An Islamic Enlightenment
By Phyllis Chesler
( hors.asp?ID=3D1947)
_FrontPageMagazine.com_ () | March 9, 2007

Is Islam the problem, or can it be part of the solution? Can Islam be
reformed from within, or is Muslim violence and hatred due entirely to
the teachings and history of the Qur’an? These were some of the major
issues raised at the _Secular Islam Summit_
( Article.asp?ID=3D27090) in
St Petersburg, Florida, this week.

A landmark event, the summit brought together such brave and eloquent
defenders of freedom and conscience as the scholar Ibn Warraq (his nom
de guerre); Iranian exile and activist Banafasheh Zand-Bonazzi; Austin
Dacy of the Center for Inquiry; as well as many other Muslim and
ex-Muslim dissidents.
Most were incredible orators, some were entertainers, others were deep
and mournful thinkers. They included:
* Egyptian-born Dr. Tawfik Hamid, who was once a "colleague" of Osama
bin Laden’s second in command, Al-Zawahiri.
* The Gandhi-like Dr. Shahriar Kabir, Bangladesh’s leading human
rights activist.
* Tashbih Sayeed, Pakistan’s foremost opponent of radical Islam, a man
of few, but fiery words.
* Dr. Afshin Ellian, an Iranian professor in exile in Holland, a close
friend of Aayan Hirsi Ali, and a man of genial wit and wide-ranging
knowledge. * Egyptian-Palestinian-American author, _Nonie Darwish_
( s/authors.asp?ID=3D1176) , a
warm but absolutely uncompromising thinker and speaker.
* Syrian-American psychiatrist, _Wafa Sultan_
() , the woman who became
instantly famous for her _debate_
( =3D1050) on Al-Jazeera TV. A
small, trim woman, she is a towering speaker, theatrically thrilling
and passionate.

Indeed, there were so many excellent speakers that I cannot do them
all justice here. For now, let me focus on only two. The opening
speeches were delivered by Ibn Warraq, a consummate intellectual and
committed secularist, and Irshad Manji, the best-selling author and a
onetime master of the spunky sound bite who is now a bit more moderate
and modest in tone.

Ibn Warraq spoke of the dangers that Muslims in the Islamic world face
for speaking the truth about Islam, including prison, torture, exile
and death. Proving his point was the fact that a number of invitees
to the summit from Egypt, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia did not attend after
receiving one too many death threats or after being told that their
families would be targeted if they chose to attend. Most writers have
been stopped in their tracks by such Muslim-on-Muslim repression.

Warraq explained that he wants an Islamic "Enlightenment," a la John
Stuart Mill, rather than a "Reformation," which he considers mere
tinkering. He believes that Western values are universal, although he
felt that most human rights initiatives within the West, including the
Human Rights Commission in Geneva, are "hopeless" and will not push
sovereign Muslim tyrannies toward reform. He mourned the fact that the
West continues to "apologize for colonialism and racism" and that
Turkey still "refuses to acknowledge the Armenian genocide."

A running theme of Ibn Warraq’s remarks was the unjust treatment of
Muslims in Islamic countries. For instance, he insisted that
"protecting non-Muslims in Muslim societies" is crucial and can "lead
to pluralism and tolerance for Muslims as well." He called for a
"legal recourse" within the Islamic world for the widespread denial of
freedom of speech. He "demanded the re-writing of anti-American,
anti-Israel, and anti-Jewish text-books, especially in Saudi Arabia
and Egypt,’ adding that he considers such hatred "scandalous." Warraq
also implored "women’s groups in the West to defend Muslim women"
under siege.

In this connection, he assailed the "inconsistency and hypocrisy of
the "western multi-culturalists, including feminists" and stated that
the "lawof the western secular state must override religious law when
religious law denies basic human rights." Some European police — he
mentioned Sweden in particular — still return the victims of family
violence to the families that will kill them. In his view, the "rights
of women are central to Islamic reform.’

Warraq summed up his views on reform with the following credo: "No to
female genital mutilation; no to forced and polygamous marriage; no to
gender separatism."

Irshad Manji spoke next. She began with the wise observation that
"courage is not the absence of fear but the recognition that some
things are more important than fear." Manji, whose entourage included
a young woman in hijab, described herself as a "person of faith but
not a dogmatist." Manji found support for her moderation in a quote
from the Qur’an, which "tells us to oppose your family" when the truth
or true inner struggle is at stake. She pointed out that the "Qur’an
says nothing about the proper form of government," which suggests that
Islam should remain a private faith, not a political movement or a
government.

In Manji’s opinion, "this silence is deliberate and gives us room to
experiment with a different form of government." Calling for "Muslim
pluralism,’ Manji decried theocratic governments. In this regard,
Manji commented that someone "should tell President Bush that he
should not have empowered the theocrats in Iraq."

Manji proved an equal opportunity critic. She castigated "missionary
atheists" who are so "angry that they resemble religious
fundamentalists."At the same time, she criticized those Muslims who
are so "submissive to authority that they cannot stand up to (unjust
or tyrannical) authority." Agreeing with Ibn Warraq about the
universal nature of human rights, she condemned the popular view that
we are "not supposed to criticize another culture" if weare not part
of it.

Manji shared Warraq’s view that "more Muslims have been raped,
tortured and murdered by other Muslims than by westerners." Moreover,
she suggested that those in the Islamic world who make this argument
have not considered its full implications. How can we "criticize the
military culture in Guantanamo if we are ourselves are not military
personnel? And, how can Muslims criticize American foreign policy if
they are not American citizens?"

Finally, she made a point that I have made many times — and which has
gotten me demonized as a `racist’ — namely, that so-called western
"anti-racists" are really acting as "racists" when they hold Muslims
to lower standards out of some misguided notion of respect.

There was much more on offer at the summit. Other subjects of
discussion included the war between Sunni and Shiia Muslims; the
nature of jihad; andthe Islamic Caliphate. It is worth noting that the
tenor of the week was very different from what many have come to
expect from conferences on Islam. Nearly every single speaker spoke up
for Israel and for Jews, pointing out that both have been terribly
abused by the Islamic world, as has the West in general. The
conference also presented a declaration in English, Arabic, Bengali
and Persian. which may be viewed in English at
_http://www.secularislam.org_ ().

One might think that the western media would have flocked to the
summit in droves. It’s not every day, after all, that Muslim reformers
and dissidents gather for a forthright discussion about the troubles
of Islam and the Islamic world. Such was not the case. Both the
Associated Press and NPR promised to come but did not show.

To be sure, there were some notable exceptions to the media blackout
— CNN’s Glenn Beck devoted an entire hour to interviews with
conference speakers; Bret Stephens covered it for the Wall Street
Journal as did Jay Tolson for U.S. News and World Report and Christina
Hoff-Sommers for The Weekly Standard — but the various papers of
record in New York, Washington, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles were, to
the best of my knowledge, missing in action.

Curiously, both al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya, not previously known for
their support of Islamic reform, covered the conference, which aired
live and in Arabic. It is an unhappy irony that these noble dissidents
should face ostracism and grave danger in Muslim lands and only to be
similarly ignored by the Western intelligentsia and media.

Nonetheless, the summit was a remarkable success. As a participant, I
was privileged to stand in solidarity with these dissidents. They are
our besthope in the fight to win hearts and minds.