Irshad Manji: Calling for Reform in Islam
Irshad Manji, author of controversial book "The Trouble with Islam Today" has been called "Osama bin-Laden's worst nightmare" by the New York Times and "one of three women creating a positive change in Islam today" by the Jakarta Post. Her book has been translated into French, Spanish, Italian, Persian, Urdu and Arabic. Manji is the recipient of the Simon Wiesenthal Award of Valor.
Manji was born in in 1968, her family relocated to when she was four. She has a bachelor's degree in History from
University
of
British Columbia
. Currently she is a Visiting Fellow with the International Security Studies program at
Yale
University
.
While Manji has been applauded for her work in "The Trouble with Islam Today", she has also faced criticism for the book. Critics say that she has resorted to Arab bashing and appeasing the Jewish block to gain name and fame. The book which discusses in length about the way Islam has forgotten its tradition of critical thinking, called "ijtihad", and the way it discriminates women and promotes violence against people of other faith especially the Jews. The book attempts to explore the Islamic tradition and the Holy Koran to know what the Prophet really preached. Since she is not an Islamic scholar, critics have said that she is not qualified to talk about the issues in Islam and her views are not to be taken seriously.
Manji's critics may have a point in saying that she lacks religious scholarship, but the fact that so many people, not only Muslims but Jews, Christians and Hindus, are reading the book and applauding her for her strength and courage in discussing such taboo subjects means that she has some valid points. She may not be an Islamic scholar but she is a lesbian Muslim woman who has valid questions on why she is discriminated against for her gender and for her sexual preference? She is right in questioning if Islam really preaches violence against Jews.
Isrshad Manji became a target for conservative Muslims after the book was published. She has received death threats and has been slammed in the media countless times. The most noticeable media battle was between Manji and Tarek Fatah in 2003.
Fatah, a Canadian journalist said this about Manji's book, "it is not addressed to Muslims; it is aimed at making Muslim-haters feel secure in their thinking."(Wikipedia.com)
Manji recently appeared in CBS News to talk about the reaction to the Pope's speech on religious dialogue in which he quoted a Byzantine emperor's unflattering remarks on Islam. She is a contributing blogger with the Huffington Post and her columns are distributed by The New York Times Syndicate.
For more on Manji visit her site at: http://www.muslim-refusenik.com.
Sources:
Tarek Fatah. (2006, August 29). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 22:02, September 21, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tarek_Fatah&oldid=72642586
http://www.muslim-refusenik.com/aboutirshad.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irshad_Manji
Published by Bhumika Ghimire
Bhumika is writer blogger turned activist. Hopes to be a Pharmacist before its too late. Currently training to be a pharmacy technician. View profile
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- Manji is author of book "The Trouble with Islam Today"
- She advocates for reform in Islam and Islamic traditions
- Irshad Manji has been criticized for her views on Islam and its relationship with Jews.
For more on Manji visit her site at: http://www.muslim-refusenik.com.
2 Comments
Post a CommentMany of Manji's criticisms of Islam does have some merit, especially those concerning the treatment of women and ijtihad (indepent interpretation of the Qur'an). Howver, I personally think she is bending over backward to make herself acceptible to Christians and Jews. For example, she took sides with the opposition in the so-called ground zero mosque debate. Even Mayor Bloomberg said that he saw no reason why the Cordoba House should not be built on its planned location. In addition, she was one of the first people to insist that the Fort Hood shooter be investigated for ties to terrorist, when it was clear that this was an isolated case of a soldier (20 years in the military) going beserk. Moreover, I find her oft-repeated quip "not yet" when asked if she plans on convertingto Christianity or Judaism, offensive.
It is voices like that of Irshad Manji that have far more potential to bring about reform and moderation in Muslim countries than do the words (or bombs) of Bush...she is being rightly applauded for her work..