[Reader-list] neo-modism?

[Shivam]

Different Versions of Neo-modism
by Abid Ullah Jan
(Thursday 23 September 2004)
http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/9921/


"To avoid turning the whole Muslim world into Palestine (s) and Iraq
(s) and to avoid turning their own countries from becoming Nazi
Germany, the appropriate action for non-Muslims is to identify and
just ignore what Neo-mods of Islam are producing in support of
Neo-cons' totalitarian policy of global domination."



It is interesting to study the same music coming at different
frequencies, from different channels set up by different quarters of
Muslim Neo-mods — the self-proclaimed "progressive," "liberals," and
"moderate" Muslims.

The common tunes on all these different channels are apologies for the
uncommitted crimes and misconceptions that have no place in Islam.
Their common target is the ears of the Neo-cons of the West. These
ears want more of the same music to justify their destructive march
towards total domination.

The direct victims of the Neo-mods music are non-Muslims, mostly those
who have no knowledge about the ABC of Islam. Its indirect victims are
Muslims in the Muslim lands under the US direct and indirect
occupations.

When any of these channels of Muslim Neo-mods is discussed in a short
write up, it gives the impression as if it is an isolated case, or it
has no impact or connection with other channels.

That is not the fact. Actually Muslim Neo-modism comes in different
versions. All are well connected and all have the same objectives: a)
exploit the fear of Islam, b) generate some more in a different way,
and c) milk Washington. Collectively they have a wider impact, but
again, only in the non-Muslim world.

One can easily look around to find different versions of Neo-modism in
operation. However, discussing these versions in detail is beyond the
scope of a short write up. To give readers an opportunity to
independently research, personalities displaying a specific form of
neo-modism are given below.

It is a common tendency of the Neo-mods to consider every criticism as
a personal attack. They consider every critic having some kind of
personal vendetta against them. However, that is absolutely not the
case simply because their critics are neither on the CIA payroll, nor
they get career building opportunities. They don't get scholarships or
fellowships at Brookings or Rand in return for criticizing the
neo-mods, nor are they promoted on high profile media outlets.

The following broad classification of different versions of Neo-modism
will show how collectively and mostly unintentionally, they sow the
seeds of hatred and terror. They can hardly realize the extent of the
damage they are doing to both the East and the West under the fine
banners of moderation, building bridges and interfaith interactions.

1. Academic Neo-modism:

There are personalities in academic circles, both students and
teachers, who have either fully embraced the point of view of the
Neo-cons of the West or they just pretend to be on the same wavelength
with them when it comes to promotion of radical secularism and
military adventurism for imposing all associated ideas on the Muslim
world.

It is not difficult to find this version of Neo-modism in the world of
Dr. Ishtiaq Ahmed (Stockholm University), Muqtedar Khan, Akbar S.
Ahmed, and company.

These dollar scholars of Islam have distinct views about almost every
issue. Take the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for example. Muqtedar
Khan for example believes, "Allah, through the Qur'an, tells Muslims
to forgive injustices that Jews and Christians commit against
Muslims," which means, in other words, to accept Israeli oppression in
the present context. He writes, The Israeli occupation of Palestine is
"perhaps central to Muslim grievance against the West."

The use of word "perhaps" means, he is either still doubtful or
purposely ignore the reality. He goes on to say that the Israeli
government treats its one million Arab citizens "with greater respect
and dignity than most Arab nations treat their citizens." It means,
there is no need to support the suffering Palestinians. In a New York
Times article, Muqtedar Khan writes: "Muslims must realize that the
interests of our sons and daughters, who are American, must come
before the interests of our brothers and sisters, whether they are
Palestinian, Kashmiri or Iraqi." [1] Consider this prioritized
classification in the context of the message of Islam.

Akbar Ahmed recently appeared with Rabbi Johnny Sax in a documentary
celebrating the Jewish New Year and publicly stating that he is
ashamed of the brutal murder of Danny Pearl by one of his alleged
countryman, yet Rabbi Johnny Sax is not ashamed of the brutal policies
of the racist/apartheid state of Israel that has taken lives thousands
of Palestinians and butchers them on daily basis. Do we hear Johnny
Sax or Ariel Sharon expressing shame and revulsion at the way
Palestinians are treated or the atrocities committed by Baruch
Goldstein et al?

2. Political neo-modism:

This version of Neo-modism is also displayed by Muslims both in the
East and the West. Kamal Nawash with political ambitions in the US is
no different than Hussein Haqqani with even greater ambitions to be
tomorrow's Karzai or Iyad Allawi. Such personalities have their own
way of presenting the facts and promoting themselves under the wings
of Pipes and JISNA.[2]

Some Muslim dictators who are presently in power also hide behind this
version of Neo-modism. General Musharraf's attempt at
self-perpetuation under the banner of "moderate" Islam is a prime
example in this regard.

3. Journalistic Neo-modism:

Then there are Muslims in print and electronic media, as well as on
the internet who would go to any-length to bash Islam in the name of
reformation. Tashbih Syed of Pakistan Today, Khalid Hasan of Daily
Times, Najam Sethi of Friday Times. All those who criticize Daniel
Pipes for anti-Islam bigotry need to visit the work of these
journalists infected with this form of Neo-modism and see the way they
have gone far too ahead of Pipes in promoting some ideas that are in
total contradiction to the core of Islam.

4. Below-the-belt Neo-modism:

This version of Neo-modism has no trace of scholarship or logical
argumentation. It has no objective to serve other than self-projection
and heaping curses on Islam's basic sources: the Qur'an and Hadith.
This trend began with Salman Rushdie, then moved on to the age of
Taslima Nasreen and Irashad Manjee and then is trying to become
mainstream with all and sundry participating in below-the-belt
Neomodism at "sex and umma" section of the MuslimWakeUp.com. The
problem is that you cannot even argue with this kind of Neo-mods who
are bent upon heaping curses.

It is very important to note that 9/11 and subsequent bloody
invasions, human rights abuses and occupations would never have been
possible without years of Islam-bashing by the neo-cons and their
associates. This "intellectual" alliance played a vital role in paving
the ground for the political and military alliances to bypass the
world opinion and go on the killing spree for domination. All the
above forms of Muslim neo-modism, knowingly or unknowingly, support
neo-cons' lies and misconceptions about Islam in different ways.

It is also interesting to study and compare similarities between the
mindset of Neo-cons of the West and Neo-mods of Islam.

Freedom of Expression

Both of these groups believe in selective freedom of expression. They
feel free to not only challenge Divine wisdom by criticizing the
Qur'an (which all Muslims believe as the word of God), but also to go
to the extent of mocking its verses and making fun of the Ahadiths
(saying of Prophet Muhammad PBUH) – together these two sources form
the foundation of faith for 1.3 billion people.

However, when it comes to criticizing their below-the-belt approach to
reformation of Islam, they resort to personal attacks, strongly
demanding removal of that critical analysis from the source
publication along with apologies from the authors and editors. It
seems as if their wisdom is above the Divine wisdom. They have the
right to mock the Qur'anic wisdom,[3] but no one has the right to
point finger at them.

Criticizing the Critic

The Neo-mods leave the subject and start criticizing the critic. They
forget that no one needs to be an angel to criticize an evil trend.
Being evil and being the promoter of evil are two different things.
For instance, being a homosexual, knowing that it is against the core
principles of Islam, and staying conscious of one's evil acts is far
better than not being a homosexual but justifying homosexuality and
promoting its cause.

So, it is absolutely not that critics of the Neo-mods of Islam are
angels from heaven. It is that they simply point out that the Neo-mods
participation in demonizing Islam for their personal interests
undermines future of both Muslims and non-Muslims.

Twist and spin

The other commonality with the neo-cons is their quality to spin and
put words in others mouth. The article criticizing MuslimWakeUp.com
very clearly states that the Neo-mods of Islam are promoting agenda
and point of view of the real culprits behind 9/11. MuslimWakeUp.com
instead turns it around and presents it as if its team has been called
the real culprits behind 9/11. This is the poorest defense of a
below-the-belt section at this site.

Guilt by Association

The Neo-cons and Neo-mods cry foul when they feel that they have been
considered guilty by association. However, they forget that not only
thousands in the US concentration camps but millions of other Muslims
around the world are targeted just for being Muslims. They are
harassed and tortured unless they somehow prove themselves to be
perfectly "moderate," liberal," or "progressive" Muslims. Racial
profiling is nothing by harassment based on simple association with
Islam.

The Question is: Who, after all, are responsible for this kind of
attitude towards Muslims? Why is there an "enemy is Islam" sign
hanging outsider a church in the US? If the answer is "terrorists
among Muslims," it is absolutely wrong.

Muslim "terrorists" are the product of some policies and acts of
aggression. A realistic look reveals that the crimes committed by
Muslims pale by comparison with the crimes systematically committed by
the US and Israel. Despite all that, why is not any sign hanging
outside any mosque saying Christianity or Judaism is the enemy?

Simply because no one – neither Muslims nor non-Muslims – have the
intentions to undermine Christianity or Judaism as a faith, whereas
undermining Islamic values and way of life is a clear intention on the
part of Neo-cons who promote the so-called war on terror and the "war
within Islam." The neo-consim is becoming mainstream due to increasing
activity of Muslim Neo-mods.

Promotion of hatred

The idea is to make non-Muslims aware of these Neo-mods benighted
opportunism, who do no more than promoting hatred against Islam and
Muslims by cursing and mocking the basic sources of Islam: the Qur'an
and Sunnah. That becomes the basis for interference in Muslim lands
and justifies invasions and occupations for secularizing them through
crusades against Islamic ideology, as the 9/11 Commission report has
confirmed.

This is no less than sowing the seeds of hatred and terror. Who
actually get terrorized with such nonsense? Non-Muslims. Who their
leaders in turn terrorize? Muslims. That's how the cycle of terror
begins and takes lives of millions on both sides. This is the chain
reaction which the Islam-bashing Neo-mods do not realize as ask: what
is the correlation between "sex and umma" at MuslimWakeUp.com and the
seeds of terror.

Discussing sex

Only a stupid would believe that people engaged in a frank discussion
on sexuality do the work of Paul Wolfwitz. However, critics of "sex
and umma" section strongly believe that calling Islam "shitty" and
making a mockery of Sahih Bukhari and the Qur'an, above all, are far
worse than what Paul Wolfwitz can do. This gives Wolfwitz and Co. the
basis for planning, invading, killing and dominating any Muslim
country where people may express their desire to live by Islam.

Let Paul Wolfwitz come out and say publicly what the Neo-mods on
MuslimWakeup.com say about Islam. He would face a flood of worldwide
condemnation and reaction. That's why the Neo-mods are no more than
gifted mouthpieces for the neo-cons' innermost thoughts and wishes.

Let us forget about Islam for a moment. Let us try to find out which
part of Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism or any principle of
common decency allows promotion of out-of-wedlock sexual relations,
out of wed-lock births, homosexuality, cursing and mocking the sources
of others' religious beliefs, and all other norms that are being
promoted by the Neo-mods?

For personal interests it is too big a price to pay with presenting
Islam as a degraded, outdated, medieval philosophy that oppresses
women and does not let people enjoy their sexual life. That is what
the Neo-cons want; this is what the Neo-mods provide.

Hidden enemies

A real understanding of the rising trend of Neo-modism among Muslims
would make the Western public realize their hidden enemies, who in the
quest for indirectly milking Washington, indirectly lead to wars and
occupations.

Hidden enemies are not those who mask their faces and shoot the US
occupation forces in Iraq and elsewhere. They are well-known enemies
of injustice and oppression, not the American people. They are the
direct product of occupation, not of Islamic ideology.

The real hidden enemies are those, who do not intentionally want to
harm the US. They just want to shine their little businesses; have a
bit promotion in their career; make a headway in politics; have their
articles published in the New York Times; get interviewed on the Fox;
or like Musharraf, have a chance to rule his nation for a little
longer.

However, they forget that the opinions they consider so naïve become
seeds for terror in the hands of Neo-cons, who use them as a solid
argument to defend their proposed invasions and continued domination
of Muslim lands at any cost.

Appropriate Action

When Iran issued a fatwa to kill Salman Rushdie – the father of
neo-modism, we thought he should be intellectually defeated through
debate so that others get a lesson out of his failure. However, now we
realize how difficult it is to argue with the Neo-mods. Can anyone
convince Bush. He is always right together with his team. Same is the
attitude of Muslim Neo-mods. What discussion, for instance, can one
make, when he gets a message of 100 words out of which 44 go like
this:

"Amazing garbage! … the ravings of a demented conspiracy-theorist, a
raging fundamentalist crackpot and a barking-mad loon. Wow. the IQ of
a squashed apricot, the intellectual sophistication of a backward
gerbil and the integrity of a crack-whore. A foul and pestilent
congregation of vapours."

To avoid turning the whole Muslim world into Palestines and Iraqs and
to avoid turning their own countries from becoming Nazi Germany, the
appropriate action for non-Muslims is to identify and just ignore what
the neo-cons and neo-mods produce in support of the Neo-cons' views
and policies.

No matter how strongly Muslims may cling to the fundamentals of Islam
and live by its principles, they are definitely are not the enemies of
the West or non-Muslims. Nor is the world the way these neo-mods and
neo-cons want us to consider.

Notes:

[1]. See: M.A. Muqtedar Khan, "A Memo to American Muslims," Column on
Islamic Affairs, at: http://www.ijtihad.org/memo.htm and Muqtedar
Khan, "Putting the American in American Muslims," The New York Times,
September 07, 2003.

[2]. To avoid repetition, please refer to
http://icssa.org/Islamic_terrorism.htm and
http://icssa.org/brand_washing.htm to read this version of Neo-modism
in detail.

[3]. Sex and umma section of MuslimWakeUp.com is filled with numerous
examples where the Qur'anic wisdom has been challenged.