Toronto
Star
November 23, 2002
Scholar is critical of fellow muslims - Status of women needs
examination
Khaled
Abou El Fadl, often called "defender of the faith," has become
one of the most powerful and controversial voices of moderate Islam in
North America.
A
regular presence in the North American media, the UCLA law professor
rarely speaks or writes without eliciting a strong reaction. His
post-9/11 columns in major American newspapers were thought-provoking
and critical of fellow Muslims.
Noted
for his scholarly approach to Islam from a moral point of view, El Fadl
stresses universal themes of humanity and morality, the notion of beauty
as a moral value, and addresses the place of Muslim religious law in
everyday life.
This
is the question that poses problems for his adversaries. El Fadl
believes Islamic jurisprudence is the heart of the Islamic faith but has
been the victim of entrenched authoritarianism. He openly criticizes
countries like Sudan and Pakistan, where many are calling for the
restoration of Islamic law (Sharia), but where, he says, "assertion
of Sharia is a political act which reduces women and minorities to
second-class citizens."
Sharia,
according to El Fadl, "is a moral vision larger than any single set
of injunctions or prohibitions."
Invited
to Toronto recently as the keynote speaker for the 20th-anniversary
celebration of the Canadian Council of Muslim women, El Fadl addressed
the issue of reformation within Islam, focusing on women.
A
world-renowned expert in Islamic law El Fadl is a distinguished fellow
at the UCLA School of Law, where he teaches immigration, human rights
and international law. He has an undergraduate degree from Yale, where
he was elected "Scholar of the House," a law degree from the
University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in Islamic law from Princeton.
"The
love of knowledge is no different than love of God and necessitates
originality of thought," says El Fadl, whose personal library
exceeds 40,000 volumes on law, theology, literature, philosophy and
history.
To
hear him talk candidly and knowledgably about "dishonesty in
discourse" within certain Muslim circles today is to appreciate his
own courage of conviction and brutal honesty in exposing his less
tolerant co-religionists.
"The
Qur'an is a living text and inspires you to think," he explains.
"It's
a living, vibrant and inspirational text that engages in moral teaching
by example - it's tolerant and egalitarian in its approach."
So
where has the understanding and implementation of the Qur'an gone awry?
El Fadl expounds: "The creativity and diversity of our faith as
expressed in the Qur'an has been demonized by powers of despotism who
suppress voices of reason ..."
He
refers to puritan Wahhabism, the strain of Islam that Osama bin Laden
practices, in no uncertain terms: "We must take back our religion
from the grip of those fascist-like patriarchs."
El
Fadl, an intense person who drinks endless cans of Diet Coke, talks
passionately about the crucial need to have coherent discourse.
"It's
imperative to speak clearly, rigorously and truthfully to testify about
our contemporary problems, including the status of women."
The
tradition of Shahadah (testimony of faith) has been forgotten in the
modern age, he points out. "There is a huge gap in the way we wield
our religion and the way we handle life."
Critical
of dogma and rigidity in faith, El Fadl's background gives him reason to
say this with conviction: "I was once one of those puritan zealots
myself."
`I
have no choice but to speak the truth even at the risk of confrontation'
Khaled
Abou El Fadl, legal
expert
Born
in Kuwait in 1963 and growing up in Egypt, El Fadl was on the edge of
becoming an ignorant extremist in his youth, a fate he narrowly escaped
when he decided to pursue knowledge instead.
He learned about "cultural symbolism and tools of intellectual
stupefaction" at an early age. He ran up against "Hadith
hurlers" whom he cites as one reason Islamic intellectual thought
and discourse have been stifled.
"I'm
happiest when my blood is boiling and my mind is racing," confesses
El Fadl, who prides himself on asking questions about everything. The
challenges he faced only spurred him on the journey to master both
traditional and modern learning.
He
readily gives credit to his mother for influencing his life and thought
as a jurist and modern thinker. "She was my first teacher in
Islamic law," he says.
Beginning
in middle school and continuing through his undergraduate years, El Fadl
studied Islamic law with distinguished scholars in Kuwait and Egypt,
accumulating ijazas (certificates) that would qualify him as a shaykh.
During this time he witnessed the influence of Wahhabi doctrines that
denounced teaching subjects such as speculative philosophy or mysticism.
"Looking
back at our history, there were 135 schools of law in the first century
and a half of Islam, and this is what gives Islam so much of its
cultural dynamism," he explains. "It was Kalam (Islamic
inquiry) in the field of theological disputes that preserved the Greek
works. Today Wahhabis denounce Kalam as heresy so we are back in the
dark ages of Islam."
It
is this philosophy of El Fadl's, his persistent exposure of what he
calls "the schizophrenia that has seeped into Islam," his
denunciation of Wahhabism and self-appointed religious leaders that has
led to the challenges and risks he faces today. He has received death
threats from Muslim and non-Muslim fanatics alike and police warned him
that his home was being staked out by "unknown and suspicious
parties."
"I
have no choice but to speak the truth even at the risk of confrontation
because this is not the Islam practiced by our Prophet. When Islam
becomes associated with violence, we have to take a stand."
El
Fadl has taken this stand with faith and conviction through his books,
columns and media appearances.
Sometimes
called a male feminist, El Fadl has been known to encourage his wife,
Grace, to lead him in prayer. His current book, Speaking in God's Name -
Islamic Law, Authority and Women (Oneworld Press, Oxford, 2001), reviews
the ethical foundations of the Islamic legal system. In it he argues
there must be a reformation in Islam with emphasis on women's rights.
"There
is a need to rethink the notion of gender," El Fadl says. Islamic
jurists talked about women's rights long ago, "but we have been
alienated from our religious tradition."
His
book is also an exposé of how texts have been changed to suit political
needs and how many books on Islamic law by female jurists have never
been published.
To
say that El Fadl is concerned about the current status of Muslims would
be an understatement. He is extremely troubled about the rise of Wahhabi
Islam in the U.S., mainly because its followers dismiss knowledge and
reason as unimportant. His critics are harsh and stoop to personal
attacks.
"It's
a lonely road and I feel sad because the worst persecution I've faced is
by so-called liberal Muslim organizations. Their leaders feel they might
lose control so they fight at a base level."
Flanked
by his wife, a convert to Islam, and his 13-year-old son, Cherif, El
Fadl says he finds hope and solace in his students, who have set up and
monitor a Web site dedicated to him (http://www.scholarofthehouse.com).
"What
choice do I have but to keep fighting for truth and justice till the day
I die?"
A
solemn thought for one so young.
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