Mores of the Mosque

In an earlier post, I expressed my feelings towards politics & the Mosque. Muslim Americans are no less conflicted about the role of politics in religious institutions, and vice versa, then the average Christian American. 40% of American Muslims polled say that they attend religious services in the Mosque at least once a week , while 45% of Christians say they attend Church at least once a week.

*Less than a majority of American Muslims (45%) believe that the Mosque should express views on political and social issues, while 54% of American Christians believe that the Church should do the same.

The matter of the place of a Mosque in society has been complicated for Muslim Americans. The place of the Mosque on matters of politics has always varied depending on the issues essential to a particular Muslim society. For example, in areas where there are divided factions in society, based wither on race or class, most likely the main issues a Mosque would be advocating (if it was intent on social change) would be uniting divided groups through their shared heritage in Islam. Since divided groups likely have opposing political stances, politics would likely be an avoided subject matter in such a Mosque. Conversely, in theocratic societies the Mosque is highly politicised and many leaders in the Mosque are also leaders in the political community. Additionally  in societies where political dogma is common, a secular government may use the Mosque as an extension of its propaganda machine. In a previous post I talked about  the demographics of Muslim Americans and how many Muslim Americans are immigrants or the children of immigrants. Depending on the political and social landscape in a Muslim American’s country of origin, they may or may not support the concept of a Mosque taking a particular political stance.

Moral Issues

63% of American Muslims polled say they lean democratic, 11% lean republican & 26% are independent/no preference. Although Muslim Americans are mostly Democrats, when it comes to particular social issues they express even more conservative views then the majority of Americans. For example, 61% of Muslim Americans polled say that homosexuality is a way of life that should not be accepted by society. 27% of Muslim Americans believe that homosexuality should be accepted (more than I thought!) while 51% of the American public believe that homosexuality should be accepted.

-59% of Muslim Americans believe that the government should do more to protect morality

-29% of Muslim Americans worry that government is getting too involved in promoting morality.

The Politics of Muslims in America

The lack of dialog among Muslims within my local Mosques is really one of the reasons why I created this blog. In Muslim traditions, the Mosque was more than just a place for prayer and sermons. It was a place of live debate and an exchange of ideas and interpretations on spiritual and social matters relevant to the Muslim community. The mosque was often the center of political discourse in a Muslim society. Hence the theocratic nature of some Muslim societies. Furthermore, the political systems in Muslim societies were more nuanced than the two-party system here in America and other Western nations. I digress, the point is when Muslims immigrate from majority Muslim countries to Western societies with governments that are secular in theory, they are faced with an interesting political dilemma. That having been said, I am in no way suggesting that Muslims have any intentions of introducing Sharia Law or anything of the sort into Western societies. This is simply ridiculous because Islam urges Muslims to honor the laws of the societies in which they live. Furthermore, there are many varying interpretations of Islamic Law within the Muslim community. However the political dynamics of the West present an interesting set of dilemmas which divide the Muslim community along racial, ethnic, socio-economic and ideological lines.

The Trade Off: Here in the U.S., there is pretty much a two-party-system. Which means that there are pros and cons for being a Muslim in either party. For example if a Muslim votes as a liberal based on Islamic principles of social justice they must reconcile this with conservative Islamic interpretations on the immorality of abortions and gay rights, because the democratic party supports gay rights and is pro-choice. Similarly a Muslim who votes conservative because of the republican interest in traditional morality must reconcile this with the Islamaphobia and corporate greed that the republican party has come to represent.

What’s this have to do with the Mosques? Well Mosques reflect how politics can divide the Muslim community. As I stated previously, I feel that there is a lack of dialog in many American Mosques, this does not mean that certain Mosques don’t support a partisan perspective. In fact, most of the Mosques I have been to have leadership that is active in either the Liberal or Conservative party. Why is this a problem? There is nothing wrong with supporting a cause, as a Muslim I take an active role in American politics. The problem arises when Muslims with democratic principals only attend a particular mosque because it calls for social justice and conservative muslims only go to a particular mosque because it calls for the implementation traditional mores in America.

Politics is always a hot button issue. It makes people uncomfortable because it exposes extrinsic differences in upbringing, economic and social status. We Muslims take pride in seeing ourselves as a community united across differences by a shared faith. In many respects this is true, but we are not a monolith on every issue. Politics is an issue that does divide the Muslim community. My argument is that we in the American Muslim community should talk about it anyway. A discussion on politics should not be avoided, this only leads to people listening to isolated dogma on either side without having a lively exchange. When we understand the fundamentals of why Muslim Americans have varied political associations we can become even more united as a community.

 

Singin’ Sufis?

Muslim Nasheed Singer Sami Yusuf

Whenever I have conversations with other Muslims about the different schools of Islamic thought lately, people seem to refer to Sufis as ‘the Muslims who want to be Muslim without following all the rules’. Ok, clearly its not fair to group all Sufis as lax Muslim. However there is a definate trend of people who are attracted to Sufi Islam because of its modern reputation of being the  unconventional path to Islamic enlightenment. Case in point, Muslim Nasheed singers. A friend pointed out to me that most Nasheed singers today are Sufi because the laws regarding Nasheed singing in Sunni Islam are quite rigid. This point was illustrated by Yvonne Ridley’s now famous letter posting on Sami Yusuf. In an open letter, Sami Yusuf responded to Yvonne’s concerns of the integrity of modern Nasheeds by sighting his views on music as a Sufi, which do not conflict with his style or choice of musical instruments.

the Good, the Banned & the Burqa

I’m no scholar, but I can tell you that it is AGAINST TRUE ISLAMIC TEACHINGS to force anyone into being Muslim, let alone into wearing a Hijab. Furthermore, people too often confuse the Burqa or Burka, which is a cultural dress worn in the middle east, with the Hijab spoken about through the Quran & Hadith which say that at a minimum a scarf must cover a woman’s neck and hair. However, a woman may choose not to wear a hijab and still be considered a Muslim, the hijab is however recommended to Muslim women as it is a part of the (sunnah) and is furthermore directly mentioned in the Quran. Some of you may be wondering, what is the difference between a Burqa (middle picture) and a Niqab (pictures to the right & left). While they are both very conservative garments, the Niqab allows for a clear slit for the eyes. Further more the Niqab is more widely accepted by Muslim cultures around the world, while the Burqa is usually seen as a traditional Afghan adaptation, and is mostly only used particular areas in the middle east. Among my Hijabi friends, Burqas are looked at distinctly from Islam in a sense, because no where is there any real justification to trap a woman in the tent like structure that is the Burqa. If it was all a matter of personal preference, then who cares what kind of scarf a woman chooses to wear, right? Sadly though, that’s often not the case. Some women are compelled to wear such attire, weather by governmental decree or the threat of being ostracised.

I remember last year, France’s ban on certain Hijabs in public was widely criticized because it promoted xenophobia. The fact of the matter is, this ban was completely xenophobic. If a woman chooses to be veiled in France of all places she clearly is doing it of her own free will.

Some Muslims might get uncomfortable with me talking about this subject, but we all know that women should be, and are in some Muslim countries (ex.EGYPT), free to choose of their own will weather or not to wear Hijab, Niqab ext. This is verified by  Muhammad SAWS’s teachings on religious pluralism, respect of women, freedom of choice ext. Yet and still some Islamic Theocracies chose to ignore these teachings in favor of harsh and hypocritical interpretations. – AND THAT’S JUST NOT ISLAM. THATS OPPRESSION.