[lit-ideas] What I did this week
- From: "Phil Enns" <phil.enns@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Lit-Ideas@Freelists. Org" <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 4 Jul 2008 16:15:22 +0700
I spent this past week attending a conference that was organized with
the intention of bridge-building between religious groups that might
otherwise not meet. The theme of the conference was globalization and
religion but it quickly became evident that the theme was merely a
pretext for trying to work out the role of Islam in the world today.
Some of the presenters and participants didn't realize this pretext
and foolishly tried to discuss the ambiguities of globalization and
religion, but their futility soon became apparent. The conference was
going to be about the nature of Islam in global society.
In large part, the inevitability of this discussion was the result of
the presence of representatives of Hizbut Tahrir. HT is an
international Islamic organization working towards the establishment
of a transnational Caliphate. On their website, one can learn about
how the West is working to destroy Islam and how India is an enemy
state. Really fascinating stuff if one, well, if one finds that sort
of stuff fascinating.
So, after an early HT presentation, all the following presentations,
no matter their subjects, whether it was poverty, the environment, or
education, inevitably came round to discussion of Islam, whether there
is one or many Islams, whether there is one or many sharia, and how
Muslims are victims of the West. Well, either the West or the U.S.
It wasn't always clear who was the villain but it always included the
U.S. I have to admit to being somewhat in awe of you Americans and
all that you have been able to do in your plot against Muslims.
Globalization, capitalism, global warming, natural disasters,
Baywatch. You Americans have been busy little beavers and I am in awe
of how you are able to manage all of this. We Canadians trip if we
walk and chew gum but you people can run an entire planet. I am
impressed.
Some people had the nerve to bring up facts, such as the rapid growth
of Muslims in the U.S. and that Indonesia is the third largest
contributor of greenhouse gases in the world, but these were properly
dismissed with the disdain they so richly deserved. The point was
that in order to resist the hegemony of American capitalism, Muslims
need to organize themselves according to the true form of sharia.
Apparently this bit about the true form of sharia is something of an
issue among Muslims. Those of you with some familiarity with the
history of Christianity may recognize this tune, but Muslims are
divided between those who believe that Quran gives a complete and
final account of sharia, and those who believe that sharia has to be
adapted to the contexts in which Muslims find themselves. So, debate
raged between Muslims while the rest of us, those of us who came
hoping to build bridges between Christians, Hindus, Buddhists,
watched. A Hindu colleague leaned over to check my program to see
whether the conference theme had changed to 'Islamic Law in the world
today' while he went out for a smoke. I suggested that the conference
advertisements and program had spelling mistakes.
Anyways, the conference was a fascinating experience. Those who were
advocating for a Caliphate were far outnumbered by those Muslims who
had no desire for any such entity. The participants burst out in
laughter when one respondent threatened to walk out if anyone
mentioned the plural form of the word 'Islam'. (The next speaker, a
Muslim, purposely used the word 'Islams' but the guy didn't budge.)
It was obvious that virtually all the Muslim participants represented
a more moderate form of Islam and that a more radical form of Islam
was not making much headway. On the other hand, the ease with which
participants attacked the West and blamed their woes on the U.S. was
disconcerting. Apparently the hope is that you Americans will give up
capitalism, driving cars and showing reruns of Baywatch as a sign of
respect for Muslims. Surely that is not too much to ask?
Sincerely,
Phil Enns
Yogyakarta, Indonesia
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