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Irshad Manji

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Matt Browne View Drop Down
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    Posted: 13 November 2012 at 8:03am
I just finished her 2004 book "The Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim's Call for Reform in Her Faith" and ordered her 2011 book "Allah, Liberty and Love: The Courage to Reconcile Faith and Freedom".

Irshad Manji is an intellectual giant. She is both a visionary and a very practical person. She is also a practicing Muslim who wants to reconcile Islam and the Age of Enlightenment (which started in the Golden Islamic Age). And she identified one of the root causes for the numerous troubles Muslims run into:

Dogmatic Islam is about repression of other viewpoints.

We have to fight a disease called dogmatism, which is the practice of pronouncing one's beliefs with rigid, arrogant certainty. Absolute certainty to be precise.

It is a sad reality that most followers of mainstream Islam are not capable of independent thought. Mainstream Islam gets reduced to memorizing dogmas and copying rituals. But intellectual Muslims want to be more than religious robots who repeat phrases like 'music is haram' or 'wives have to obey their husbands'.

How do most Muslims deal with intellectual giants like Irshad Manji? They attack her as a person. They attack her character. They attack her life style. They don't engage in a debate. They don't try to find counter-arguments to the arguments she makes. Many probably don't even understand her arguments.

I would love to meet Muslims on Islamicity actually willing to engage in debates. It is not necessary to agree with everything Ms. Manji says. I don't. But I do agree with many of her views and proposals for a better future.

So if a debate about her viewpoints get reduced to 'she is a lesbian' (ergo she can't be right), well, to me that's a sign of intellectual bankruptcy.

So, please, somebody out there, please take the time to think about what she is saying and then explain why you agree or disagree. Who has actually read one of her books? Or at least a summary?

To me, the best part is chapter 7, which is about how a reform of Islam can be supported with concrete actions. Here are some examples:

1) Female entrepreneurship based on microcredits as suggested by Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunnus
2) Use of media to create secular mindsets in Islamic countries and a culture of debate and disagreement
3) Expose Saudi Arabia financing dark ages thinking around the world
4) Try Muslim leaders grossly violating human right in International Courts
5) Organize an Abrahamic Hajj
6) Organize cooperation between Sunni and Shiite and Sufi intellectuals
7) Encourage liberal non-Muslims to end blind multiculturalism



Edited by Matt Browne - 13 November 2012 at 8:07am
A religion that's intolerant of other religions can't be the world's best religion --Abdel Samad
Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people--Eleanor Roosevelt
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abuayisha View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote abuayisha Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 November 2012 at 2:14pm
Yeah I read an interesting book on genocide, and what a shame upon humanity as to what disagreements can lead to.  What you and I can laugh at, or agree to disagree, can have deadly consequences in other quarters.  You may even say, Satan laughing at them.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Reepicheep Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 November 2012 at 10:01am
Originally posted by abuayisha abuayisha wrote:

always nice to have an entertaining speaker to make us roar with laughter.
 
Yes, I agree.
 
It is said that the one thing Satan cannot stand is to be laughed at.  When we laugh at hate crazed religious fanatics such as the ones who left the messages on Irshad's answering machine, we are in effect laughing at Satan, surely a worthwhile activity.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote abuayisha Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 November 2012 at 3:55pm
History is replete with excellent speakers some moral and others immoral, however always nice to have an entertaining speaker to make us roar with laughter.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Reepicheep Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 November 2012 at 3:07pm
Originally posted by Matt Browne Matt Browne wrote:

I'm impressed by Irshad Manji's capability for critical thinking, independent thought, and rejection of blind submission and mindless repetition of dogma.

A great sign of hope!
 
I attended one of her talks here in Edmonton a few years back, excellent speaker.  She took a short 10 minute break halfway through her talk, where she played a tape of some of the messages that have been left on her answering maching.  The messages were hilarious in their ignorance, I don't think any of the people who left the messages have ever been accused of being too smart... 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote abuayisha Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 November 2012 at 7:07am
Muslim "reformer" and lesbian activist......A great sign of hope?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Matt Browne Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 November 2012 at 6:38am
I'm impressed by Irshad Manji's capability for critical thinking, independent thought, and rejection of blind submission and mindless repetition of dogma.

A great sign of hope!



Edited by Matt Browne - 06 November 2012 at 6:39am
A religion that's intolerant of other religions can't be the world's best religion --Abdel Samad
Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people--Eleanor Roosevelt
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Suleyman View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Suleyman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 May 2005 at 12:26am

Es_Selam'un Aleykum Brother ShamsZaman,

 Congratulations!,wise words...

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