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Islam Under Fire

By Falastine Dwikat, Palestine

Falastine Dwikat. Photo courtesy Falastine Dwikat.

A torch and a bucket of water

Being checked by security from head to toe at Dulles International Airport in Washington, DC two years ago caused me to feel horribly violated. The fact that I had just spent six weeks studying in the U.S. on a youth exchange program organized by the State Department (The Middle East Partnership Initiative, MEPI) didn't seem to matter to Airport security. What mattered was the fact that I am a Muslim from Nablus (Palestine) and officials were therefore afraid of what I might do.

On the one hand I can understand the ‘others' tendency, or maybe obsession, to protect their country and their values from the ‘Islamic swords' that are being waved in the Middle East. But why target me? Is it Islam they are afraid of or do people lack trust in the religion's followers?

"…the incident at the airport caused me to understand on a very personal level that people see the followers of Islam as dangerous. This is very disturbing." -Falastine Dwikat

After Sept. 11^th, many Muslims in the West tried to avert the public's negative criticism of Islam by blaming Muslim ‘extremists' and ‘fundamentalists' - those who had taken verses in the Koran out of context to promote violence. Yet while these Muslims defended Islam, contending that the religion is about peace, what they were really saying was that the extremists got it wrong and they got it right - that theirs was the ‘real' version of Islam.

But what is the real version of Islam? To be sure the incident at the airport caused me to understand on a very personal level that people see the followers of Islam as dangerous. This is very disturbing. Without others having a clear and true understanding of my faith I realized how deep a crisis Islam was in and there didn't appear to be any clear way out.

I started to think about what the true meaning of Islam is to me so I could rationally defend myself against what has become the tendency to attach unfair generalizations about the religion and Muslims who practice it. I needed to understand why Muslims have been so unjustly profiled. I read books, journals, reports - absolutely anything I could find on Islam. I had open discussions on Islam and politics with people from different parts of the world.

Then a friend recommended I read Irshad Manji's book The Trouble with Islam Today. My instant reaction was that Manji must be another stupid critic who offers no solutions. But my friend insisted so I downloaded her book and her documentary, Faith without Fear.

Amazingly things started to crystallize in an unimaginable way. Manji's strength in courageously standing up to an often intolerant, arrogant, and limited brand of Islam was inspirational. Her message was all about reforming Islam through Ijtihad, a 1400 year old Islamic tradition that was intended to be both a global and inner spiritual jihad as directed by the Koran. The Koran teaches us not to blindly follow the religion of our ancestors and ijtihad allows Muslims to reflect on how Islam meets the needs of the modern world. If something is not right at the very least there needs to be a discussion about it.

The very idea of ijtihad is vigorously refuted by fundamentalists who strongly believe that Islam is perfect within the parameters of its 7^th century precepts. As a devoted Muslim who has avidly studied the Koran and the life of the Prophet (pbuh) I have trouble understanding why my faith shouldn't change in a world that is ever changing. I have even more trouble understanding how Islamic fundamentalists can violently kill and bomb innocent people under the banner of protecting or even spreading the word of God. In truth they are dishonoring the authentic, peaceful spirit of Islam.

I believe that the importance of rekindling the Islamic spirit of itjihad is imperative so that Muslims and non-Muslims will have a better understanding of the true peaceful spirit of our religion. Only through itjihad will the world experience a new golden era of peace and cooperation. And as we grapple with understanding our faith in God in our modern world, we must have the strength to carry a ‘torch of fire' - to lighten the religious wisdom, and a ‘bucket of water' - to put out the fires of misunderstanding.