|
New
York – Monday 15 Nov, 2004
Eid – a word that means joy
–
it’s the ‘feast after the fast’,
a major celebration for Muslims after fasting in the month of Ramadan.
Deciding to spend Eid in New York this past weekend, turned out
to be a ‘joyous’ decision on my part, and while
tradition has it that Eid lasts for three days, I celebrated in a variety
of ways for the
whole week.
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
I went to NYC ostensibly to attend the launch of the Progressive Muslims
Union of North America and I got there two days early. My hosts in
Manhattan are part of a group that had decided that through science and
technology, Ramadan and Eid can be predicted in advance so that Muslims
can begin and end together. The decision was for a Sunday Eid and they
invited me to join them at the Eid prayer and celebration.
We drove to the Dorral Arrowood Convention Center in Rye Brook New York
where the auspicious event was arranged by ASMA (American Sufi Muslims
Association). 300 men, women and children prayed together in the great
Ballroom – yes, side by side with no partition. These people have
broken away from the traditional mosque culture (where usually women are
relegated to another area) because they want to offer prayers with their
families, friends and loved ones, and they took another bold step by
inviting an Imam of their choice. And what a brilliant choice!
Imam
Feisal Abdul Rauf is a dynamic man with a vision as large as his heart.
Author of a new book titled “What’s Right with Islam: A New Vision
for Muslims in the West”, he was educated in England and Malaysia and
has a degree in Physics from Columbia University. Founder
and CEO of the American Sufi Muslim Association (ASMA Society) and Imam
of Masjid Al-Farah, a mosque in New York City, twelve blocks from Ground
Zero, he has dedicated his life to building bridges between Muslims and
the West and is a leader in the effort to build religious pluralism and
integrate Islam into modern American society.
Regarded as one of the world’s most
eloquent and erudite Muslim leaders, Imam Feisal is a charismatic public
speaker and has appeared in national and international media such as
CNN, CBS, NBC, ABC, PBS and BBC. He has been quoted in the New York
Times, New York Daily News, Jerusalem Post, and Associated Press.
The
Imam’s sermon could have been easily accepted in a church, synagogue
or temple as he spoke about two kinds of religion – good and bad. He
talked about Islam with a small “i” and said it means submission to
God by anyone: Muslim, Christian, Jew, Buddhist. This must have sat well with John
Bennet, a lone Buddhist in the
congregation who heads Imam’s Feisal’s Cordoba Initiative.
Imam Feisal is the architect of the Cordoba Initiative, an
inter-religious blueprint for improving relations between America and
the Muslim world and pursuing Middle East peace. As a tireless advocate
for an ecumenical solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he has
impressed his vision on US lawmakers and administration officials, most
recently as member of the National Inter-religious Initiative For Peace
in Washington DC.
Young people surrounded the Imam after the sermon but the surprise did
not end there for me. Following the prayer, there was brunch and live music – some enthusiastic families also indulged in a bit of ‘bhangra’.
I was also astounded to see the Imam’s wife does not cover her head.
Daisy Khan leads women in prayer at their mosque and is involved in
interfaith dialogue at an international level. Upon my questioning, she
said “I’ve done my own
ijtihad
(research and
reasoning) and found that modest dress is what is required so I believe
this is fine for me.” Wow,
I felt I had found the
‘progressive’ Muslims.
However, next morning (Monday 15 Nov) was the official launch of The
Progressive Muslims Union of North America (PMU). The Union
Theological Seminary of Columbia University hosted this event in The
Bonhoeffer Room (at one time called The Prophet’s Chamber). I was the
first one to get there in my enthusiasm to beat New York rush hour
traffic. PMU is the result of months of work and planning by a diverse
group of American Muslims including well known academics like Omid Safi,
Professor of Islamic Studies at Colgate University, professionals like
Hussein Ibish, Communications Director of the American-Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee & Sarah Eltantawi, a Consultant to
American organizations plus community activists like Ahmed Nassef,
editor-in-Chief of Muslim Wakeup, the worlds most popular Muslim online
magazine.
Sarah who is communications Director with PMU opened the
media event by saying “PMU seeks to expand the range of spiritual,
social, intellectual, and political choices for North American Muslims,
and to challenge the narrow set of "normative" Muslim ideas
and behavior expected of all of us both within and beyond the North
American Muslim community”. When asked if they are a ‘break-away
group’, she responded that the aim is not to create some sort of
"new Islam" or "American Islam". “Rather, we seek
to join the work already underway by so many others to bolster the sense
of pluralism, commitment to justice, and diversity within Islamic
discourses which has been undermined by the spread of literalist and
dogmatic interpretations of the faith in recent decades.”
Ahmed Nassef spoke about the four different areas that PMU
will work in: Arts, Reform and Education, Spiritual Awareness and
Politics. He said that PMU is like a “Big Tent” under which they
hope other existing organizations will gather to defend civil rights at
home, human rights abroad and celebrate an enlightened vision of Islam.
Joining the PMU Board is Torontonian Tarek Fatah, founder of
Muslim Canadian Congress who pointed out that Canada has made great
contributions to the progressive religions agenda. He started off by
stating “Canada has more to offer the US than just cheap drugs for
seniors. Canadians don’t just pay lip service but actually practice a
separation of religion and state”. MCC will pursue the Canadian
component of the progressive Muslim agenda here at home, not without
controversy I may add. Tarek had hardly come home, when he was slapped
with the label being a “progressive extremist” (whatever that
means).
During my interaction with other American Muslims over Eid
celebrations, I heard some criticism of PMU. One was that they might
compromise basic Islamic principles and “pander to western popular
ideology”. Others
referred to this group as “being too liberal” because they feel the
PMU mandate is too wide. The PMU Board seemed well aware of the challenges ahead of
them and said that expect the community will go through denial, anger
and then hopefully acceptance when they see that there is a need for
reform
from within.
A New York Times columnist, who had come to cover the event,
said that the kind of message being given by PMU through their mission
statement is a discourse that is not heard in the mainstream and felt
it’s important to get the message out.
I found the PMU Board very sincere in their efforts to try
and find a balance. I fully support their mandate for exorcizing the
excesses of many within the community who veer towards polemics and hate
propaganda, which has no place in our faith. I applaud their decision to avoid extremism of every kind and to
be inclusive, respecting the diversity of our faith, culture and
traditions. My only concern is that in labeling themselves
‘progressive’ or ‘moderate’, is the message being given to the
outside world that those who aren’t part of any such organization, are
not progressive or moderate? The New York Times columnist made note that
none of the women who attended the PMU launch were wearing hijab –
this bothers me because the message seems to connect head covering with
being ‘regressive’ and that’s certainly not the case. Another news
item in mainstream media talked about young Muslims becoming extremist
by ‘going regularly to the mosque, growing a beard and wearing Islamic
attire’ – by this standard majority of Muslims could easily be labeled
‘extremist’. Therefore I feel some caution is needed to ensure the medium
does not mangle the message!
|
