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Irshad Manji is a Muslima reformist and gender equality activist. She published titles like “The trouble with Islam today” and, recently, “” Allah, Liberty and Love”. No wonder she is controversial in Muslim communities because of her liberal opinions and her being openly lesbian.
Irshad pleads renewal of mainstream Islam. At the same time the belligerent orthodox fellow believers ardently stick to what they claim to to be pure Islam. By all means. If necessary literally by all means, that is.
Last December she and Dutch member of Parliament Tofik Dibi had a discussion in an Amsterdam center for culture and dialogue, “De Balie”. In an effective move to degrade their religion in the eyes of Dutch public opinion and at the same time win a few extra votes for Geert Wilders, a small group calling themselves “Shariah4Belgium”, choose their own peculiar way to participate in the debate. A pretty aggressive way. Shouting, insulting, threatening, spitting. The author literally had to be protected by her audience. Even the Police had to intervene and arrested two of the thugs.
At the late night news of Wednesday the 7th of December Dutch audiences could see their nasty scenes of insults and threats on TV:
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Discarding all logic kindred (radical) spirits elsewhere in the world also seem to defend their own distorted message of peace by adopting intimidation, bullying and violence as the best way to exchange views with dissidents and non-believers.
Last week Irshad Mani had arrived in Jakarta to promote her book. She did so in that wonderful pocket of culture and reason Salihara, Jakarta. And once more, just like it happened in Amsterdam, fanatics disturbed the book launch. Several hundreds of inglorious heroes of FBR, FPI and Forkabi gathered at the center. The Police, giving in to the attackers, disbanded the meeting. On Facebook Irshad wrote “Things got so serious that organizers had to pull me to another floor as cops blocked the elevators“.
One of the reasons to protest the presence of Irshad Manji is her homosexuality. Which the thugs called absolutely incompatible with Islam. Yet that view is and should be open to discussion. Because others have diametrically opposing interpretations. The Conference of Religion and Peace for instance asserts “all men and women are equal, regardless of ethnicity, wealth, social positions or even sexual orientation”.
You can agree or disagree with the contents of “Allah, Liberty and Love”. Like Omar Sultan Haque’s review shows. But in an open, pluralist society like Indonesia is or claims to be, those differences of opinion are allowed. Tolerance is a prerequisite. Freedom of speech should be protected. There should be room for deviant views, unwelcome opinions. Dialogue should be encouraged.
Unfortunately “Jihadists ” obviously don’t understand. They speak a language of intolerance and violence. These radicals still have a long way to go before they will see the light.
In meantime all decent citizens should stand firm. While the state and it’s institutions should rediscover their duty to protect the gems of human rights. So, come on!
“It is error only–and not truth–that shrinks from inquiry.”
- Thomas Paine
“The wages of indoctrination is violence. So long as religion continues to be indoctrinated in the pliable and vulnerable minds of children, mankind will know neither peace nor morality.”
- Mauricio
@ Mauricio: Indoctrination is dangerous indeed. Yet I’m not that pessimistic at all. I underestimate neither Thomas Paine, nor you, but I think it luckily is more complicated. For instance there is this wonderful paradox or rather inner contradiction; all three monotheistic religions stress total submission to the will of the Lord but at the same time demand full exploitation of the human ratio as well. It is and has historically been proven to be an invitation to independent – including epoch making independent- thinking. And to doubt and put question marks behind the official teachings.
In Indonesia strange thing happened i.e. during the iron fist dictatorship of former President Suharto which upheld national unity, only moderate ways of thinking were allowed.
as a result, extreme Islamic fanatics like Abubakar Ba’asyir were thrown to prison and/or deported to other countries.
After Suharto stepped down from power on 21 May 1998, Indonesia adopted liberal democracy and those extreme fanatics were allowed to exist, especially due to no strong leadership and very weak law enforcement.
Many people are now thinking that by allowing liberal democracy we have opened some sort of a Pandora Box and the majority of people must suffer because of it.
I am not saying that Western style democracy is bad for us, but the most important thing right now is how to make the majority of people to be free from fear, hunger, thirst and all bad things they face right now.
As long as the leadership is just like it is now, it would be almost impossible to expect the government to enforce law on all those fanatics. And moderates, who are mostly silent, would always be bullied by those fanatics.
@ Harry: You definitely have a point. Democracy and decentralisation ( which are something like twins) help to “democratize” corruption. Not just at the very top but also minor, local and regional, people in power grasped the opportunities. And while in previous regimes radical Islam was repressed, now it can use freedom of speech and take it’s legitimate place in society.
Yet I don’t think it’s the system of democracy which is to blame. Actually last general and presidential elections proved the Indonesian electorate knew very well what would be in the best interest of the country. For instance though society was/is pretty/very religious, the religion based parties remained rather marginal. A vote for a secular state. Unfortunately the president didn’t grasp the opportunity and took a series of regrettable decisions forming a coalition.
Anyhow, in my opinion it’s because of a few failing crucial institutions rather than democracy itself that problems arose. Police, AGO. They should provide citizen’s trust in law and order. But the way they operate produces the opposite. In stead of being professional, objective, neutral, impartial and fair. They should make sure individuals and organizations and movements do keep within legal limits. In my view it’s time for radical changes here.
Nowhere can democracy prosper where the democratic spirit does not first exist in the hearts and minds of the people. The problem is not with democracy or with the West. The problem is with the customs and political culture of the people. This constant appeal to the disadvantages of “Western-style democracy” is a red-herring that serves to obscure the real source of the problem.
It is folly to think that religious tolerance and harmony can thrive in places where freedom of religion and freedom from religion are not tolerated. It is folly to think that religious tolerance and harmony can thrive in places where faith, ritual and scripture trump reason, pragmatism and the law. Classic cases of rewarding X while hoping for Y.
@ Mauricio: I do agree democracy isn’t just a political system but first and foremost a culture. And the flaws and shortcomings in Indonesia’s democratic culture are evident.
Of course a common attitude of positive tolerance, civil courage and a fully operational state of law has not yet been arrived at. Yet I do think a fitting democracy model is feasible. Actually in my view the first ten years of “reformasi” were remarkably successful after centuries of colonial and authoritarian rule and considering the chaotic situation in ’98. Over the last four or five years the winds of change veered though. Still I’m optimistic. Materialism and opportunism may prevail together with reactionary socio-religious movements, still a growing self confident middle class will bye and bye do what middle classes always did: develop a strong taste for civil society. Which is the brains, flesh and blood on the democratic frame.