my  block

where uzairs roam

Here she is again, this time outraged at the protests against Rushdie’s knighthood.

First of all, let me say these protests are ridiculous. The protesters really need to take the chip off their shoulders and get on with their lives. We all learned in primary school that when something bothers you the best thing you can do is ignore it. To feed its sense of self-significance and authority by insisting on responding is immature, moronic, and frankly, at this point, old. Obviously, politics is the driving force, but as always, Islam is made the face of the campaign.

As most people know by now, Ms. Manji’s religious beliefs are a subject of great debate and most Muslims would prefer it if she didn’t parade herself as the reformer of Islam and the champion of liberal Muslims. She does not speak for Muslims in general, and the cynic in me wants to say she doesn’t speak for Muslims at all.

Her article is predictable and trite, from the opening anecdote, which highlights an ingrained anti-Semitism that she has decided all Muslims feature. Apparently, a teacher at her religious school remarked that Jews worship ‘moolah, not Allah’, which is about as convenient a phrase as you could expect her to come up with. I know I’ve never heard that phrase before; if anyone else has, please educate me. I don’t doubt there are many Muslims with suspicions of Jews that border on racism, but the unfair generalisations Ms. Manji makes reek equally of bigotry.

From the article, it’s clear that Ms. Manji, after a few years of intense criticism by virtually all Muslims everywhere, has found an angle less likely to offend them: that Islam isn’t the problem, Muslims are. This, by now, is an old argument, but one that works very well since Muslims are so seriously fragmented and happy to point fingers at each other; it ensures that she will never face the ridicule of the entire Ummah at once again. Of course, this minor adjustment in attack does not compensate for her lack of perspective: she seems to think her way is the only way. And her writings make it clear her way is the way of the West. In this era of globalisation, that’s an easy misconception to fall prey to, but the fact is that Muslims can be progressive and successful without importing Western norms indiscriminately. Democracy, capitalism, and freedom of speech are all perfect in theory, but those of us with our eyes open are witness every day to their shortcomings.

As always, Ms. Manji’s arguments are boringly unoriginal and she shamelessly supports them with selectively drawn evidence. For example, she appears completely incognizant of the fact that plenty of Muslims — including many Imams — have openly condemned terrorism and made calls for unity. And she lauds the Pakistani press for standing up to the government and forcing them to lift restrictions, when in fact they offered a key compromise: to reduce the amount of coverage of anti-government demonstrations. Are these half-freedoms really what Ms. Manji would have us celebrate? Or is she merely so busy making her point (which, unsurprisingly, includes a plug for her book, which she says is being downloaded ‘in droves’) that a little fudging of facts is acceptable? Either way, her indiscriminate firing at Muslims so she can proclaim her victory over narrow-minded fundamentalism while standing on a mound of their values and beliefs reeks of self-interest and a very basic ignorance of the many forces at work.