Why cultural Islam is important

The Raddical Middle Way announces that Dr Umar Faruq Abd-Allah will be touring the United Kingdom. Dr. Abd-Allah is Chairman of the Board and Scholar-in-Residence at the Nawawi Foundation.

The event that I will try to get to will be "Cultural Jihad - Making Islam Matter" to be held in The Brunei Gallery at SOAS on 17th November (7 - 9.30pm):

"For Muslims living in the West the future lies not in the tinkering of theology but in the production of culture. But how is this process of cultural relevancy to take place? Is it taking place? What are its discernible forms? What are the challenges that need to be surmounted before a genuine cultural expression takes root? And what and who is to define what is ‘genuine’? To what extent is cultural output in Islamic civilisation a utilitarian exercise? In the global village of specialised economies and shared global tastes where does the process of being consumers stop and that of being producers of culture begin? What needs to be done to convert Western society to associate Islam with the beauty of the Taj Mahal and the Majesty of the Dome of the Rock rather than with the blasted Twin Towers of New York or the shattered Buddhist statues in Afghanistan? Can we develop an agenda of cultural do’s that would harness the energy of our young people – to teach them that singing, creating, beautifying and being joyous are all part of the Islamic agenda?"

This is a very crucial point, which I am always banging on about: the lack of any real engagement with wider society outside the confines of politics and rights. These have their place, but is that all one can define 'Islam' (in its broader sense) by? It's probably the reason why John Humphrys, in his search for faith, asked Rowan Williams about God, spirituality and philosophy, but asked Tariq Ramadan about politics and law. I am glad to see someone of repute like Dr. Abd-Allah, is keen to address this issue.

Comments

[saqi namah]

A lot of Muslims have unfortunately become fond of "our ancestors did great things" mantra. Many muslims in the West also like to pretend that they are "above" culture (whatever that means) or that Muslims have a singular culture. Of course there Islam does bind all Muslim cultures in a thread but throughout history people have expressed their religion in the arts in different ways. Experience has shown that whenever it comes to culture we have become adept at declaring that we have a superior culture and thus answers to all the questions and yet Muslim countries are not exactly known for solving problems.

And then there is the question that some people ask when they get tired of the "our ancestors did great things" mantra, "What have you people done lately for humanity. This is a question that we should start to answer.

Some people live in the state of Alaska, some people live in the state of Texas, some people live in the state of Florida, some people live in the state of New York and we Muslims live in the state of denial.

[OmarG]

Salam All, Wow! After Jumah, my Islamic Studies professor and I were discussing exactly this! In fact, he even mentioned Dr Abdallah after I said that I thought the production of a new fiqh was subordinate to Western Muslims' being able to create a new culture of Islam in the West that can replicate itself and satisfy the needs of Western Muslims. I'm both pleased to see people are hard at work addressing this, as well as a little disapointed that I was thinking of this independently; Nawawi and Dr Abdallah should do a lot more to popularize this stuff and spread the word far and wide!

[Buzz Kill]

Islam should not be seen as a culture or a tradition in my opinion. It should be seen as a method. A teaching for society.

It got mixed with lots of things and became a culture. I call that culture, Middle Eastern culture and not Islamic culture. Egypt's history predates Islam. So does Iran's. They both cling to aspects of pre Islamic culture and they are very different from each other now.

That nice aspect of their culture's that is common and makes all of humanity one family is Islam. It is a global, a universal and not a local phenomenon.

Justice should prevail. And the ummah, the Islamic community at large should VIGOROUSLY and resolutely hunt down and restrain all forms of extremism that have caused Islam such trouble.

Denial and great days of the past are not the problem. It is current denial, failure to clean up your own messes, allowing the west to do it for you, FORCING them to do it for you, that is so pathetic.

Don't make MPs come to the mosque and ask UK immigrants to please watch the influences on your kids...YOU DO IT! Don't tolerate extremists. Boot them out. Be intolerant of intolerance and wrongful unathorized and manipulative violent voices in Islam.

This will solve the immediate problems of releasing Islam from 9/11. Clean your own house.