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Different Faces of Neo-modism
by Abid Ullah Jan
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.
- 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?
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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.
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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.
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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 WakeupMuslim.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.
