Category Archives: Racism & Prejudice

The Veil

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I have heard so many times how some Muslim Male scholars referred to the Hijab/ veil or Niqaab as a 30 g cloth. It reveals indeed their disdain and prejudice for Muslim women and how much deep the Western Orientalists grasped their way of thinking without realising it.

John Borneman reviews The Veil: Women Writers on Its History, Lore and Politics ed by Jennifer Heath [LRB Vol. 30 No. 24] I have chosen the book review because it got quite a lot publicity in press media, and I’ll will quote only this passage from John Borneman:

The veil, in whatever form, is not and never will be just a scrap of cloth, as Taylor wishes the hijab to be thought of, because it is worn in order to symbolise something, or many things. Veils are not, as many of the contributors to The Veil want to think, merely a diversion or distraction from issues of more substance to more women, such as poverty, the distribution of rights, the allocation of resources, sociopolitical disenfranchisement and violence. Attending to these issues, important as they are, will not necessarily affect the ways in which the veil’s meanings are made.

John Borneman, who teaches anthropology at Princeton, is the author of Syrian Episodes: Sons, Fathers and an Anthropologist in Aleppo.

Mumbai Terrorists Succeed

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The Mumbai terror attacks have left some deep scars. In terms of numbers, perhaps more Pakistanis are dying every day; but as it is, Mumbai is turning out to be more significant. India and Pakistan are back to rhetoric, and indeed, back from the brink of a war! Progress made in the past few years are gone in a few days. That event is tending to divide the Muslims and the Hindus in India.  Many Muslims are apologetic about crimes that they did not participate in, and had nothing to do with except as a victim. Pakistani seems to have become an abuse. (Not so long ago Obama was “smeared” by the horribly offensive term- “Muslim,” against which he rightfully protested; but did not do the right thing by saying- “(No I’m not), but why would that be a bad thing?.”) We have these beer drinking terrorists- who they are, what they want we do not know. We have these people who are confused. We have other political entities who benefit from our loss and others’ loss. The terrorists seem to have won the battle. We have to win the war.

Du’a is the least we can do. Today, as three million Muslims stand at Mecca, we can make du’a for ourselves, and make du’a for them, and for everybody in the Ummah, and for every person in the whole wide world.

Eid Wishes, y’all.

[Image courtesy: Ron Gonzalez]

Muslim Charity Found Guilty

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A Muslim charity in the United States has been found guilty of abetting Hamas

ibnabeeomar at MuslimMatters writes:

 It’s with great sadness that we heard about the verdict of the Holy Land Foundation trial. I find it absolutely appalling that they can convict someone based solely on circumstantial evidence and an anonymous witness. It really begs the question if such a witness would be allowed to testify, in an expert status no less, if the accused had been anything other than Muslim.

Umar Lee writes:

 I am asking all of my readers to make a sincere duah for the brothers from the Holy Land Foundation who were convicted yesterday in a federal court in Dallas, Texas. Let it be known that this prosecution by the federal government, one of the last evil acts of the Bush Administration, was not just an attack on the HLF, but an attack on the entire Muslim community of America. The Justice Department under Bush has been highly politicized and it does not help matters that rank and file FBI agents largely come from the white Christian- right. I encourage all Muslims in America and people of good will to send the Feds a message that we will not be intimidated, by writing a check today or donating online to an Islamic charity, and sending a big F you to the Justice Department.

UPDATE: What saddens me is that this comes after a raging debate whether holding a administrative position with a fascist organization (the Vishwa Hindu Parishad) with a successful genocide in it’s list of “achievements” is or not enough to disqualify somebody from the US administration. Turns out, it is not.

Mini “Culture Of Peace” Conference

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The Saudi initiative of the “culture of peace” mini conference in this week at the United Nations (UN) headquarters is a bit unclear and no one knows exactly what it is about. My own theory is; a preparation of the upcoming UN conference scheduled for April 2009 in Geneva, the so called World Conference against Racism or Durban II. The first Durban conference resulted a US boycott prompted by attacks on Zionism. This time however, many countries including, Denmark and Canada, are threatening to boycott the UN conference after IOC [Organisation of The Islamic Conference] countries together with other countries want to include “Islamophobia” to the agenda as a form of racism.

Kaveh L Afrasiabi comments this mini conference.

The importance of events such as the UN conference, and other similar efforts, like the recent interfaith summit in Istanbul that led to the creation of a new Global Interfaith Network devoted to combating religious intolerance, poverty, AIDS, etc are raising the prominent role that religious groups can play in global affairs.

Another important prerequisite, at least on the part of the world’s Muslims, is to deepen their current peace-related efforts and to do a better job in disseminating Islam’s message of peace, a message that has been much buried under piles of Western Islamophobia recently.

But, in conclusion, perhaps the real protean value of the Saudi initiative is to highlight the rich sources of a culture of peace in the essential teachings of Islam, including the holy Koran: “If they resort to peace, so shall you.”

The “culture” argument

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Krista from Muslimah Media Watch examines the potential consequences of the kneejerk defensive reaction many Muslims have of associating every “good” practice with Islam, and every negative one with culture. She argues that doing this merely swings the racism/prejudice ball another way. Further she says this argument presupposes that Western culture is free from any bias in these matters.

There are a number of reasons why this makes me squirm. First, and most obviously, it perpetuates racism against Arab and South Asian communities, justifying such racism because of their supposed inherent sexism. As usual, any alternate, non-oppressive stories from those communities are silenced, as are forms of resistance coming from those communities, as well as any external forces (such as economic issues, war, etc.) that may be exacerbating gender-based oppression and religious dogmatism. Non-Western cultures are painted as unchanging and firmly rooted in the past, incapable of “progressing” the way that Western cultures apparently do, and therefore never worthy of being examined on the same level as European-influenced cultures.

I’m also not comfortable with what this says about white/Western cultures. In this dichotomy, the West is imagined as culture-free, a place where people can let go of the constraints of their home countries in favour of an ostensibly “pure” Islam that can only be found through a disavowal of centuries of traditions (many of which have likely served to preserve Islamic beliefs and practices in many parts of the world.) Westerners (particularly white ones) who enter Islam are assumed to come in with no baggage at all.

I am sure that neither of the women quoted here had any intention of feeding into systems of racism and white supremacy, but I do think that those of us who identify both as Muslim and as white have a responsibility to recognise the ways that our voices may be interpreted when speaking for the community. In a social context that privileges white voices, is easy to become positioned (or to position ourselves) as “experts” on Islam, or at least as people qualified to speak about Islam and Muslims, and we need to be accountable for what we say.

Read the whole article here.

Obsession with Obama?

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After a long and hard fought primary and election, Barack Obama emerged victorious. The islamosphere is abuzz.

Let us begin with the positive notes. Margari Aziza Hill is happy that Obama won. And she says that the good things have only begun-

 This victory has more to do with an internal change in American society, foreign policy issues. But it has everything to do with the place Black Americans have in American society. And for Black American Muslims, this also profoundly changes the defined roles we have in American society. The most famous and recognizable Black man is an intellectual and Head of State (considering the last presidency, I think it is important to point out both). The reality is, that the public image of Black Americans, and let us not forget Africans on the continent and in Diaspora, defines our role in the American Muslim community. How so? Our public image shapes the ways in which our fellow co-religionists see us. Barack Obama’s presidency inverts a number of stereotypes that many in the Muslim community in the US and abroad have about Black Americans. In much of Muslim world outside of sub-Saharan Africa, people associate Blackness with slavery and inferiority. I recognize that this might not change the fact that when I go to the masjid in America, some immigrant Muslims will assume I am uneducated, broke, and not as valuable of an asset to the Ummah as a white convert.

Over to Tariq Nelson-

 No one is saying that everything is going to turn for the better just because of the election, but it certainly does change perceptions and the attitudes of many people in the corridors of power. Times are changing and it is time to get with it.

Then we have the dissent. The Man of Few Words has some disturbing observations-

 Let me explain.  Obama, is an opportunist who will gleefully trade in his values and beliefs in order to get ahead.  Let’s look at the litany of Obama’s sins.

1. Went back on his promise of accepting public funds for his campaign thus outraising McCain with scandalous amounts of money that, contrary to the naive amongst his adoring worshippers, was not made up primarily of small donors, but rather funded significantly by many large corporations.

2. Went back on his word and voted for FISA granting the telecommunications companies immunity for cooperating with the criminal Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping.

3. He voted for the re-authorization of the Patriot Act, there go our civil liberties.

George Friedman of Muslim Cowboys is nuanced.

 He will begin as one of the most powerful presidents in a long while. Truly extraordinary were the celebrations held around the world upon Obama’s victory. They affirm the global expectations Obama has raised – and reveal that the United States must be more important to Europeans than the latter like to admit. (We can’t imagine late-night vigils in the United States over a French election.)

Obama is an extraordinary rhetorician, and as Aristotle pointed out, rhetoric is one of the foundations of political power. Rhetoric has raised him to the presidency, along with the tremendous unpopularity of his predecessor and a financial crisis that took a tied campaign and gave Obama a lead he carefully nurtured to victory. So, as with all politicians, his victory was a matter of rhetoric and, according to Machiavelli, luck.

I hope this does prove to be a good thing for the Black people (I don’t like “African American” because there is nothing wrong with being black) and the rest of the world. He’s not going to fight racism in it’s face. But he being president will make the Black people more ambitious. The early signs about foreign policy, however, are not good. Biden and Emanuel is now joined by Sonal Shah, a former office bearer of VHP-A which is an extremist Indian group espousing “Hindutva”, and is responsible for many communal riots in India, and is recently being investigated for being involved in terrorist strikes in India (to be passed of “Islamic” terror.)

And I hope that the differences amongst us about Obama does not lead to divides. Differences are bliss. Divides are not.

(Image: Vincent J. Brown)

‘Using Halal meat is just insulting’

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An entertaining read from the Islamophobia watch-

“I write expressing my concern at the report regarding Halal meat to be on the menu and served at Derby Schools (Evening Telegraph, October 10). England prides itself on the high quality of good meats used and served in our English schools. It is absolutely stomach-turning to even think of Halal meat, and to expect white, English Christian children to eat such unhygienic meat is an insult to our children and our schools.”

Communal Comics!

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Indscribe writes on how, often, communalism and racism are very subtly packaged.

 Firstly, I did read a few Amar Chitra Katha comics in my childhood. And I have absolutely no problem with a publisher only printing comics on Hindu culture, as I grew up as much on Khilauna (Urdu) and Champak, as much as Nandan, which focused on Hindu mythology.

I loved Nandan and I owe a lot to these magazine. It was Nandan that introduced me to the fascinating Hindu mythology. Nandan chiefly borrowed from Hinduism and avoided Islam but there was nothing that would unsettle a Muslim kid let alone offend his sensibilities.

Similarly, Chandamama, which I loved, was also a magazine that focused on Hindu mythology and the stories of Hindu gods abound. And it was brilliant. On the pages of Nandan and Chandamama, I discovered the world of Rishis, Vidyadhars, Kapaliks, Asuras et al.

[...]

“In Amar Chitra Katha (86) featuring the novel Anand Math, the heroic Hindu Bengali freedom fighters do battle with the evil British officers who command highly stylized but Muslim-looking troops!”…..Strange isn’t it!