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Religious Book Store > Religious books beginning with W
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Western Muslims and the Future of Islam |
Author: Tariq Ramadan
Published: 2005-09-15 |
List price: $19.99
Our price: $17.99
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As of: January 06th, 2009 05:39:26 AM
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Customer comments on this selection.
 Abode of Testimony....
This book is divided into two parts:
It is in Part A, entitled "A Universe of Reference" that the book really shines. Ramadan uses Islamic sources, the Quran, authentic hadiths, as well as tools of Islamic jurisprudence such as Maslaha (the common good) and ijtihad (independent reasoning) to set aside meaningless historical concepts such as "Dar al Harb" [abode of war] and "Dar al Islam" [abode of Islam] and come up with the simple, rather obvious, but revolutionary concept: Western countries are "Dar al-Shahada" or, area of testimony. Basically, the task of Muslims in the West is to express the Shahada, the creed that "There is no God but God, and Muhammad (s) is His Messenger" not only in word, but in deed (no easy task, as Ramadan makes clear.) Such an attitude requires becoming intimately involved in Western society, understanding the Western mindset, and actively participating in civic engagement. We can not sit around and depend on fatwas being given from the Islamic world by some scholar who has never lived in the West, and therefore has no idea of Western concepts and thinking. To truly bear witness to the One God in one's society, one has to be BOTH fully a Westerner AND a Muslim- not choose between one or another. I give this part of the book 5 stars.
In the second part of the book, part B, "The Meaning of Engagement," Ramadan tries to lay out how Muslims should engage themselves in the West, keeping in mind their primary task of bearing witness to the One God by acts and deeds. He explores Muslim engagement in topics such as "Spirituality and Emotions", Islamic Education, "Social Commitment and Political Participation", "Economic Resistance", and "Interreligious Dialogue." Defining the proper Islamic engagement in each of these areas, much less all of them, is a huge undertaking, and as Ramadan repeatedly stresses, can only be done properly by taking into account one's context. Thus, appropriate Islamic Education, or political participation, or interreligious dialog will wary from America to Europe, and from region to region, and from town to town. However, because of these limitations, Ramadan is limited to offering interesting insights, but not much in the way of solutions or guidelines. For example, I wholeheartedly agree with the need for Muslims to resist and offer REAL alternatives to the murderous and unjust economic order, and the need for Muslims to be educated BOTH in Islam and in Western civic engagement (including lessons in Western history, philosophy, etc). Ramadan rightly claims that many solutions that have so far been promoted (Islamic banking, Islamic schools, etc) are superficial solutions, which may help Muslims feel that they have followed 'the letter of Islamic law' but do nothing to actually improve our societies. However, Ramadam himself is not able to offer much in the way of solutions or guidelines as to how to achieve aims such as a just economic order, or proper education. Ultimately, this section feels incomplete, with the reader wanting more. I give this part of the book 3 stars.
 The patch can't fix it!
As a former Muslim, I see that Westernizing Islam is like putting a "patch" ruq3ah on a worn down outfit in the hope that it would be usable once again. Westernized Islam sounds good in theory, but theory is one thing and practical application is another. How can we overlook the spirit of Islam that is embedded in the text of the Quran that is perceived as non-negotiable by humans if Allah and His Messenger has prescribed a statute of some kind?! A Muslim can't easily chop out the ninth chapter of the Quran in order to Westernize Islam and thus come up with a dandy version of Islam. That is wishful thinking. That is why I abandoned Islam.
 Another excellent work by Mr Ramadan
Thanks again to Mr. Ramadan for keeping the door and the dialoge open on a very pressing and important issue for many of us "Western" Muslims. As a new Muslim woman from Latin America living in the USA I find each day many of the issues presented by Mr Ramadan, thanks to his inside, I am able to better undertand my role in this society while living and embracing the "true" Islamic identity and tradition. Thanks also for the great lessons learned with "In the Footsteps of the Prophet". Thanks for the loving and unsugared portrait of the Prophet you presented in this excellent book , it did touch my heart.
Hard thinking man arrives at refreshing vision
Ramadan is a serious thinker, devoted to making a difference. He takes both his faith and his Western homeland seriously, and this for him is a single commitment to God and his neighbors. His concern is the quality of life in the future world order. And his vision for the potential contributions of Western Muslims is refreshing.
Where many Muslims assume that the practices of other cultures are ungodly unless proven otherwise, Ramadan turns such logic around. Like Imam Malik, he argues that all customs (urf) or institutions which "seek the good" (istislah) are valid, and should not be rejected unless they specifically violate a moral prohibition of the Quran and Sunna. In that case the challenge to Western Muslims is like that faced by the first Muslims in mainly non-Islamic Mecca, or by the biblical Joseph in Egypt - how to inspire better human relations, and improve care for society's needs.
Ramadan sees a special responsibility falling on Muslims in the West. Working within Western institutions yet maintaining real ties to the non-Western world, these believers have a chance to serve as a voice of conscience. In a world order of profound inequality, many Western Muslims have both the hope and the opportunity to make a difference. And to grasp that opportunity they must act as full-citizens, taking responsibility for building better institutions in cooperation with non-Muslims of goodwill. As Ramadan explores the possibilities for economic, political and cultural life, the future seems ever more interesting.
Citizen Muslim
Islamic philosopher Tariq Ramadan asks a fundamental question. Is it possible for a devout Muslim living here to also be a responsible and loyal American? As a member of what Ramadan calls the Other, I find it disturbing it even needs to be asked. It isn't trivial and Ramadan doesn't ask it on behalf of Muslims. He asks it of Muslims because they ask it of themselves. We have people living among us who are unsure of the answer, millions of them apparently, some of them second and third generation Americans. More than a few have concluded the answer is no. Their devotion to Islam supersedes and is incompatible with any duty to their adopted country. The question cuts to the heart of what Americans have been asking since 9/11. What on earth are these people so angry about and what in heavens name does it have to do with us? In attempting to answer Ramadan directs his comments to those Muslims living in the West for whom religion is at the center of daily life, Muslims who are struggling with a very real identity crisis. Ramadan isn't proposing an interfaith dialogue, though he thinks one is important. He is proposing an intra-faith dialogue. He wants to reopen a debate that has been closed for a thousand years.
At issue is the long held Islamic view of a world divided into two parts, dar al-Islam and dar al-harb, the abode of submission and the abode of war. This view didn't originate in the Koran or with the Prophet. It was developed later by Islamic scholars to offer a code of conduct for Muslims living in or traveling through areas not subject to Islamic rule, places where any exercise of an alien religion was usually restricted and often prohibited. Muslims in these conditions were called not to compromise their faith, to remain apart, at all costs to avoid assimilating. Sometime around the 10th century it became pretty much accepted dogma throughout Islam. It still is. It is a view that has been noted with alarm by modern Western commentators. It is at the root of the attitude among many Muslims to reject as un-Islamic all things Western. Ramadan argues that the doctrine can and should be revised in light of changed circumstance. It is no longer an appropriate view of Europe or of North America because in the modern West the Muslim is free to practice his religion.
Ramadan draws an all-important distinction between faith and culture. Islam requires Muslims to dress modestly but exactly how that applies in different societies is open to interpretation. There is also a difference between what is required by law and what is permitted. That alcohol may be legal does not force one to drink. There may be occasions when civil law presses an individual to violate his conscience, to participate say in an unjust war, but those occasions are rare and there are ways for Muslims to deal with them short of outright rejection of the offending legal system. Islam has adapted to differing cultures before. Indonesians are very different from Pakistanis and they can both be authentically Islamic.
This all seems obvious to us, the Other. That it does not seem obvious to so many Muslims is incomprehensible. Americans are accustomed to immigrants. We expect them to become naturalized, take their citizenship seriously, participate fully in our society, make it their own, even take on leadership roles. Ramadan wants his fellow Muslims to do that too, and he believes they will. He certainly believes they can, and without compromising their religion.
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