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Critical Thinkers for Islamic Reform a Collection of Articles from Contemporary Thinkers on Islam

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Critical Thinkers for Islamic Reform a Collection of Articles from Contemporary Thinkers on Islam Critical Thinkers for Islamic Reform A Collection of Articles from Contemporary Thinkers on Islam Abdullahi An-Naim Abdur Rab Ahmed Subhy Mansour Aisha Jumaan Aisha Y. Musa Ali Behzadnia Arnold Yasin Mol Ayman Abdullah Caner Taslaman Chibuzo Casey Ohanaja Christopher Moore Dilara Hafiz Edip Yuksel El-Mehdi Haddou Eman M. Ahmed Fereydoun Taslimi Farouk A. Peru Germaine A. Hoston Ghayasuddin Siddiqui Irshad Manji Kassim Ahmad Layth Saleh al-Shaiban Melody Moezzi Mike Ghouse Mohammad Mova al Afghani Mustafa Akyol Naser Khader Raymond Catton Richard S. Voss Ruby Amatulla Shabbir Ahmed T.O. Shanavas Taj Hargey Yasar Nuri Ozturk Yayha Yuksel BrainbowPress Iconoclastic Books 1 © 2009 Edip Yuksel All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used, transmitted, or reproduced in any form or by any means whatsoever without the written permission of the editor except in the case of brief quotations in reviews and critical articles. For permission requests or other information, contact the publisher or Edip Yuksel electronically through: www.19.org www.yuksel.org www.quranix.com www.islamicreform.org www.brainbowpress.com Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 2 CONTENTS Author Title Page Introduction 5 Biographies of the Authors 7 Yayha Yuksel Being a Teen Named Yayha in America 15 Christopher Moore A Journey 18 Dr. T.O. Shanavas Was Aisha a Six-Year-Old Bride? 24 Layth S. Al-Shaiban 1 Man = 2 Women? 31 Layth S. Al-Shaiban Are Women to be Beaten? 34 Edip Yuksel Manifesto For Islamic Reform 39 Abdullahi An-Naim Why is an Islamic State Untenable? 47 Ahmed Subhy Mansour Islam: Religion of Peace 49 Richard S. Voss The Fourth Jihad 72 Mustafa Akyol Islamocapitalism: Islam and Free Market 80 Ruby Amatulla The Pursuit of Knowledge in Islam 85 Ghayasuddin Siddiqui Salafism: Greatest Obstacle to Muslim Integration 91 Mohammad Al Afghani Religious Freedom in Indonesia 93 Melody Moezzi Delusions of Liberation 109 Chibuzo Casey Ohanaja From Christianity to Salafi Sect of Sunni Religion 111 and Finally to Islam! Farouk A. Peru Muslims and the Quran: Towards the Resurrection 116 of a Civilizational Impetus F.K. Rules to Understand the Quran 125 Eman M. Ahmed Muslim Identity Politics: Contestation, Confusion 128 and Certitude El Mehdi Haddou When the Military Power is Used to Restore 142 Freedom Edip Yuksel Polygamy According to Islam 145 Dilara Hafiz Eavesdropping on a Arizona Interfaith Youth 150 Meeting Irshad Manji Freedom of Thought, it's your God-given Right 152 Caner Taslaman Method of the Quranic Islam 157 Ayman Abdullah Introduction to Peacemaking 163 Arnold Yasin Mol The Humanistic Approach Vs. the Religious 172 Approach Ali Behzadnia Islam and Democracy, Why There is No 186 Democratic Government in Muslim Countries? Ali Behzadnia Are Muslims or Islam a Threat to Our Security? 192 Aisha Y. Musa HadƯth as Scripture: Discussions on the Authority 197 of Prophetic Traditions in Islam Aisha Y. Musa Jews in the Quran: An Introduction 198 Aisha Jumaan I Refuse to Be a Hostage 203 Abdur Rab Understanding Spending in God's Way (Zakat Or 206 Sadaqa) in the Quranic Light Mike Ghouse Are Muslims Part of American Story 215 Edip Yuksel Violence and Peace 221 Shabbir Ahmed The Current Status of Muslims 232 Edip Yuksel Adventures of…. Theometer or Sectometer 245 3 4 Ɣ17:36Ɣ10:100Ɣ39:17-18Ɣ41:53Ɣ42:21Ɣ34:46Ɣ6:114-116Ɣ10:36Ɣ11:17Ɣ12:111Ɣ4:174Ɣ8:42Ɣ74:30-37Ɣ Ɣ5:111Ɣ10:72Ɣ98:5Ɣ4:125Ɣ22:78Ɣ2:112,131Ɣ4:125Ɣ6:71Ɣ22:34Ɣ40:66Ɣ3:83Ɣ33:30Ɣ35:43Ɣ3:86Ɣ Ɣ2:111Ɣ21:24Ɣ74:30Ɣ35:28Ɣ4:162Ɣ9:122Ɣ22:54Ɣ27:40Ɣ29:44,49Ɣ29:20Ɣ2:48Ɣ9:31-34Ɣ Ɣ9:34Ɣ2:41,79,174Ɣ5:44Ɣ9:9Ɣ6:164Ɣ2:256Ɣ18:29Ɣ10:99Ɣ88:21-22Ɣ42:38Ɣ Ɣ5:12Ɣ58:11Ɣ2:188Ɣ4:58Ɣ5:8Ɣ4:148Ɣ2:215Ɣ59:7Ɣ5:32Ɣ13:11Ɣ49:12Ɣ Ɣ49:12Ɣ2:282Ɣ53:38Ɣ2:85,188Ɣ4:29Ɣ24:29Ɣ59:6-7Ɣ2:275Ɣ Ɣ5:90Ɣ3:130Ɣ6:141Ɣ7:156Ɣ49:13Ɣ3:195Ɣ4:124Ɣ Ɣ16:97Ɣ5:90Ɣ2:62Ɣ2:135-136,208Ɣ4:97-98Ɣ Ɣ60:8-9Ɣ8:60Ɣ42:20Ɣ17:33.Ɣ4:75Ɣ Ɣ16:90Ɣ3:110Ɣ25:63-76Ɣ Ɣ31:12-20Ɣ23:1-11Ɣ Ɣ6:19, 38, 114Ɣ Ɣ3:19, 85Ɣ Ɣ39:45Ɣ Ɣ1:1Ɣ Ɣ Before putting anything in our mouths we observe the color, smell its odor. If it looks rotten or smells bad we do not touch it. If food passes the eye and nose tests, then our taste buds will be the judge. If a harmful bit fools all those examinations, our stomach come to rescue; it revolts and throws them up. There are many other organs that function as stations for testing, examination, and modification of imported material into our bodies. They ultimately meet our smart and vigilant nano-guards: white cells. Sure, there are many harmful or potentially harmful foods that pass all the way through our digestive system into our blood, such as alcohol and fat. Nevertheless, without using our reasoning faculty much if at all, we have an innate system that protects our body from harmful substances. It would be a mystery then how we can input information and assertions, especially the most bizarre ones, into our brains without subjecting them to the rigorous test of critical thinking. Our brains should never become trashcans of false ideas, holy viruses, unexamined dogmas and superstitions. We should be wise! How can we protect our minds and brains? Do we have an innate system that protects us from harmful or junky ideas, especially dogmas or jingoisms that could turn us into zombies or self-righteous evil people? Yes we do: our logic is the program that detects and protects us against the most harmful viruses, which usually find their way when we are hypnotized by crowds, salespeople, politicians or clergymen. 5 Indeed, our brain comes with a pre-installed virus-protection program, called reasoning, logic or inference.1 Unfortunately, this program is constantly attacked by false ideas, prejudices, dogmas, and contradictory stories. We are fed lies all the time, from fairy tales in cradles to silly stories in holy guises in places of worship. Fiction books are the best selling. Actors whose entire profession is based on faking other characters are treated like gods and goddesses. They are meteorites and hence are called ‘stars!’ Similarly, we reward liars in politics and in our relationship. We prefer to walk around with ketchup on our nose, since we do not expect our friends to be truthful as a mirror. Centuries after the revelation of the Quran, we Muslims have accumulated more than ketchup on our noses. We have sunk in dirt until our eyebrows since we have traded the sound, liberating, and progressive message of the Quran, with the contradictory, enslaving and regressive dogmas of fabricated sects. This book is the by-product of "A Celebration of Heresy Conference: Critical Thinking for Islamic Reform", in Atlanta on March 28-30 of 2008. It was a conference that I had prayed for years before it took place. When Fereydoun Taslimi offered his help and then Abdullahi an-Naim joined us, the idea became a reality. I offered Critical Thinking for Islamic Reform as the title, while Abdullahi insisted on using the word Heresy in the title. After a lengthy and hot debate among us, we finally agreed to combine both suggestions.2 With the support of Fereydoun's family and friends, about hundred Critical Thinkers gathered in Atlanta to discuss the imperative of Islamic Reform. The contributors of this book do not necessarily agree on every issue. However, we all agree on the imperative of a radical reformation in the Muslim world. A reform under the guidance of the Quran with the light of reason, our Creator's greatest gift to us... Inshallah, we are planning to continue organizing these conferences under the title "Critical Thinking for Islamic Reform" and publish the articles of the participants in annual anthologies with the same title.3 Edip Yuksel Arizona, USA April 2009 1 The complete list of the 19 inferences can be found inside the cover of the most widely used textbook in America on logic, which I have been using for about a decade in my logic courses: Introduction to Logic, Irving M. Copi and Carl Cohen, Prentice Hall, Eleventh Edition, 2001, page 361 and inside cover. 2 For the record, I have a 16-page discussion on the name of the first conference. The participants of the discussion were: Fereydoun Taslimi, Abdullahi al-Naim, Layth al-Shaiban, Thomas Haidon, Arnold Yasin, Aisha Juman, Aisha Musa, Kassim Ahmad, Ruby Amutulla, Amina Wadud, and Edip. 3 We did not receive the articles on time from some associates whose names were typed in italic in the list in the title page: Germaine A. Hoston, Naser Khader, Raymond Catton, Taj Hargey, and Yaúar Nuri Öztürk. Hopefully, we will have them for the next annual issue. 6 The Critical Thinkers Abdullahi an-Naim, PhD.is the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law at Emory University School of Law. His specialties include human rights in Islam and cross- cultural issues in human rights, and he is the director of the Religion and Human Rights Program at Emory. He also participates in Emory's Center for the Study of Law and Religion. Abdullahi was formerly the Executive Director of the African bureau of Human Rights Watch. He argues for a synergy and interdependence between human rights, religion and secularism instead of a dichotomy and incompatibility between them. Abdullahi is originally from Sudan, where he was greatly influenced by the Islamic reform movement of Mahmoud Mohamed Taha. He is the author of numerous journal articles and books on human rights, international law, democracy, and Islamic reform. His most recent book is Islam and the Secular State: Negotiating the Future of Shari'a Cambridge, MA and London, England: Harvard University Press (2008).
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