Naeem's Blog

I’ve been recently listening to Sh. Imran Hosein and I must say that I find many of his teachings very much resonating with my personal thoughts. And so, as part of my ongoing contribution to the world, I will write up some posts summarizing a few of his lectures. Let me begin with a most beautiful explanation he has given of the first four verses of Sura al-Layl:

Consider the night as it veils in darkness, (92:1)
and the day as it rises bright! (92:2)
Consider the creation of the male and the female! (92:3)
Verily, you aim at most divergent ends! (92:4)

The night and the day are presented as two separate entities, followed immediately by a seemingly unrelated verse mentioning the creation of man and woman. It concludes with a proclamation that man (as he is commonly understood to be the subject of the verse) is full of diversity in his work.

In Sh. Imran’s understanding, the presentation of the day and the night is, in fact, directly linked to the creation of man and woman. As different as are the day and the night, so too are man and woman. The day with his sultry brightness is the period of toil and work. The night with her mysterious darkness is the place of cool comfort and serenity.

The day is naturally attracted to the night and the night to the day. When the day approaches the night, the skyline reflects the universal change in mood. The day calms himself in preparation for the night’s warm welcome. All the hustle and bustle found in the blazing heat of the day is brought to a soothing end.

As the day turns to dusk and the dusk turns to night, the tender embrace of the night overtakes the sluggish day. Once the day enters the night, he succumbs to her alluring influence and takes a backseat. The night reigns supreme within her domain.

And when the time comes for the day to leave, the night refuses to let him go quietly. She slowly releases the day, one ray at a time, until finally the day breaks free of her comforting grasp and goes back to work.

Presented as such, it becomes clear how the phenomenon of the day and night translates to the Quranic understanding of the relationship between man and woman.

What remains clear throughout this reading is that each of these creations of Allah (swt) are exceptionally unique. The day can never become the night (and vice versa) nor can man ever become woman (and vice versa). And if there was any doubt, the fourth verse puts it to rest by explicitly declaring that the functions of man and woman are separate. They are not to be confused nor mixed up. Just as the day and the night are complementary yet completely distinctive, so too are the roles of man and women.

Now let us see what would happen if the roles were to become distorted. If the night became the province of work (or other activities) with the day being used primarily for sleep, the result would be society-wide chaos. It's been proven, for the most part, that individuals working extended stints in the graveyard shift suffer a variety of medical conditions. Besides work, other types of nocturnal activities, in conjunction with the lack of sleep, undoubtedly result in lowered productivity and effectiveness. And finally Ben Franklin must have known what he was talking about when he coined the phrase ‘Early to bed, Early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.’ (smile)

Another noteworthy point in the interpretation of these verses is that neither the day nor the night can claim superiority – both are equally essential to maintain the natural balance. Only a fool would declare the day more important than the night. And only a vampire would declare the night more important than the day.

And so, one can easily deduce the Quranic view on claims of male (or female) superiority.

Many may question or even denounce such an unorthodox reading, but I found it extremely enlightening and very much in line with the ever-flowing wisdom found in the spiritually refreshing fountains of the Quran.

My friend Marc Manley responded to my recent post on the scourge of Secular Capitalist Islam for which I’m greatly honored. Its always nice to get critical feedback, whether in the form of comments on my blog, emails in my Inbox, or dedicated blog posts.

So I will respond to his response in kind – with a post of my own.

I will begin with a clarification, one that I feel is a bit unnecessary. I made overarching generalizations in my original post. I realize that. But it should have been clear that everything I stated is applicable to those cases where the ‘shoe fits’.

I am completely aware of the existence of American Muslims who are NOT giving in to the secular capitalistic way of life and are NOT willing to sacrifice any Islamic principles in the molding of their American Muslim identity. They have not deceived themselves into believing in the validity of the Secular Capitalist Islam that I spoke of so critically. They are not the target of my critique.

Did I really need to explicitly state that? I guess so.

Now, let me address the contentions of the good brother, beginning with his comparison of American Islam in its infancy to the growing pains that Muslims must have gone through in ‘traditional’ Muslim outlets such as Egypt, Morocco, or Pakistan.

“It is very easy and convenient to think of Egypt as a Muslim country now, but what was Egypt’s transition like, from a non-Muslim polity to a Muslim one? What struggles did Egypt have to go through to negotiate this transformation? Even to this day, there are folk holidays still in practice such as Shams an-Nasim.”

In my original post, I alluded to this point when I stated that “[American Islam] is NOT Islamic with simply an American twist, like what may be found in China or Indonesia or Africa – those instances of Islam were never born in such a hostile environment (to Islam in specific and religion in general), necessitating great conciliatory gestures from its followers”.

I am convinced that when Islam was introduced in the cases that I mentioned as well as Marc’s examples it was a completely different experience than what we are witnessing in America. The power politics were simply not the same, which makes the comparison between then and now as day and night.

Historically, Muslims never entered into a land except as victors. They never suffered from inferiority complexes. They rode into those lands with their heads high and their core values even higher. The indigenous non-Muslim masses were scrambling to adopt the ways of the Muslims in order to “jump on the bandwagon” of the winning side.

Need I ask, who is jumping on whose bandwagon nowadays?

And in those rare cases, where they were not the conquering force (e.g. Indonesia), they were not entering a hostile environment, where their beliefs were being demonized and their traditions were being belittled. Theirs was a pre-modern time where principled religious beliefs were celebrated and embraced, in stark contrast to the current-day atmosphere which finds an anti-religion secular worldview proudly boasted in America.

In such challenging circumstances, where not only Islam, but religion in general is under attack, how can American Islam be nurtured and allowed to blossom *on its own terms*? In such a charged environment, where American Muslims are told to choose a side, how can American Islam genuinely develop its own character? It is naïve to remove the political context from the equation when analyzing the introduction of Islam into new lands.

The other point that Marc brought up was the typical counter-argument presented whenever Muslims in America are criticized – “Well, look at the Muslims in [choose any Muslim country]. They’re even worse than us!”

Living here in Riyadh, I’ll be the first to admit that crass consumerism has hit the shores of Saudi Arabia in a disgusting way. And sadly, this is the case all over the Muslim world. Muslims are falling over each other to talk, walk, dress, and act like their Hollywood heroes. The ‘tradition’ of the West, as glorified in the media and the web, is being replicated all over the Muslim world.

But the key difference is that Muslims in these lands are not sacrificing their Islamic identity in pursuit of this hollow lifestyle. As repulsive as it may be to see Muslims opting for gaudy Bentleys and Guccis, jet-setting in Europe, and clubbing in Dubai, no one is attempting to incorporate these social mores into a new flavor of Islam.

And that is my greatest fear – an Islam that has taken such conciliatory steps in order to assimilate with its adopted culture that it has sacrificed core Islamic principles.

Yes, all the illnesses found in American Muslims are becoming apparent in Muslims around the world. But these other Muslims are not in the formative stage of their Islamic identity, this most critical stage in the development of a child, a people, or a civilization. These other Muslims have centuries of Islamic tradition to fall back on, when faced with a philosophical crisis. These other Muslims have Islamic institutions built on principles of truth, not compromise. These other Muslims never had to concern themselves with conflicting loyalties between their adopted nation and their deen.

What of the American Muslims?

As I was coming into my personal Islamic awareness many years ago, I was convinced that the light of Islam would reignite itself from within America, similar to how Prophet Musa (as) was raised and reared in the house of Pharoah. Back then, I viewed the Muslim world as backwards and in need of serious guidance – which American Muslims, stripped of cultural baggage and historical hiccups, would readily provide them.

But recently, I’ve begun to feel serious disillusionment with this entire “American Islam”* project.

Maybe it’s all the desperate talk of Islam being compatible with western democracy, which is in actuality a crooked corporatocracy.

Maybe it’s the post 9-11 lulling that saw so many Muslims tone down their stance against American's secular hedonistic ways and imperialistic aspirations out of fear of sounding unpatriotic.

Maybe it’s the unfounded need by American Muslims (under immense pressure from MSM and the American military industry) to constantly denounce terrorism and the unfortunate extension of this condemnation to now include Islamists, who, although having never partaken in acts of terrorism, have nonetheless incurred their wrath.

Maybe it’s the convenient acceptance by many American Muslims of principles of gender relations as understood by Western society, relegating centuries of Islamic tradition on the role of men and women to history’s dustbin.

Maybe it’s the glaring dilution of the Islamic concept of Jihad, or worse, its deliberate suppression altogether.

Maybe it’s the callous attitude of American Muslims striving for the American dream while participating in a system that is ravaging the entire world, politically, militarily, economically, and environmentally.

Maybe it’s the unquestioning adoption of capitalistic maxims which finds American Muslims enslaved by their struggles for better jobs, bigger homes, and nicer cars – all the while claiming to be adhering to the Sunnah of our Prophet (saw).

Whatever it is that’s causing my unease, my dear brother Yursil captured my feelings quite well with his recent posts on Suburban Capitalist Islam (Part 1 and Part 2). While he didn’t address all my grievances, he did well to introduce a long list of oddities found in American Islam.

I particularly like his characterization of American Muslims as naively accepting of their adopted culture, as long as it doesn’t outwardly contradict any Islamic teaching. This includes the whole McDonalds, blue jeans, and Hollywood outlook of American culture. The widely accepted view is that American Islam can be formulated by simply weeding out the haram components of American culture and freely embracing what remains.

The problem is that the ethos of these remains is not Islamic.

The result is not American Islam, but a twisted version that I prefer to call Secular Capitalist Islam (taken from Yursil's term 'Suburban Capitalist Islam'). This Islam is primarily American, with an Islamic veneer, not the other way around. It is NOT Islamic with simply an American twist, like what may be found in China or Indonesia or Africa – those instances of Islam were never born in such a hostile environment (to Islam in specific and religion in general), necessitating great conciliatory gestures from its followers:

Change can only come about by way of assimilation and integration - otherwise, we will be deemed foreigners, anarchists, or terrorists.
The interest-based banking system is too entrenched to be questioned – the best we can do is minimize our exposure.
The educational system is our fast-track to success, regardless of any negative socio-intellectual repercussions.
Mixing politics with religion is taboo.
Scaling the corporate ladder is the only way to prosperity.
Gluttonously living beyond our means is completely acceptable.
All technological advances must be blindly embraced, regardless of socio-spiritual impact.
All forms of entertainment (adapted to Islamic mores, of course) are a necessary release from the pressures accumulated in daily life - this includes movies, music, sports, vacations, etc.
Environmentalism is about reducing our ecological footprint, not reducing our consumption.

These are the views underlying Secular Capitalist Islam, the core of which is fundamentally at odds with the Quranic worldview. And no amount of window dressing can alter this reality.

Just like most everything else in American culture, we’ve opted for the drive-thru version of actualizing Islam in America. Our instant recipe consists of slapping on a hijab or growing a beard, implementing the personal acts of worship, meekly presenting Islam to our friends and coworkers, and attending feel-good weekend Islamic programs, all the while diving headfirst into the American way of life.

And yes, I am aware of the American Muslim mantra that we have greater religious freedom in the West than our counterparts in the Muslim world. That may be true. And if it is, it makes the sin of Secular Capitalist Islam even more egregious. For instead of using this freedom to become moral leaders in the West and challenge the status quo, American Muslims have chosen passivity and integration, fearful of the repercussions of speaking out.

Where is the sacrifice that is inherent in the declaration of Tauheed and rejection of Taghut?

Where is the sacrifice that is inherent in the proclamation of love for the Prophet (saw)?

Sadly, Secular Capitalist Islam has replaced these sacred endeavors with the very profane struggle for the American dream.

In part 2, I want to discuss the legacy our children will be inheriting from us, the founding fathers of Secular Capitalist Islam.
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*I place the term in quotes because I’m not comfortable with creating varying flavors of Islam, but since the term is commonly used by so many American Muslims, I’ve stuck with it.

In my constant struggle to raise my children in this very chaotic world, I have found myself consistently battling the fitnah of the television. I simply haven't had the fortitude to throw it away.

Pathetic, I know.

When we were in the US and my two older kids were younger, we didn't have cable, so they would only watch PBS cartoons and animated movies (I am scarred for life after watching 'Spirit' 10,000 times).

Then we moved to our compound here in KSA where Cartoon Network and Disney Channel were freely available. So the kids began watching a variety of cartoon shows (without those dreaded commercials that are often worse than the show itself).

You see, I've always restricted my children to only watching animated cartoons, never allowing them to watch sitcoms or movies with real actors. That was my way of restricting the influence of television.

Or so I thought.

When I started seeing the content of the cartoons they were watching, I became extremely disgusted. Shows like Kim Possible had the lead character, a female tween who moonlighted as a spy, always sporting a croptop, exposing her midriff while struggling with a dorky family and typical boyfriend issues.

Another popular show, Ben 10, made light of the constant bickering between the lead character, Ben, and his cousin Gwen. They would regularly insult each other and try their best to get the other in trouble - unfortunate traits that soon began to manifest themselves in my two older kids.

I realized that the good ol' days of the Smurfs, Transformers, and Voltron were long gone.

So, I decided to turn off the TV and replaced it with a weekly movie. I would get the latest Pixar or Disney movie on DVD and make it an event with pizza and ice cream. Can't go wrong with that, eh?

Yeah, right.

While I always realized that these feature films had underlying messages, I never considered them to be so pernicious. Probably because I was older when I began watching them (we never watched such animated films in my childhood) and simply laughed off the silliness of every woman finding her white knight.

However, I am now faced with my young impressionable children being exposed to extremely questionable morals subtly injected into these supposedly innocent cartoon movies.

Like the film, Shark Tale, that glorified the vegetarian shark choosing his alternate lifestyle and 'coming out' as a dolphin. Or Mulan's defiant stance against authority. Or the racial stereotypes like the Arab accent of the villains in Aladdin (while the good guys had normal American accents) and the hyenas in Lion King voiced by an Afro-American and Latino.

I think it naive on my part to assume that my children will not be negatively affected by these messages.

For example, almost every animated movie revolves around some love-story component. Do I need to expose my daughter to such fantasies, where the pinnacle of every girl's dream is to find her prince charming? Do I want my son to believe that adult authority is inept and always to be questioned - even rejected, as portrayed in almost every one of these animated movies?

So I've decided to boycott all animated cartoons and films. No more Cartoon Network. No more Disney. No more Pixar.

Instead, I've found another alternative: family movies from the 60's and 70's. I just shared that old classic 'Escape to Witch Mountain' with my kids and they really liked it.

Until I finally throw away the boob tube, I guess that's the closest I'll find to wholesome entertainment.