Waiting for the Islamic Reformation
OP - September 22, 2015, 02:13 PM
No matter what the proponents of Islam and Christianity believe, it is
a challenge to call a faith peaceful when the good and evil receive
sanction from the same scripture. Punishment for apostasy and
homosexuality, curtailing the rights of women, and slavery - while the
peaceful proponents of both faiths can identify religious tenets
against them, there are others belonging to the same faith who can
find religious authorization for them.
The reality is that despite the humanist teachings of various faiths,
they cannot be cut out of the political sphere of human society.
The difference emerges when we consider how the medieval practices
sanctioned by faiths are implemented by political authorities. Islam
is the only religion which operates in countries as a theocracy. These
nations, primarily in the Middle East, have dismal human rights
records regarding minorities and the rights of women. There are 13
Muslim nations where apostasy is punishable by death. Even in
democratic Islamic nations like Pakistan, blasphemy is punishable by
death. In nations like Saudi Arabia, there are serious constraints on
the freedom of expression. Women can’t drive, and face restrictions
over employment and ownership rights. The tribal politics perpetuated
by the Islamic faith finds its most telling manifestation in ISIS,
which aims to establish a Caliphate – a medieval Islamic state, to
practice the same brand of religion the world is trying hard to subdue
and sideline.
Those who propose that Islam is a peaceful faith, one that ensures
social justice, tend to espouse the virtue when protected under
liberal democracies.
In the discussion surrounding multiculturalism, what gets missed many
times is that Muslims in liberal democracies are able to practice the
positive elements of their faith under the protection of secular laws.
These laws protect the same Muslims from the negative elements of
their faith, something they cannot deny as multiple cases of
discrimination and violence in Muslim nations are authorised by
Islamic law.
Consider female rights. If a woman is denied the right to seek out
employment, if she is denied the right to choose whom to marry, what
to wear, or when and how to move around in public, she can go to the
police and achieve justice. But in a Muslim nation, where the Sharia
is the law of the land, the authorities will be upholding the law in
denying justice to the same woman.
Similarly, if someone speaks up against a tenet of an ideology or
faith in liberal democracies and receives threats, they can too seek
protection of the law. In Muslim nations, the same authorities will be
required by law to punish someone who criticises the Islamic faith.
Regardless of their faith, being a citizen of a secular and democratic
nation, a person is ensured human rights and social justice. Apathy
can impede the implementation of laws and there are many cases to
prove so, yet there are multiple avenues and authorities through which
citizens can seek justice.
The conundrum arises when peaceful Muslims claim that social justice
ensured in secular democracies is also ensured by Islamic scripture.
But those who commit human rights atrocities also back their actions
with scripture.
When the world witnesses how the word of God is implemented in Muslim
states, it becomes difficult to understand the same faith as peaceful
and progressive. Moreover, there is usually a ‘no comments’ retort
when these peaceful Muslims in liberal democracies are asked if they
if would ever live in the nations dominated by Islamic law.
Christianity was once considered a dogmatic political power in the
Western world.
The Spanish Inquisition, the Crusades and the persecution of
scientists are dark chapters in human history, where a faith was used
to divide and suppress, exercising political power emanating from the
high seat of the Pope, and evil cardinals. But Christianity witnessed
a reformation from within, where communities challenged the dogma, and
over time, established a spiritual, and to a great extent, genuine
form of faith, creating a more direct link between Man and God.
The reformation created the Protestant faith and a series of other
Christian sects, which understood faith as a celebration of life and
God, not submission to a higher authority.
The contraction of religious authority in the West laid the foundation
for the establishment of secular laws. As God stepped back during the
establishment of nation states, enshrining civil rights in laws became
the calling card of humanists and revolutionaries around the world.
Issues like slavery, ban on abortion and punishment for homosexuality,
which claim sanction from biblical scripture, have been weakened and
almost wiped out, as God has taken a backseat, and humanist
principles, universal rights, the human drive for freedom and secular
doctrines continue to gain more legitimacy. They face challenges all
the time when struggling to ensure rights to multiple communities, yet
they gain new ground and achieve new feats everyday.
This internal reformation in Christian societies had the effect of a
spiritual overhaul in Christianity.
Same sex rights, which is the new civil rights struggle of the 21st
century, has been championed by traditional Catholic communities,
namely Ireland voting unanimously in favour of same sex marriage, and
even Pope Francis giving his blessing to same sex relationships,
focusing on celebrating the universal human emotion of love. We
seldom, if not never, see such a push towards universal human rights
in Islamic nations or from Muslim leaders.
If the crusades were on today, Christianity would have a nefarious
image in the world, but human society has come a long way in achieving
and continuing the struggle for human rights, maintaining a strong
winning streak.
Religious-political authorities have relatively moved ahead with the
times erasing restrictions on civil liberties, while in the Middle
East these restrictions are alive and kicking as they are sanctioned
by Islamic scripture. We must realise that elements like the Klu Klux
Clan and White Supremacist groups, which draw their ideology from
scripture, cannot operate with impunity in the West, yet the world
they imagine does exist in some regards in the Middle East and North
Africa.
Islam needs its own Reformation to curtail the dogma that has
tarnished the image of the faith in the 21st century.
The Middle East witnessed an Arab spring, calling for an end to
dictatorships, but the world is waiting for an Arab spring for civil
liberties to sweep the Middle East. Islamic societies must move ahead
with the rest of the world, so theocracies and medieval ideas do not
continue to restrict the progress of human development across the
world.
Topic: Waiting for the Islamic Reformation