Why Muslim Americans should find their political home among progressives

My question is where are the religious moderates?

And why don't they have a movement or site.

I guardedly welcome Muslims among the progressive community, but I'd like to emphasize this statement:

Unlike conservative tendencies to make society abide by a particular moral code, progressives (despite a scattered few who are anti-religion in general) seek not to impose their morality on others but to allow people to live their lives as they see fit. That's not just good for Muslim Americans - it's good for everyone

That means we won't tolerate Muslim Americans telling us how to live. While it may not be an issue as long as Islam is an overwhelming minority religion, it is often a problem wherever Muslims are a majority. At the very least Islamic norms of "modest" dress, attitudes towards alcohol, consumption of pork, etc become societal norms. At worst non-Muslims are subject to Islamic law, at least when non-Muslims and Muslims interact.

Further, some Muslims have showed a great deal of aggression in demanding accomadation to their religious beliefs in the public square. The Minneapolis-St Paul cabbies who refused to carry guide dogs or alcohol are a case in point: if you do not want to carry all law-abiding passengers, don't be a cabbie. Also, there are cases when Muslim women have demanded public exercise facilities be women-only for certain hours to satisfy their excessive "modesty" requirements. I'm not denying that some women are justifiably more comfortable without men in the gym, but there are fair and unfair ways to achieve women-only gym time. The unfair way is to demand exclusive use of formerly co-ed facilities - thereby decreasing men's access to excercise facilities. The fair way is to tap into the market of women, Islamic and not, who want female-only gyms and build new and/or purchase or rent existing gyms. For use of publicly funded community centers it may be impossible to satisfy Islamic norms of gender separation while maintaining fair access for non-believing men.

I fear that as the wave of irrational Islamophobia passes Muslims will find progressive live-and-let-live standards less appealing. They will become more assertive in carving out public space for their extreme standards, thereby increasing friction and divisions between believers and non-believers. This to me is an aspect of the greatest danger of Islam to pluralistic societies: both in its theology and its daily practice it creates a sharp line between the community of believers and non-believers. This line decreases the bonds of trust and belief in a shared fate that keep a pluralistic community healthy.

Hello,

I am a Muslim. I go to the gym like everybody else. My gym is coed. I find the people to be very nice there. Even some men have helped me with equipment, but have always been respectful to me. I don't expect people to change for me. I have my religion and they have theirs. I believe in coexisting with others. However, it does disturb me when people automatically assume something negative about me because of my deen. Of course there are many things which are considered haram out there. I am not perfect, but I try to stay away from the major things. I don't drink or smoke or use drugs. I can't tell anybody else what to do. I can insist that these habits are bad for the body, but I won't walk up to a stranger and tell them that. I only tell my friends and loved ones.
People in America and across other parts of the world shouldn't be afraid of us imposing Shariah law. Only Allah will make things change like this. Unfortunately, the same countries who supossively maintain Shariah law are the biggest hypocrites ever!! They need to read the Quran, read hadiths and remember Allah. There are so many misunderstandings of Shariah law and NO we DO NOT have honor killings! Women DO have rights under Shariah law. I have friends of all faiths and backgrounds, who respect my beliefs and who I am as a person. I never impose my belief on anybody, because it is NOT my choice what somebody will believe. It all comes from the heart and it is in the hands of Allah, not a human being.
America is a wonderful country and many good people. If you look at the world where there are many Muslims, you will find there is oppression. The Muslim Ummah is upset, discouraged and angry as a whole because of the conditions which they live in. These leaders in the Islamic world are mere dictators, secular and DO NOT follow Islam. If you even think Saudi government is following the Sunnah, they certainly aren't. Believe me, with over a billion Muslims in the world, if you thought we were all bad, or terrorists or any other negative thought that comes to your head, the world would be in much worse shape than it is now! We are like everybody else. Religion should dominate our lives because we are Muslim. That is part of the deen. We shouldn't be Muslim by name, but Muslim by our actions. There is only a minority of the Muslim population who hold different views, and carry out horrific acts of violence. Other than that, just talk to us and we will tell you what Islam is really about.

Brother Huma, all sects of Islam share the "Belief in all prophets and in both old and new testament of the Holy Bible and the Holy Quran is the true basic necessity of life itself," not just your sect. Unfortunately, and as you must be aware, Muslim scholars do not recognize Amadiyyah as legitimate Islam. I won't go there, because the point is that we all have the right to believe what we believe.

But other people do not have the right to abuse us because of their prejudices. This includes politicians and others who use Islam to further their personal agendas. Selling hate is so easy, but stopping it is so hard. In my earlier comment I addressed another posting where the writer expressed concerns that Muslims would, in effect, take over. Imagine if he or she were writing about African Americans. Or Jews, for that matter. Of course, it wouldn't be tolerated. But it's ok to trash Muslims, evidently.

"That means we won't tolerate Muslim Americans telling us how to live.While it may not be an issue as long as Islam is an overwhelming minority religion, it is often a problem wherever Muslims are a majority." So you are afraid that the Muslims will take over and impose Shariah? And you think women such as myself who would like to exercise without being in the proximity of unrelated men "excessively modest"? Your Islamophobia flag is flying high.

Posted by: mariam | August 3, 2008 12:19 PM
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mariam,do some research, or ask the Europeans how muslims are trying to impose sharia law on its citizens. You progressives are naive and ignorant.

>>mariam,do some research, or ask the Europeans how muslims are trying to impose sharia law on its citizens. You progressives are naive and ignorant.

Yup its all about Sharia, Sharia, Sharia. You masculine, pro-war, Republicans hawks all turn out to be true cowards, wetting your pants upon hearing the word.

Oh I love it, we Muslims and progressives are so "naive and ignorant" while the right-wing macho-men who have terrorized the Muslim world know everything about Islam, even more so than Muslims.

So tell me Richard, what have I missed? Is it killing the infidels part or taking over Europe and America part? Or making Obama swear on the Koran?