Exploring Islam

The World's Second Biggest Religion Also Is a Way of Life

By Carolyn Ruff
Special to The Washington Post
Wednesday, May 13, 1998; Page H01
In a narrow, unadorned room, about 70 women, heads covered by scarves, feet bare
against carpeted floor, face a television set showing a man speaking in Arabic.
The women stand, bow deeply, then get down on hands and knees and touch their f
oreheads to the floor.
This is not a scene in Tehran or Cairo or Istanbul but in a mosque in Northwest.
Some women are in traditional loose-fitting tunics, others in smart business su
its. Around the room, small children play, oblivious to their surroundings. The
man on TV is actually in another part of the mosque where only males are permitt
ed to gather for prayer.
Because the number of Muslims in the Washington area is growing faster than the
space in mosques, Islam's traditional separation of men and women in different p
arts of a room for worship has forced the crowded mosque to use separate rooms.
In the main room, the men perform the same rites. Like the women, their motions
are fluid, their prayers memorized, reenacting a 1,400-year-old ritual repeated
daily by hundreds of millions of people throughout the world.
To observant Muslims, ritual prayer is as natural as sleeping or eating. Islam i
s not just one component of its believers' lives, a set of beliefs remembered on
special occasions. Rather, for the devout, it is a way of life. Its tenets and
rules permeate almost everything, often including politics and government.
In a world swayed by misunderstanding of cultural differences, Islam and its adh
erents often are stereotyped and caricatured, branded with the violent or sexist
image of a small minority of zealots. In reality, Islam is no better characteri
zed by acts of Middle Eastern terrorists, for example, than is Christianity by a
cts of Northern Ireland's terrorists.
Islam is an ancient religion with profound historical and theological ties to Ju
daism and Christianity. All three religions worship the same God, acknowledge la
rge parts of the same Bible and revere Adam, Noah, Abraham and Moses. And, as do
Christians, Muslims regard Jesus as the messiah.
In fact, Islam teaches that it represents the modern mainstream of a primordial,
monotheistic religion that began with the earliest humans. Over millennia, the
religion took form with the early Jewish prophets, was modified significantly by
Jesus and finally shaped by Muhammad, the final prophet, who died in 632.
Among Muhammad's most important acts was rejection of the old Jewish concept of
a "chosen people." Instead, he taught that all people are born Muslim and that a
nyone -- regardless of color, nationality or social standing -- can join the Mus
lim community simply by submitting to God and reciting the words known as the sh
ahadah: "There is no deity but Allah (God), and Muhammad is his messenger."
Because of its powerful, cross-cultural appeal, Islam has won the hearts and min
ds of an estimated 1.2 billion people around the world, making it the second lar
gest religion. Christianity has about 2 billion adherents, and Hinduism is third
largest with about 800 million.
Despite its association in the Western mind with things Arabic, about 85 percent
of Islam's faithful are not Arabs. South Asia has the largest Muslim population
, with 275 million believers. Africa is second largest, with 200 million. And, a
ccording to the American Muslim Council, China has about as many Muslims as bett
er-known Islamic strongholds such as Iran, Egypt or Turkey. According to The Mus
lim Almanac, an estimated 2 percent of Americans, or about 5 million people, are
Muslims.
It is difficult to determine the exact number of Muslims anywhere because they d
o not belong to congregations and because mosques are open to all and do not mai
ntain membership rolls.
Quite apart from its importance to believers, Islam has performed services for w
hich all of humanity is in its debt. When Christian Europe sank into the so-call
ed Dark Ages for about 600 years starting in the late 5th century, Islamic schol
ars elsewhere maintained high standards of academic study, mathematics and scien
tific research.
Islamic libraries in Baghdad, Cairo and Damascus preserved the writings of ancie
nt Greek, Roman and Indian scholars even as Europe's leaders rejected them.
While Europe languished, Islamic mariners, mathematicians, scientists, physician
s and engineers made major advances in many fields. Our words algebra and algori
thm, for example, were derived from Arabic. When the best European libraries con
sisted of a few dozen books, Islamic collections held tens of thousands.
When the Renaissance blossomed in Western Europe in the 14th, 15th and 16th cent
uries, it found a trove of ancient knowledge and new discoveries in translations
from the Arabic.
PEACE AND SUBMISSION
Islam is an Arabic word derived from the same Semitic three-letter root -- s-l-m
-- as the Hebrew word for peace, shalom, often used as a greeting. The meaning
of "Islam" encompasses the concepts of peace, greeting and submission. Thus, a M
uslim -- the word is derived from the same root -- is one who submits to God, a
stance enunciated in the traditional profession of faith: "There is no deity but
Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger."
"Allah" is simply Arabic for "God," the same supreme, supernatural figure worshi
pped by Christians and Jews. Unlike most other religions, however, Islam has no
baptism or other initiation ceremony.
"Membership in the community of Muslims is not conferred by man," Thomas W. Lipp
man writes in Understanding Islam. "It is acquired by a conscious act of will, t
he act of submission, summarized in the profession of faith."
Lippman, a Washington Post reporter who served as the paper's bureau chief in Ca
iro for three years, writes that "to become a Muslim, it is sufficient to make t
hat profession sincerely in the presence of other believers, who will witness it
. But to become a Muslim is also to accept a complex interlocking body of belief
s, practices and other ethical standards."
Like Judaism and Christianity, Islam has undergone splits into separate denomina
tions. The biggest occurred shortly after Muhammad died when his followers disag
reed about who should take his role as leader. One branch, called Sunni, today c
omprises about 83 percent of Muslims, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica.
The other, called Shi'ah, accounts for about 16 percent, and a few tiny groups m
ake up the remaining 1 percent.
Although Islam has taken root in cultures as diverse as those of Egypt, China an
d the United States, in each region acquiring local customs not mandated by the
religion -- such as women wearing veils -- Islamic scholars say Muslims everywhe
re share a core of basic principles, the so-called "five pillars" of the faith.
The first pillar is the profession of faith or, in Arabic, the shahadah. The Cou
ncil on Islamic Education, an American organization comprising historians and ac
ademicians, calls this the central theme of Islam because many Muslims repeat it
, in Arabic, several times a day to remind themselves of God's central position
in their lives.
The second pillar is ritual worship, or salah. Muslims are required to pray form
ally five times a day -- at dawn, midday, afternoon, evening and night. At each
time, a man summons believers to prayer by calling from atop the mosque's tower,
or minaret, or by using loudspeakers. Those out of earshot simply rely on a wat
ch.
Muslims may pray alone or in a group as long as they face the Saudi Arabian city
of Mecca, Muhammad's birthplace and the holiest city of Islam. It is common in
many predominantly Islamic countries to see Muslims performing the salah whereve
r they happen to be at the appropriate time. After repeating the prescribed pray
er, Muslims may add a personal prayer.
Unlike most Christian or Jewish prayers, the salah requires more than words. The
whole body performs the ritual. It begins as worshipers raise their hands and s
ay "Allahu Akbar," which translates as "God is the greatest." Worshippers then b
end with hands on knees, kneel with hands on thighs and finally bow their heads
to touch the floor. Each motion is accompanied by verses from the Koran. A perso
n, sometimes called an imam, may lead the service.
The third pillar is fasting, or sawm, during the month of Ramadan. Because Islam
 uses a lunar calendar, its year is 11 days shorter than that of the solar calen
dar governing most worldly affairs. As a result, Ramadan comes 11 days earlier e
ach year. The month is sacred because, as Muslims believe, God first revealed ve
rses of the Koran to Muhammad during Ramadan.
During Ramadan, Muslims are to refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex fr
om dawn to sunset. Typically during Ramadan, Muslims have breakfast before dawn
and do not eat again until after sunset.
The fourth pillar is almsgiving, called zakah in Arabic. Muslims pay a specified
amount of money, typically 2.5 percent of one's accumulated wealth each year, t
o assist the poor and sick. The money is not to support the mosque or Islamic le
aders. The Koran does not say how much should be given. In some Muslim countries
, according to Lippman, it is voluntary, while in others, the government enforce
s it.
The fifth pillar is the hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, the most recent of which o
ccurred last month. Islam requires that every believer make at least one visit t
o Mecca in a lifetime if physically and financially able to do so.
The spectacular hajj now brings together more than two million Muslims in a reli
gious gathering that has continued without interruption for about 1,400 years. W
here once pilgrims came on foot or camel, sometimes after more than a year of tr
avel, most now arrive by air.
The hajj commemorates the sacrifices, faith and obedience of Abraham; his second
wife, Hagar; and their son, Ishmael, at Mecca. According to the Council on Isla
mic Education, it is the largest, regularly scheduled international gathering on
Earth.
When the pilgrims arrive, they don special clothing. Men wear two seamless white
sheets, and women usually wear a modest white dress and are prohibited from wea
ring veils or gloves. In this uniform attire, the pilgrims feel that they are eq
ual before the eyes of God and that only virtue and devotion will set one apart
from others.
The demanding rites and prayers last for days. At various points, worshipers mus
t make a ritual trek, pray from noon through the following morning and stand in
prayer for hours at a time. According to Islamic scholars, the pilgrims hope tha
t God will accept their effort, after which they can commence life afresh with a
slate wiped clean of sins.
This year's pilgrimage was marred by sweltering temperatures and a stampede in w
hich more than 150 people were killed when they rushed to perform one of the las
t rituals known as "stoning the devil." In this, the pilgrims throw pebbles at t
hree pillars symbolizing the temptations of Satan.
The focus of worship in Mecca is the Ka'aba, an empty, cubical stone structure c
overed by an embroidered black cloth in the courtyard of the Great Mosque.
Ka'aba is the source of the word "cube." The Ka'aba is believed to have been bui
lt on the site of an original made by Abraham more than 4,000 years ago, and Mus
lims consider it the original house of God on Earth.

NO DEITY BUT ALLAH

Perhaps Islam's most distinctive attribute is a belief descended from that of th
e ancient Jews and akin to that of early Unitarians in a single deity, whether t
he name be Jehovah, Allah or God. At many times throughout history, this has bee
n a radical claim because most other religions believe in many Gods, a position
called polytheism. Islamic monotheism goes even further than its Christian count
erpart by rejecting the doctrine of the Trinity, which holds that Jesus also is
a deity, along with a third entity called the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit.
The Koran, which is pronounced cur-AHN and which some Islamic groups say is bett
er rendered from Arabic as Qur'an, is the religion's dominant scripture. It is c
onsidered the literal word of God, dictated by the angel Gabriel in some miracul
ous way to Muhammad over 23 years, according to the Council on Islamic Education
's handbook, Teaching About Islam and Muslims in the Public School Classroom. Mu
hammad was illiterate, but his followers memorized the revelations and scribes s
et them down in writing.
The Koran is viewed as the authoritative guide to proper living, along with trad
ition, called the hadith, based on sayings and practices of Muhammad.
Muslims view life as a test, says Sulayman S. Nyang, an expert on Islam at Howar
d University. It is a person's responsibility to live as closely as possible by
the words of Allah in preparation for a "Day of Judgment" much like the one in w
hich Christians believe. Muslims say the world someday will be destroyed and the
dead resurrected, judged and sent to heaven or to hell.
However, sinners may take heart because, according to the Islamic council's hand
book, "the infinite mercy of God is demonstrated in the Qur'anic statement that
those who have even a mustard seed's weight of belief in God will eventually be
admitted into Heaven."
Islam also teaches that each person has a direct relationship with God and that
no intermediary is needed. As a result, Islam has no priests or other clergy. So
me people, however, are considered experts on the Koran and serve as leaders of
the community. Some, for example, are trained to judge how the Koran applies to
social and personal issues. Another leader, called an imam in the Sunni branch o
f Islam, leads daily prayer, gives sermons, officiates at marriages and performs
other clerical duties.
Muslims believe that God revealed scriptures to certain prophets who relayed the
m to the general public. Among these many messengers were Abraham, Noah, Moses a
nd Jesus, with the final prophet being Muhammad.
Like some Christians, many Muslims believe that human history began with Adam an
d Eve, but they do not believe in "original sin," the Christian doctrine that al
l human beings inherit a state of sin from that first couple's disobedience of t
he command not to eat the forbidden fruit.
Because Islam does not accept the concept of original sin, humanity did not need
a savior whose death wiped away this sin. Jesus was not crucified, the religion
teaches. Being sinless, he did not need to die and was taken bodily to heaven,
as Catholics believe his mother Mary was.
Incidentally, the Koran teaches that God made Adam and Eve simultaneously by spl
itting one human soul, not by making the woman from a part of the man, as the Je
wish and Christian traditions hold. The Koran also teaches that the serpent in t
he Garden of Eden seduced both Adam and Eve and that both were equally guilty. M
uslims often cite this teaching in defense against assertions that Islam is inhe
rently sexist.
LIFE OF MUHAMMAD
No understanding of Islam is complete without knowledge of Muhammad, who was not
, as Muslims reckon it, the founder of Islam. Rather, they hold, he was guided b
y God to help humanity return to the original, true religion.
Muhammad was born about 570 in Mecca in what now is Saudi Arabia. Europe was ent
ering the Dark Ages. Throughout the world, empires were collapsing, new societie
s emerging and religions spreading. The region's dominant religions were polythe
istic, worshipping many deities.
Orphaned by age 6, Muhammad was raised by his grandfather and by his uncle after
his grandfather died. Muhammad grew up to be a thoughtful, honest businessman w
ho eschewed worship of tribal gods. He married and became the father of six chil
dren, two of whom died young.
At 40, he retreated to a cave outside Mecca to meditate. It was there, Islam tea
ches, that the angel Gabriel visited him and communicated the first of God's wor
ds to him. Muhammad continued to receive these revelations from God for the rema
ining 23 years of his life.
God instructed Muhammad to convey the message of Islam to the people of his regi
on. This was not easily done. Muhammad asked the people to abandon their many id
ols and recognize Allah as the one God. He was met with reactions ranging from a
musement to anger.
Muhammad also taught two revolutionary principles -- that Islam was the source n
ot just of spiritual authority but also political authority and that the bond un
iting people should not be tribe but shared religion.
Lippman writes that dissenters taunted Muhammad with demands that he work miracl
es to demonstrate authenticity. Muhammad claimed that only Allah could perform m
iracles. Muhammad insisted that every aspect of nature was an example of God's p
ower. This did little to win converts.
After 11 years of mounting hostility, Muhammad and his small band of followers e
migrated to the city of Yathrib, about 200 miles away. There he had better luck,
and people embraced his teachings.
Muhammad established himself as the city's political leader and promulgated Isla
mic teachings. The city was renamed Medina, meaning "city of the prophet." After
several years, Muhammad and his followers returned to Mecca, conquered it and e
stablished Muhammad as both religious and political leader of his people. By the
time he died at age 63, Islam was established throughout the Arabian peninsula.
Within a century of Muhammad's death, Islam had spread, as much by military conq
uest as voluntary conversion, west to Spain and Portugal and northeast to Centra
l Asia, establishing Islam as a formidable world empire. Islamic rule also pushe
d into northern Africa and other parts of the Mediterranean basin within the fir
st 20 years of its establishment.
With every advance, Islam adopted and adapted features of many other cultures. B
y the Middle Ages, Islam was established in parts of Europe, for example, Spain
in the west and the former Yugoslavia in the east.
In the 1500s, Hispano-Arab Muslim explorers arrived in America from Spain. In th
e early 1700s, the slave trade brought the first Muslims -- captured African sla
ves -- to this part of the world. By the end of the 19th century, free Muslim im
migrants were reaching North America from the Middle East and other Muslim lands
.
Today, more than 1,300 years after Muhammad, Islam continues to thrive, a growin
g, global religion with a powerful ideology that now binds one-fifth of the huma
n race in a common system of beliefs.
Women's Rights and Islam
Traveling through the Islamic world, visitors notice that the status of women ch
anges drastically from country to country. Westerners question why women in many
Middle Eastern countries cover their heads and most of their bodies. They quest
ion the nature of freedom where women have very little political power or social
clout.
In many cases, the differences are based on local custom only. Wearing veils, fo
r example, is not required by the Koran but in some places is local custom. Othe
r than Islam's requirement that women dress modestly, most Muslim women are free
to dress and to behave like women of any other religion.
Historians note that, before the rise of Islamic culture in the 7th century, wom
en in much of the world had few rights and were considered little more than chat
tel. Against that background, the Koran and Islamic tradition were positively re
volutionary in teaching that men and women are spiritually equal and that women
have the right to own and inherit property, seek divorce, gain an education, ret
ain one's family name after marriage and the right to vote.
Muslims such as Rkia Cornell, who teaches Asian and African languages and litera
ture at Duke University, argue that "every culture is inherently sexist to some
degree." Cornell insists that, as a Muslim woman, she still has the freedom to c
ontrol her own life. "Muslim women historically have had a strong role in Islami
c society."
What some see as oppressive, Muslims view as protective. While Americans may reg
ard a Muslim woman's attire as stifling, Muslims may view the way American women
generally dress as sexist and compromising.
Nation of Islam
The Nation of Islam is a controversial organization in the United States. Formed
by Elijah Poole (who later took the name Elijah Muhammad) in the 1930s, the gro
up gained momentum during the civil rights movement in the 1950s. Formed in resp
onse to white racism, the Nation advocates separation from white society.
Despite its name, the movement is not accepted by mainstream Muslims as truly Is
lamic.
"Because the Nation holds that Elijah Muhammad was a prophet of God and that his
mentor, W.D. Fard, was God incarnate, the Nation cannot be considered a branch
or subset of Islam by mainstream Muslims," writes Susan Douglass of the Council
on Islamic Education.
"Such beliefs are contrary to basic doctrines and tenets of Islam as defined by
the Koran and Sunnah [Islamic tradition].
Furthermore, the race-based orientation of the Nation contradicts the universali
st outlook advocated by worldwide Islam."
The Nation of Islam underwent drastic changes after the death of Elijah Muhammad
in 1975, with most members following his son, Wallace, now named Warith Deen Mu
hammad, toward an orthodox branch of Islam called "American Muslim Mission." Thi
s group does not advocate racial separation.
Another faction, led by Louis Farrakhan, kept the name Nation of Islam and many
of the separatist ideas.
Mother of the Renaissance
Muslims were the inheritors and guardians of the body of knowledge that created
modern society and are credited with having kept scholarship alive through the D
ark Ages.
After the decline of Roman government and civic order in the 5th century, Europe
turned from the wisdom of the ancient Greeks, Romans and Indians. Elsewhere, ho
wever, Islam's large universities continued to advance these intellectual intere
sts.
Although the Renaissance, which occurred between the 14th and 16th centuries, is
considered the period of revival of art, science and literature, historians say
its roots can be found in the 12th and 13th centuries.
Then, medieval scholars began to question traditional ways of viewing knowledge
and regained access to important classical and Islamic texts.
European scholars came to Muslim cities to use the vast libraries. They translat
ed Arabic works into Latin and, often inadvertently, soaked up Muslim culture. T
his was a pivotal time as the legacies of several cultures began to mingle -- mo
st notably, Greek, Persian, Indian, European and Islamic.
During this epoch when intellectual curiosity was at a peak, education was intro
duced to those outside the Catholic Church hierarchy, creating a professional cl
ass of intellectuals.
Visiting European scholars returned home and helped to establish universities ba
sed on what they had translated from Islamic texts and what they had experienced
from their immersion in Muslim culture. As a result, large bodies of Islamic kn
owledge subsequently were transferred to the rest of the European world.
:: April 25, 2010 ::
#98
何となく自分をえらい人のように
思ひてゐたりき。
子供なりしかな。
Nan to naku jibun o erai hito no you ni
Omoite itariki.
Kodomo narishi kana.
Somehow
Thought myself important—
O this childish me!
Comments (0)
Filed under: Musings
:: April 10, 2010 ::
Nafs Ammārah
As a Muslim living in a non-Muslim country, I am always on the lookout for thing
s in popular culture from which I might derive a reminder [dhikr ] of Islam,
of Reality, and perhaps of the Life To Come. I have found this to be an increasi
ngly important exercise, both for me personally, as well as for the students of
classes I teach on Islamic studies. What I mean here is not attempting to ascrib
e any certain thing with a level of “Islamicity” or Muslim’ness that is not ther
e, but rather, looking at stories and narratives that remind me of that which Al
lah has written in His Book. One such instance happened yesterday.
The words nafs ammārah, or the commanding self, are found in the Qur’ān, in sura
h Yusuf [Joseph], in which Allah says:
“And nor was I [Joseph] completely free of blame. The self commands to evil acts
, save that which my Lord has mercy upon me. Surely, my Lord is Forgiving, Merci
ful.” [Q 12: 53]
This passage in the Qur’ān on the nafs ammārah relates to us part of the story o
f Prophet Yusuf [Joseph], and his test when the king’s wife attempted to seduce
him. Yusuf relates that the temptation was there, that his soul wished to entic
e him to evils deeds. It was only through God’s mercy and grace that he was abl
e to resist.
The above passage came to me as I recently chanced upon a film I watched as a ki
d entitled, They Live!, by John Carpenter. In summary, the film is about a man,
a drifter, who by happenstance, stumbles upon the stunning reality that the huma
n race has been subdued by a group of space aliens that have enslaved humans thr
ough advanced subliminal techniques. When the main character dons a pair of spec
ial sunglasses, he is able to see the Unseen: billboards are really devices that
command humans to consume, have sex, or to obey, as well as being able to see t
he aliens for who they really are [ghoulish, lizard like beings]. Even money, wh
en viewed through the sunglasses, have the words “this is your god” written on t
hem. To be sure, the movie is quite comical and the dialog stiff. Nonetheless, I
found it to be an intriguing visual example of how the nafs ammārah works. And
while the nafs is an internal phenomenon, it still commands us to act upon thing
s in the external world, making the film a worthwhile glance at a Qur’ānic princ
iple on human psychology.
They Live! is based on the short story, Eight O’clock In The Morning, by renowne
d science-fiction author, Ray Nelson. I have posted the short story here as well
as a link to the film They Live! for your B-movie enjoyment.
Note: if you have the opportunity to see Dr. Sherman Jackson speak, ask him to r
elate to you how Terminator 2 moved him to tears, as it reminded him of how the
Prophet [s] had to deliver a message, one in which many people refused to believ
e him because they could not see what he saw, similar in the way no one believe
Sarah Connor. A worthwhile treat!
Note 2: part 10 of the movie on Youtube features some nudity and may be avoided.
You’ll get the gist of it by then.
Comments (10)
Filed under: Arts/Cinema, Islam in America, Musings
Tags: american culture, dhikr, Eight O clock in the Morning, human psychology, J
ohn Carpenter, nafs, nafs ammarah, prophet muhammad, Prophet Yusuf, Qur an, Ray
Nelson, Sarah Connor, Sherman Jackson, Terminator, Terminator 2, They Live
:: March 24, 2010 ::
Muslims, Race and Racial Agnosia in America
The above is the title of a lecture Dr. Sherman Jackson gave at USC on January 2
1st, 2010. I highly recommend watching it at least once. Hat tip to Khalifa on t
his one.
Comments (3)
Filed under: Culture/Race Relations, Islam, Islam in America
Tags: agnosia, american culture, american muslims, Islam in America, race relati
ons, racism, religion in the public sphere, Sherman Jackson
:: March 19, 2010 ::
A Wakeup Call – This Time For Maureen Dowd
I have written two articles [1 and 2] on the phenomenon of Muslim pundits. To be
more precise, the articles were about Muslim Muslim pundits, those few self-ele
cted personalities that have made careers out of irresponsible critiques against
Muslims and Islam, especially when Muslim do not meet their expectations. And i
t is the latest article from Pulitzer Prize winning columnist, Maureen Dowd, tha
t provides an example of a non-Muslim Muslim pundit. In her New York Times artic
le, Ms. Dowd uses 911 words [coincidence? You decide…] to inform us just how sho
rt her recent trip to Saudi Arabia, the “cradle of Islam”, fell in how it failed
 to educate her about the religion that, “smashed into the American consciousnes
s on 9/11”. Dowd’s article, despite its obvious lack of respect for the subject,
does manage to bring to light a glaring tendency in popular discourse, namely t
he general acceptance of attacking Muslims and by proxy of them, Islam, through
one, convenient scapegoat: Saudi Arabia. According to Dowd and those who follow
this mode of logic, to reproach Saudi Arabia is to reproach Islam in its entiret
y.
In one of my recent articles, I talked about the phenomenon of American Muslims
and their need to travel abroad to the Muslim world in order to feel validated.
Dowd has in many ways followed the exact same line, albeit for a different end g
oal: to denounce Islam. However, the two parties both have a misguided perceptio
n that Arab world, and Saudi Arabia in particular, are symbiotes of the same hos
t: the religion of Islam. As we have seen in recent events, this could not be fa
ther from the case. Saudi Arabia is a country, a Muslim country no doubt, but ha
rdly representative of Islam itself in such a way that all other expressions of
Islam outside of the Arab Kingdom are merely simulacrums of Islam.
Dowd’s article, Pilgrim Non Grata In Mecca, is problematic even in its titling.
From the very get go, Dowd ascribes to herself a status she does not possess: th
at of a [Muslim] pilgrim. A play on the Latin persona non grata, a close transla
tion being “unwelcome person”, Dowd assumes that she is indeed on a pilgrimage [
perhaps she was making ‘Umrah?], Dowd places herself within her own narrative in
a role she never possessed from the start. Dowd repeatedly misses the very Musl
imness of Mecca and Madīnah, especially as it relates to the necessity of those
would visit the Ka’abah. Dowd fails to realize or recognize the need to be a Mus
lim to not only visit these places, but to perform the ritual acts for which the
y solely exist for. This deliberate intention, on the part of Dowd, to ignore su
ch an overarching fact concerning the Two Holy Mosques only further demonstrates
the utter lack of respect that Dowd had for her subject matter from the beginni
ng. It is not that Dowd is an unwelcome pilgrim but that she is not a pilgrim at
all.
Pilgrim Non Grata continues its bull-in-a-china-shop critique of Islam by attack
ing not how Islam views sacredness, but in how Islam is not Christianity, Judais
m, or Buddhism. Dowd’s smug rant about how Mecca is not as open as the Vatican o
r how one can have their picture taken with the Dalai Lama only further illustra
tes how absolutely biased and ignorant Dowd is on the subject of Islam. By holdi
ng up Islam to a fit it was never meant to wear, Islam can only but fall short o
f appearing to be “civilized”. In essence, Dowd’s main axe to grind with Islam [
which during the course of Dowd’s article is difficult to discern where she’s mo
re concerned with getting access to the country of Saudi Arabia or learning anyt
hing in particular about Islam the religion] is how it’s not Christian, or Buddh
ist, than it is about understanding how Islam views the sacred. Here, Dowd revea
ls her true colors [literally] as a white, western woman, whose only particular
historicized notions of freedom, access, equality, etc., are theorized into onto
logical truths that can be used to demonize Muslims [by proxy of Saudi Arabians]
and Islam as a religion as a whole. I must admit I am sorely disappointed that
a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist could either be so woefully ignorant or so u
nabashedly crude. Perhaps that prize, along with western white privilege, is not
all it’s cracked up to be.
It would seem that much of Dowd’s ignorance stems from a complete lack of unders
tanding of Islam on its own terms as well as the few, highly questionable source
s she draws upon. Aside from her own trumped up cosmology, Dowd refers to Sir Ri
chard Burton, the British “adventurer”, who translated “The Arabian Nights”, ref
erring to himself as a “amateur barbarian”. Perhaps if Dowd had done some resear
ch she may have found that the Arabian Nights in no way shape or form has any re
lation to the religion of Islam. No all things Arab constitute a running comment
ary on Islam. Perhaps if Dowd had simply talked to a few recognized, educated an
d reputable Muslim figures on the religion, she may have accomplished her goal o
f trying to “learn about the religion that smashed into the American consciousne
ss on 9/11”.
Part of understanding Islam on its own terms would entail learning how Islam vie
ws the sacred. In fact, it is perhaps in Islam’s view of the sacred that continu
es to distinguish itself from other religious expressions in modernity as the qu
intessential pre-modern religion. In other words, the sacred, for the main body
of Muslims, was never rendered into the profane; the secular. Aside from the ano
maly of modern thought as expressed by a few pro-modernity Muslim thinkers, ther
e has never existed the concept of Les Belles Lettres. Beauty, in the body of Mu
slim thought, has always been connected to the Divine. It is even one of the Att
ributes of God in Islam, where all other emanations of beauty only point back to
the source of Ultimate Beauty. This notion of sacredness extends to the mosque
– any mosque, not solely the Two Holy Mosques of Mecca and Madīnah – as well to
the Qur’ān. Art in the Muslim world [and in pre-modern Europe as well] was viewe
d as religious: the decorating of mosques, the illumination of the Qur’ān and ot
her classical texts and so forth. These artistic endeavors were done not out of
a desacralized sense of beauty, but rather as a mode of religious devotion. In f
act, if Dowd had spoken with a body of Muslims before hand, she may have heard v
oices from the Muslims who dismay over the very secularness of the Blue Mosque,
in that what once used to be a place of worship has now been reduced to a museum
of historic architecture; the belle lettre of buildings. So when Muslims wish t
o keep and preserve the sacredness of the Two Holy Mosques in Mecca and Madīnah,
perhaps Dowd could see that this decision is informed by a very specific though
t process that has very specific goals, namely the preservation of the sacred fo
r all Muslims.
As for the three faith traditions that Dowd lists, she misses a key point: you m
ay not have to be Catholic to go to the Vatican, but you may have to be Catholic
to really understand what it means to be Catholic. You may be able to learn som
e very interesting facts about Catholicism as a non-Catholic, but without having
the experience of being a Catholic, especially in a modern mindset, you will on
ly have accumulated a collection of details that may or may not have the same me
aning for the viewer as it does the object of their viewing. Similarly, as above
, simply because Catholics have chosen to open up the Vatican does not mean that
Muslims should open up Mecca. The Vatican is not Mecca, nor vise versa. Perhaps
Dowd should consider doing some research on her topic before flailing about wil
dly with her pen.
Finally, I will depart with commenting on the methodology of Dowd’s inquiry. In
her own words, Dowd stated that, “It was nearly impossible for me to experience
Islam in the cradle of Islam”. Another in a long line of presumptions, I would c
hallenge Ms. Dowd on just how she arrived at this observation. Much akin to Afri
ca being the cradle of civilization, going back to Kenya and walking around the
dusty streets of Nairobi will not, cēterīs paribus, give me any epiphanic unders
tanding of what life is like in New York City. Further, the analogy of a “cradle
” is also not without critique, as a cradle, according to the dictionary, is a s
mall bed, often for infants, during which they are nurtured in their early exist
ence. Islam was born in Mecca, but it grew up and moved out the house, expanded
in Madīnah and eventually flew well beyond its borders. While learning about Mec
ca will indeed teach one about certain aspects of Islam, but it cannot give the
whole picture. In the end, my advice to Maureen Dowd would be: if you want to le
arn about Islam, become a Muslim. If you wish to know some “facts” about Islam,
well, you could visit Wikipedia. Or for that matter, continue reading this blog.
Comments (4)
Filed under: Culture/Politics, Islam, Islam in America, Musings
Tags: 9/11, amateur barbarian, american muslims, anti-abortionists, Arabian Nigh
ts, Barnett Slepian, belle lettre, Blue Mosque, Buddhism, Catholicism, christian
ity, colonization, contemporary Christianity, cradle of Islam, Dalai Lama, Haroo
n Moghul, James Charles Kopp, judaism, Les Belles Lettres, madinah, makkah, Maur
een Dowd, mecca, medinah, Muslim pundits, Orientalist perspective, Orientalists,
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Biographical
•
• Marc has an extensive background as an educator, having taught such dive
rse subjects as ESL, Arabic, and Islamic studies in both the Detroit area and no
w in Philadelphia. In 2008, he receive his certificate [ijāzah] in the rules of
delivering the Friday sermon [ahkām al-Khutbah] from Imam Anwar Muhaimin of the
Quba Institute. Marc now works as a public speaker and khatib in the greater Phi
ladelphia area and many points East and West.
Do not uphold what you have no knowledge of. For the hearing, eyesight, and mind
, all these are held responsible for that. (17:36)

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Home Exploring Islam in a New Light

Exploring Islam in a New Light

Exploring Islam in a New Light

An Understanding from the Quranic Perspective
By Abdur Rab
April 27, 2009
During his own lifetime, the Prophet of Islam lamented to God that his own peopl
e had forsaken the Quran (25:30). For most of the about one and a half millenniu
ms that have elapsed after his death, isn’t it more true that Muslims have negle
cted the Quran and instead have been following Hadith-based spurious teachings?
Exploring Islam in a New Light provides a bold, modern, and in-depth account of
Islam based on the Quran alone – one that marks a significant departure from the
conventional understanding of Islam. This Islam is spiritual, humane, and scien
tific, far from a fanatic and militant image it carries in the West. It gives a
new meaning to the religion as professed by the Quran that responds to the socia
l and economic challenges of modern time. It provides a compelling case for reje
cting the Hadith as sacred text, which misrepresents and undermines Islam and mi
sguides Muslims. The book is an impassioned call to understand Islam solely in Q
uranic terms and to reform practiced Islam, distorted by Hadith-based ideas.
Professor Riffat Hassan of the University of Louisville, Kentucky, in her Forewo
rd to the Book, writes:
“Of significance amongst scholarly works, written by Muslim scholars against the
backdrop of the contemporary situation, is Dr. Abdur Rab’s Exploring Islam in a
New Light: An Understanding from the Quranic Perspective… a serious modern atte
mpt at understanding Islam profoundly from within…a book that offers valuable in
sights on a number of issues of interest and concern to contemporary Muslims. Th
ough Dr. Rab has written his book as a committed Muslim, his book has much to of
fer to all readers who are keen to see and understand Islam as it is embodied in
the Qur’an.”
Edip Yuksel, eminent Turkish-American Islamic scholar, an ardent champion of the
"Quran-only" Islam, co-author of "Quran: A Reformist Translation", and author o
f Manifesto for Islamic Reform, notes in his review of the Book:
“‘Exploring Islam in a New Light’ by brother Abdur Rab is another valuable addit
ion to a list of books that question the sectarian teachings under the light of
the Quran...
...Abdur Rab is not shy of expressing unorthodox views...
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning islam throu
gh the perspective of a student of the Quran. I congratulate brother Abdur Rab f
or this scholarly contribution to the message of Quran alone or rational monothe
ism movement.” (His full review can be read in the link: http://19.org/forum/ind
ex.php/m/49073/0/#msg_49073).
Professor Jeffrey Lang, Ph.D., author of several Islamic books such as Strugglin
g to Surrender, Even Angels Ask, and Losing My Religion: A Call for Help, provid
es the following endorsement to the Book:
“Abdur Rab offers a comprehensive vision of Islam using the Quran as his sole re
ligious textual source. He intentionally avoids the Hadith literature, which he
believes, and argues, has done much damage to the message of the Quran. His work
provides many thought-provoking insights and should be a significant contributi
on to the ‘Quran only’ movement in modern Islam.”
Reza Aslan, Ph.D., Professor of Creative Writing, UC, Riverside, and famous auth
or of No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, notes in his
endorsement:
“At a time when misconceptions about Islam are on the rise, even among Muslims,
Abdur Rab has provided a compelling argument for returning to the Quran for a de
eper, more complete, more original understanding of the meaning and message of I
slam. The result is a book that posits not a NEW interpretation of Islam, but a
more authentic one.”
Rezaul Haq Khandker, Ph.D. (late), former senior official of UNDP, New York note
s:
“[This] book brings Islam nearer to modernity, more particularly challenging som
e aspects of practiced Islam so far thought unchallengeable. In that respect, [t
he author’s] contribution can be called revolutionary.”
Professor M. Shahjahan, Ph.D. of the University of Arkansas comments:
"I consider that the book is original in many respects. The author deserves high
compliments and our heartfelt gratitude. The author’s skill in explaining conce
pts in a simple way is commendable."
Professoor Haroon A. Khan, Ph.D. of the Henderson State University says:
“As I skim through the book, I must say that [the author] did a great job and it
will make a significant contribution to the literature."
Arnold Yasin Mol, a Dutch Muslim scholar and chief executive of Islamic Deen Res
earch Center (deenresearchcenter.com), in his brief review of the book, notes:
“[The author s] approach is very professional. Next to laying out some well-know
n issues, [the author] also brings in some fresh ideas. Good use of footnotes an
d quoting of Qur anic verses makes this a very good work and important for us to
have.
A must have for progressive Muslims!”
Muazzam Husain, Ph.D., former Professor of Mymensingh University, Bangladesh rem
arks:
"[The author s] views better represent the true spirit of our religion, quite di
fferent from those of the fanatics and ill educated religious leaders around the
world.”
To know more about the book and its author, visit the website www.explorequran.o
rg.
Last Updated on Friday, 01 May 2009 11:23
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