This is Not Islam!

Well, it’s happened again. Four muslim women are dead. Mohammad Shafii (father of three of the victims, husband of the fourth) , his polygamous second wife (the girls’ mother), and their eldest son have been implicated in their murders. Many of the classic markers are present: the first wife and eldest daughter stand accused of “being too westernized.” There are rumors of abuse, apparent attempts to seclude and restrict the movements of some or all of the victims, and the two week long flight of the elder daughter, followed by an apparent (and all too common) attempt at reconciliation. National Post

Some experts are now beginning to describe such attacks as more akin to ritualized killings or even political assassinations than typical murders: symbolic acts intended to terrify and control as well as to convey a message to the larger community. . . . So, what message was Mr. Shafii attempting to convey? Here’s my best guess: Mohammad Shafii knows that the “Islamic character” of a home, a neighborhood, a country is exactly co-extensive with the violence that can be employed against women to maintain it. He knew, as the Ayatollahs and Sheiks in S.A. and Iran know, that the heart of Islam is Violence in pursuit of Submission. Where that violence abates, the Islamic character weakens, where it’s employed ruthlessly, the Islamic character crystallizes most starkly. And now that the spot light is squarely focused on another Islamic honor killing, we can look forward to the next chapter in a now familiar narrative: the ubiquitous cries of “This is not Islam!” And not all of the wholesale deniers are liars; some actually believe it. So, what explains the amazing disparity between the highly idealized conception of Islam held by many in the West and the distressing reality of life in countries and families actually governed by Islamic law?

Part of the answer probably lies in the islamic concept of “progressive revelation.” According to Major Stephen Coughlin, former U.S. Department of Defense expert on islamic law, progressive revelation is the idea that islamic doctrine and the very nature of islam itself will change "over time," from apolitical and spiritual to highly politicised and violent in its demands for islamic law as the community grows in confidence and numbers - and that such a transition is fully predicted and anticipated by the Quran, just as the first Ummah transitioned from Mecca to Medina under the leadership of Mohammad himself:

Given Islam’s infancy status in America, Siddiqi observed that even among those who were converting new members to Islam, many had yet to progress far enough to grasp the full transformational aspects of Islam. On converting American converts to Islam, Siddiqi said:

"Some rituals of religion and traditions of the Muslim Community are explained. A short account of the Prophet’s (PBUH) life is presented, without the revolutionary aspect. When Islam is acceptable to the new entrants in this concocted and abbreviated form, the ceremony of Shahadah is performed with great reverence. A non-Muslim thus becomes a Muslim, obedient to Allah (SWT) alone. The revolutionary aspect of Islam is rarely brought before the new converts, as in most of the cases the Da’ee himself is not conversant with it."

Advocates like Siddiqi have succeeded in maintaining discipline when presenting Islam in its progressive stages to the non-Muslim community. This success extends to the treatment Islam is given in introductory survey courses at American colleges and universities. For example, in keeping with the Milestones requirement to bring a community in at the early stages of revelation and rely on a vanguard to transition the membership through the milestones, a popular college survey text titled Approaching the Qur’an, translated by Michael Sells, presents an image of Islam to students that focuses exclusively on “a careful selection of the earliest ‘suras’ (revelations)”that excludes what Siddiqi refers to as the more “revolutionary aspects” of the faith. In keeping with Siddiqi’s 1989 requirement, the 1999 course-book provides the “concocted and abbreviated form” of Islam that withholds the revolutionary aspects of faith for a later time.” (pp 252-253, footnotes omitted)

Written by Epiphyte 7/25/09