Secularism is Incompatible with Islam

With the recent surge in Islamic-terrorist activities in Pakistan (my place of birth), I have been discussing the difficulties of secularism in the Muslim world quite frequently. I recently attended the Center for Inquiry’s World Congress, during this conference, there was a very interesting panel discussion on Secularism and Islam. The discussion itself was a total failure on the basis of my expectations, as only the first speaker, Ibn Warraq was even remotely interesting. Two of the other speakers, Pervez Hoodbhoy, a professor of Physics, Quaid-e-Azam University (Pakistan) and Tarek Fatah a secular Muslim and Canadian political activist seemed to be advocating for Western encouragement of “Liberal/Secular Muslims.” Such a label begs the question, is it possible for a “Secular Muslim” to even exist? As you can tell from the title of this article, my response is, absolutely not.

The quick and easy solution to this question is to search Islam (mainly the Qur’an) for a justification for secularism, or the opposite, theocracy. That quest is a rather short one as Islam not only advocates for an Islamic state but even has provisions on how to tax the non-believing elements (Jews and Christians, not Atheists) of society. Islam is very clear on this matter, it states in no uncertain terms, that the day will come when the entire world will face Mecca and pray. Mecca will be the center of the world, much like it is the center of Islam. There is absolutely no justification within the Qur’an or any other Islamic tradition for anything but theocracy. In fact, the very notion of the word secularism is unheard of in the language of Arabic. The direct translation of secularism translates into a word that is inherently thought of as “against-Islam” rather than the common connotations of the English word.  So the question is no longer if one can promote secularism on a Islamic platform, but rather, how does one do it without seeming directly antagonistic to Islam?

That question has puzzled secularists throughout the Muslim world for at least a hundred years if not more. Pakistan, a nation established primarily to ensure protection for a large minority was not intended to be an Islamic state. Rather, the goal was for a nation for Muslims. There is a very big difference between those two, as the former is a theocracy and the latter can potentially become a secular nation. As we see today, Pakistan is losing the battle to religious extremists and at this point unless something totally unexpected happens (which is possible given the instability) it is likely that Pakistan will become more of an Islamic state rather than a secular state. The issue for the Pakistani government (which is of course extremely corrupt) is how to combat religious extremists without bringing religion into the debate. If they bring religion into national discourse, it is impossible for them to win, even if they have a better argument. So how does one go about battling extremists who are fueled by religion without cutting off their fuel supply? The only good tactic that actually works is to expose the religious extremists as unsophisticated individuals who would be the much worse of two evils when compared to the secular and already established government. As we see in Gaza Strip, Hamas and other such terrorist groups are not very popular amongst the people, but they are the only choice that the people have. Unfortunately in the case of Pakistan, the government is so corrupt and has been that way for so many years that it is questionable if they are better than those religious extremists.

The Muslim leaders of the future really do have an unsustainable conflict and contradiction within their society. If they really want to accept modernity, it begins by removing Islam from the public domain and placing it within the private domain. How to go about that task (if its even possible at this point) begins with education and the proper treatment of women (equal rights). But of course, that is only the starting point and as of right now, not a single Muslim country is even close.

Diary of an ex-Muslimah

As an ex-Muslim myself, I love to read articles from fellow ex-Muslims. One of the main reasons that I maintain this blog is to provide those within the Muslim faith (particularly women) with some food for thought. Personally, I can understand why a male would follow a misogynistic faith, but there is no possible excuse for a woman to do the same.

So, to cut to the chase, check out this blog from a fellow ex-Muslim. Its quite well written and very original.

Dairy of an ex-Muslimah

Islamic Feminism, The Ultimate Contradiction

A few weeks ago, I was discussing the Hindu practice of sati with a fellow classmate in school. I was beginning steer the talk into the direction of the relationship of certain religions and the lack of women rights. The minute I mentioned Islam, someone who had been sitting around apparently eavesdropping on the conversation interjected with the common phrase of “its the culture not religion.” As the discussion was now between three people, I learned she was a self-described “Afghani Muslim Feminist.” Immediately, perhaps rudely, I interjected that a “Islamic Feminism” is a contradiction in terms. It seems she was not ready for such a retort and she looked dumb founded for a moment, gave me dirty look, and got up and left. Though, it is notable that she did not wear the Qur’an-mandated hijab, and so to me it was obvious that she probably was one of those who cherry-picked verses out of the Qur’an. Unfortunately, this ability to simply brush off criticism and act if it never happened is extremely common with religious folk, and even more so the case with Muslims.

I have already gone through and discussed specific passages of the Qur’an. So, I will not do that again, but just to summarize, in one chapter alone (the fourth), the Qur’an states that women are inferior to men, are worth half as much with regards to property, and creates the justification for the subjugation of women. Men are allowed to beat their wives and lock them away until they submit to them. In the following chapters it reinforces this imaginary inequality by forcing them to wear veils and references fairy tales that would be despicable to any person of reasonable morals. From what I have experienced, there are only two ways that Muslims attempt to get around it. The first is the assertion that I am taking passages out of context, this of course can mean two things. Either historical context or literary context. In the case of historical context, the argument is completely void as the Qur’an is the final revelation, and what ever was true for then, is true for eternity (or until judgement day). In the case of literary context, it is a bit more tricky, but nowhere near a convincing argument as, the overwhelming theme of the Qur’an establishes a separation between man and woman, even if it is not for purposes of superiority/inferiority, it is always clearly stated that men and women are not equal, and it goes on to say that women are inferior. So, it is not the case that I am taking the passages out of context, and thus the first objection is done with. The second objection is an odd one, but it is very common. It is usually coupled with criticism of Arabs. It happens to be the case that the Islam not only creates the inequality between men and women, but Arabs and Non-Arabs as well. So the argument goes, this female suppression is due to Arab-culture influence. This is often espoused by those liberal Muslims who are attempting to go against the grain and secularize Muslim countries (notably not the Arab countries). I do not think I need to insult the intelligence of those who read this by criticizing that point.

I hear this argument of “its the culture not the religion…” or “its the people, not the religion…” so often I feel I should address it again. To make sure I do not run into the same criticism again, I will concede (far more than I need to), that perhaps pure Islam does not contain the most vile sexist nonsense, and that it is indeed entirely a construct of local culture. Now, to be clear, I do not in anyway hold that position, and I am conceding it merely for the sake of argument. Now, the argument would go “don’t criticize the religion, but rather the culture/people.”  The minute one attempts to criticize the person who engaged in say, the forced marriage of a 6 year old girl to a 40 year old man, they automatically turn to the life of Muhammed as justification. There are only two ways to counter that, either to say, Islam is wrong or, it doesn’t really say that. In either case, it is impossible to avoid Islam in the conversation. It happens to be the case that, Islam does create the justification for a man to marry a young girl, and for me that leaves only one response. Islam is wrong.

Islam is not a religion of peace and it does not give respect to women, for respect is not something that can just be “given.” Islam does the exact opposite of giving respect to women, it belittles their intellect and treats them as the property of men. It was originally intended to favor the interests of the illiterate and disgusting men who created it. While it may be convenient for a male such as myself to support something so clearly in my favor, it just would not be intellectually honest. Karl Marx once said… “Anyone who knows anything of history knows that great social changes are impossible without feminine upheaval. Social Progress can be measured exactly by the social position of the fair sex…” These words were true then, and remain true to this day. If we atheists and rationalists are serious about changing society, working to support the global feminist cause is absolutely crucial to success.

My “spiritual” Journey, Part 1 (Marxism)

As a young child raised within a Muslim household and community, the notion of non-belief is regarded as high treason or more appropriately, apostasy. Luckily for myself, when I was younger, I rarely (if ever) gave any thought to religion. It was simply one of the constants of my life. I was far more interested in cars, cartoons and sports. I was never truly opposed to the idea of Islam either, in fact, I can specifically remember joyfully fasting during the “holy” month of Ramadan, and more over, I genuinely equated Islam with morality and decency. I can now look back and laugh at how horribly wrong I was about Islam and just how much the exact opposite was true.

I remember when I was around the age of 7, my mother had paid for a Mullah from the local neighborhood mosque to come and teach my siblings and I the Qur’an. I personally did not like this instructor very much as his presence meant less time for me to play video games or other fun activities. Now that I look back, he was quite harsh and really there really was not any positive qualities about the man. Though, these few years of religious instruction were cut far shorter than my mother would have liked them to be. Unlike my cousins and other relatives, there was quite the strife in my family between my father and mother on the topic of religion. My mother, coming from a background of extremely devout and generally decent people was and still is quite religious, as is much of her family. My father has been a lifelong liberal in just about every aspect of life. He did not really follow any sort of rigid ritualistic aspect to Islam, as he regarded such behavior as the antithesis to an intellectual person. As a young man, living in the extremely religious climate of Pakistan (a nation primarily established for religious reasons) he stood out like a black sheep. He wrote poetry that was often rejected without a proper reading simply due to its provocative nature. He also had a great deal of friends amongst the huge Marxist (or in other terms, young intellectual atheists) though one could not quite describe my father as full Atheist or a Marxist, rather a Deist and a Socialist. Looking back, this difference in my parents religious views seem to be the early roots of my current non-belief.

Well, this sort of cultural Islam and continued for many years. I never really gave religion a second thought, it was just there and the notion of it ever leaving were just not conceivable (nor desired). This period of time finally ended at the age of 13. I remember walking with my grandfather (from my mothers side) to the local mosque one day. He said to me, “Now that you are reaching an age of maturity, it is time for you to take religion much more seriously.” So, I almost immediately acted upon his words and began the shift from a cultural Muslim (essentially, a Muslim by no choice of their own) to a practicing Muslim. I began to read the five daily prayers, and reread the Qur’an in Arabic. I tried to live my life as closely to what I thought a proper Muslim should, which is quite difficult living in the Western world. As you may already know, I am not one for half-measures. I may begin with moderate stances, but rarely do they ever remain. They often become more and more extreme, until they really cannot go any further. By the age of 15, I was quite the religious fellow. I read the daily prayers, had completed the Qur’an in Arabic countless times and I even annoyed my father until he would finally drive me to the local mosque. I remember feeling a sort of hatred for Western culture as it was becoming more and more anti-Islamic (this is post 9/11). The odd thing about this time of extreme devout belief was that my father actually attempted to take credit for my religiousness (some sort of bizarre logic that basically said that his lack of harsh instruction led me to love Islam) and my mother also attempted to take credit for this “blessing from Allah” as she put it.

Around this period of time, I began to research my country of birth, Pakistan, and its leaders. This study led me to the discovery of Zulifkar Ali Bhutto. A man that was the idol of my father (though I had never known until I mentioned him to my father). Bhutto was quite good friends with another leader in the Islamic world, Muammar Al-Ghadaffi. Ghadaffi, a self described “Islamic Socialist” is another interesting figure. Ghadaffi stood for essentially, anti-West, anti-European principles, and this was very attracting to a young liberal Muslim. I was quite knowledgeable on the Islamic aspect of Ghadaffi, but not the Socialist aspect. This is when I began to research Marxism, Communism and came to a startling discovery. For the Marxist worldview, god was dead and more accurately, god was never alive. I tried to reconcile this notion of Marxist/Liberal thought which I had now come to favor with my belief, but it was impossible. Atheism is a prerequisite for Marxism, and if any of the two had to go, it was most certainly going to be my religious belief. Even though I was a very devout believer in Allah and Islam, I was also very much more inclined to the notion that political and economic change in societies is far more important than the religious belief. Though, letting go of faith and belief is far more difficult than just that. Even though I tried to move forward and reject god for the sake of consistency, Marxism really only ended the cultural and ritualistic aspects of Islam that I followed, not my belief in god. To remove that, I would need something much more powerful than Marxism, science.

I had attempted to write this down before, but, I want to give it another go. Part two (science) of three, coming soon...

Islam and Women, Revised

For the majority of my life I was a Muslim, a child of Muslim parents, a nephew of Muslim aunts and uncles, and so on. Most of the people I spent my childhood were Muslims, and every single one of them repeated a phrase almost verbatim. “Islam is the only religion that gives respect and honor to women.” I personally never really gave the statement much thought, rather, I just accepted it on surface value. So whenever someone from the outside brought up the treatment of women in Islamic cultures, I repeated this mantra like a statement of unquestionable fact. It was not until I looked upon Islam from the outside that I truly grasped just how false that statement was. Islam does not give respect to women, it does the exact opposite. It suppresses and subjugates them. It keeps them down purposely, as Islam truly is a man-made religion. It deprives women of their beauty with veils, their minds with dogma, and their freedom with the law.

One of the most common replies to the oppressive treatment of women is, “it’s the culture, not religion.” The people who say this, either know nothing of the religion they are speaking of, or are purposely lying. It must be one or the other, there is no middle ground in this matter. The Qur’an clearly outlines what rights women have, and which rights they don’t. In fact, the 4th chapter of the Qur’an deals directly with women, as it is titled “Al-Nisa” which translates to “The Woman.” If there were ever a place to prove my point, it would be this chapter of the Qur’an. So, let us explore the claim of whether or not Islam gives respect to women by reading this chapter.

4:3 And if ye fear that ye will not deal fairly by the orphans, marry of the women, who seem good to you, two or three or four; and if ye fear that ye cannot do justice (to so many) then one (only) or (the captives) that your right hands possess. Thus it is more likely that ye will not do injustice.

This verse is often seen as part of the justification as to why men are given the right to marry multiple women. The first claim it makes is that, it is possible for a man to treat multiple women equally. All one needs to evaluate the validity of this claim is to ask any self-respecting woman if such is possible. The next interesting aspect is that, it allows men to marry multiple women, but not women to marry multiple men. Clearly, this verse implies that there is an inherent inequality, as it assumes that only men are in the position to provide for multiple women, but not the other way around.

4:11 Allah chargeth you concerning (the provision for) your children: to the male the equivalent of the portion of two females, and if there be women more than two, then theirs is two-thirds of the inheritance, and if there be one (only) then the half.

Unlike the previous verse that only implies an inherent inequality, this chapter essentially states this supposed inequality outright. Men are given double of what women are given. Again, the Qur’an is creates the justification for inequality and suppression.

4:34 Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of women). So good women are the obedient, guarding in secret that which Allah hath guarded. As for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them. Then if they obey you, seek not a way against them. Lo! Allah is ever High, Exalted, Great.

Here is a cluster of sexist nonsense. Now, it clearly says, “men are in charge of women.” Why is this so? Why can’t women be in charge of men? How has god made males better than females? According to any sensible knowledge of modern anatomy, there are negligible differences between the two, so how is a male “made to excel over the female” ? Why is a good woman obedient to god and men? Why can’t a woman be simply obedient to god? Why aren’t good males obedient to god and females? If you had any objection to the other verses, surely there cannot be any mistake here. This passage also states the proper punishment for the women who aren’t obedient. First a male can essentially yell at them, second, send them to another bed and then third you can beat them and not allow them outside the house. This single passage allows men to be in charge of women, forces women to be obedient or else face harsh consequences. It ends off with a praise of god, surely no person of reasonable, or even mediocre ethics could not praise any god which would give such filthy and disgusting passages to be the final revelation.

24:31 And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and be modest, and to display of their adornment only that which is apparent, and to draw their veils over their bosoms, and not to reveal their adornment save to their own husbands or fathers or husbands’ fathers, or their sons or their husbands’ sons, or their brothers or their brothers’ sons or sisters’ sons, or their women, or their slaves, or male attendants who lack vigour, or children who know naught of women’s nakedness.

One of my main grievances with Islam and the Qur’an is that it states that modesty is a virtue for women in relation to god and men, but modesty is only a virtue for men in relation to god. This passage highlights this grievance of mine. I simply cannot understand the desire to force a woman to wear veils. I also do not see why a woman must lower her gaze, especially in direct submission to men. Surely this passage is convenient for males, as they can continue with their sick desire to subjugate women. However, as a male, I could not participate in any religion which states such blatant falsehoods and obvious sexist non-sense regardless of their convenience to me.

What I hope to have established is that, a person cannot consider themselves a feminist if they protect or even worse, follow Islam. The presupposition that men are inherently superior to women (which clearly exists within the passages of the Qur’an) is the antithesis to feminism. For those who are women and also follow the Islamic faith, my question is, why? Why follow a religion which so obviously against you. It is not the culture that allows for males to assume they can suppress you, but rather, it is the religion itself. For one to consider themselves a Muslim, they must follow every single aspect of the Qur’an, if even a single passage seems wrong, the entire faith falls down. One cannot submit to the word of god and at the same time challenge it. I stand baffled whenever a woman actually allows herself to be suppressed, and even more so, agrees with the logic behind it. For a woman following these filthy Abrahamic religions is similar to a freed slave staying with their owner. To put it as succinctly as possible, the notion of “Islamic Feminism” is essentially a contradiction in terms.

The Koran! well, come put me to the test–
Lovely old book in hideous error drest–
Believe me, I can quote the Koran too,
The unbeliever knows his Koran best.

- Omar Khayyám

(this is an updated, and revised version of my earlier “Islam and Woman essay. This one is specifically created for, and revised for publication in a feminist magazine at Stony Brook University)