Disillusionment and the Myth of the Islamic World

We use the term "Islamic world" in common parlance to denote a number of regions in the world whose respective inhabitants are linked by the main (and sometimes only) thing they have in common: they are Muslims. While the term is accurate in that sense, I feel that calling majority Muslim countries "the Islamic world" is in some ways a misnomer. The term "Islamic world" implies that everything that happens in these Muslim majority countries is somehow a part of normative Islam. There is the presupposition that the people, the government, and the laws of the land are all functioning within an ideal Islamic framework. In reality, this is far from true. This can be a jarring, even painful discovery for Western Muslims upon first encounters with this so called Islamic world. (Especially after having been sold on the superiority of "back home" by understandably home sick first generation immigrants who may idealize what they miss, and reject their new place of residence for its inherent differences from "back home") Just like every place has its flaws, Muslim majority countries are not perfect, nor are they functioning with Islamic values as a benchmark for standards, legally or otherwise. The term "Islamic world" also suggests that there is no authentic Islam in other parts of the world where Muslims are a minority. As if there were no Islam in India, in Russia, in North America, in Trinidad, or in Australia. As if there, Muslims there are somehow less "Islamic." Any Muslim who lives by the values of Islam, and among other duties, prays, values humanity and justice, gives charity, and remembers The Creator, is living by Shari'ah. This means that Muslims who do these things are all striving on the Path that Allah has set out for us to achieve a better human situation, and to attain spiritual blessings in this life and the next. Being "Islamic" is the essence of these acts. Not the ground upon which they are performed. Recently, I have come upon two blog articles which express similar experiences as to my own upon encountering the so-called "Islamic world" as a Western convert who had been sold the notion of a pure, idealized land of Islam in foreign lands. I am much wiser about the issue now than when I first moved to a Muslim majority country. But I am still dealing with my disillusionment on some levels. As personal fitnah, I fight cynicism and sometimes disillusionment with my religion in general because of these things. As a small drop in a sea of Muslims, I realize that I can't control or correct the un-Islamic wrongs I see occurring in the so-called Islamic world. I also realize that my judgementalism, while connected to true disillusionment, is also connected to personal arrogance, and perhaps cultural arrogance as a Westerner coming to the the lands of The Other. Inspite of having been a Muslim for over a decade, and being somewhat versed in issues surrounding Saidian defined Orientalism, I am a product of my Western Orientalist society, and I must acknowledge that I was raised to Otherize just like any of my peers. In regards to personal arrogance, I must pray for the reduction of my arrogance, and also pray for the success of the people whom I judge. And for my Western style Otherizing of the problems of the Islamic World, I must attack any chauvinism that lies in my mind. Still, there are real and severe problems in the so-called Islamic world, and Muslims must accept and tackle them. In addition, Muslims who are located outside of what is commonly thought of as the Islamic world must work to improve their own communities. Anyhow, I wanted to share these articles with you to further the discussion.

Um Zaid

Marjari

I should acknowledge that my attention towards these articles was directed by visits to this blog.