The Badger Herald

OPINION & EDITORIAL

Author misinterprets Islam; blames religion for human nature

by Suzanne Zoheri

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Novels, historical essays and political science students are all scrambling to cash in on the "problems with Islam." Irshad Manji will certainly embrace my criticism of her recent book, "The Problem With Islam; A Muslim's Call for Reform in Her Faith." I am offended that authors are awarded the a priori confidence that their work will be well-founded and warranted and few moderate their greed. Irshad, I am glad you are here. Your words expose a common indulgence in sassy, independent and entertaining characters. A moderate western Muslim immersed in herself and her own definition of mortality is defending the religion she sometimes cannot begin to understand.

Manji, what are you doing to me?

A lesbian Muslim. A religious homosexual attracts attention not for her supposed blasphemy, but for her opaque identity crisis. We can't see clearly through it, but it positions itself a bit more acutely than the average person. Pro-Israeli Palestinians, white anti-Apartheid activists and even Jewish neo-Nazis warp our ideological expectations. Why does the average reader pick up a specific book at the nearest mega-bookstore? "Oooh, Mandy did you hear about that lesbian Muslim?" I hope not to trivialize anything, but Manji deals with a breadth of topics so unfairly that ranting bubbles to the surface during any discourse on her work.

As Manji was preparing to enter Al-Aqsa Mosque, soldiers outside demanded she wear a girdle under her clothes. "The nice Muslim boys stare unrepentantly as I gingerly wiggle into the thing." She makes clear to mention that at the Western Wall, "Not one person ogles, orders me into the linen equivalent of duct tape … " Congratulations Manji, that's convenient.

Having lived in Cairo for a year, I am painfully accustomed to ogling and revolting catcalls — but Islam is not the problem. It would fit nicely in Manji's argument to reason that the Waqf (Trustees of Religious Sights in Islam) members outside of Al-Aqsa mosque are Muslims and the men on the streets of Cairo are Muslim — so Islam promotes catcalling and subjugation of women. Irshad, have you walked the streets in South America? Have you broken your narrow view of the world as a rebellious western Muslim to accumulate reliable information on the social problems within Islamic nations without blaming a religion? I will be the first to admit that catcalling is demeaning, but I will also be the last to say that my religion is at fault.

Manji proudly states that a "majority of the world's refugees spill out from Islamic countries" and then insults us by saying, "If any of this is embarrassing to admit, my fellow Muslims, get over it." The dynamics of Third World development and the impact of Cold War proxy warfare are simply forgotten. Third World countries that have been pumped with ideology, money, weapons and support will most certainly decline into powerful, repressive and corrupt states. Some go as far as to label extreme Islam as a reaction to the ideological vacuum communism left in the Third World, but that debate is best left for a different time.

What incites me more than anything about Manji is not her individual arguments but her taste-of-the-month quality. She dots her harangue with seminal authors on the Middle East and trivializes independent analysts such as Fareed Zakaria, Raja Shehadeh and Muhammed Abu Samra to fit into her recipe for attention. It is clear that problems exist within the Islamic world, but it is Muslims who perpetuate problems outside a realm of practical Islam.

In a visit to American University in Cairo, Karen Armstrong quips, "Religion is very hard to do well." Sociologists, economists, engineers and technological advancement is what all Third World countries need — not more characters ranting about problems they don't have solutions for.

Suzanne Zoheri (smzoheri@wisc.edu) is a senior majoring in history and global cultures.