It certainly is time to take a stand against the obscurantists among Muslims

It certainly is time to take a stand against the obscurantists among Muslims

In orthodox Islamic theology, the Ex-Muslims of Britain should have as much right to renounce religion or convert to other religions as those from other religions have to convert to Islam. Quranic injunction – La Ikraha fid Deen (There can be no compulsion in religion) - is absolute and admits of no ifs and buts. The obscurantists who consider it wrong are of course another matter. The vast majority of Muslims have to learn to deal with the obscurantists among them before they destroy their religion.

It’s sad and shameful for us Muslims that ex-Muslims have to make such a song and dance about merely exercising their human right, given to them as much by Islam as by other laws of choosing or denying a religion. That they have a legitimate reason for even being afraid of being attacked or worse does not reflect well on either the sanity or the Islamic commitment of the Muslim community. Head of the Council of Ex-Muslims in Britain Maryam Namazie’s article in The Times, London, is being reproduced below as it deserves as wide readership as possible, even though I do not agree with her that It’s time to take a stand against Islam and Sharia. But it certainly is time to understand Islam and Sharia better and take an uncompromising stand against the obscurantists among Muslims.

Also included in this post is Pakistani scholar Pervez Hoodbhoy’s article in the Times of India in which he justifiably questions the rationalisation of suicide bombings by Deobandi ulema. He writes: “In January 2008, 30 leading Deobandi religious scholars, while declaring suicide attacks haram", rationalised these as a mere reaction to the government's wrong policies in the tribal areas. They concluded: “A peaceful demand for implementing Shariah was not only rejected but the government was also not willing to give ear to any reasoning based on Qur'an and Sunna in support of the sharia demand. Apparently, these circumstances led some minds to the frustration that manifested itself in suicide attacks".

“What message are these ulema sending?

“That Pakistanis should surrender to Islamic extremists and adopt the sharia to avoid being attacked? This amounts to encouragement and incitement. Why do Pakistanis suddenly lose their voice when it comes to suicide bombings? First, the bomber — even if he kills pious Muslims or even those in the act of prayer — kills in the name of Islam. Therefore, people mute their criticism lest they be regarded as irreligious or even blasphemous.” Please see the full text below.

Sultan Shahin

It’s time to take a stand against Islam and Sharia

The Times, UK

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/the_way_we_live/article3530256.ece

Maryam Namazie, head of the Council of Ex-Muslims in Britain, says that rights are for individuals, not religions or beliefs

Picture this, says Maryam Namazie: "A child is swathed in cloth from head to toe every day. Everything but her face and hands are covered for fear that a man might find her attractive. At school she learns that she is worth less than a boy. She is not allowed to dance or swim or feel the sun on her skin or the wind in her hair. This is clearly unacceptable, yet it is accepted when it is done in the name of religion."

Namazie is the founder of the Council of Ex-Muslims in Britain (CEMB) which started life in the middle of last year. On Monday – in celebration of the centenary of International Women's Day -- she spoke at a conference on Political Islam and Women's Rights, and launched a campaign against Sharia.

Iranian Muslim by birth, Namazie, 41, is friendly and softly spoken. But she does not mince her words. It takes nerve to start an organisation for people who have rejected Islam. In Islamic law, apostasy is punishable by death. Namazie receives periodic threats, usually on her mobile phone:

"One said, 'You are going to be decapitated'...I went to the police. They were very attentive at first because they thought it might be linked to the attempted bombings in Glasgow . But when they realised it wasn't, they never bothered contacting me again." Doesn't she worry about her safety?

"Yes, I do, frequently. I worry about whether I will live, especially now I am a mother. If I see someone looking at me strangely, I wonder." Why doesn't she use a pseudonym? "They can find out who you are anyway. And the point of the Council of Ex-Muslims is to stand up and be counted." She

doesn't really like the label ex-Muslim and would prefer not to frame her identity in religious terms but, she says, it is like gays "coming out"

30 years ago: something has to become public if you are to break taboos. The CEMB has more than 100 members with inquiries from people who do not dare to join. "Some have horrendous stories but do not put them on the website because they are afraid."

Namazie's grandfather was a mullah and her father was brought up a strict Muslim. Both of her parents (now living in America) remain Muslim.

When Namazie told her father about the launch of the CEMB, she remembers that he said: "Oh no, Grandpa is going to be turning in his grave." "So I told him that what I am doing benefits Muslims, too, because if you live in a secular society, you can be a Muslim, a Sikh, a Christian or an atheist and be treated equally." Namazie's opposition to state religion is informed by her own experience. She was 12 when the Iranian revolution "was hijacked by the Ayatollahs" and her country became the Islamic Republic of Iran.

"I had never worn the veil and was at a mixed school. Suddenly a strange man appeared in the playground. He was bearded and had been sent to

separate the sexes -- but we ran circles round him." She can still picture, too, the face of "the Hezbollah" who stopped her in the street because her head was uncovered. "I was 12 or 13. It was really scary." Worse happened to others: "There were beatings and acid was thrown in women's faces, and there were executions on television every day," she says. Then her school was closed "for Islamicisation".

Namazie and her mother left for India. They lived in a B&B in Delhi and Namazie attended the British School while her father and three-year-old sister remained in Tehran. This was meant to be a temporary measure, but soon her father –a journalist -- decided that they all had to leave.

The family spent a year in Bournemouth before travelling to the US where, when Namazie was 17, they were granted residency.

At university, she joined the United Nations Development Programme and went to work with Ethiopian refugees in Sudan. "Six months after I arrived Sudan became an Islamic state. I was, like, this is following me around!" Along with others, Namazie started an unofficial human rights organisation, gathering information on the government. The Sudanese security service called her in for questioning. "I wasn't very respectful and the UN guy who came with me said, 'No wonder your parents took you out of Iran'. The Sudanese guy threatened me, saying, 'you don't know what will happen to you. You might have a motorbike accident or something'." The UN quietly put her on a plane home.

This was a turning point, shifting her from non-practising Muslim to atheist. Two decades on, she is devoting her life to opposing religious power. She is in the midst of organising the first international conference of Ex-Muslims, to be held in London on October 10. And she is about to launch a "no Sharia" campaign.

She must have been shocked, I suggest, when the Archbishop of Canterbury said the introduction of some Sharia in Britain was unavoidable. No, she

says; she wasn't even surprised. "It was quite apt, although he didn't expect the reaction he got. It was an attack on secularism really. It is, in a sense, to his benefit if there are Muslim schools and Sharia. It makes it less likely that

anyone will oppose Christian schools and the privileged place of religion in society."

She is adamant, though, that no form of Sharia should be allowed here. "It is fundamentally discriminatory and misogynist," she says and is dismissive of the idea that people would be able to choose between Sharia and civil jurisdiction. Women could be railroaded into a Sharia court, she says. "This would hit people who need the protection of British law more than anyone else."

She believes that we are confused about the meaning of human rights. "Rights are for individuals, not for religions or beliefs. 'Every human is equal' does not mean that every belief is equal." Islamists portray themselves as victims, she says, and policymakers have bought into this Namazie says that the Muslim Council of Britain should not be seen as representative of British Muslims --but would nonetheless welcome any opportunities to debate with it. "Ex-Muslims are in a good position to challenge political Islam," she says. "We must not let little girls or anyone else lose their human rights. We can't tolerate the intolerable for any reason – including religion."

Council of Ex-Muslims in Britain

www.ex-muslim.org.uk

exmuslimcouncil@googlemail.com; 07719-166731;

http://www.maryamnamazie.com