Although many moderate political and religious leaders of one of
the World's oldest religions have said this line, it is surprising
that one can find the same being written by a Woman from this
supposedly conservative religious community.
Muslim
woman seeks radical Islamic reform
Lesbian intellectual draws fire after criticising religion in her
book and urging others to join her
TORONTO - As a Muslim, Ms Irshad Manji never eats pork, never
drinks alcohol and reads the Quran regularly.
Otherwise she is Osama bin Laden's worst nightmare.
At 35, Ms Manji - a lesbian intellectual with spiky hair, a sharp
tongue and a rapid-fire delivery - is a Canadian television
journalist who admires Israel and applauds the US overthrow of
Saddam Hussein.
More than that, she has issued a searing critique of her religion
in a new book, The Trouble With Islam (Random House Canada),
calling for radical change.
While every religion has its fundamentalists, she notes, 'only in
Islam is literalism in the mainstream', a recipe for generating
hatreds that can spawn suicide bombers.
There are other Islamic liberals who say the Sept 11, 2001,
attackers did more than hijack four planes: They hijacked an entire
religion.
Ms Manji, whose family left Uganda after Idi Amin expelled Indians,
goes much further, saying that Islam has deep-rooted problems with
Jews, women, slavery and authoritarianism that go back
centuries.
Her goal is a thoroughly liberal reform, started by Muslims living
in the West. 'If ever there was a moment for an Islamic
reformation, it's now,' she argues in her book.
'If we're sincere about fighting the asphyxiating despotism' that
Al-Qaeda seeks to spread, she adds, 'we can't be afraid to ask:
What if the Quran isn't perfect? What if it's not a completely God-
authored book? What if it's riddled with human biases?'
As a long-time broadcaster and public affairs talk-show host on
Canadian television, Ms Manji has a ready platform for her
ideas.
These ideas have already set off a searching debate. In the first
weeks after the publication of her book, she has made front-page
news across Canada and received immediate attention in Germany,
where the book was also released.
In the next few months the book will reach the United States (St
Martin's Press), Australia, other parts of Europe and most probably
Israel.
The book has also provoked death threats.
She takes no chances.
A hefty bodyguard stands on the porch of her Toronto home, and she
has put bullet-proof glass in some windows.
She insists that her house not be described in detail to avoid
giving a hint of where she lives.
Her central call is for Muslims to join her in critical
thinking.
'If Mohamed Atta, who was well educated in Germany, had grown up
with questions rather than just glib answers,' she said, 'maybe
then he would have stepped back before immolating himself and
committing mass murder' on Sept 11 in the attacks that he helped
organise.
As much as anything, she emphasises, her thirst is for inquiry,
something she says she admires in Israeli society.
The goal is to 'create conversations where they have never occurred
before'.
The Islam she desires, she says, is akin to the one that flourished
in the 10th to 13th centuries when dissent flourished, 'poets
caricatured religion with court approval' and Jews and Muslims
lived together peacefully and cross-fertilised their
cultures.
The immediate reply to Ms Manji's book is as fiery as her own
high-octane critique.
'The book title should be The Trouble With Irshad Manji,' said
Canadian Islamic Congress president Mohamed Elmasry, dismissing her
as a 'media darling'.
'She calls herself a good Muslim even though she is a lesbian and a
feminist,' he added. 'She will have a shadow over her
interpretation.' -- New York Times
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/world/story/0,4386,213450,00.html?
