thoughts of a synthetic muzlem

mairaj is one of my most thought provoking friends... in a discussion about organizing a women in islam conference he said: "my question to the social activists is this: how are going to go change the world, when you have very little of an idea of what you want to change the world into, other than a knee-jerk idiosynchratic intuition?" ...hmmm... i embrace my knee-jerk idiosyncratic intuition, its what makes me an american-muslim. i am not a simple follower who's got all the motions memorized, fearing and rejecting any deviatiation. i am not a scientist who works purely from reason and logic. Rumi awakened me to a healthy distrust of the intellect alone. my intuition is what makes me ME.... i am an indo-pak american-muslim i AM synthesis. everything i do will be systhesis. and to make sense of my world, i've quite conciously generated a classification of my society for myself. and i do try to accept knowledge from the various classifications which may contribute to a better understanding of the world i live in. but i have become more critical of the particular things i gain knowledge of, and i do understand that the knowledge i get is limited by the classificational(is that a word?) restraints of the particular source... mairaj said that "in order to synthesize the different strands of your experience into something that doesn't compromise or dilute the product, the inputs have got to be of nearly the same quality." he definately has a point, i will try to keep my synthesizational exercizes limited to within the classifications, of course realizing that my classifications could be flawed to begin with. a good systhesis is like the micheal brook and nusrat fateh ali khan album (its hard for me to stay abstract for too long), where two types came together flawlessly to create a beautiful new type. it can be argued that the purity of a unique original should not be tampered with because it is already beautiful, but we are dealing with human invention where nothing is pure and all is sythesis anyways, you just have to know enough history to prove it and gain enough knowledge to do it right.... mairaj said "At times we've got to let go of our past, regardless of the sentimental attachment we have to it, as this is what is in the best interests of our people and our religion." ...he's got a point, but who knows, maybe its destined by the stars for me to be unable to let go, i am a libra. i read a funny astrology book at urban outfitters (don't worry i said my shahadah again after i read it), it mentioned a difficulty of letting go of past loves. funny, i'm back to being a local youth group advisor again. and yes, it could be seen as problematic by some that a lingering love for activism and power (thats right, i'll admit it, i wouldn't mind having power, so what?) exists side by side with a new found love for seeking knowledge. but this particular struggle to help my community value its women is not about synthesizing in my own desires (wait, maybe it is and maybe i need to do it) and its definately not about synthesizing my classification of my society. its about communication - plain and simple. a civilization begins with it. and that is what i have a burning desire to establish. communication between my scholars and leaders and activists. i just want more love, is that so wrong?? peace.

knowledge power action

i want to exercise my pathetic intellect a little... during a discussion about organizing a conference on the subject of women's rights and islam, mairaj said: "...We need to get out of the habit of seeing a conference, or lecture, or anything else as something that will confirm what we already know... and as merely a vehicle for social activism. This comes from our obsession with power." ...ok, so there is a mingling of a desire for power in this desire for change. so what! we all have our faults? can't it be seen as a natural human desire arising in those to whom power has been made inaccessible? maybe arising out of our fitra nature that probably wants to worship allah without being oppressed - power is considered a major human attribute isn't it? and what if we really need a social change in this specific area right now (my neice is growing up fast)? true we also need intellectually stimulating conferences and dialogues to gain knowledge for the sake of knowledge. i'm down with that for sure. i'd love to see one on modern quranic cosmology/metaphysics; or how about theology in light of new empirical knowledge; and what about the emergence of an american usul al fiqh; or hadith criticism in light of modern research methods... we have all sorts of subjects out there in the intellectual world of islam that can use some more collective thought. i myself love history, i was hyped about going to the Rumi conference a couple months back, and if someone organizes something on Ibn Rushd, sign me up! but the subject of women in islam has got some major social baggage and a sense of urgency that comes with it, don't some things fall out of the realm of knowledge for the sake of knowledge alone? ...when it comes to the issue of women, don't we have enough knowledge already to be able to move on to dealing with some of that baggage of the here and now. for the sake of our community, for the sake of my neice or the girls in that islamic school class i teach. ...anyways, i'm finding it REALLY HARD to separate these things in the case of women's rights - knowledge for its own sake vs. for the sake of social change vs. a desire for power. plus, the potential for violent sectarianism exists on this issue: imagine marchs led by disgruntled women being physically confronted by the ignorant who fear what they do not know; or muslim women who take off the hijab being assaulted by renegade muslim activists and the majority of leaders giving the "we are totally against this vicious attack, but..." type of whack statements. this sort of sh..tuff is happening in muslim countries right now, and i fear it will happen in our generation in our own masjids to people WE know. am i wrong? ...maybe we really do need more intellectual studies, books, and scholarly conferences on this subject first, before we act. but, if we go that direction, when do we act? do i sacrifice the potential hijab crisis that these 12-13 year old girls in my class will face for the sake of more knowledge? do i consider it not my problem? true, i have no guarantee that this one act, this conference we organize, is going to lead to any actual changes. regardless, mairaj brings up a good point. and I really think there needs to be a survey prepared, for us to ask our scholars and leaders to help us activists figure this one out; to finalize the nature of the activity we should organize for them. maybe they are ready for action or maybe they want to add more to the knowledge we have on the subject before they/we act, it should be up to them, up to our invited scholars.... mairaj went on to say: "...Although the more I read, the more I realize that real revolutionary change in a society is intimately related to the quality and calibre of intellectual discourse supported by that society (regardless of whether it is seen as 'elitist'), and not necessarily connected to a sloganistic mobilization of the 'masses.' " ... OK, let me use a non-human example to figure this one out: the invention of the car brought about a real revolutionary change in society. but it would not have happened if the society did not allow for a revolutionary thought in a technological discourse among inventors, building a car is definately something different from a political or socio-economic revolution for a social cause like the issue of equality. (although indirectly cars did make major changes in the social structure of our urban geography which had an effect on the actual lives of the masses). anyways... history is filled with examples like this. if america did not encourage and reward invention, we would not have the car. i dizzy when thinking of the calibre of experimental thought and technological invention our society supports. maybe not as much as europe in some areas but a whole lot more than sudan or pakistan. i agree completely with mairaj.... i drift.... thoughts twist and turn... my lighting design class takes over my mind... refractory flourescent lamp reflector casings catalog#JT824332GFSA123EB8120FO735 wow.. to much for me to digest... soo much thinking... must take a puff....... exhale... i lose myself... oooh yeaaah.. thoughts of that mystikal dancing smoke... this majik hooqa is cookin'... rose flavor to delight my senses.... SNAP out of it asad!!! ...so i guess as invention needs a backdrop to happen. so too in dialogue for a social reform a backdrop must exist and maybe it does not exist in our muslim community? is that the first step? having the backdrop, the ideal environment where thoughts are flying in from the world of ideas into the world of reality? how will this state of affairs come to exist?... this ideal environment were people would be able to come up with new thoughts about a muslim civilization and these thoughts being accepted by... those who make policy decisions, those who do business, those who teach the next generation, those who run our mosques and madrasas? i for one do want an environment where we have developments in thought, regardless of them being intended to lead to revolution or purely for the sake of an advancement in knowledge. how will this happen? maybe the social activist or religious community leader has no role in this. who does? maybe this is the real goal for any event organized on the topic of women. not the topic itself. but a step in the direction of us having this open environment for thought. hmmm... my mind wanders off again... what is my social environment?: -#1 some can see us as a sub-community (muslim) of a community (innovative americans) which actually already has this environment and the reaction we fear may only be temporary... -#2 some can see us as a sub-community (american) of a community (defeated-ass muslims) where this mentality becomes a major problem for the development of thought... -#3 but i see us as a sub-community (innovative american) of a community (defeated-ass muslims) where our innovative setting and education can overcome most of the problems that cause the hinderance of thought among muslims in general... any way you look at it: our next generation will be more american. maybe we just need to keep the language of arabic, the identity of being a muslim, and instilling in our youth a desire to know the truth. the stage will be set. pick your issue and revolutionary thought will happen. SNAP out of it asad!... back to this women in islam event, bringing together the intellectuals who think about this subject and the preachers and leaders who set the stage for how muslims should think. can bring about a change in the muslim environment, opening it up in many ways. but here i am preoccupied with change again... mairaj said: "So even if we are pre-occupied with changing the world, at the cost of first trying to reflect upon it and understand it, we are all going about it the wrong way. This is purely a pragmatic consideration: what methods are most effective in initiating social change. Look at the heydey of any society and civilization, and you will indefinately find a constant -- an almost worshipful reverence towards the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake." ...i understand what he is saying, but what do i do? now i have a desire for there to be a reverence for a pursuit of knowledge in my community, great!, thanks a lot! now what? i WILL go on and advance my own knowledge, by myself, alone in the library or with a like minded friend. i will just do it, think it, say it, and maybe risk being turned out of my ignorant community. is there any use in trying to demonstrate to my imam or msa president or to my old-school activist friend that my Radical Muslim Thought Experiment is really nothing to fear? that it is in fact exactly what we need and we should embrace it, and just like there is no reason to fear me(a fellow activist and muslim), there is also no reason to fear the muslim thought experiments coming from others who are unknown folks with muslim names that we have never seen before in our community - will they listen? is it too late to get them to accept this sort of change? maybe it IS just a waste to worry about being accepted by the community to which i once belonged? leave them to their own designs and just concentrate on my radical thoughts and the 13-14 year olds in my islamic school class. these choices are hard as hell. especially for me.... for now i know what i want: i want an environment that can accept radical thoughts. i want power. thats right, so what! i'll make an attempt to get our leaders and preachers to embrace radical thought.