The Iraqi ambassador to South Africa, Dr. Hisham al-Alawi, visited the Department of Religious Studies, and presented a paper on Islam and Democracy and related developments in the region. He made some interesting comments, but one stood out strongly. It is also the one that he re-iterated in different ways.
He proposed that Muslim intellectuals should ensure that ethics and values form part of public discussions and consideration. The values of justice and 'do no harm' ought to be part of the fabric of society, motivating behaviour and mutual support. Muslims ought to do more to support these values.
The sentiment was supported by Fatima Chohan, the SA Deputy Minister of Home Affairs. She reminded Ambassador that SA Muslims were doing well to assist the poor, but lamented the sectarian nature of religious leadership squabbles in South Africa. From a Home Affairs perspective, she knew at close hand what Muslims had done with Muslim Personal law and justice. Under pressure of a sustained public debate, the Muslim Marriage Bill and justice were being forced to part ways.
This urgency is expressed often among concerned Muslims in South Africa and abroad. They feel that the public profile of Muslims is dominated by conservative trends, or highly sectarian ones. The values that they associate with religion, justice, fairness and good values, are missing.
Where have Muslims gone wrong? Where was the wrong turn taken? Some then invariably blame religious leaders, obscurantists. If there is feminist angle to the critique, then men too are included in the accused line-up.
At this meeting, I also got the feeling that academics were expected to save the day. They surely knew the values of Islam, and ought to promote them in one way or another. Many may include academics in the line-up mentioned above, but the Ambassador thought otherwise.
I thought about this challenge, and even felt a sense of responsibility for my inability to take it up. Here was a country full of problems waiting to be resolved. Grab the opportunity and run with it!
The feeling of inability was, however, mixed over the years with unwillingness, and now increasingly with the realization that the lament and desire was misplaced. Unwillingness was invariably informed by my own commitments that I thought were more important. Like the individuals I am talking about, I do sometimes regret this. I think that I had my priorities wrong!
But what do I mean when I say that the lament and desire was misplaced?
The same feelings were often mentioned by a friend who put this is in bold and revealing perspective. Why, he asked, do Muslims not have a Mandela? or a Dalai Lama? or Martin Luther? He meant it as a serious indictment, to which I had only feeble answers.
More importantly, however, his question put the desire for goog public values in perspective, I thought. The lament and desire represented a deep disappointment in the representation of Islam. Islam had a bad public image, and a good Mandela who was Muslim, or even converted to Islam, would do the trick. It would put Islamic values in the public eye. It would do a great deal to the self-image of Muslims in public.
Why do Muslims need a Muslim Mandela? For that matter, why should Muslims be seen to be supporting good public values? It seems to me that the Muslimness of these values were more important than the values themselves. I suggested to my friend that I thought that he was more interested in the image of a Muslim Mandela, than the values.
I think that the same might be said about the Ambassador's wish. With due respect, I do think it has a lot to do with extremely negative role played by "Islam" in the Iraqi war. If we leave out the American invasion for a moment, the role played by Sunni-Shia sectarianism, and the jihadists who tried to exploit the situation through the blood of Iraqis, is nothing to be proud about.
In short, Muslims need a PR for Islam. They know that Islam is otherwise, but for the Muslims. And my question is: are values important, or the image of Islam? We do have Rumi, and Sufism?
But here I am doing the same thing. Blaming Muslims for the sad state in which they find themselves. They are too focussed on identity, I complain. If only they would turn to values and ethics!
But why these questions, these lamentations? And why the desire to have Muslims representing them. I think that I am partly right about this.
He proposed that Muslim intellectuals should ensure that ethics and values form part of public discussions and consideration. The values of justice and 'do no harm' ought to be part of the fabric of society, motivating behaviour and mutual support. Muslims ought to do more to support these values.
The sentiment was supported by Fatima Chohan, the SA Deputy Minister of Home Affairs. She reminded Ambassador that SA Muslims were doing well to assist the poor, but lamented the sectarian nature of religious leadership squabbles in South Africa. From a Home Affairs perspective, she knew at close hand what Muslims had done with Muslim Personal law and justice. Under pressure of a sustained public debate, the Muslim Marriage Bill and justice were being forced to part ways.
This urgency is expressed often among concerned Muslims in South Africa and abroad. They feel that the public profile of Muslims is dominated by conservative trends, or highly sectarian ones. The values that they associate with religion, justice, fairness and good values, are missing.
Where have Muslims gone wrong? Where was the wrong turn taken? Some then invariably blame religious leaders, obscurantists. If there is feminist angle to the critique, then men too are included in the accused line-up.
At this meeting, I also got the feeling that academics were expected to save the day. They surely knew the values of Islam, and ought to promote them in one way or another. Many may include academics in the line-up mentioned above, but the Ambassador thought otherwise.
I thought about this challenge, and even felt a sense of responsibility for my inability to take it up. Here was a country full of problems waiting to be resolved. Grab the opportunity and run with it!
The feeling of inability was, however, mixed over the years with unwillingness, and now increasingly with the realization that the lament and desire was misplaced. Unwillingness was invariably informed by my own commitments that I thought were more important. Like the individuals I am talking about, I do sometimes regret this. I think that I had my priorities wrong!
But what do I mean when I say that the lament and desire was misplaced?
The same feelings were often mentioned by a friend who put this is in bold and revealing perspective. Why, he asked, do Muslims not have a Mandela? or a Dalai Lama? or Martin Luther? He meant it as a serious indictment, to which I had only feeble answers.
More importantly, however, his question put the desire for goog public values in perspective, I thought. The lament and desire represented a deep disappointment in the representation of Islam. Islam had a bad public image, and a good Mandela who was Muslim, or even converted to Islam, would do the trick. It would put Islamic values in the public eye. It would do a great deal to the self-image of Muslims in public.
Why do Muslims need a Muslim Mandela? For that matter, why should Muslims be seen to be supporting good public values? It seems to me that the Muslimness of these values were more important than the values themselves. I suggested to my friend that I thought that he was more interested in the image of a Muslim Mandela, than the values.
I think that the same might be said about the Ambassador's wish. With due respect, I do think it has a lot to do with extremely negative role played by "Islam" in the Iraqi war. If we leave out the American invasion for a moment, the role played by Sunni-Shia sectarianism, and the jihadists who tried to exploit the situation through the blood of Iraqis, is nothing to be proud about.
In short, Muslims need a PR for Islam. They know that Islam is otherwise, but for the Muslims. And my question is: are values important, or the image of Islam? We do have Rumi, and Sufism?
But here I am doing the same thing. Blaming Muslims for the sad state in which they find themselves. They are too focussed on identity, I complain. If only they would turn to values and ethics!
But why these questions, these lamentations? And why the desire to have Muslims representing them. I think that I am partly right about this.
