For whenever it is convenient, there is a title for the sort of Muslim we discuss and create: the Moderate Muslim, the Extremist Muslim, the House Muslim, the Progressive Muslim, the Salafi Muslim, the Sufi Muslim, the Shi’a Muslim, the Sunni Muslim, the Feminist Muslim, the Liberal Muslim, the Secular Muslim, the LGBTQ-friendly Muslim, the Traditional Muslim, the Foreign Muslim, the Western Muslim; the Good Muslim and the Bad Muslim. And for each one of these Muslims, there is an equal Islam of some sort. Some of these terms are used in a celebratory (even revolutionary) tone to connote acceptance and promotion of a particular ‘breed’ of Muslims whereas others, even if terms sourced in legitimate religious and political traditions, are used pejoratively. But all of these terms, especially in the framework of our use, ultimately box and limit the very human experiences of over one billion people. This isn’t necessarily done so with malignant intentions, but it’s the only way the industry I’m in – the media industry – knows how to understand Islam and Muslims. These are cookie cutter beliefs, identities and experiences that are anything but representative of even a single person but they make it easier to read a news story about Egypt, Syria, Pakistan or even the US and separate the good guys from the bad. Even we Muslims, ourselves, fall into dissecting our communities, friends, acquaintances and everyone else with these neat titles.And, truth be told, it’s hard not to when there is constant pressure to justify, explain and present what you believe as a Muslim both within and outside your community. There is absolutely nothing wrong in identifying yourself with qualifying adjectives or descriptive nouns, contrary to the high school adage “labels are for jars.” If making sense of what you believe and what you’ve experienced involves putting a strict description on it, then that is your right. The problem comes in when we, those of us who create, perpetuate and simultaneously destroy discourses, can only ever discuss and ‘understand’ 1/7th of the world’s population through convenient terms that obscure how we all make decisions, take actions and think, on a daily basis, through the influence of several factors working in cosmically controlled synch. Instead, we just create more blacks and whites and never the shades of reality.(My Father, the Liberal Salafi Feminist)
Posted on: Fri, 06 Sep 2013 11:32:42 +0000
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