hiredgun

*deep breath*

I am probably identified on TFP as 'liberal'. In the politics board, I very rarely find myself in agreement with the general worldview promoted by those conservatives that tend to be aligned with UsTwo. My ideas tend to paint me (more or less correctly) as a staunch critic of the concept of a 'clash of civilizations' and of the colonial experience and its consequences, a promoter of constraints on unilateral power, a cynic about the dicourse of the 'war on terror', and very often a defender of Muslims and Islam against unfounded charges of inherent barbarism, cruelty, and intolerance, charges that are unfair and historically false. I also happen to have been raised Muslim.

This is the one issue on which I cannot play defense for Muslims.

It is time, far past time, for some serious self-criticism and reflection on this topic. The particular incident (or non-incident) in the OP adds little to the debate, but our over-sensitivity to criticism and perceived insult is dangerously, even catastrophically problematic.

I understand that the hatred we see is usually on the margins; that even when it becomes mainstream, it is both a vent for other political frustrations and most especially the result of a warped worldview in which Muslims are quite literally under siege, mortally threatened as a people by the forces of American-Israeli Crusade.

But the damage that this type of reaction does, both in the way it crushes a society's spirit and in how it destroys what credibility Muslims might have on the world stage, is far too great to be ignored. Three thousand people are dying every month in Iraq. It's unfathomable. Why haven't Muslims taken the energies that were squandered attacking some rubbish cartoons and channeled them into really engaging the West, critically and intellectually? If it would be too much to expect Pakistanis and Jordanians to come down on the warring Iraqi militias with harsh criticism, if it's too much to expect them to see past the feeble notion of an Iraqi 'resistance', then is it really too much to expect them to fill the streets in vocal opposition to this war rather than protesting images on a piece of paper? Shouldn't they be infinitely more concerned with the inhumanities committed at Abu Ghraib than with a stage prop that represents the Prophet's head?

And above all else, should they not be furiously rattling the bars of their own broken and despotic governments, all of whom, without exception, without a decent goddamn one among them, despoil their citizenries, lock up their brothers and sisters (in conditions far worse than those found at US detainment areas) and perpetuate their own rule through maddeningly authoritarian practices, sham elections (if that), and brutal state police?

The Muslim world is in a period of crisis. There are a lot of very real, very important problems to contend with. There is an enormous amount of work to do for anyone who cares about the fate of Muslim peoples and the nations in which they reside. Some of the problems can be blamed on the outside world, and many cannot... but it's really not relevant. The point is that a few silly drawings, or a novel by Salman Rushdie, are non-issues. They shouldn't even be making it onto the agenda.

Maybe I need to start a non-profit that engages Muslims in internal dialogue on this matter.

Edit: One small thing to add. I don't tend to view things with a religious lens, but there is absolutely nothing in the Qur'an or the tradition of the Prophet that indicate that an insult can be an impetus for violence. On the contrary, the Prophet routinely took a great deal of abuse for his views, and accepted it quietly and submissively, particularly during the Mecca years before the original migration to Medina. These our aspects of our heritage that must be emphasized more than they are today.