The Alternative Muslim Identity

Where do we go from here? I have no clue

That about sums up the essay/article. This is a classic piece of navel gazing. As Hire Purchase or was it wheel of Time said keep the desire to seek guidance from religion to a minimum. Right and Wrong are not dependent on the tint of glasses you wear, they are independent. So piloting a plane loaded with people into big towers full of people is wrong (doesnot matter what religion you follow).

i know it has been said before that identity has little to nothing to do with religious beliefs, but when asked by a professor to list all the things that he/she is (a verb indicating location, identity etc.), more than a few put down their religion as part of their identity. the pakistani passport, hellow, a big huge identification card in itself has us indicate what our religion is (and if we`re talking about idiots. . well. . ) as part of our identity.

it helps to make a distinction in this case between religion and faith. . .the two are used interchangeably, and have been, but there is a distinction to be made. and as an institutionalized system, a religion is what many identify with.

Re: # 46
Indentity at many levels. at the mundane level is what you suggest like religion, like your ID cards etc. These are mere administrative tools for pigeon holing people for administrative purposes.

On the other hand your identity is dependent on who you are : you principles in the first instance. And it is this, which in the form of your personality/character gets projected onto the society around you. It iis this which gnaws at you when something occurs which is opposite of what you think is right. Your Id card doesnot gnaw at your insides when something goes wrong e.g there are many pakistanis (all carryng the pakistani passposrt (id card)) who felt that it was wrong to pilot a plane into a building, just as they are many who rejoice.

#26 by Saminasha on June 19, 2005 7:37pm PT


but I think Mira Nair is really engaging these issues,


Mira Nair who made Hysterical blindness....(almost) worst movie...ever...

would have been the worst if it wasn`t for uma thurman talking dirty for like 10 seconds...that scene put it way above(or below) lost in translation which is positively the worst movie ever made in any language....

Americans are far and by large, idiots.


So the pakis lining up outside the american embassy are volunteers who want to move here to raise the average IQ...how altrustic...

Zehra,

as an open minded American you DO have the choice to find your own identity instead of jumping the bandwagon of labels and as far as religion being personal, religion is not personal, it`s a collective entity, based on organization and as far as Islam is concerned, the Ummah

now your relationship with God is personal and has nothing to do with organized religion

i`m not trying to convert you into some bohemian free being, i just find your thoughts above somewhat superficial, like a teenage kid following the latest fashion trend.

i dont` know why people are taking the `idiot` comment to offense, it`s true, a country which votes for Bush, basically slamming the kulhari on their own foot, are a bunch of idiots

Re: # 42 scout

Not once, but twice :))

To quote Dubya himself, ``There`s an old saying in Tennessee. I know it`s in Texas, probably in Tennessee, that says: Fool me once...... shame on......Shame on you...If fooled, you can`t get fooled again.``

////It does confirm as the whole world knows, Americans are far and by large, idiots. Idiot Americans, though a pleasant topic, is not up for discussion. ///

Poor Yanks...ever thought as to why should the average american be an intelligent....

Is the average Indian/Pakistani, from Islamabad/Peshawar/Karachi/lahore/Delhi/Bombay/lucknow/Madras....an intelligent chap?

If Americans are dumb for reelecting bush and swallowing the neo-con line on Iraq, what are we (?)..........consistent in electing various dynasties of Gandhis and Bhuttos and a whole bunch of idiots to accompany them.

Sometimes i think that we, and here i mean the English speaking South Asian elite, expects the average westerner to be as ``informed`` as the rest of us


Saying that ....a nice piece...am new to chowk and its writing like yours that provide a very interesting perspective on the ``other``.

#Ana and Samina

After one term paper on Bhabha (Location of cuulture)...i swore that i would never touch him again ....your exchange has brought the nightmares back......he and spivak are absolutely obtuse ..but i have found him to be extremely direct when he speaks ...

Appadurai: take a look at `` Modernity at large`` ....he is very readable and a great speaker.

#38 - ``is plain....`` => ``in plain.....``

#38 - ``is plain....``

---

> ``in plain.....``

The article is okay I guess.....

ana, and others.....please can you put down your gobbledegook is plain english. Its jibberish, and totally unintelligible.

for the rest:
first, sorry for all the spelling mistakes. i am typing too fast. i pay for internet in Sri Lanka. by the minute!

ana and samina: great stuff. mera dil jeet liya since u are quoting amitabh and talking about suketu`s book (which is good stuff, i just wish he took a little bit more time and write it more...poetically? fluidly?).
the footnotes: stuff i wanted to say in the article but knew if i did, it would not be taken seriously but u know me...i like to have my cake and eat it too. im gonna have to get back to u on Homi. he makes my head spin. Spivak is no better. neither is appadurai. why cant our academics (im gonna appropriate homi) write clearly? the only two i love and can read properly are a. nandy and g. pandey.

naved and others: this is a comfortable stance to say religion is my business. i am the same way. As a politically active person living in America who was raised muslim and knows and loves practicing muslim, the private became public and very politically charged. i couldnt sit there and say allah allah khair sallah and let it just be. Does that make sense at all?

we cannot sit (I cannot) sit silently.
thanks all v. much for reading and dicussion.

z.rizvi.

Replies 5-15:

Kaalchakra: umm, ok. thanks for the kind words.

scout and miriamk: I am too political, too activist and too american to not htin about categories and labels and words like progressive. How can i not align myself with something in that states that i can see may or may not pan out into something really really freaking interesting? i will maintain that religion is a personal matter and i keep it that way. i dont answer questions about how many times i pray, fast etc. thats my business with my god. religion and politics are mixing though and i am a part of that. how can i not be?

theovangogh: HA HA HAHA. godo one. touche.

Hp: nicely said but dont u feel like that is just washing your hands off something and not paying attention to what is happeneing?

ana: It`s me talking out loud. its me trying to figure it out and laying it all out on chowk since it brings up good discussion. Somtimes one has to identify what something is NOT in order to identify it.

if that makes sense...

next...
z.rizvi

Whoa. Ok. Will take it page by page.

Samina, reply one:
I said some, not many of her ideas. I like her ideas about exploring islam. I like what she writes about Saudi adn the arab world feeling like they have some sort of monopoly over islam. i like the way she separates between culture and religion. to only site a few. i dont like how she talks about her book, i dont like at all how she talks about palestine and i dont like what she has written since in different newspapers. i think fame went ot her head and she had to kowtow in order to keep her current other spectrum face.

I only know satrapi from your list of iranians. Umm, do i think of myself in that political spectrum. I have an issue with iranians who left iran after the shah and how not muslim they want to be. its like anything that even smells muslim is awful. Satrapi to her credit, does not go that far. Her book is really awesome, i love it (the first one, not the second one). I like Azar Nafisi a lot. she could be counted in the same category as the ones u have mentioned. I dont know where i am politically. im in me own category i guess. its difficult to explain.

reply no.4: Naqshbandi: i like the idea of god. there are parts of islam i like, i would like to find a part of it that fits me, since it is what i grew up with and people i am close to really believe in it. i would like to udnerstand why and if there is a way for me to fit into it. I have a whole shia aspect and idealism that fits into my perosnal equation that i am trying to not bring into the conversation.


next page.
z.rizvi

Re: # 35

Zehra. That is fine but please don`t throw the baby out with the bathwater; and don`t hide the Shia idealism aspect of your faith: flaunt it. I have some differences with the Shia on theological issues but Iran is a land that all Muslims can be proud of. It is one of the only free lands in the Muslim world today--it is not a slave of Amrikan diktats. Which aspects btw do you like of your Shia faith? I`d be interested in exploring this. If not on here than please email me!

Asif