Customer Reviews

Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender, and Pluralism

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Living in this age dominated, seemingly, by Islamophobes in the West (B. Lewis, Huntington, Pipes, etc.) and Muslim extremists (Wahhabis, Jama'at Islami, etc.), it is a breath of fresh air to see Muslims take on the task of reforming Islam along the lines of social justice and gender equality. I was tired of hearing about Muslims, and wanted to see them speak for themselves. This book does that.

The essays in this book are clear without being superficial, strong without being dogmatic. I have already recommended it to many friends and family members who want to see a more humane side of Muslims.

Great read...Wonderful to see so many female authors in this collection, and also the range of geographical and philosophical backgrounds: there are sunni, shi'a, and Sufi authors. Some are American, others from South Africa, Iran, Turkey, Malaysia, Lebanon, etc.

Great, great work on pluralistic and humane interpretation of Islam. It goes well beyond the old cliches of "Islam vs. West", "Us and Them". Inspiring to see Muslim views that are inspired by Martin Luther King, Jr., Gandhi, feminists, etc.

You'll enjoy it...

It seems that the book has polarised opinion. I would say that those who criticise the nature of the articles should practice what they preach; they should prioritise Seera and try and understand how things happened during the Prophet's times - certain facts bear repeating, such as the Shariah as we know it emanated from Shafi, a couple of centuries after the Prophet, that scholars were not given authority in the way they have now (how many scholars existed in the Prophet's times?) and Islam actually was a very liberal, people-sensitive religion - the Prophet always wished to avoid hud punishments wherever possible (and concubinage, slavery, polygamy were accepted norms of society albeit with restrictions). Even if you don't agree with the articles, it opens up a methodology of thinking about Islam which relies on re-analysis of scripture, hadith, historical reappraisal in order to contextualise hadith/scripture and sidestepping the supposed authoritativeness of scholarly rulings which have absolutely no deserved claim to be the 'right' interpretation, in fact the book highlights the fact that most Islamic scholars are nothing more tham memorisers of hadith/scripture and orthodox tafseer, without being versed in history, theology, philosophy, science, sociology, psychology and so on, knowledge one would expect to bear some influence in making scholarly rulings. The other facet of general human nature it brings out, is the tendency to render authentic and powerful religious norms simply because they are the more restrictive; it is a human urge to see rules requiring more sacrifice as being more worthy, and hence the absolute refusal to even enter into a debate as to whether homosexuality was really prohibited, for example. I would urge sincere Muslims to first open your mind, read scripture, allow yourself to raise ANY question, do you own historical analysis without relying on scholars, and continue and develop an independent line of thought without fear of going astray. Be brave.

There is so much trash being published about Islam that it is liberating to see a book about how Muslims engage their own tradition with such honesty and openness. I was delighted to see the conversations that engage human rights, gender equality, and democracy so openly and honestly. I would recommend this volume to everyone, especially Muslims who are looking for resources within their own tradition. I would also suggest it to people who want to get a sense of how Muslims are constructively going about dealing with their own challenges. Great book!

i have been meaning to write a little "review" on this for the book lovers ever since i read it a while back. the book brings some intelligent, progressive muslim minds from all over the world-- or so it seems.

the subjects in the book -- from women's own interpretation on the qur'an to compassionate theology towards queer muslims and all in between -- are all, well, lets just say some of us have been waiting for them for so long :-)

i'm glad to have a book that i can now recommend to friends and family about progressive discussions in the muslim community.

in the mean time, i hope some of the non-Muslims who are dying to define us will just let us define who and what progressive muslim is... all by ourselves. thank you.

This brilliantly edited collection of essays is a must read for anyone interested in learning a bit about some of the more socially progressive avenues being explored by Islamic scholars. Contrary to the media's portrayal of this vibrant religious practice, Islam is not a religion of bigotry and hate. The essays in thie book demonstrate a number of hermeneutic moves being made in order to use Islam to reform various repressive and oppressive social practices such as misogyny. This book is no paeon to the West, however; the essays are equally aware of the dangers presented by globalization and wreckless capitalism as they are of patriarchal social structures. In my opinion, the fact that this book contains elements of third world criticism is what makes it so extraordinary. In summary, for anyone looking for a book elucidating a few of the ways in which people are using Islam to advance a progressive, compassionate social agenda this is the book for you!

Don't expect any conservatives to welcome any kind of a progressive.

I find it interesting that the only two groups panning Mr. Safi's text are dogmatic 'Muslim' conservatives unnerved at the thought of any kind of Islamic Renaissance and right-wing Orientalist neocon and/or neocon sympathizers squirming and jerking for any way they might rationalize their Islamophobia. Both right-wing groups have and will continue to fail and cast darkness on the Islamic world.

It seems to me that Mr. Safi certainly hit the mark he was aiming for. Here's to a future of hope! Insha-Allah. =)

During recent years Islam has been put increasingly on the defensive. In response to the flurry of sensationalist publications many Muslims have felt a need to take their recourse to apologetic counter reactions. Not the people involved in the Progressive Muslims Project, who are behind this collection of essays. Instead they have chosen for an assertive stance. But from that position they express some very surprising viewpoints.
In the future the present publication is going to be recognized as one of the watershed books on Islam written in the early post-9/11 period, and is bound to become a core reference for the new direction in which independently-minded Muslims will steer the debate on what it means to be Muslim in the 21st century. All contributors to this volume are Muslim scholars of religion with solid academic credentials and respectable track records as publicists, whose roots lie in the United States, Iran, Kuwayt, Pakistan, Malaysia, and South Africa.
Some of the essays are highly personal reflections on Muslim identity, including two courageous pieces on highly contentious issues concerning gender and sexuality. This review, however, focuses on a few contributions that will certainly reset the boundary marks of discourse on Islam; not only for academic research but also for the more activist engagement with the Muslim legacy.
The tone for these pioneering efforts is set in the introduction by the volume's editor, Dr. Omid Safi, who deserves credit for being one of the driving forces behind the Progressive Muslims Project. His essay "The Times They are A-Changing" can be read as a blueprint for a new, more assertive, approach to the debate on things Islamic in the contemporary world. Who would have thought quotes from the Holy Quran and Bob Dylan lyrics would ever feature together in the heading of a scholarly work?
Safi starts with what he calls a 'multiple critique', in which he underscores the need for univocal commitment to a universal notion of justice, based on the explicit recognition that all mankind shares in a common humanity deserving unreserved respect. This is definitely a progressive stand, but at the same time Omid Safi warns against the overeasy equation of progress with modernity: proponents of the latter are often as arrogant as the authoritarian Muslim 'literalists-exclusivists' and their views should not be uncritically embraced. Instead the author calls for genuine engagement with Muslim tradition, whereby pluralism, social justice, and gender equality shall serve as benchmarks.
The introduction contains a number of statements heralding this innovative approach: progressive Muslims are not to be automatically labeled as 'liberal Muslims'-- many of whom are too enamored with modernity; the new discourse should be less normative and theological, and more people-centered, "chronicling the spectrum of Muslim practices and interpretations" with a sense for historical context. More provocative is his call to move beyond mere tolerance of fellow man and toward actively engaging the other on what makes us all human. The same applies to his observation that the phrase 'Islam is a religion of peace' has become hollow, if it means the mere absence of war instead of the more positive struggle for justice. This is one of the clearest rejections of the "minimal ethics" that characterizes liberal ideology.
Many of these elements are further elaborated by Farid Esack, a prominent South-African Muslim scholar and activist, in an essay that takes the document "Progressive Islam - A Definition and Declaration" as its point of departure. Esack is very critical of the views expressed by many liberal Muslims, whom he accuses of suffering from the same myopia as their fundamentalist adversaries: presenting themselves as 'authentic' interpreters of Islam and canonizing certain statements in the sacred scriptures without regard for the context. He is equally dismayed by liberal Muslims' failure to challenge that other form of fundamentalism: that US interests represent the axis around which the earth rotates.
Another outstanding contribution is Khaled Abou El Fadl's "The Ugly Modern and the Modern Ugly: Reclaiming the Beautiful in Islam." This essay is a classic example of what a critical examination of one's own tradition is all about. Because El Fadl takes on the phenomenon of 'supremacist puritanism' taking hold of a religion. He observes that "when it comes to the issue of self-critical appraisals, Muslim discourses [..] remain captive to the post-colonial experience. These discourses are politicized and polarized to the extent that the Muslim intellectual who takes a critical approach to the Islamic tradition often feels that he is stepping into a minefield." Nowhere is that better exemplified than by the extraordinary dominance of the stern interpretations made by Wahhabism. Originating with the Central-Arabian 'evangelist' Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (d. 1792) it became the state ideology of the Al Saud dynasty, which has dominated politics on the Arabian Peninsula since the 1750s and started to actively export this doctrine beyond their kingdom in the late 20th century. This only became possible due to a unique convergence of social-political trends and money, which is lucidly explained by Abou el Fadl and illustrated with ample historical data.
Another important intellectual genealogy is provided by Ebrahim Moosa, an eminent scholar from Duke University, in his essay on a 'Critical Islam.' For this he draws on the work of literary figures like the Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk and philosophers such as Muhammad Iqbal. But he also refers to the text-critical approaches of Islamic studies by Muhammad Arkoun and Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, and his own fellow-authors, Farid Esack and Khaled Abou El Fadl.
Before closing, the essay by Amin Wadud on "American Muslim Identity" deserves also to be mentioned explicitly. For a non-American and non-Muslim like myself, Wadud draws a most revealing portrait of the complexity of Islam in the United States, where it is not only tied up with concepts of religious experience, but closely entwined with notions of race and ethnicity.
Omid Safi and his colleagues have done a great service to the field of religious studies with what will hopefully become a visionary book on 21st-century Islam.

An excellent compilation of articles and essay written by today's Muslim intellectuals. Well researched (and noted) discussions of issues of interest to both the Muslim and non-Muslim. On reading one recognizes that Islamic thought is not stuck in the "dark ages" and one understands that there is a movement of Progressive Muslims seeking to understand Islamic sources from both their classical interpretation and how they can be adapted and applied within modern contexts.

Progressive Muslims is a wonderful compilation of essays written by a variety of scholars on Islam. Explored within this text are issues such as the women's movement within the Islamic world and misconceptions of Islam in the wake of the terrorist attacks of 9/11. This book is a must read for anyone who has an interest in Islamic scholarship.

1. The essays seem like they were written by those from American college who were primarily trained in approaches like deconstructionism and multiculturalism rather than schooled in Islam. Quasi-postmodern tools like deconstructionism and multiculturalism tend to be anti-rational and lead to fruitless discourse, which has been a problem in U.S. collegees in recent years, as good intentions about social injustices get lost when addressed thru half-baked intellectual tools. In fact, the information from this book on contributors shows that most are at U.S. colleges, so given the suspect "postmodern" flavor, the danger here is that Islam is being subjected to such postmodernization.

2. Little of the Quran is referenced.

3. A great deal seems not to have been thought thru. Capitalism, for example, is criticized but apart for appeals for justice, almost nothing is said about what a practical economic system informed by Islam might be.

4. Islam seems too malleable to these essayists. Although there is some appeal to early Islamic history, often in these essays you might think you were reading U.s. Green Party literature and not even realize that Islam played a part.

5. One gets no feeling for why these essayist's are Muslims: why not Jewish, Christian or Buddhist, all of which also concerns about social justice. Even humanists seem to share the significant concerns covered in this book. Pluralism may be fine, but if one has a commitment to Islam, can't one make it clear why and what Islam offers that other ways don't?

6. If you aren't familiar with Islam, you're probably better off reading an introduction to Islam first. Reading the Quran first would be a good step. You might also read a survey of Islamic history, to appreciate how powerful an influence Islam has been. But after reading some other material on Islam and/or the Quran, you may be as disappointed as I was by "Progressive Muslims", which seems to owe more to recent, ineffective and faddish Western intellectual sources.

7. Just because this book doesn't seem to well represent progressive Islamic views and provide some substance, doesn't mean that others don't. Progressive hardly needs to mean postmodern (at least in the sense these essays are postmodern). An American-based Muslim might have significant thoughts on a progressive Islam, but I'll be looking for writers from countries that have been Islamic for centuries, expecting they will have a deeper background in Islam and more constructive insights into what progressive Islam means.

8. Given that the essayists in this book seem well-intentioned, it seems likely that if they would abandon the use of unproductive postmodern forms of argumentation, they could find constructive ways to share their concerns. There has been enough exposure of the weaknesses within postmodernism in recent years that hopefully the essayists will recognize this problem.