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| India-Pakistan |
| 'Ijazul Haq's reaction to Rushdie knighthood absurd' |
| 2007-06-25 |
| Irshad Manji, the controversial Canadian-Asian whose book on Islam offended many Muslims, says she herself is offended by the “absurd reactions” of some Muslims including Pakistan’s religious affairs minister Ijaz-ul-Haq, to Salman Rushdie’s knighthood. She writes in the Globe and Mail, the Toronto-based newspaper, that this is not the first time honours from the West have met with “vitriol and violence” from Muslim countries. In 1979, she recalls, Dr Abdus Salam became the first Muslim to win the Nobel Prize in science. He began his acceptance speech with a verse from the Quran. Instead of celebrations in Pakistan, “rioters tried to prevent him from re-entering the country, while parliament declared him a ‘non-Muslim’ because he belonged to a religious minority. His name still is invoked by state authorities in hushed tones.” Manji, a self-declared lesbian Muslim, says she is offended that every year, there are more women killed in Pakistan for allegedly violating family honour than there are detainees at Guantanamo Bay. She points out that there is no outrage over the murder of Muslims at the hands of their own. Referring to the Nilofar Bakhtiar case, she says she is offended that in April some mullahs in Pakistan issued a fatwa against hugging. They called a woman touching a man “a great sin”. She is also offended by their fatwa that women should stay at home and remain covered at all times, and that music store owners and video vendors be bullied into closing shop. “I’m offended that the government tiptoes around their craziness because these clerics threaten suicide attacks if confronted. Above all, I’m offended that so many other Muslims aren’t offended enough to demonstrate widely against God’s self-appointed ambassadors,” she adds. She criticises Pakistan for pushing through the UN Human Rights Council, an OIC resolution against the “defamation of religion,” because the resolution is focused on Islam rather than faith in general. It also allows repressive regimes to squelch freedom of conscience further — and to do so in the guise of international law. She writes, “On occasion the people of Pakistan show that they don’t have to be muzzled. Last year, civil society groups vocally challenged a set of anti-female laws, three decades old and supposedly based on the Quran. Their religiously respectful approach prompted even mullahs to hint that these laws are man-made, not God-given. This month, too, Pakistanis forced their government to lift restrictions on the press. My own book, translated into Urdu and posted on my website, is being downloaded in droves. Religious authorities won’t let it be sold in the markets. But they can’t stop Pakistanis — or other Muslims — from satiating a genuine hunger for ideas.” She concludes, “It’s high time to ban hypocrisy under the banner of Islam. Salman Rushdie isn’t the problem. Muslims are.” |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #6 she is offended that every year, there are more women killed in Pakistan for allegedly violating family honour than there are detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Clears that right up, now doesn't it? She points out that there is no outrage over the murder of Muslims at the hands of their own. Referring to the Nilofar Bakhtiar case, she says she is offended that in April some mullahs in Pakistan issued a fatwa against hugging. They called a woman touching a man “a great sin”. She is also offended by their fatwa that women should stay at home and remain covered at all times, and that music store owners and video vendors be bullied into closing shop. “I’m offended that the government tiptoes around their craziness because these clerics threaten suicide attacks if confronted. Above all, I’m offended that so many other Muslims aren’t offended enough to demonstrate widely against God’s self-appointed ambassadors,” she adds. I'm outraged that more Americans aren't outraged at how all the Muslims don't get outraged by so much Islamic crapulence. If you get my drift. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-06-25 12:06 |
| #5 I agree with TW for now, but Irshad should at some point admit that Islam is a net evil and opt out. |
| Posted by: mhw 2007-06-25 11:15 |
| #4 Islam needs both Ms. Manji and Dr. Sina. Manji to speak for the voiceless within, Sina to show the pathway out. Both ways weaken the hopefully shaky edifice that is Islam today. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-06-25 09:54 |
| #3 IMHO, the World needs more intra-Islamic fighting. Specifically, the Dar should become one big Gaza strip. |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2007-06-25 06:55 |
| #2 The world needs tens of millions of courageous and thoughtful men and women like Irshad Manji intent on reforming Islam from within. No, the world needs people like Ali Sina. Islam cannot be reformed. Manji is deluding herself if she thinks it is possible. |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2007-06-25 05:04 |
| #1 The world needs tens of millions of courageous and thoughtful men and women like Irshad Manji intent on reforming Islam from within. That might be the only hope we have to avert a clash of civilizations that will make World War II seem like a pillow fight. |
| Posted by: Glinesh Henbane7862 2007-06-25 04:46 |