http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/253464/how-reform-islam-ibn-warraq
Ibn Warraq
November 18, 2010 4:00 A.M.
How to Reform Islam
Self-criticism is the key.
I have often argued that one of the redemptive graces of Western
civilization is self-criticism, a deeply ingrained habit that has enabled
Western man to reflect, to adjust, to improve his beliefs, to correct and
change his situation - in short, to reform. The West has been able to submit
even its most cherished beliefs to scrutiny. By contrast, self-criticism
remains an elusive goal in modern Islamic cultures. David Pryce-Jones argues
that the "acquisition of honour, pride, dignity, respect and the converse
avoidance of shame, disgrace, and humiliation are keys to Arab motivation,
clarifying and illuminating behaviour in the past as well as in the
present." The codes of honor and shame "enforce identity and conformity of
behaviour." In such a system of values, it is impossible to admit publicly
that one is wrong, for that would bring shame on the individual, the family,
the country, or even one's religion. Western-style satire would be very
difficult in Arabic society, for that would risk the humiliation of one's
own culture.
However, there are signs of change. First came the Arab Human Development
Report of 2003, in which leading Arab intellectuals lamented the poor state
of the Arab Muslim world in every field of endeavor - from the scientific to
the cultural. Then, in October 2010, came "The Casablanca Call for Democracy
and Human Rights," a document published by the Center for the Study of Islam
and Democracy urging governments and activists across the Middle East to
continue working toward democratic reforms. It is the result of a conference
organized by the Arab Human Rights Movement.
The Casablanca Call must be seen against the background of past Arab Human
Rights Movement conferences. The group's first international conference,
"Prospects for the Future," took place in Casablanca, Morocco, in April
1999, and was organized by the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
(CIHRS) with the collaboration of the Moroccan Organization for Human
Rights. That the conference took place in Morocco is significant, since
Morocco has made considerable efforts to improve its human-rights record.
The Casablanca Call is a remarkable document for many reasons. It calls for
separation of powers and endorses the principle of the sovereignty of the
people - a truly democratic demand, since, in an Islamic state, sovereignty
belongs to God and His Law. It also calls for:
[an] independent judiciary as a prerequisite for the protection of human
rights and freedoms, and as the guarantor for the supremacy of the rule of
law and state institutions; the immediate release of all political prisoners
- numbering in the thousands in various Arab prisons - and putting an end to
political trials of any kind, torture of political opponents, and the
practice of kidnapping; enabling and encouraging political parties and trade
unions to engage in their right to organize freely, use all available media
outlets, take advantage of public funding, and be free of any interference
of the state apparatus in their affairs; acknowledgment of the right of
civil society organizations to perform their advocacy roles freely and
effectively, having their independence and privacy duly respected, their
internal affairs not disrupted, and their sources of financial support kept
open and active.
Regarding freedom of speech, the Casablanca Call advocates:
free access of the media and journalists to information and news sources;
the respect for the independence of journalists' syndicates and allowing
them to disseminate information and opinion without censorship, and undue
administrative, or judicial pressures, and the abolishment of the
imprisonment penalty in cases against journalists.
Amongst the other Casablanca Call demands is the "summoning of the private
sector to play its role in the contribution to political reforms." And no
declaration from the Islamic world could possibly leave out the religious
factor; the authors reaffirm the "interconnectedness of political reform
with the renewal of religious thought, which requires support for, and
expansion of, the practice of ijtihad [that is, independent reasoning] in a
climate of complete freedom of thought, under democratic systems of
government."
Finally, the authors of the declaration "support the dialogue that began
several years ago between Islamists and secularists at the local and
regional levels and emphasize the importance of continuing such endeavors in
order to provide solid ground for the protection of democracy and human
rights from any political or ideological setbacks."
There have been several similar declarations in recent years, but as the
authors of the Casablanca Call themselves confess, there has been scant
progress in many areas of political and civil life.
One wonders if there will ever be real progress without someone, somewhere,
beginning the necessary critique of Islam and its scriptures. As Jonathan
Israel showed in his two monumental studies of the European Enlightenment -
the process that radically changed European and American society forever,
the process that gave us the egalitarian and democratic core values and
ideals of the modern world - it began with one man, and one book: Baruch
Spinoza and his Tractatus Theologico-Politicus
<http://www.nationalreview.com/redirect/amazon.p?j=9004095500> , first
published in Amsterdam in 1670. That was the beginning of Biblical criticism
and the modern world; but where is the Koranic criticism that alone can
unshackle people's minds?
- Ibn Warraq is a visiting fellow at the Center for Law and
Counterterrorism, a project of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies; an
independent scholar; and the author of five books on Islam and Koranic
criticism - Why I Am Not a Muslim
<http://www.nationalreview.com/redirect/amazon.p?j=1591020115> ; The Origins
of the Koran <http://www.nationalreview.com/redirect/amazon.p?j=157392198X>
; What the Koran Really Says
<http://www.nationalreview.com/redirect/amazon.p?j=157392945X> ; Virgins?
What Virgins? And Other Essays
<http://www.nationalreview.com/redirect/amazon.p?j=1616141700> ; and Which
Koran? <http://www.nationalreview.com/redirect/amazon.p?j=1591024293>
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