08-16-2004, 07:02 AM
salamsalaikum
"Use and Abuse of Fame: A Review of Irshad Manji's Daring Book" By Derrick Abdul-Hakim
One is obliged to inquire: what are the credentials for a good systematic critique of Islam? A sharp intellect with scholarly acumen, robust sensitivity, voluminous knowledge of Islam and common sense seem to be the most obvious criterion one must posses to decipher questions concerning Islam. Sadly to admit that, in this era, all one must posses is an Arabic name, the unrelenting courage to dare take Islam head-on, and a meager journalistic writing reputation. In this case, Irshad Manji is our center scope. Irshad Manji has carved out a niche for herself in only four months of her newly released manuscript. Her book has already overwhelmed and stocked the bookshelves at any book store one travels to. In her book “The Trouble with Islam: A Muslim's Call for Reform in Her Faith”, Irshad Manji endeavors on a quest to challenge Muslims to reform (revise) their faith to suit the needs and demands of the liberal democratic west. Her fervid and effrontery will to challenge the faith that has dared to put some of the most prudent writers (Salman Rushdie and Taslima Nasreen) on the run “qualifies” her to be a spokeswoman on the faith. But, in the opinion of this reviewer, the only talent that Manji really possesses is scurrility, self-serving opinions, and the ability to peddle old-fashioned arguments and statements that other, more notable, individuals have put forth earlier.
Picking up Irshad's attention-grabbing book, I had an overwhelming desire to absorb all of her much anticipated research that has been amiss in the air, hoping that it would deliver an actual proclamation to reform. On the flip side, I was spoon-fed a bloated account of a bothered journalist with the insight to head the next street tabloid over excessively trying to link the gap between desktop trash and intellectual reading.
Typically as she does, Irshad consistently chicken dances around the obvious material that deal specifically with facts (as one reviewer puts, probably due to her own emaciated academic qualifications), only relying on her tendentious and lapsed opinion.
She heavily assumes that her readers have never really “researched” Islam, which leads her to inject opinions that were doctored by none other than herself. By divulging her own inadequacy about the subject, she relies on rage and religious phobia that is prevalent in the years following 9/11 to incubate her points.
More serious is the author’s agenda. One can obviously sense that Irshad Manji is not interested in delivering Islam from the depths of terrorist nihilism and frivolity. Instead, she despises Islam with the contempt and vigor to equate her with the famous (or infamous) anti-Islamologue Ibn Warraq. She does invoke positive aspects, grudgingly, about Islam but later recants. To Manji, Islam is a 7th century faith that sanctions intellectual capacity and free sexuality--ultimately hers. Manji after all is a lesbian who was born into a south Asian (Pakistani) family with a religion which holds no room for acceptance of her homosexuality. Such led her to be bitter and malevolent which eventually carried her on a “divine” mission to exploit the “mentally stagnate” faith and then serve it up on the emotions of the Westerners who experienced the 9/11 holocaust.
The book overall is a misfortune for those trying to understand the phenomena known as Islam and ultimately for the intended audience—the Muslims. A book that is pregnant with predisposed opinions of the author and lacks the anecdotal evidence to support it will likely mislead an unwary reader. One must bear in mind that the book is essentially secular and proudly westernized. Written by an author who probably never really admired her faith, the book essentially plays on the hurt sensibilities of the West who already hold a preconceived position on Islam. This kind of self-satisfying grandstand needless to say stymies any future effort to purge out true Islam from the terrorist frenzy. How on earth does she plan to engage her fellow Muslims in dialogue—much less convince them to reform?
The trouble with “The Trouble with Islam” is that it’s essentially a book hurried under the pseudonym of “reform” with the hidden agenda to embarrass Islam—tightly knitted together with references about the author’s faith (Islam) with the intention to lure in the western reader. It is subsequently mashed together with recycled arguments and ploys that were orchestrated before—sprinkled with predisposed opinions by the author that further add to the chagrin of the reader. It sounds as if Manji is searching for Aguste Comte’s “Religion of Humanity.” After all, what Manji really wanted in life was a Teletubby coloring book; what she got was the Quran. What Manji really wanted in life was a free-loving society where pink dogs live with blue cats; what she got was Islam.
By Derrick Abdul-Hakim