COMMENT/VIDEO: On faith and dishonesty ...

I watched this video on the Dutch-Somali neo-Conservative activist Ayaan Hirsi Magaan/Ali. The video provides a thought-provoking discussion on the background to her memoir Infidel. The main issue of the review is whether Hirsi Magaan/Ali should be the subject of negative judgments because she was not truthful to Dutch immigration authorities.

I can't help but wonder whether Hirsi Magaan/Ali would agree with the reviewer's assessment if he were talking about another asylum seeker. Hirsi Magaan/Ali's term in the Dutch Parliament was characterised by what could only be described as extreme disdain for asylum seekers. She supported the expulsion of a Bosnian asylum seeker who had been less than truthful in her application.

But there's more to this story than meets the eye. There are many more incredible stories of Muslim women who faced horrific cultural experiences and who overcame amazing odds to secure freedom. However, these women chose not to attack their religious beliefs or the religious beliefs of others. However, their books haven't been promoted so heavily by rightwing thinktanks with religious scores to settle.

Hirsi Magaan/Ali's lies about her migration status may be forgiveable. But when she lies about the beliefs of 1.3 billion Muslims, pretending that her experience is necessarily reflective of the experiences of others, and when she uses those lies to incite hatred against ordinary people with some link to Islam, her lies become unforgiveable.

People should ask themselves this simple question: If Hirsi Ali/Magaan had chosen to expose the evils of the cultural practices she grew up in WITHOUT inciting virulent hatred against other Muslims, would she have been taken so seriously?

We don't see far-Right thinktanks promoting Shirin Ebadi or Irene Khan or Mukhtar Mai. We don't even see them promoting Waris Dirie, a Somali woman with a similar story. I certainly won't be holding my breath waiting for the Centre for Independent Studies inviting Shirin Ebadi or Waris Dirie to speak about Islam or the enlightenment or women's rights.

Why is this so? Think about it.

Words © 2008 Irfan Yusuf


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COMMENT: Jewish union leader negotiates religious holiday for American Muslim workers ...

The New York Times reports that a poultry plant in the American state of Tennessee has decided to award Muslim workers a paid holiday for its 1,200-strong workforce, a large proportion of whom are of Somali Muslim background.

Unfortunately, the move has been met with prejudice by some ...

“You are a union that is proud of achieving a Muslim holiday and prayer room?” one person wrote the union. “A union in the U.S.A., a country based on Christianity. You call yourselves Americans? Have you forgotten 9/11?”

Another wrote: “You had no right to drop Labor Day. Muslim employees must integrate Labor Day into THEIR lives if they are going to live in America.”

The move to allow Muslim workers to take Eid as a holiday instead of Labor Day was negotiated by Stuart Applebaum, who also serves as President of the Jewish Labor Committee. It only applies in one of Tyson's many hundreds of factories.

The usual array of far-Right fruitloops, including chronic Muslim-hater Robert Spencer, have condemned the move. Read this paragraph and wonder ...

The problem is that the accommodation of Islamic holidays and practices abets, however unwittingly, an avoudly supremacist agenda that is directed toward supplanting American laws and mores and imposing Islamic law here.

Using this logic, any legal accommodation to American Muslims must be opposed. Next, Spencer will be calling upon planning authorities not to grant Muslim groups with permits to build mosques. But more than that, Spencer is actually accusing the President of the Jewish Labor Committee of being a conduit for the imposition of Islamic law in America. Applebaum should get legal advice about commencing defamation proceedings against Spencer.

You can read echoes of Spencer's imbecilic rants in the comments section to this article. You can read more such comments here. Adolf Hitler will be smiling in his grave.

One so-called Christian questions whether Tyson's Foods can still call itself an American country. Don Swarthout , President of Christians Reviving America's Values (Crave), provided this hysterical response ...

What makes this particularly upsetting is that Tyson is replacing a secular holiday with an Islamic Religious Holiday. If we wanted to replace a secular holiday with a Christian holiday the company or the courts would not allow us to do such a thing.

That may be true, except that Christmas day is already a public holiday! The last time I checked, American Jews weren't lining up to celebrate Christmas day.

After all this hysteria, the company issued this press release. The press release sets out the background behind the decision ...

This change came about as a result of union demands brought to the negotiating table, and was agreed upon by Tyson in an effort to reach a contractual agreement with the union. The contract that calls for this change was unanimously recommended by the 12-person union bargaining committee, which included three Somali employees. The contract was then overwhelmingly agreed to by 80 percent of the rank and file membership of the union at the Shelbyville plant.

Imagine that. Four out of five union members supported this proposal. Democracy in action. But don't expect cyber-fascists like Spencer and Schlussel to have any respect for democracy.

Words © 2008 Irfan Yusuf

EVENT: Islamic Awareness Week across the Tasman ...

While the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils has just about completed yet another round of expensive litigation, across the Tasman New Zealand's peak Muslim body is spending its money on organising a nationwide Islamic Awareness Week. The theme of the IAW 2008 is "Strong Families - Better Society", hardly the sort of theme which far-Right allegedly conservative fruitloops (such as the nutters that produce Investigate (or should that be Investi-hate?) magazine) could complain about.

Among the events being held are a women's fashion parade and a number of dinners for students and staff hosted by various Muslim Students Associations (MSA's). A number of prominent New Zealanders will also be awarded for their contributions to relations between Muslims and the broader community. For some reason, nobody thought of providing an award to someone in the NZ media.

And in case you wondered who were the first recorded Muslims in New Zealand, read this ...

The first identifiable Muslims resident in New Zealand are 15 Chinese gold diggers working in the South Island, recorded in the government census of April 1874. Little is known of them and it is assumed they either moved on to Australia or returned to China.

The Muslim Heritage part of the website includes biographies of prominent Muslims, among them Mazhar Krasniqi, a Kiwi of Albanian origin who (if I am not mistaken) has a very prominent son-in-law.

Well done, dear Kiwistanis!

Words © 2008 Irfan Yusuf

VIDEO: Tribute to an Indian sufi master

The following video is a tribute to the great Arab scholar Muin ad-Din Chishti, who is believed to have travelled from Baghdad to India after seeing the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him) in a dream. The Prophet is said to have instructed Shaykh Muin ad-Din to take the message of Islam to a place in the wilderness called Ajmer. The Shaykh established a centre there, where he focussed on alleviating the near-chronic poverty of that area. He and his disciples set up a kitchen where vegetarian food was served (out of respect for Hindu sensitivities).

Because of his devotion to the poor, the Shaykh was given the title of Gharib Nawaz (literally "succour to the poor"). His grave at Ajmer has become a place of pilgrimage for people of all faiths. Gharib Nawaz is loved by Indians of all faiths, and his Urs (death anniversary) is attended by millions.

The music in this clip was produced by Allah Rakha Rahman, perhaps India's greates living composer. The music is taken from the soundtrack of the movie Jodha Akbar which deals with the marriage of the Mughal King Akbar to the Rajput Princess Jodha.



Words © 2008 Irfan Yusuf


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HUMOUR: Boycott ...

As part of the belated response to the publication of a dozen cartoons, I now call upon all Muslims to boycott Danish beer and pork products!




Words © 2008 Irfan Yusuf


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COMMENT/EVENT: Hirsi Magaan on enlightenment ...

The (to-the-right-of-) Centre for Independent Studies is holding its big ideas forum tomorrow night at the Sydney Opera House. I'm going, as is a mate of mine with left-of-centre leanings. Hopefully, he'll be buying me some Turkish pide afterwards since I managed to secure him a ticket!

The topic of this forum is Protecting the Legacy of Freedom: The Ideas of The Enlightenment in the 21st Century. Among the last minute entries is pseudo-refugee queue-jumper, self-confessed migration fraudster and disgraced former Dutch far-Right MP Ayaan Hirsi Magaan (or, as she falsely wrote on her asylum application, Ayaan Hirsi Ali).

Ms Magaan's first book, The Caged Virgin, consists largely of speeches and articles written during her term as a Dutch MP. It's hard to tell how much of this is her own work. We all know that MP's often don't write their own speeches or even articles, but rather delegate this task to their staff. It certainly would be an interesting issue for a literary sleuth like Malcolm Knox or Hanifa Deen to investigate.

I interviewed Magaan during her last visit to Australia as a guest of the Sydney Writers' Festival. She has become a darling of the far-Right, lavished with praise by bloggers who would otherwise have despised her as a dangerous "Islamist". Cultural warriors have also treated her as the final word on the experiences, cultures and religious views of 1.3 billion people who regard themselves in some way as Muslim.

I'd be interested to see how this woman, whose presence in Europe is based on defrauding Dutch migration law, will talk about enlightenment. It will be interesting to know whether she still believes that faith schools should be closed down altogether and that those wishing to teach intelligent design be imprisoned.

Among other speakers at the forum are former speechwriter for former PM Gough Whitlam and now Chief Justice of the NSW Supreme Court Jim Spigelman and rightwing commentator apologist for the Iraq debacle Arthur Herman.

Also appearing are a Christchurch-based academic in music and an English sociologist who, like so many other cultural warriors, castigated the Archbishop of Canterbury in a manner which showed he clearly hadn't bothered to read Rowan Williams' speech first.

I doubt all the speakers will agree on exactly what the enlightenment was, is and should be. I'd love to see Arthur Herman defend the Iraq war before an Australian audience. Even more humorous will be seeing him call for the United States to become Israel's proxy by invading Iran. I guess his kids won't be risking their lives in any such military adventures.

If I am not mistaken, Justice Spigelman has a relative who has served on the front line in the Middle East. His Honour's views certainly don't reflect the kind of intellectual siege mentality so many on the alegedly conservative side are affected by. Indeed His Honour was one of the first Australian judges to publicly criticise the military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay.

Words © 2008 Irfan Yusuf


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MEDIA: Am I Enlightened?

I've just received my copy of the new-look glossy Illume magazine. Illume is an effort of a group of young American Muslims and gathers an impressive array of writers including Hesham Hassaballa, Zaid Shakir, Wajahat Ali and Shahed Amanullah, together with other writers whom I've not heard of and who are clearly much better than the ones I have!

Is that a fair assessment? Well, you'll have to subscribe to find out! Subscription is US$40 a year or US$72 for 2 years. If you're stupid and place no value on your brain cells, you will not subscribe.



One essay I'm looking forward to reading is Naeem Randhawa's Tea With The Taliban, an account of the author's 30 days in Afghanistan. The photos are fantastic. There's also an article by Antonio Graceffo on the Muslims of Cham in Cambodia, as well as an interview with New Yorker columnist Seymour Hersh.

Anyway, I'd better stop writing this post and start reading the magazine!



Words © 2008 Irfan Yusuf

COMMENT: Dudes and Hijabs …

I’ve just received a report about the Ayn Academy in Adelaide holding a conference to launch a book by Afroz Ali, a Sydney architect who claims to be a qualified imam with ijaza certificates kept at the Zaytuna Institute. Mr Ali's book is entitled UnVeiling Hijab.

Mr Ali’s biography on the Ayn Academy website includes a claim that he is “on the Board of Advisors at Markaz Aleem in Cairo, Egypt”. So what is this “Markaz Aleem”? What is its role in Islamic studies or in the accreditation of imams in Egypt? No details are given.

My concern isn’t so much with Afroz Ali’s claims about himself. At least, not in this post. Rather, I have another concern.

The issue of hijab is an extremely sensitive one. There are differing views on the subject. I have read various interpretations and rulings on the issue of women’s dress and the extent of their covering as required under the sharia or sacred law of Islam.

I have read views that state that women are required to cover their faces in the presence of non-mahram men (i.e. men whom they can marry) at all times except at the Haj. I have read views that state that women are required to cover everything except their face and hands in the presence of non-mahram men. I have read opinions that state that it is permissible for women to show the front part of their hair (as is common in South Asia, Central Asia and Iran). I have also read opinions that state that women need not cover their hair all the time in the presence of non-mahram men.

Each of these opinions has some scholarly basis. I have a preference for one of these views. However, I am not qualified to give any authoritative expression as to which view is correct.

And neither is Afroz Ali.

But there is another reason. Adelaide’s Muslim community, like that of Sydney and Melbourne, is going through a slight adjustment. A number of prominent Muslim women have chosen to cease wearing the hijab in public on a full time basis.

The choice of these women needs to be respected, whether we agree with their choice or not. Further, it is not for unqualified men with only rudimentary knowledge of Islamic sacred law to be writing on this issue.

I have every respect for Muslim sisters who choose to wear hijab, whether full-time or part-time. I also have every respect for sisters who choose not to.

Men have absolutely no idea how difficult it is walking out their front doors and being ambassadors of their faith in an environment when so much hatred is invested in that faith. We are living in a time when many people who claim to follow Jesus actively degrade and despise women who choose to dress like his mother just as much as (if not more than) they despise people who look like they might have been born in the Palestinian town of Bethlehem.

Muslim women need to be free to make their own choices. We may not agree with their choices, just as much as they may not agree with ours.

I’m no hadith scholar, but I do recall reading a hadith in which the prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him) remarked:

There will come a time when holding onto Islam will be harder than holding onto hot coals.

Are we in that time right now? I’m not sure.

I do know that making a commitment to wear the hijab is an enormous one. Many of our sisters last the distance. Some stop for a break before continuing. Some choose to walk on leaving the issue by the wayside.

The confusion in the metaphors I have used in the paragraph immediately preceding this one is but a partial indication of just how difficult this issue is. I think it is a matter that should be left to our sisters to decide among themselves. If they need our advice and opinion, we should offer it honestly and with respect. We should keep in mind just how difficult this issue is.

It might also make it easier if our men decided to wear some openly Muslim symbol or dress. Perhaps our lectures to women on hijab should be accompanied by lectures to men about wearing caps and/or kufiyyeh's and/or sporting beards. In the present environment, what’s good for the gander should be just as good for the goose.

I myself used to lecture sisters on wearing hijab. I even considered sisters who didn’t wear hijab to be inferior Muslims or not worth talking to. At one stage, I even stopped returning their salams. We all make mistakes. We live and we learn.

There are Muslim women making enormous sacrifices in the cause of human rights and civil liberties in their countries. They are women like Irene Khan and Shirin Ebadi. In Australia, Muslim women with or without hijab are making enormous contributions to Muslim communities and the broader Australian community.

Muslim women who choose to wear the hijab, whether on a full or part time basis, must be respected. Muslim women who choose not to must also be respected. Whether hijab is compulsory or not under Islamic sacred law should be left to qualified scholars prepared to outline the full extent of their qualifications and provide clear proof of same. Everyone else should just shut their mouths.

That includes both Irfan Yusuf and Afroz Ali.

Words © 2008 Irfan Yusuf