Was engaged in a discussion with some thirty working print and electronic journalists over the state of insecurity in the country. Journalists were sharing as to how they ‘ve interviewed people who on record have stated that they are avoiding places like well known hotels etc because of bomb threats. Just last week the Holiday Inn hotel Islamabad ( now known as the Islamabad Hotel) was cleared mid day because of a bomb hoax. The conversation then turned to war on terror, its reasons and the whole clash of religions and civilizations debate. One of the IL blogging team members shared how this Eid she had offered Eid prayers in a Jewish synagogue in Virginia,USA along with other Muslims . The Muslims of Virginia used to rent a Church hall for Eid prayers but this year the Church was being renovated so the Muslims had to find another space. The Jewish synagogue was an ideal place and the Jewish community of Virginia extended full support.
This “confession” meant as an example of peaceful religious co-existence caused almost an uproar. Journalists demanded to know as to how (a) firstly a woman could have offered Eid prayers and (b) how could Eid prayers be offered in a synagogue?
We cited the Faisal Mosque, Islamabad example where women do offer prayers but in separate halls. However, the journalists were enraged that men and women had offered prayers in one hall simultaneously. …. and of course that too in a synagogue. One journalist termed this as `distasteful and outrageous” and wondered what the Virginia Muslim community was thinking?
The discussion left us wondering …… why even the educated among us are so religiously confused and scared? The conversation had started with political insecurities and fear. It ended with us wondering why we are so scared of our own religion that we seek solace in ritualistic thinking?
Misogyny should not be allowed the mantle of respectability accorded by religion; there is no sanction for a bar on women visiting places of worship in Islam. Women do attend services in Muslim countries and regions that have yet to recognize, apparently, the supremacy of South Asian religious practice over their own.
The respondent can proclaim with some authority, as a resident of the area mentioned in Individual’s post, that no male has yet jumped over the partition between men and women during congregational prayer so the social order has remained inviolate thus far despite the obscenity of men and women being under the same roof at the same time – disappointing, perhaps, the Darwinian expectation on the part of the dispensers of religious dogma of ape-like behavior by Muslims finding themselves within assailable distance of the opposite sex.
Do the journalists of the Individual’s acquaintance advocate male and female Kaabas now? How do they propose getting around the thorny problem of commingling during the Haj?
They might like to re-examine their belief systems. Specifically their inability to see women as anything other than objects.
Regarding their seeing as improper an offering of prayer in a place utilized by other belief systems at other times, they should study more closely, as committed retrogressives, the history of Islam – and they will find that people with greater claims to worthiness in religion than them did indeed declare places of worship, especially those used by Abrahamaic faiths, sacred. Isn’t it enough for their parched egos that Muslims are practicing their faith in places used by others rather than vice versa?
But then, that might be too much to expect of a group that sees without apparent alarm Muslims themselves divided into separate congregations with separate mosques, not particularly accommodating of each other – unless bombings are seen as an expression of acceptance.
Word to the purveyors of religious wisdom out there: take the time to at least learn something of your own religion before mouthing inanities. The fourteen centuries of religious practice – before you arrived on the scene to rescue Islam from its people – have not gone by without an examination of religious belief and its application to the human condition.
May be one factor behind all this is that we suffer from a very strong sense of insecurity about our religion as well as our country, hence we see lots of conspiracy theories and also have issues with tolerance. Perhaps what we need is something that gives us more confidence and a greater sense of security and then may be we will be more open minded.
What could give us that confidence and sense of security? May be better leadership, perhaps better and more dignified behavior from our elites interacting with foreigners, a decrease in the ‘brown sahib’ complex, and perhaps more importantly, a solid accomplishment in some field.
Of course this is just a thought. The real life is quite complex and no single factor can account for a problem. There are usually no magic bullets, so I should clarify that I am not saying the above to mean that this will solve the whole problem. However, I do wonder how things would have turned out if our ruling elite, the english speaking class had not made a terrible mess in getting some basics of good governance and politics so badly messed up. Would that have helped making us more secure and tolerant of other beliefs, and less obsessed with conspiracy theories?
The irony is that Muslims, after living in the U.S. for an extended period, to have a stronger Muslim (as opposed to Pakistani, Indian, etc.) identity and are more technically observant.
Women leading prayers is a fringe activity. I don’t see much of a demand for it, even among women.
But the masjids here are registered non-profits and have boards. Women are usually minimally represented at least, but in many places they serve at leadership positions and head the boards. The largest Islamic organization in North America, ISNA, is headed by a woman. Masjids, especially in the suburbs, are community centers, so families go together.
It’s a vastly different environment than in Pakistan. And I think it says something great about the United States. There are difficulties here being Muslim. But the freedom here lets people choose. Choice is a great thing.
There are options besides the Taliban, blind traditionalism, and the areligious type.
Sorry, I left out the word “tend” in the first sentence. It should read as:
The irony is that Muslims, after living in the U.S. for an extended period, tend to have a stronger Muslim (as opposed to Pakistani, Indian, etc.) identity and are more technically observant.