Shaykh Jihad H. Brown ~ 25 Sept 2010 ~ The National, Abu Dhabi
(This is the full, unedited version)
When we used to be American Muslims we hated our own freedom. In the phrase
of the time, “they hate our freedom,” American Muslims were both the “they” and
the “our”. Such a contradiction in terms is probably a good sign that there’s
something awry with the original premise. Not that that helps much in a country
that counts amongst its most popular shows, “Are you smarter than a fifth
grader?”
Now that the fear mongering in American right‐wing circles has gone viral
amongst the entire public, will Muslims succumb to the same fear? Will Muslims
begin to fear Islam just as much? Will they begin to fear their own selves? The
symptoms have begun to manifest.
The reason for this escalation of what is being called “islamophobia” is all too
familiar. Historically, when societies have gone through disaster or crisis they
have turned on their minorities like the pogroms of 19th century Russia or
Japanese internment in the 1940s. It is an almost ritualistic scapegoating
exercise that hearkens back to ancient times.
Americans are going through a period of uncertainty. Economic downturn and
joblessness are causing them to feel scared and question their future. It is
unfortunately unsurprising that they would seek out a scapegoat when the
impotency of right‐wing politicians to provide the promised solution shows
itself.
But if Americans are uncertain about themselves and their future, and happen to
lash out in desperation, it shouldn’t be a cause for Muslims to be uncertain about
their own selves or spiritual culture.
Unfortunately, in an unprecedented loss of nerve, many Middle‐class and elite
Muslims have contracted more islamophobia than the islamophobes. Distancing
themselves from their own religious and cultural identity in a bid to “pass” or fit
in. Even some Muslim countries are trying to marginalize religious practice and
culture or sweep it under the rug altogether as if it were a condition to prove
their worthiness to be picked from the line outside on the pavement to cross the
velvet ropes into the club of glamorous nations.
With the rapacious bellicosity of the state of Israel, the “self‐hating Jew” is a
historical relic. You now have the self‐hating Muslim all decked out for the
minstrel show.
Muslim elites have always tried to distance themselves from their religious and
cultural identity. But never to any avail. Leaving Islamic institutions and native
cultural discourse to embarrassing “lay‐readers” or fixated radicals eventually
backfires on us all.
Instead, Muslims should embrace a robust identity and invest in a rich heritage
that promotes a dynamic, effective, and ‘switched‐on’ discourse. When tomorrow
they sit at the table when company comes, everyone will see how beautiful they
are.
Muslims could gain from the advice of francophone American writer James
Baldwin, in a letter to his nephew in America, “Please try to be clear, dear James,
There is no reason for you to try to become like white people and there is no
basis whatever for their impertinent assumption that they must accept you. The
really terrible thing, old buddy, is that you must accept them. And I mean that
very seriously. You must accept them and accept them with love. For these
innocent people have no other hope. They are, in effect, still trapped in a history
which they do not understand; and until they understand it, they cannot be
released from it. They have had to believe for many years, and for innumerable
reasons, that black men are inferior to white men. Many of them, indeed, know
better, but, as you will discover, people find it very difficult to act on what they
know. To act is to be committed, and to be committed is to be in danger. In this
case, the danger, in the minds of most white Americans, is the loss of their
identity.”
