What you see in a video is not what I see

“A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it.” ― Oscar Wilde

Every now and then, I meet wonderfully kind Muslim 'natives'* who are visibly intent on making me feel welcome and appreciated as a Muslim 'new-comer' (despite the funny fact that at times, I have been a Muslim for just as long or longer than they have). During these encounters, questions are asked from me, and advice is given to me. On most occasions, my reaction is silence. I do not say what I feel or think, not because I intend to tacitly lie to them, but because mentally, culturally, and existentially, we are in two different places. I do not wish to pull them out of their zone, but neither do I want to be snatched out of mine. 

You see, I do not generally talk to people with the intention of 'rocking their boat'. I am not a missionary of my own ideas. When the context is right and the questions are real questions (the topic is more important than our feelings about it), I will express my views, and we will have a purposeful intellectual conversation. However, when the conversation is meant to establish or maintain relationships, such as friendship or fellowship in the umma, being together and being civil is more important than agreeing or disagreeing on abstract concepts and views.

A typical example of situations in which what you see is not what I see is when Muslim 'natives' show me videos of westerners who have embraced the Islamic narrative (read 'converts' or 'reverts'). 

Recently, I was shown the video of a Canadian young woman in which she confesses that before hearing about the Islamic message, she knew next to nothing about values. Implicitly, I was being asked to agree that westerners need Islamic missionary outreach to come to an ontological and deontological awakening.

However, my Argentinian and western-trained mind had a very different reaction to the video. The thoughts that spontaneously and naturally came to mind were not admiration but rather 'Come on, sister! This is BS and you should know it. If you had never heard about values before hearing about Islam, that shows that you were sleep-walking through life! Please, give her parents and teachers a gun so that they can commit suicide.' This girl's words do not prove the loftiness of the Islamic message; they just show what kind of a girl she was in her childhood. She could have had the same 'experience' watching Oprah for that matter!

I shall never forget another video which Middle-Eastern Muslim 'natives' friends of mine used to rave so much about. In it, an ethnically Dutch young lady (she may well have been blond and blue-eyed) was seen wearing a niqab and weeping about hell. She had been so lucky -she argued- to have heard about 'Islam', so she could in future possibly avoid being doomed to a Hitleresque Auschwitz furnace for all eternity. While my friends used to go 'Ma sha'a Allah' (Islamic jargon for WOW!), I used to go 'OMG, this woman is deranged, psychologically unhinged!' 

The so-called Muslim world has been made up of Muslim 'natives' for a very long time, and it can hardly be said that it has automatically had more 'values' (if values could be quantified) than Western societies for the mere fact of being 'Muslim'. Just like the West, they have also had their ugly share of slavery, racism, colonialism, cultural imperialism, corruption, political murders, adultery, rape, sexual abuse, unjust distribution of wealth, legal systems that have treated women as though they were life-long children, mentally handicapped, or plain stupid... 

In short, let's be honest. There is no doubt that non-Muslim westerners do not have the monopoly on values. Trump might say that they do, but most reasonable people will not follow him down that crazy lane. The descendants of African slaves and the concentration camps in Europe disprove such a claim beyond any reasonable doubt. Having said that, it is also a fact that non-Muslim westerners do not have a monopoly on vice and anti-values, either. 

Moreover, can Muslim 'natives' be as openly critical about the government and society in their own countries or the countries of their ancestors as Muslims can in the West? Give it a try, and let me know when Amnesty International has to start sending letters pleading for your release. Do you think that I as a foreigner can openly criticize the society (even the region) where I so happily live and for which I work? Unlike me, Muslims in the West do this all the time not only on Facebook, but also in newspapers and on TV and radio. The vast majority of them have not been kicked out of their western first or second home countries, lost their jobs, or been sent to jail. ~At least, not yet, since some politicians now want to take the West back to a darker past. Yes, the likes of Trump would like to see the West unlearn the 'values' whereby it has made itself better than its past self.  

Besides, I have western atheist friends who are a lot more moral that myself and many of my Muslim friends. I would even dare say that they are essentially more moral. They do not do what is right because they fear hell or hope for Paradise. They do what is right because they believe it to be right. That is pure morality, not religious blackmail or bribery. They are not trying to placate an iridescent Hitler-like deity or to bribe an illegitimate dictator-like idol with 'good deeds' in exchange for the title deeds for a plot of land in Paradise. 

Let me be frank as I bring this short note to a close. During one of such meetings, I was asked -as I usually am- when and how I had chosen 'Islam'. I told them that it had been an intellectual decision based purely on the belief that only God is god, and not linked to any living Muslim in any way. (In fact, the 'brothers and sisters' whom I admired would have been branded as 'bad Muslims' these days.) At that point, I asked them: 'When have you chosen "Islam"?' My question was met with surprise. They did not expect it. Probably, they had never thought about it. Yet, how can anybody choose a religion which they do not feel entitled to coldly analyze, honestly compare to other alternatives, and openly critique? To me, this is very odd. I believe the Qur'an when it says that there can be no force in religion. I believe it also when it tells me that Ibrahim (Abraham) searched for God, and got it wrong a few times. I know also from history that Muhammad was not a prophet before he was given the Qur'an, and that traditions tell that upon receiving the Revelations, he went to Christian monks for advice. 

If Muslim 'natives' want to convince themselves that being a Muslim is a great thing, I suggest that they do it on their own merits, not on the back of 'converts/reverts' (or by searching for 'science' in the Qur'an). So, I would like to see Muslim 'natives' allowing themselves to follow the example of prophets Ibrahim and Mohammad. Search with an open mind. Question. Dare challenge what you take for obvious. Welcome Wisdom as it comes into your life, even when it means that it will put your family or Mecca (your home town) against you, as happened to these two great prophets. And, if possible, I would very much like to be spared sentimental videos (including those by preachers like Zakir Naik). But I would certainly welcome videos about Ibn Rushd's views on the relationship between science and tafseer (Qur'anic exegesis), Rumi's a-confessional mysticism, or Ibn Khaldoun's treatment of bygone Muslim societies.


Quran, Surah Al-An'am (the sixth surah):

74. And (remember) when Ibrahim (Abraham) said to his father Azar: "Do you take idols as aliha (gods)? Verily, I see you and your people in manifest error. "

75. Thus did we show Ibrahim (Abraham) the kingdom of the heavens and the earth that he be one of those who have faith with certainty.  

76. When the night covered him over with darkness he saw a star. He said: "This is my lord." But when it set, he said: "I like not those that set." 77. When he saw the moon rising up, he said: "This is my lord." But when it set, he said: "Unless my Lord guides me, I shall surely be among the erring people."

78. When he saw the sun rising up, he said: "This is my lord. This is greater." But when it set, he said: "O my people! I am indeed free from all that you join as partners in worship with Allah. 79. Verily, I have turned my face towards Him Who has created the heavens and the earth as a hanifa (a monotheist), and I am not of al-mushrikun (idol worshippers)".

80. His people disputed with him. He said: "Do you dispute with me concerning Allah while He has guided me, and I fear not those whom you associate with Allah in worship. (Nothing can happen to me) except when my Lord (Allah) wills something. My Lord comprehends in His Knowledge all things. Will you not then remember? 81. And how should I fear those whom you associate in worship with Allah, while you fear not that you have joined in worship with Allah things for which He has not sent down to you any authority. (So) which of the two parties has more right to be in security? If you but know."
82. It is those who believe and confuse not their belief with Zulm (wrong-doing), for them there is security and they are the guided.

83. And that was Our Proof which We gave Ibrahim (Abraham) against his people. We raise whom We will in degrees. Certainly your Lord is All-Wise, All-Knowing.
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* By 'Muslim natives I mean Muslims who think that being in the umma is their blood right.