Monday, January 4, 2010

"Yet, even Modernized Islam, in its American manifestation, poses a number of very serious problems for Blackamerican Muslims.

First, the entire edifice of Modernized Islam is grounded in a medieval social order that was highly stratified and dedicated to the principle that religious knowledge was not accessible to everyone but was the preserve of a chosen elite. This was a society in which both literacy and access to books were severely limited, in contradistinction to modern (especially Western) societies, where mandatory education and easy access to books (and now the Internet) endows even the masses with a certain autodidactic spirit and the belief that religious knowledge is open to all. Modernized scholars in the West also tend towards a certain romanticism that portrays the classical Tradition as an unattainable ideal for most mortals. American-born scholars who have studied this tradition are often even more romantic and confirm the view that only those who were born into it, particularly Arabs, can ever master it to the point of justifiably claiming any authority. These scholars rarely speak or act with independence but tend to see and present themselves as pupils of their overseas teachers. Rather than contribute to the efficacy and empowerment of American Muslims and enhance their ability to indigenize Islam, Modernized American scholars often speak and act in ways that undermine their countrymen's confidence and reduce them to accepting the ascendancy of their overseas and immigrant brethren."

-pg. 90 of Islam and the Blackamerican by Sherman A. Jackson

4 comments:

  1. ASA,

    I must confess that I just now got around to critically reading this book. I kept starting and putting it down and re-reading the intro...lol.

    I haven't got to page 90 yet but the first part of this quote seems to me to point to the significance of the student-teacher relationship so often used in Islamic circles. The fact that the people never had easy access to education and books in societies outside of the west in an important point in understanding Islam's growth in the west compared to the east (for lack of a more comprehensive word). This is how some sheikhs have taken advantage of Allah's Mercy and Knowledge by only spoonfeeding the people solidifying their power and status. (thats another topic though)

    Now, though, we live in a time were EVERYONE has access to internet, technology, and subsequently standard and even advanced Islamic knowledge (not to depreciate the value of scholars). But despite this fact, "authority", still lies in the east and as Dr. J pointed out, modernized american scholars seem to perpetuate this fact.

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  2. wa alaykum salaam Khalil,

    I started and put down the book three times until i finally got to complete it. Still I find myself as you can even see on this blog going back to it over and over again. (We should do a halaqah on it, covering one chapter each session! What do you think? I think Gaith and Tariq would be down and they've both read the book I think. This would provide an opportunity to really dig deep into it and discuss it.

    How we approach education in our context and the question of authority and scholarship is really such a crucial question and Dr. J is someone thinking very deeply about this and many other issues that concern us.

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  3. That sounds excellent! you gonna make it out on thursday,iA?

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