Progressive Islam remains immature: Scholar<\/p>\n
Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
Islamic progressive movements need to drop their superficial,
\nsegregated attitudes and instead put their energy into pluralism,
\nequality and democracy, according to one Muslim scholar.<\/p>\n
Ebrahim Moosa, a professor of Islamic studies from Duke
\nUniversity in the United States, said that the Islamic
\nprogressive movements have been too simplistic in emphasizing
\ntheir campaign against extremism.<\/p>\n
"Progressive Islam is still at a very, very early stage, and
\nis often very simplistic. Nouveau clerics and young scholars
\nsipping lattes at Starbucks, or writing op-ed pieces for the New
\nYork Times," Moosa bemoaned during a discussion held by the
\nInternational Center for Islam and Pluralism (ICIP) on Thursday.<\/p>\n
While there is nothing wrong with those things per se, the
\nSouth African-born scholar said that religion should be
\nunderstood in the wider social context.<\/p>\n
He said it was an issue of interpretation, for which Islamic
\nteachings need to be scrutinized so as to be contextual. Clerics
\nhave lost contact with original Islamic values that emphasize
\nhuman values rather than ceremonial rituals.<\/p>\n
"The big task is critical questioning. Progressive Islam is
\nmore about methodological interrogation, with concerns about
\npluralism, equality and democracy. Progressive Islam must have a
\nstrong antenna on political oppression," said Moosa, a prolific
\nwriter on Islam, who used to be a lecturer at prestigious
\nStanford University before moving to equally prestigious Duke.<\/p>\n
He said that modernist Islam was facing a problem with a very
\nsuperficial understanding of modernity.<\/p>\n
"The modernists in Islam tend to refer to the European model
\nof rationality, that is, if they want to modernize Islam, it has
\nto be through a European model. Whereas that cannot work in every
\ncountry," explained Moosa.<\/p>\n
He pointed to filmmaker Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Dutch Muslim woman
\nwhose film Submission sent shockwaves throughout extremist
\ncommunities as it depicts Koranic verses written on the body of a
\nnude Muslim woman's body, and on the body of another woman
\nscarred from beatings by her husband.<\/p>\n
The film's director, Theo van Gogh, was later brutally
\nmurdered last year on a street in Amsterdam by a Muslim
\nextremist.<\/p>\n
Moosa condemned Hirsi Ali as a mere exhibitionist without a
\npolitical mission to fight authoritarianism. "Islamo-phobia in
\nEurope is much more serious than the rednecks in the U.S.," he
\nsaid, using the derogatory term for farmers, which generally
\nmeans an ignorant, white person.<\/p>\n
What Hirsi Ali did was different from the much-controversial
\nwork of Amina Wadud, a professor of Islamic studies at Virginia
\nCommonwealth University, who led an Islamic prayer service for
\nmen and women in March.<\/p>\n
It was a breakthrough in the fight for gender equity, but
\nunfortunately, Moosa said, it was done without proper strategy.<\/p>\n
"There was so much hype about the event that it caused a
\nnegative image abroad, as if it was the American government's way
\nto change Islam. Whereas, Amina herself, is against the Bush
\nadministration," Moosa explained.<\/p>\n
He said there was still much more work to do to push for an
\nIslamic intellectual renaissance.<\/p>\n
However, it would take a sweeping cultural transformation
\nsince the social context is different in each country. In South
\nAfrica, for instance, there are questions about wealth
\ndistribution and the HIV\/AIDS crisis.<\/p>\n
"If you want to play the role in the Islamic society, there's
\na rule in it. If you don't obey it, it won't buy you credibility.
\nI can't use the term of Islamic progressive to my grandmother
\nbecause she won't understand," Moosa said.<\/p>\n
He asserted that progressive Muslims must not stray away from
\ntraditionalists, saying that despite their different
\ninterpretations, the traditionalists have some kind of
\nauthenticity and continuity with old Islamic teachings.<\/p>\n
Progressive Muslims also need to push for real interfaith
\ndialogs, which so far, according to Moosa, are akin to "band-aid
\ndiplomacy" with no significant impact in creating understanding
\non pluralism.<\/p>\n
"Interfaith dialog should be a critical dialog where everybody
\nsays what they feel about each other, but in a respectful way.
\nThat actually can be done."<\/p>",
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