A Call for Heresy: Why Dissent Is Vital to Islam and America

Hyperlinks and properly formatted Arabic words available from http://muslimmediareview.blogspot.com/2007/12/call-for-heresy-why-dissent-is-vital-to.html. I first must say that this is the first review I've done of a book by an author who openly questions things that are widely-held tenets of Muslims such as the divine origin of the Qur'an, its complete transmission to us today, the infallibility of the Messenger Muhammad , the necessity of obeying the shari'ah (doing the ritual prayers, avoiding the consumption of prohibited items such as wine, etc.) and the reality of the Day of Judgment. While I do believe in these statements and I hope that one day my actions catch up with them, I have felt for a long time the necessity of embracing those who don't subscribe to these items. The first benefit of embracing these people is that they often are producers in their societies, meaning driving them away impoverishes the nation. How many cities in the United States thrive because of concentrations of gays and lesbians? Did not Iran lose a lot when so many Iranians left the country after the 1979 revolution? And while there are many reasons people leave predominantly Muslim countries, there's no need to add repression to that list. Second, and more importantly, the energy we "orthodox" Muslims spend discussing the errors of their ways distracts us from improving ourselves. We can even get to the point where we think attacking the kfir, zindq and fsiq is a substitute for good deeds. When I was in Egypt and would read in the paper of a mob attack on Christians, I often suspected that the very people who would rush to "defend" Islam by attacking Christians may never have done a rak`a. Or at least I could not imagine how someone with an iota of fear of Allah could participate in these activities. Finally, I am trying to cultivate in myself some naïveté about other human beings. So whenever I hear or see some Muslim (or someone who might be a Muslim) doing something apparently contradictory to my understanding of Islam, I imagine that he is a malmt (in a good way). Now all of this is not part of Professor Anouar's book, but it's just my intro to encourage Muslims to read the book. One other feature which allowed me to read this book is the generally respectful and balanced tone which Professor Anouar uses regarding al-Islam and its symbols . What I mean by this is that he does not distort Islam by claiming that Islam enjoins a specific shameful incident, and where Muslims do wrong, he also mentions how non-Muslims may be doing something similar. It's always amazing to me how modern liberal commentators talking about Muslim oppression forget that their own societies participated in the last 70 years in some of the most terrible bloodshed in human history. I remember in my lifetime how my United States government described the African National Congress as a terrorist organization and supported apartheid. The author calls for heresy, "because all soc

A Call For Heresy - Why Dissent is Vital to Islam and America by Anouar Majid University of Minnesota Press Copyright 2007 by The Regents of the University of Minnesota. As professor and founding Chair of the Department of English at the University of New England, and the author of Postcolonial Islam in a Polycentric World, that was recommended as a book to understand the context of 9/11 by the American Association of University Professors, one might expect that A Call For Heresy may be a challenging, intellectual read. It was for this reader. Although Majid states that "Sometimes all we need is a different perspective to untie knotty problems, loosen the climate of suspicion, and, if all works well, increase the possibilities for dialogue and thoughtful collective action. By looking at the fortunes of Muslim and American societies together, we may perhaps recognize the futility of armed conflict and consider solutions that address underlying causes, rather than exacerbate anger and confusion." (Preface ix). Well, that's a hope and a basis for inquiry that I'm willing to learn more about. Majid's insights on the role of religion as a component of the world's challenges was expansive and deep. For example, ""The supreme deity of the United States right now, the absolute and absolutist god that broaches no dissent, is not Jesus or his increasingly vociferous defenders, but capitalism. In fact, religious fundamentalism, as with all other forms of fundamentalism, doesn't happen in a cultural vacuum, but emerges in response to a sense of threat to one's being or core beliefs. Fundamentalism is often situational; it always expresses itself in relation to a contending force."(p. 11). Yet, beneath the blaring news blasts the clash between fundamentalists in a variety of cultures create, the voices and hearts of partisans who seek reconciliation, understanding and cooperation are drown out. In every society, this group of partisans is summarily marginalized by the mainstream ideologues and dogmatic believers. Majid's suggestion? Encouraging freethinkers to speak up. "We need a healthy culture of freethinking, a tradition of heresy, or zandaqa, that would help the indoctrinated see past their convictions toward a future that opens the wider gate of the common good, not squeeze us through the tunnel of narrow interests and the end of life." (p.49). This book is a contemporary, intellectual treatise about hope. About the necessity to continue to think, speak and imagine an inquiry and dialog, that examines our respective traditions and reduces the "causes of conflict and violence" and "broaden the scope of tolerance and push it to include innovative thought without punishing humans for daring to imagine life-saving alternatives."(p.49). This book is a work of the heart of a freethinker, Anouar Majid, who is encouraging us to engage in the honorable, yet risky endeavor of creating the wider gate. I was inspired, educated and enlightened by this book.

Dr. Majid has written a lucid and detailed essay extolling the virtue of heresy and issues a call for heresy today. Detailing both a history of heresy in Islam and Christianity and its impact of those world faiths, he has made an exceptional case for the importance and virtual necessity of dissent both from religious orthodoxy and political conformity. Citing the devastating impact that the imposition of orthodoxy has had on the evolution of Islamic culture he warns of the risk faced by a society that adopts an inflexible religious basis for citizenship. While also citing the errors of Western culture's misuse of Christian doctrine, he certainly acknowledges the positive impact that the adaptability of Christianity has had over the last 2,000 years. Ultimately, he sees the slow slide to the institutionalizing of Christianity in politics in the US as destructive of what he sees as the strength of the original idea of the United States. In his view "Freethinking", including heresy and dissent, is what is needed at this time rather than the rigidity of orthodoxy. Reading at times like a book of quotations from both Islamic and American "freethinkers", he is able to capture the wonder of discourse and point out the ultimate importance of open-mindedness, something that he sees as being lost in this world in which consumption and the accumulation of wealth has become too important and defines the bases for the Islamic condemnation of "modernity". I found the book pastoral, in the sense of one of those wonderfully inspiring Sunday homilies I hear too infrequently today. It is a call to our better selves and the wonder of being free to think and allow our minds to go where our thoughts take us.

Author Anouar Majid compares religious fundamentalist trends with similar trends in Islamic societies. He presents a view of American history that helps us understand today's issues of separation of church and state. In an insightful Chapter titled "Regime Change," he discusses the US-imposed constitutions on Afghanistan and Iraq. These constituions differ from the US Constitution in that they enshrine a religion, Islam, and place its laws as supreme, with the secular principles of human rights, freedom, democracy, as secondary. This is the opposite of the US Constitution which specifically does not allow any religion to be established. This book is fascinating and traces many of the themes in today's Islamic societies that fuel terrorism, as well as helping us understand why Western societies and capitalistic consumption-led globalization is seen as such a threat, not only to Muslims, but many other cultures around the world. Majid believes that the best antidote to fundamentalism in all monotheistic religions: Christianity, Islam and Judaism, is open-minded vigorous dialogue and dissent. Amen ! Hazel Henderson, President of Ethical Markets Media