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January 10, 2009

Who Speaks for Islam?

Note the weird association of Osama bin Laden with post-modernists and Ralph Nader by Dalia Mogahed and Jeffrey Goldberg.

Posted by Robin Varghese at 11:24 AM | Permalink

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what horrible people

Posted by: Mehta | Jan 10, 2009 1:14:46 PM

They are definitely not horrible people, but that post-modernism to Bin Laden to Nader bit, is definitely unsettling.

It was probably a good thing I watched this. Lately I've been tossing around the word "concrete," mainly to try and ground some of the pomo speak that gets bandied about. But dear god, I have to be careful not to sound as vacant as Irshad Manji when she does it.

Posted by: chuk | Jan 11, 2009 3:36:49 AM

Dalia was really going, up there, wasn't she? But then she ran out of steam and the video just stopped. Public speaking comes with much uncomfortableness. If I had to do it I'd probably come off worse than Jeffery Goldberg.

Posted by: guy | Jan 11, 2009 6:22:13 AM

guy:

But then she ran out of steam and the video just stopped

this is just a section of the longer discussion you can see at fora.tv by clicking on the Watch Full Program link at the bottom right of the embedded player. The timing on the main player matches the timing on the clip, so, to pick up where the clip leaves off, start playing at the 25 minute mark.

Or if you just want to know how Dalia finishes her thought, this is what she says:

I don't like islam being called a religion of peace, because it is a religion of life, of balance, of guidance for a wide variety of facets of life. And to label it a religion of peace – the reason it might seem strange is it's definitely better than calling it a religion of war – but it is to reduce it to a very defensive mode, and it is to reduce islam to constantly being on trial, proving itself, rather than, for a change, helping people understand what muslims can actually contribute, not just why they're not a threat.

Posted by: raggedrobin | Jan 11, 2009 8:14:50 AM

A very interesting debate between two Muslim women. Manji, a vocal critic of Islam, sees herself as a reform Muslim; it is easy to understand why young Muslims in the West, as well as those fearful of Islam, would be drawn to her. Mogahed identifies herself as a mainstream Muslim who is "passionate about moderation."

I found Mogahed's analysis of the Muslim world more illuminating, including her response to whether Islam is a religion of peace, and how radicalization is so often rooted in politics but then takes on the language of religion. I did squirm a bit when she referred to Prophet Muhammad's wars of conquest as models of just wars. She also showed remarkably little enthusiasm for ijtihad, even when led by qualified Muslim clerics, rooting instead for classical religious scholarship and its more liberal interpretations of Islamic faith and jurisprudence.

Posted by: Namit | Jan 29, 2009 1:56:18 PM

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January 10, 2009

Who Speaks for Islam?

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