Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender and Pluralism (66 page)

Read Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender and Pluralism Online

Authors: Omid Safi

Tags: #Islam and Politics, #Islamic Law, #Islamic Renewal, #Islam, #Religious Pluralism, #Women in Islam, #Political Science, #Comparative Politics, #Religion, #General, #Social Science, #Ethnic Studies, #Islamic Studies

BOOK: Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender and Pluralism

5.17Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

Read Book Download Book

Stephen O. Murray and Will Roscoe,
Islamic Homosexualities: Culture
,
History and Literature
(New York: New York University Press, 1997).

Everrett Rowson, “The Effeminates of Early Medina,” in G. Comstock and

S. Henking, eds,
Que(e)rying Religion: A Critical Anthology
(New York: Continuum, 1997).

Everett Rowson and J.W. Wright, eds,
Homoeroticism in Classical Arabic Literature
(New York: Columbia University Press, 1997).

International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission is a non- governmental organization that responds to human rights violations of Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transgendered people and anyone living with HIV or AIDS. The current director of the organization is a Muslim. www.iglhrc.org

Al-Fatiha Foundation is an international foundation based in Washington, D.C., for Muslims who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, or questioning their sexual orientation or gender identity, and their friends. PO Box 33532, Washington, DC 20033, U.S.A. www.al-fatiha.net

Ahbab, the Gay and Lesbian Arab Society, claiming to be the “first gay Arab

radio station,” and based in New York features news, articles, and essays about gay Arabs. http://glas.org/ahbab/

Bint el Nas
is a website and its e-zine is designed for gay, bisexual, and transgendered women who identify themselves ethnically or culturally with the Arab world. www.bintelnas.org

Al-Fitrah is a LGBTQ Muslim support group in Capetown, South Africa. To join the Gay and Lesbian Muslims in South Africa (GLMSA) list-serve, send a blank email to [email protected]

HH UU MM AA NN RR II GG HH TT SS OO RR GG AA NN II ZZ AA TT II OO NN SS ,, CC II VV II LL RR II GG HH TT SS GG RR OO UU PP SS ,,

AA NN DD

PP RR OO GG RR EE SS SS II VV EE NN EE WW SS SS OO UU RR CC EE SS

Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw
.org/ Amnesty International http://www.amnesty
.org/ ACLU http://www.aclu.org/

ZMAG http://www.zmag.org/

Voices in the Wilderness http://www.nonviolence.org/vitw/

The Independent
http://www.independent.co.uk/

The Nation
http://www.thenation.com

Counterpunch
http://www.counterpunch.com/

INDEX

Notes: (quoted) refers to a quoted passage which has not been named in the text. Locators in parentheses refer to endnote numbers.

‘Abbasid Empire 257

‘Abd al-Aziz, King 52, 72 (81) ‘Abd al-Karim al-Naqshabandi 38 ‘Abd al-Nasir, Jamal 289

‘Abd al-Wahhab, Muhammad
see
Wahhabism ‘Abd al-Wahhab, Sulayman 51–2

‘Abdu, Muhammad 290 Abdul Rahman Doi 174–5

Abdul Rahman, Muhammad 272

Abou El Fadl, Khaled vii, 20, 29 (26), 33, 94

(20), 245 (15)

Abu Bakr 71 (62), 218, 221

Abu Hayyan al-Gharnati 51 Abu Sa‘id al-Baydawi 51 Abu Sa‘ud al-‘Imadi 51

Abyssinia, emigration to 253

adab
13–14

ADL (Anti-Defamation League) 263

‘adl see
justice

adultery (
zina
) 201, 218

juridical equation with anal sex 216–17, 220 al-Afghani, Jamal al-Din 55, 56, 79, 290

Afghanistan 4, 94 (18), 143 (19)

African-American Muslims

gender discrimination and 244 (4) immigrant Muslims and 270–1

ethnic divide 278–9

experiential differences 279–82

history of 275–8

identity and
taqwa
274–5

Progressive view 282–3

public representation and 272–4 racism and 236–7

Ahl al-Hadith
60, 76 (102)

Ahl-i-Haqq movement 108 Ahmad Khan, Sayyid 79 Ahmadiyyah movement 276, 277

Alawis movement 108

Alevis movement 108

Alexander the Great 230 (22)

“Algebra of Infinite Justice” (quoted) 87–8 Algeria 48

Ali, Kecia vii, 163

Alibhai-Brown, Yasmine 94 (15) Alvaro, Bishop of Cordoba 35

American Council of Trustees and Alumni 137 American Jewish Committee 262

American Medina
(quoted) 311 American Muslims
see
African-American

Muslims; young Muslims in America

an-Na‘im, Abdullahi Ahmed 227

“An Introduction” (quoted) 176, 178, 179, 182 Anti-Defamation League (ADL) 263

apartheid as peace-keeping 85 apologetics

feminist 125, 175–9

legacy of ugliness and 34–5 Progressive Muslims on 20–3

in response to puritanism 45–6 reification of tradition 121–3

Arab Human Development Report 2002
247 (26) Arab world

Bedouins 74 (97)

democracy and pluralism, absence in 291 feminist women 150, 241–3

Islamic culture and 101 nationalism 53

as percentage of total Muslims 34–5

see also
Saudi Arabia Arkoun, Mohamed 143 (18)

Armstrong, Karen 132

Assassins 48

associating partners with God (
shirk
) 50, 51, 74,

Ataturk, Kemal 74 (97)

awqaf
(endowments) 46

Badran, Margot 242

Baghdad (medieval) 257

al-Balkhi, Muhammad 51

Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, Muhammad Raheem 238 Bayazid Bistami 14

Bazargan, Mehdi 323

Bedouins 74 (97)

Benke, David 261

bigotry 36 books on Islam

Clash of Civilizations
debate 64 (10)

foundational sources 333–4

gender 335

history 334–5

Islam and the modern world 336 Islamic influences on Europe 67 (32)

Islamophobic 64 (9)

literature 336

Progressive Muslim thought 337–8 September 11, and beyond 338 spirituality and Sufism 335 Wahhabism 69 (53)

women and seclusion 75 (101)

British Muslims 320–1

Christianity

demonization of Islam 142 (8), 143 (17),

261, 264

fundamentalist rhetoric 96 (30)

individual conscience 100

interfaith dialogue 258–60

Wilfred Cantwell Smith and 260–1 sexual attitude 192

as way of life 99 civil rights groups 339

civilization, cocoon and personification theories 102–6

Clash of Civilizations
paradigm 64 (10)

Clash of Fundamentalisms
87

cocoon and personification theories of civilization 102–6

colonialism and imperialism 19

effect upon Islamic democracy 289 feminism and 149–51

militancy and 61–2

moral values affected by 43–4

community
(umma) see
oppositional dialectic compassion 13–14

concubinage 169, 186 (29)

conflict resolution, moderate view 95 (27),

293–4

consciousness of Allah (
taqwa
) 255, 274–5

consultation
(shura)
296–8, 301, 302–3

human knowledge and 288, 293–4 political radicalism and 299

consumerism 90–1

conversion and message of justice 255–6 cooke, miriam 27 (2), 242

corporatism 3, 81–2

Council for Islamic Education, The 143 (11)

Cox, Harvey 88, 89

creativity, Wahhabism and 50

Critical Muslims, Western values and 40–3 Crusades 258

cultural particularism 100–2

young people 315	Dalai Lama 25
Bulliet, Richard 287–8	Dallal, Ahmad 72 (75)
Bush, George, Taliban and 95 (24)	deaths, Afghanistani civilians 94 (18), 143 (19)
Bush, George W. 5, 144 (20)	democracy in Islam
fundamentalist rhetoric 87–8	absence of, and violence 300
Divine governance
Canada, interfaith dialogue 258–60	and consultation ( shura ) 296–8, 301, 302–3
see also North America	radicalism and 299–300
Canadian Christian Jewish Consultation	265	and human judgement 288, 293–4
capitalism	embedded in Islamic thought 287, 292–3
as religion 88–91	emergent interest in, and Western response
terrorism and 86	291–2, 298
see also globalization	historic precedents 287, 292–3
Cheney, Lynne 137	religious doctrines and liberation theology
Chomsky, Noam 15, 84	287–8
Chopp, Rebecca S. 80	see also pluralism

Denny, Fred 262	experience see human experience
Dhu al-Qarnayn 230 (22)	exploitation and oppression 81
dialectics see oppositional dialectics	imperialist in Egypt 289
difference (ikhtilaf) and pluralism 295	extremist groups see militant groups
“Din va Azadi” (quoted) 323
Divan-i Ghalib, Urdu (quoted) 198	Faisal, Toujan 243
Divine governance and political democratic	Falwell, Jerry 141 (1)
principles	Faruqi, Maysam 157
consultation (shura) and 296–8, 301, 302–3	feminism
radicalism 299–300	definition and orientation 148–9
human judgement and 288, 293–4	alternative paradigms 154
divorce 171–2	multiple critique 2, 155–7
domestic duties 178–9	early Islamic 241–3
dower ( mahr ) 177–8, 189 (67)	imperialist legacy 149–51
and ownership ( milk ) 169	patriarchal laws and 239–40
Duncan Black MacDonald Center 259	scholarship and activism 157–9
DuPlessis, Rachel Blau 235	veiling, critique 151–4
see also gender justice; marriage and
Eagleton, Terry 78	jurisprudence; women
Eck, Diana 251–2, 264	Fernea, Elizabeth 156
education	Fisk, Robert 15, 84
madrasa system 19–20	five pillars 107–8
stereotyping Islam 132–3	Foucault, Michel 229 (13)
egalitarianism, Wahhabi notion 74 (99)	Friedan, Betty 160 (21)
Egypt 4, 144 (29), 152, 225, 242	fundamentalism
effect of imperialism on 289	Christian 96 (30)
Muslim Brotherhood 290, 309	liberalism and 82–4
Egyptian Feminist Union 241	moderate and radical political spectrum	304
Eltahawy, Mona 82–3	(2)
Emerson, Steve 322	Muslim and capitalist 88–91
emigration	Progressive view 92
to Abyssinia 253	rhetoric of Bush and Bin Laden 87–8
to Medina 255	see also literalist-exclusivists; supremacist
endowment of religious institutions 46	puritanism
environment, Islamic isolationism and 331–2	“fundamentalism”, the term 89
Esack, Farid vii, 20, 78, 256	“fundamentalist Muslims”, the term 27 (9)
Esposito, John 146 (18)	fuqaha 46
ethics	Fyzee, Asaf 120