Manji: Politics changed Islam from faith into dogma

INTERVIEW Political interference and heavy handed actions of self-appointed “ambassadors of God” changed Islam from a faith into dogma, and made mindless “robots” and blind “automatons”of its adherents, claims a controversial liberal-Islam activist.

“What happened was that toward the end of the 11 century, for purely political reasons, the gates of ijtihad or the doors of independent thinking were closed.

They narrowed in many parts of the world and then closed altogether in some parts of the world,” Uganda-born Canadian author Irshad Manji (left) told Malaysiakini in an exclusive interview last week.
  
“I do believe, this is about the time when Islam congealed, and calcified, from a faith into a dogma.”

The New York University (NYU) professor explained that the difference between faith and dogma was that “faith is a relationship of trust between you and your creator, and is deeply personal”.

Politically-motivated and institutionalised “dogma is always threatened by questions, as dogma by definition is rigid and fragile, and it snaps under the spotlight of scrutiny”.

Manji contended that faith, or the trust between Muslims and their Creator, allowed Muslims to experiment and explore, which is what really the scholars of the early Islamic age,like Ibnu Sina, Ibnu Rusyd and Ibnu Khaldun did.

“They experimented and explored, with faith along with other disciplines such as science, poetry, art, agriculture, and even fashion.”

Many of the early Muslim scholars of the Islamic civilisation were both religious scholars and scientists, and their body of work formed the foundation for the European Renaissance.

Such trust, she lamented, evaporated with the slamming the shutting of the gates on ijtihad as political interference and the moratorium on the exploration of knowledge, which saw the imam and mullah become set in their ways and impose their sole viewpoints on Muslims.

This, she argued, was how the faith, which once allowed Muslim thinkers to experiment, knowing that they have God’s trust in their niat, or intention, become a rigid and stultifying dogma, suffocating adherents rather than bringing true liberation, as was intended.

Verses that call to think, analyse and reflect

Such imposed restrictions, Manji says, go against the spirit of ijtihad built into the Quran itself.              
                              
While admitting that the holy book does not use that word, the author, however, claims that verses in the Quran advocate for Muslims to use their brains, freewill and conscience to keep thinking.

“In the Quran itself, there are three times as many verses calling on Muslims to think, analyse, reflect and re-think than verses that tell us only what is right and only what is wrong.

“In other words, triple the number of verses encouraging Ijtihad instead of blind submission and such.”

Thinking, Manji believes, is important as it will remind one of humility before the grandeur of the one true and all-knowing deity, quoting Chapter 3 Verse 7 from the Qur’an.

The verse from the Ali Imran Surah or chapter reads:

“It is He who has sent down to you, [O Muhammad], the Book; in it are verses [that are] precise - they are the foundation of the Book - and others unspecific. As for those in whose hearts is deviation [from truth], they will follow that of it which is unspecific, seeking discord and seeking an interpretation [suitable to them]. And no one knows its [true] interpretation except Allah . But those firm in knowledge say, ‘We believe in it. All [of it] is from our Lord.’ And no one will be reminded except those of understanding.”

“This is a clear call to remain humble,” Manji said, indirectly pointing out that it also speaks out against all those who try to use the holy book to stifle and distort Islam into their own image.
Manji maintains that her approach to Islam is not so different from what existed a thousand years ago except that it addresses 21st century issues instead of 11th century ones.

As such, she considers herself “a faithful Muslim” and claims that Ijtihad allows her to deepen her trust in God, while achieving individuality and remaining deeply faithful, and that she sees no reason to defend herself from those who criticise her as being deviant.

'Faith in God, not in self-appointed ambassadors'

“My faith is in God, not in God's self-appointed ambassadors,” she said hitting out at certain men who are mere robots, automatons and widgets unworthy of the one they claim to serve.

She also argued that she will only submit to the word of God, rather then “manmade” edicts.

“I base my interpretation of the Quran on the Quran. Hadith? Please, it is completely manmade. There is no evidence whatsoever that the Hadith is anything but manmade. Islamic law? Once again, manmade.”

Human beings, she further said, are imperfect and any “manmade lore” will have human imperfections built into them

Manji said that she is part of a global “Quran only movement, exploring the Quran as a living, breathing evolving text, remaining very happily within our faith, while at the same time thinking freely”.

Her views about Hadith or teachings of the Prophet Muhammad echo the Anti-Hadith movement prevalent in recent Muslim thought, that has roots even on Malaysian shores.

Some are offshoots of the Shiite movement that, because of political purposes, chose to believe that the Angel Gabriel or Jibrail mistakenly gave the holy revelations to Muhammad and not his companion Ali, whom they favoured. Some even reject the Quran completely because of this.

However, mainstream Muslims maintain that the Quran, Hadith and properly founded understandings promulgated by learned religious scholars, including fatwas and edicts, shall remain the three guiding lights of the faith.

In Islam, while the Quran itself is the word of God and Allah has said that it shall be safeguarded from alterations until Doomsday nears, the Prophet Muhammad is also accorded the special attribute of Maksum, one who is protected from wrongdoings and guided by God.

Manji was in Malaysia to launch the Malay translation of her latest book, Allah, Liberty & Love. Her first book, the international bestseller The Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim's Call for Reform in Her Faith, has been banned in Malaysia.

As evident in her books and an Emmy-nominated PBS film, Faith Without Fear, her work mostly challenges accepted notions in Islam, in the belief that education and the freedom to think is paramount and not indoctrination, which she believes is commonly practised in most religious teachings.