. Above all, and I have seen this everywhere, there is absolutely NO LOVE BETWEEN THE MUSLIMS! The last two times I saw Dr. Sherman Jackson, he spoke about the woeful absence of love in the Muslim community. I couldn’t agree more. I have read here and in other places the critiques on Ali [and I believe many of them are warranted at least in the spirit of debate] but I have not seen one person offer to help him [if he is so satanically misguided], take the time out to correct his conduct or ‘aqueedah or what ever it is that many of his critics feel is awry. This type of mean-spirited, name bashing is NOT THE SUNNAH and is NOT OF THE CHARACTER OF THE PROPHET! I would love to have the opportunity to sit down with Ali Eteraz and discuss some of his points and maybe exchange a few words and see where he’s coming from. But I will not trash the man’s name publicly like so and NEITHER SHOULD ANY OF YOU! This goes not simply for Ali Eteraz, but for the correspondences I see all over the blogosphere.

Am I saying that none of us have the right to have a disagreement with Ali Eteraz? No. But it should be done in the best way.

We need the love. We need to get it back. And we need to get it back NOW.

And God knows best…

Above photo was taken in Detroit, Michigan, December 2004.

Eid Mubarik.

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