Politics of Islam
SHAIKH MUJIBUR REHMAN
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The author argues that there are several myths around the Rushdie controversy
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FROM FATWA TO JIHAD — The Rushdie Affair and Its Legacy: Kevan Malik; Atlantic Books, an imprint of Grove Atlantic Ltd., Ormand House, 26-27 Bozwell Street, London WC 1N 3J2. Rs. 399.
Without doubt, the post-9/11 world has witnessed the spawning of rather ridiculous stereotypes about Islam, Islamic countries, and Muslim societies in non-Muslim regions. Some of these are the consequence of the campaign for, and the flawed strategy of, the war on terror. While it may appear that these stereotypes are an instant product of this new wave of violence on Islam and assault on the Muslim world, it is indeed a continuation of a rather sustained process the West
has patronised long before Osama bin Laden appeared on the global scene.
The narrative sensitises us to such an argument and locates it in the context of fatwa against Salman Rushdie’s book, The Satanic Verses. It tells us why and how the controversy has wider political and cultural implications. In the era of the so-called war on terrorism, there are many convenient excuses, competing moral and ideological perceptions, and countless innocent victims of such morality and ideology. But there is little serious reflection on how the Rushdie controversy contributed to the making of a rather distorted view of Islam as well as the Muslims.
Myths
The book is an important contribution to a body of emerging scholarship that seeks to explain how the conflicting interpretations of Islam and turbulent developments in Islamic societies are rooted in highly generalised perceptions of some events. It seeks to convince its readers that the politics of Islam and Muslim societies are not always the making of Muslims. In doing so, it employs the Rushdie affair as a central reference point and uses various techniques of narration — anecdotal accounts, interviews with various players, and so on — to construct its main thesis.
Although it does engage with scholarly arguments in an extended fashion, the narrative largely revolves around multiple theoretical interventions in a rather touch-and-go fashion. Thus, it clearly does not fall in the genre of a serious theoretical book on the subject — like for instance, the recent book of Mushirul Hasan, Moderates or Militants: Images of Indian Muslims (2008).
Drawing upon his own experience and those of few others at the time, the author argues that there are several myths around the Rushdie affair. These myths should be destroyed to build a world where cultures are better understood. Among the myths are: that hostility to The Satanic Verses was driven by theology, and that Islam is incompatible with Western democracy. He blames the British liberal opinion-making machine for these distortions, and argues that “by giving this type of description, they have ignored the diverse character of Muslim communities, and the Muslim response to The Satanic Verses; and the importance of the free speech to minority groups… They have helped build a culture of grievance in which being offended has become a badge of identity, cleared a space for radical Islamists to flourish, and made secular and progressive arguments less sayable, particularly within Muslim communities.”
The author, who was born in Secunderabad (India) and brought up in Britain, thought of himself as a black rather than as a Muslim or even Asian. For so many others of his ethnic origin, it was not an ethnic label but a political badge, yet he found himself impacted by the political whirlpool of the controversy, and the British society and the Muslims — particularly the South Asian Muslims — were affected in far more convoluted ways than what are generally reported in the media.
Enlightening
The book has several fascinating chapters. The ones titled ‘from street fighters to book burners,’ ‘the rage of Islam,’ and ‘God’s word and human freedom’ are enlightening; they show how the politics from above overwhelms the politics at the bottom, how politics of faith often overpowers the politics of nation state, and how, in the cross-current of these diverse political forces, a vast number of innocent people find their lives changed and their worldview transformed. A slice of this observation finds expression in the chapter titled ‘how Salman Rushdie changed my life.’
While every chapter is meant to explain a particular facet of the argument, the details of events reveal how much was happening within Britain itself. Rushdie’s book has had varied impact in different countries. The controversy caused its own share of violence in India and polarised Hindu-Muslims relations, which is a subject of research in itself.
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