The Trouble with Islam Today is an open letter from me, a Muslim voice of reform, to concerned citizens worldwide -- Muslim and not. It's about why my faith community needs to come to terms with the diversity of ideas, beliefs and people in our universe, and why non-Muslims have a pivotal role in helping us get there.
Islamic reformation is 1400 years over due.
Manji lays out her plan.
The themes I'm exploring with the utmost honesty include:
the inferior treatment of women in Islam;
the Jew-bashing that so many Muslims persistently engage in; and
the continuing scourge of slavery in countries ruled by Islamic regimes.
I've always questioned why the women's movement is so utterly silent on Islam's mistreatment of women, it's as if they don't exist.
We're often told that the troubles with Islam spring from militants or those that have twisted the religion. Time and time again we find that is not the case.
As refugees from Idi Amin's Uganda, my family and I settled just outside of Vancouver in 1972. I grew up attending two types of schools: the secular public school of most North American kids and then, for several hours at a stretch every Saturday, the Islamic religious school (madressa).
I couldn't quite reconcile the open and tolerant world of my public school with the rigid and bigoted world inside my madressa.
I like the way she challenges non muslims.
My question for non-Muslims is equally basic: Will you succumb to the intimidation of being called "racists," or will you finally challenge us Muslims to take responsibility for our role in what ails Islam?
I'm doing my bit, Manji.
You can do your bit and buy Manji's book here:
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