Spencer sees the presence of Muslims in the United States and Europe as problematic. While refraining from explicitly denying their religious freedom he suggests certain measures, such as reclassifying “any group in America that does not . . . renounce violence . . . and . . . any intention now or in the future to replace the constitution . . . with Islamic sharia” as a “political rather than a religious organization” (Spencer, 2005: 230) and the extirpation of “the multi-cultural ethos from school textbooks and the culture at large” (231).
Pipes wants a revision of “immigration laws” and an end to the assumption that everyone who enters the United States on a valid visa wishes the “country well” (255). The President “must stop meeting with and legitimizing militant Islamic leaders, as he has done repeatedly before and after September 11.”
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Some Muslims, says Pipes, are perfectly law-abiding and loyal US or European citizens. Anti-Americanism, too, is not universal. This, however, applies only to a small minority; “Everywhere, anti-Americanism rears its head” and “since Vietnam, and even before” 9/11, “more Americans died at the hands of Muslim radicals than from any other enemy” (248). Like Spencer, Huntington, for whom the Muslim world has “bloody borders,” thinks the United States’
multicultural ethos and school curriculum dangerous; “multiculturalists . . . reject their country’s cultural heritage,” and sell their birth-right. Trying to create a “country of many civilizations” they want to cut America adrift from
“any civilization,” so that it lacks “a cultural core.” No country lacking a domi-nant culture can thrive or survive (1996: 306). Esposito refers to Muslims in the non-Muslim world having to decide, “Should they attempt to integrate . . . or would they be better off remaining alienated from society in order to pre-serve their Islamic identity?” (219). Classical opinion was that Muslims should not permanently live in the non-Muslim world, while some contemporary Muslims say that the only justification for doing so is to invite non-Muslims to become Muslim and to reform Islam “among Muslims” (Bennett, 2005: 190;
Metcalf, 1996: 19 citing al-Faruqi). After citing Esposito on al-Faruqi—
Esposito’s PhD mentor at Temple—as “a pioneer in the development of Islamic studies in America,” Pipes quotes his “nothing could be greater than this youthful, vigorous and rich continent turning away from its past evil and marching forward under the banner of Allahu Akbar” (113). Shamin A. Siddiqi, says Pipes, has laid “out a detailed justification and plan for Islamists to take over the United States that bears close attention” (114). In the United Kingdom, the Muslim Parliament’s agenda was to create a separate legal framework for British Muslims. Its Manifesto (1990) rejected assimilation and declared that Muslims are duty-bound to engage in jihad whether in Britain or abroad (Bennett, 2005: 188).24 Subsequent to the events of July 7, 2005 when four Muslims, born and raised in Britain, committed suicide-bombings in London, killing 52 and injuring 700, heated debate has taken place on what it means to be British, in which some question whether Muslims, whose primary loyalty is to Islam, can be trusted or regarded as loyal citizens, reminiscent of a report published on India’s Muslims in 1871 which concluded that Muslims were duty bound by their faith to rebel against the Queen (Hunter). According to a Guardian survey published June 17, 2002, 41 percent of Muslims in Britain under the age of 34 define themselves as first and foremost Muslim.25 Given increased hostility toward Islam, this reaction is not surprising. Feeling unaccepted and unwanted, Muslim youth look elsewhere for the symbols and
sense of identity they need which they find in “beards, turbans and the rheto-ric of injustice,” and even in joining “jihads” in such places as Afghanistan
“to right countless real and perceived wrongs” (Sardar, 2002: 54). Being legally able to participate in civil society, and being welcome to do so, are not the same. Did the suicide bombers fail Britain, or did Britain fail them?
Spencer, Pipes, and others make much of the divide between the Muslim world and the non-Muslim world in terms of the “House of Islam”–“House of War” polarity, arguing that Muslims are honor-bound to bring the latter under Islamic rule. A more balanced treatment would identify that these are extra-scriptural terms from the eighth century, and that other classic terms do not polarize the world in this way, including dar-al-sulh, where Muslims live as a minority but at peace. Also, they are not always able to live at peace in the
“House of Peace” (the Muslim world) yet do so in parts of the House of War (see Nasr, 1987: 76–7). Others point to Moorish Andalusia as a society in which Muslims, Christians, and Jews lived together peacefully—at least for a substantial period—as a paradigm that can help multicultural societies to function coherently. Contrary to Huntington’s thesis that a multicultural soci-ety cannot thrive, Ahmed suggests that in Andalusia “the intermingling of race and religion produced” a “rich and dynamic culture.” “Intermarriage between Jews, Christians, and Muslims produced many Muslim rulers with fair hair and blue eyes” and “there were alliances between Muslim and Christian rulers and a great deal of give and take on all levels” (2002: 63; see Tibi, 2001: 204).26 In her detailed discussion of “how Muslims, Jews and Christians created a culture of tolerance in Medieval Spain,” Menocal (2002) says that this was at least in part made possible by willingness to accept that “contradictions—
within oneself, as well as within one’s culture—could be positive and pro-ductive” (11). Others point to pre-war Bosnia, where Christians, Muslims (a majority) and Jews lived amicably. Intermarriage was not uncommon. Most Muslims affirmed pluralism and wanted a multicultural, not an “Islamic” state.
As a result of Bosnia’s partition, during which Muslims faced the threat of annihilation, a more Islamist identity emerged. It has been argued that this identity was manipulated by the enemies of Bosnia’s Muslims to make their own prediction that they were threatened by them a self-fulfilling prophecy (see Duran: 183). Tibi’s Euro-Islam embraces “laicism,” the “separation of reli-gion and politics, secular tolerance based on individual human rights, demo-cratic pluralism” and “civil society” (2001: 226). Muslims, like everyone else, can offer opinions and win arguments by rational debate, or by the art of peaceful persuasion. Discussion of Islam in the West too easily focuses on
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what appears problematic, such as the Salman Rushdie affair, the murder of Van Gogh, 9/11, 7/7. The critical but faith sensitive approach ignores none of these issues (some of which are discussed in subsequent chapters) but neither does it neglect potential for creating convivencia from within Islamic contexts.
Chapter Outline
Establishing the agenda 74