Tehmina Kazi talks about secularism and Islam, and how the former is good for the latter. She argues that secularism actually adds to the Islamic discourse, because there’s a long tradition of critical thought in Islam.
It makes sense you know. If all religions and none are treated equally, then people are more likely to feel safe discussing and exploring.
…unless you don’t *want* them discussing or exploring.
Discussing and exploring interfere with strict unthinking obedience, submission, and doubt-free faith, you see.
I’m glad people talk about this tradition but it is important to recognize that this tradition was killed off 800 years ago. Various reformers have tried to bring it back in the last 100 years but they invariably wind up dead, in prison or in exile in the West. By all means keep trying but be clear that critical thought in Islam is the goal and not the current reality.
Around the time the first stirrings of critical thought were noticeable in western Christendom, partly inspired by Arabic science and philosophy. Ever since when, the advantage in knowledge, in cultural influence, and finally in power*, has shifted away from Islam, and toward Europe and its cultural heirs. Looks like Tehmina Kazi is one of those who have grasped that there’s a lesson here for today’s Muslims.
*That power advantage, of course, has led to gross imperialist exploitation, which in turn is one of the roots of the growth of Islamism, with its outright rejection of critical thought.
because there’s a long tradition of critical thought in Islam.
That is a lie. Critical thought in the ‘Islamic’ world died off when the number of non-Muslims fell below the limit necessary for the maintenance of intellectual traditions.
That demographic shift happened some 9 centuries ago, and since then the Muslim world has become a study in human stupidity.
That power advantage, of course, has led to gross imperialist exploitation, which in turn is one of the roots of the growth of Islamism, with its outright rejection of critical thought.
Yep, pin the tale on the Honky.
Do you know how the French conquered Algeria?
They assembled the tribal elders, la crème de la crème of high society, and then had Houdin, a famous magician at the time, demonstrate how he could *catch* a speeding bullet with his bare teeth. Western colonialism was a boon the Arabo-Muslim world. That is why secularists and progressives in places such as Algeria and Tunisia cling to French, the language of their colonial masters, for dear life. Without a robust knowledge of that language, the windows on the worlds of science, technology and philosophy etc would all be shuttered.
The Muslim world didn’t invent, stained glass, photography, arabic numerals, algebra, the pointed arch or most of the other claims put forward by Muslims ashamed of their long history of intellectual poverty.
No reform is possible unless it starts with the truth.
Uh. They didn’t? Citation very much needed. o_O
What we call “Arabic” numerals were invented in India, see e.g. here. Btw the Arabs call them “Hindu numerals”. The “Arabic” is a European tag, as that’s where we got them from: don’t blame the Arabs for our ignorance.
Algebra and coloured glass both predate Islam, n.b. Muhammed ca. 570-630 CE.
When the lights were switched off in Europe (i.e. the dark ages) the Arts and Sciences flourished in the Muslim world (the Golden Age), and Europe was much influenced by the Muslim culture towards the end of the middle ages. In fact, if it weren’t for the libraries in the Arab world, I think quite a bit of Greek culture would be lost to us, as we got quite a lot of it from there.
.
Wut?! By invasion, actually. The French sent 30 000 soldiers. Their military technology was pretty advanced, and their military organisation was second to none: all those wars with their many militant neighbours paid off. This wasn’t too long after Napoleon conquered, well, most of Europe, really…
3. Nick Grotts writes: “That power advantage, of course, has led to gross imperialist exploitation, which in turn is one of the roots of the growth of Islamism, with its outright rejection of critical thought.”
Islam itself is an imperialist enterprise – Arabian imperialism. The various caliphates were all imperialistic. The last of such Caliphates, the Ottoman Empire, did far more harm to its subjects in the Middle East and North Africa than the British and French combined. But the anti-imperialists are only interested in talking about one type of imperialism.