Wednesday, December 20, 2006
  Hajj
No, I'm not talking about the anti-Arab book, The Haj, by Leon Uris, nor the derogatory name that American soldiers use to refer to Iraqi (Hajjis), I'm talking about the real deal -- the annual pilgrimage to Mecca which looks set to begin this Friday.

Some over-the-top pundits have in the past year or so resorted to calls to nuke Mecca under various conditions -- if Iran attacks Israel (highly unlikely as they have to go through several countries to get there...), if Hamas doesn't step out of power, if Al-Qaida pulls off another major terrorist attack on American soil. These calls are clearly hyperbole designed to create outrage (doesn't matter whether you agree with the notion or not, so long as it makes you angry, after all outraged listeners and viewers stay tuned longer than disinterested ones, which translates into greater market share and greater advertising revenues.).

As a society, we need to think about the harm done by this kind of rhetoric, and start demanding better of our "news" stations.

1) it makes the unthinkable not only thinkable, but even turns it something that we ought to seriously consider, since all these pundits present themselves as the voice of reason while purposefully being as unreasonable as possible.

2) it alienates and divides us. Muslims feel acute pain when someone say Nuke Mecca -- Mecca is a holy place for us, and why should the anger of Americans be turned on the 1.6 billions Muslims who are innocent of any crimes? Think how a Christian would feel at someone suggesting we Nuke Bethlehem or a Jew would be distressed if someone said, Nuke the Wailing Wall. Hateful talk only serves to divide, it may feel good for some to vent, but it does nothing to solve the problems we are facing.

3) it actually creates hatred. People who are undecided or unclear about what it means to be a Muslim will find it easier to distrust, or feel scared because the far, far right position is not, never trust a Muslim, but rather, kill them all. When the extreme position is hyper-extreme, then the "moderate" position is what we would under other circumstances see as extreme. In that atmosphere, a person feels much more comfortable hating Muslims, because, hey, that's the moderate stance.

As we go into Hajj season -- a time of year for renewal, rebirth, rededication and revitalization on an intensely personal level, it would be well for us all to take a breath and think about how much we all have in common -- dreams, aspirations, basic human desires and needs for a decent life, people we love and who love us, something to be proud of. Rather than seeing the Hajj as some exotic ritual, it would be good to see the things in it that speak to religious people of all faiths -- the lessons it teaches us, that all of us could stand to learn.

One of the most important lessons of Hajj is that we are all the same in the eyes of God. If we wouldn't want our holy city nuked, then we should not talk of nuking other people's holy cities. If we want them to undersatnd us, then we should try to understand them -- and I aim this not only at non-Muslim Americans, but also at Muslims. We should go to interfaith groups, eager not only to share our thoughts and feelings about Islam, but also to listen and learn about other's thoughts about their faiths.
 
Comments:
Thank you for writing this! I love reading your posts because I agree with a lot of them.
Salaam.
 
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Progressive Muslim, feminist, mom, writer, mystic, lover of the universe and Doug Schmidt, cellist, theologian and imam.


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Cane River
An interesting exploration of the gradual whiting of a family through slavery to modern days.

To see an archive of all the books I've read (well the ones I've read and review since I started the blog) with comments, please click here

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This is just a short list -- a few of my favorites.

English Language Islamic Fiction. We need more of it. Lots more.
Pay a Teacher's Salary in Afghanistan. The Hunger site actually has a lot of worthwhile programs. You can find them all here .
Muslims for Progressive Values. My organization. We can always use donations, of time or money!
Human Rights Campaign for the glbt community
National Religious Campaign Against Torture
The ACLU I'm a card carrying member. Hope you'll become one too.
MoveOn.org. The organization that has done the most, as far as I can tell, to pull the countries progressive side together.
Network of Spiritual Progressives. Working to reclaim religion and morality for the religious left.

Blogs Worth Reading

Wanda Campbell also known as Nochipa A very gifted poet and a gentle, compassionate soul. Nochipa and I are on the same page on sooooo many things
Writeous Sister Aminah Hernandez, she's got some excellent latino pieces and always has good writing info on her blog.
Sister Scorpion aka Leila Montour - Leila is a fount of energy, quirky humor, and bad attitude. She's also a talented poet.
Muhajabah Very interesting commentary here. I don't always agree with her, but her pieces are always thought-provoking.
Georgie Dowdell Georgie is a great writer and a good friend.
Louise Marley Another great writer. I think Louise is one of the best sf writers exploring faith themes.
Ink in My Coffee Devon Ellington (who has numerous aliases) who is also the editor of Circadian Poems. A truly inspiring woman with a seemingly endless supply of energy.
Ethnically Incorrect With a name like that, isn't a given I'm going to enjoy this writer?
Freedom from the Mundane Colin Galbraith, another excellent writer, from Scotland.
The Scruffy Dog Review This is a new e-zine with an ecclectic mix of fiction, poetry, and non-fic, some really enjoyable pieces here.
Ramblings of a Suburban Soccer Mom Lara, another gentle soul, very thoughtful.
Circadian Poems A journal of poetry, new stuff up all the time.
Ye Olde Inkwell Michelle writes romance and is one of my writing buddies.
Muhammad Michael Knight The original punk Muslim writer. Like him or love him, Mike is always coming up with the unexpected.

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