‘Reviving the Islamic Spirit’ & ‘Journey of Faith’ – Everything Is Political

Assalamu-aleykum warahmatullahi wa barakatuh,

The purpose of this post is to give everyone a heads up so that they can be fully aware of the ‘intellectual/theological’ debates that are actively raging in Islam amongst scholars (at least those that carry much clout within the Muslim community – far from the fringe) and the ‘political/socio-economic’ conclusions that they can lead to. In other words, I will argue that, all intellectual and theological interpretations of Islam (as with every other religion including secularism) follow the same trajectory in that they all will eventually lead to particular political/socio-economic conclusions – therefore, no Muslim can avoid treating them as pre-cursors to a particular political argument. I will try to be impartial in opening up this discussion but I highly doubt it would be to everyone’s satisfaction — just keep that in mind.

What I learned from watching debates between people following differing interpretations is that things do get personal a lot: from the questioning of iman’s, subtle or explicit declaration of takfir upon someone, calling out others for blatant acts of shirk, accusations of being grave worshiping “sufis” (the user always having a specific definition of what a sufi is) to calling the other a traitor to Muslims and so on.

As it relates to the first facet pertaining to the intellectual and theological, these are the first things that all Muslims with an interest in learning should be aware of for your own sake and in order to help others understand what is going on. It is an intimidating topic to get into for others and you will surely get rewarded by Allah (swt) by helping a fellow brother or sister gain more knowledge about this beautiful deen.

It is a truly fascinating thing to watch this debate rage on and I do shiver at times when I see how low other Muslims would go to win people over. Some people will not even open the door to other interpretations which I have a personal problem with in some cases and others I do not. That being said, people should not get bent up about this in the intellectual/theological arena. They are entitled to their own opinion as you are entitled yours.

I am really happy that there are a lot of Islamic events that are happening in Canada as it allows Muslims to build up their energy and resistance against a lot of the hostilities that they are facing in the world. All of that said, I would just like to advise people to not be naive in thinking that the differences of opinion between many of the scholars at “Journey of Faith” and “Reviving the Islamic Spirit” will be insignificant (at least the most prominent scholars that the two put forth).

You can say that the differences are in the details. While I highly doubt this would be a prominent theme at “Journey of Faith” it is bound to happen that certain interpretations would be called illegitimate and completely false. These opinions will be thrown by the wayside as ideas that will lead the Muslim ummah astray from the right path. Of course, people who hold this opinion are totally entitled to it. Likewise, many of the prominent scholars at RIS would express the same kind of opinion about interpretations that I assume would be put forth at Journey of Faith as the proper set of beliefs that Muslims should hold. While I am not claiming to be at all familiar with every little perspective that each scholar from each side will put forth, I am confident when I say that there will be – no question about it – significant differences in interpretation. For example, as it relates to the issue of the ‘afterlife’, keep your ears open on that. Nevertheless, I should point out before continuing that some of the scholars that attend these events blur such a line and that I am simplifying this issue in order to analyze my thesis effectively.

In a nutshell, from the two extremes of each side, I have heard people call “Journey of Faith” to be for ‘Salafis/Wahabis’. As for “Reviving the Islamic Spirit” it is called by many are for ‘Modernist/Progressive’ Muslims. It does not need to be pointed out, as anyone with common sense will notice, that these terms carry extremely negative connotations. It is important my fellow brothers and sisters to be always aware of how these labels are being used. Similar to the way that Muslims are being divided by terms such as ‘moderates’ and ‘radicals’ in the post 9-11 world these words carry the same function: to create division, to isolate the other side and to eventually obliterate the credibility of the other. These are malleable terms that carry a different political connotation depending on how they are being used. At the bare minimum, always be wary of people who approach things like this. Whether it is a laymen person attending these conventions or any of the scholars regardless of how educated he or she may be.

Take what is good and reject what is bad. Putting aside these two extreme stances, obviously, my personal stance is that the two sides — “Journey of Faith” and “RIS”, again, simplifying these examples — express credible opinions but I disagree with another when it comes to certain issues. It is completely possible to take that stance and do not let anyone tell you otherwise because the two extreme examples I gave earlier will surely attempt to do that. You will be called names, you will be labeled and others will seek to isolate you. Be wary and inshAllah you will be able to cope as I did and continue to do so. Of course, there are Muslims who would bulk these two conventions into one big category in a negative way too but that is something that I will not cover here.

With one facet covered, it is natural to turn to the second one. To not pay attention to the differing opinions and how such differences would affect the way an individual perceives how the world should function — thus, inherently affecting others as well – is careless in my opinion. In particular, do not be naive in thinking that differences in seeing how Islam should be applied in the political and socio-economic realm is not important to pay attention to. Like I said earlier, the differences are in the details and the interpretations put forth could very well lead to the same ‘political’ and ‘socio-economic’ ends but some will lead toward conflicting paths also. To mention two extreme examples that is completely separate from my test subjects (RIS and Journey of Faith), it could lead to an extremely secular interpretation of Islam (if it can be called that at all) in Turkey or it could lead to an interpretation of Islam (if it can be called that at all) in Saudi Arabia.

Interpretations will lead to a particular political conclusion. That is something that is part of life. It is part of the governing systems of the world from Saudi Arabia and even here Canada (majority Muslims or not). Each country of course works within its own particular historical context and functions as a nation-state as one aspect of that context which has to be respected in accordance to international law. That is how interpretations spill over into the political arena in a nutshell. Therefore, as harmless as ‘intellectual’ or ‘theological’ opinions are (at least on their own) it is important to ask yourself: What are the plausible political and socio-economic conclusions that a particular interpretation could lead to? This is a question that any Muslim would need to cover eventually. Unfortunately, many avoid it and prefer to be spiritually uplifted with little or no care beyond that. It does not need to be mentioned that Muslims are supposed to actively engage the world around them and this is included in that. While not everyone needs to be some type of activist or political figure, no Muslim should be apathetic — that is a completely ridiculous notion.

When a scholar argues for a particular interpretation of what the afterlife is, makes takfir on a particular group of Muslims, label others with every single type of name and term that you can think of, rejects music, rejects hijab and niqab, tells you to only brush with miswak, tells you that women are superior over men, tells you that men are superior over women, women should not be involved in politics, the first wife’s permission is not necessary in order for her husband to marry another or tells you it is necessary, argues for the need to build an Islamic state and so on and so forth, ask yourself: what are the possible political and socio-economic conclusions that these interpretations can lead to?

While some are more explicit in the political and socio-economic messages they carry or already puts forth an abstract hierarchy for society to function with, some are more subtle and in fact sound very silly and irrelevant under superficial observations. While a political conclusion is not immediate, the eventual collision between the political and socio-economic arena with intellectual/theological interpretations would force that conclusion to show its hand. Eventually this will be a battle that would need to be waged in the political arena one way or another. Therefore, enjoy both conventions but do not put your critical thinking in the back burner. Everything is political and this is even the case when you pick a wife or a husband. Your perspectives need to match in these two aspects (at least, enough) in order to ensure a harmonious marriage. The same goes when you pick your friends. As much as you wish only to be spiritually uplifted, we cannot dismiss the political relevancy of practically every single interpretation that scholars put forth at both conventions.

If I have said anything that is incorrect that is attributable to me. Anything that I said that is correct comes only from Allah. May He guide us all in becoming functioning parts of this world and may He give us the courage to solve or alleviate the most pressing problems of the world. I pray that he keeps us steadfast on this path until the Day of Judgment. From poverty, social injustice and all the institutions that keeps the world subjugated under the thumbs of those that profits from oppression … give us the strength to speak out, resist and encourage the rest of the world into action. Ameen.

In the spirit of resistance,
Critical Mood
www.criticalmood.com

For more information on the “Journey of Faith Conference”, please visit:
http://www.journeyconference.com

For more information on the “Reviving the Islamic Spirit Convention”, please visit:
http://www.revivingtheislamicspirit.com/