2 of 3
Leonard's book has much of value, often for the scholarly directions in which she can point the reader as much as for what she says explicitly. This is a short text, avowedly a summary of research, and frankly it makes few concessions to the non-specialist reader. Yet given that, this is an excellent brief introduction to the world of American Islam, all the better for her coverage of a very wide range of themes and her array of scholarly approaches. She discusses the lengthy and complex history of the religion in North America, among African Americans and early migrants from the Near East. Unaccountably, to my romantic taste, she neglects to tell the fascinating story of one Arab Muslim who was an authentic pioneer of the American West, the legendary Hajj Ali, whose name was transformed into the rather endearing "Hi Jolly." No doubt future generations of American Muslim schoolchildren will read books about him, and a commemorative postage stamp is but a matter of time. Like every other immigrant nation or faith, American Muslims try eagerly to write themselves into the nation's story.
One of the book's great strengths is its acknowledgement of Muslim diversity. Contrary to mainstream impressions—even among those policymakers who should be better informed—Islam as a lived religion is probably as diverse and complex as Christianity itself, and most of those diverse traditions are reflected within the United States. Thankfully, the range of Muslim voices is far wider than we might suspect from the well-funded pressure groups and talking heads we generally hear affecting to represent "Muslim America." It is very much in the interests of the United States to encourage the widest possible spectrum of opinion, especially when it comes to selecting personnel for potentially sensitive positions like chaplaincies in the armed services or in the correctional system. Alongside the Wahhabis—truly, the straitest sect—we need to acknowledge other strands of global Islam now well-represented on American soil, including the Shi'ites and the many varieties of Sufis.
Potentially, of course, American Islam could be a deadly dangerous movement—but what it is most likely to undermine is not the United States but rather the constraints that are currently hampering the development of Islamic societies from Morocco to Malaysia. Just as the worldwide Roman Catholic Church was deeply affected by the experience of American believers in a pluralist society, so American Muslims might have a comparable effect on religious thought in the nations of Dar al-Islam.
The greatest potential for subversion occurs in the realm of Qur'anic studies, where scholars have for some years now been asking explosive questions about the origins and authority of the text. For obvious reasons, these efforts have made next to no impact in the Islamic world itself, because of the threats posed to life and limb by fanatics and extremists. Scholars are grimly aware of the precedent of respected Egyptian scholar Nasr Abu Zayd, whose critical work led to his public condemnation. Among other humiliations, his marriage was officially annulled on the grounds that no true Muslim could ask such searching questions, and therefore no Muslim woman could remain married to an unbeliever, a kaffir. Fortunate to escape with his life, he now lives in exile in the Netherlands. Fearing like retaliation, Muslim scholars know the cardinal virtue of silence, so the state of Qur'anic scholarship remains roughly comparable to biblical criticism before the European Enlightenment.
On American soil, though, speculation is free. And once ideas develop, they can be exported to the most secure citadels of fundamentalist orthodoxy, especially by way of the Internet. A European precedent comes to mind. In the 17th and 18th centuries, daring and heretical books thought to be subversive of Christianity were printed in the open-minded Netherlands, before being clandestinely book-legged into less tolerant nations. Might the United States today serve the same role that Amsterdam did in that era, giving a comparable impetus to free critical thought, and even, ultimately, to an Islamic Enlightenment?
share this page
RSS Feed
