A Blues Jihad

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Listening to the musical genius of the late Yusef Lateef takes us to a blues place.  The complexity of notes, innovative compositions, Lateef blended soul-stirring sounds from all over the world…blues sounds if you will, translated to what he called 'autophysiophsychic' music.  In his masterful sonnets you can hear the blues of Arabia, Africa, Brazil, Asia and America.  His musical lane covered most of the suffering world as his Blues found existential harmony with theirs. The world has always found a common language in the blues of struggle and music.  Music scores across hues and ideologies landing on the spirit of humanity…this is where we find the Blues.  This isn’t an ode to the 'Gentle Giant' but a reflection of the Muslim women and men of his generation who weren't afraid to express their Blues and triumphed in a bipolar world.

To borrow Cornel West’s contextualization of the Blues, catastrophe and struggle lies within the quiet beats of the Blues.  In other words, out of struggle, pain, agony and despair of living with one's 'back against the wall', the Blues is born, bearing testimony to atrocity while applying comfort and perspective to the pain-filled disciple.  This Blues, popularized through African-American music, has roots everywhere there is struggle, it is the elixir of the sufferer, activating them on a spiritual journey, confronting their struggles and finding resolve through compassion.  As the Blues teaches many lessons, there’s an important message for a group of people who culturally rarely partake of its musical feast…Muslims.

The term for struggle in Islam is Jihad.  Like the Blues, it is the struggle against the catastrophic.  Oppression, poverty, abuse, sin are all catastrophic events affecting the body-spirit and community.  Islam teaches its disciples to combat the evils with compassion and prayer.  To uplift and correct the spirit through reflection and community transformation.  Like the Blues, Jihad speaks to and speaks out against injustice to the body-spirit and humanity while covering both with peace and love.

You see, Islam means Peace and Jihad is its Blues song.  Have you ever witnessed a Muslim Bluesman or Blueswoman recite al-Fatiha in prayer? Like any great Blues song, the first verse draws the supplicant in as the disciple's somber tones reflects the difficulties of the day and pains of the community.  By the 2^nd verse (rakaa), the disciple has transported the congregation to the foot of the Creator, crying a Blues hymn for himself and the community, begging for relief and peace from a world filled with catastrophe.  

The Blues is the yang of Jihad, without it, Jihad becomes chillingly misconstrued and out of balance.  If Muslims learn from a Bluespeople who have suffered with perseverance, revolted with compassion and exercised liberation with inclusion and forgiveness then perhaps Islam could become a 'gentle giant' in the world.  A faith fighting against the catastrophic with love and compassion...a Blues Jihad.   

Mipsterz; A call for Acceptance or Freedom

Hipster Muslims are nothing new.  I was raised surrounded by Muslims who were the hippest folk around.  In the 70’s it was nothing to see Muslim men in leather coats, kufis, dashikis and dark glasses walking with a lean and Muslim women in heels and afros with nose rings draped in colorful garb, scarves and hijabs included.  American Muslims have always been hip with social and spiritual swag.  As with every generation there’s a reinvention of what was, a neo-defining of the past…the old Muslim cool is now Muslim hipsters or Mipsterz. 

There’s already been a ton of talk on the Mipsterz video so I won’t describe its contents but let’s just say if you haven’t seen it see it. Visually it’s stunning; socially it’s thought-provoking depicting the humanity of Muslim women.  Muslim diversity is what’s in the ring not Islam the faith. There also seems to be a deeper message, a latent cry for freedom, more than acceptance by the majority and popular, but an underlying message to Muslim families that our women are still wrestling with equality.

The humanness of Muslims makes us as different as snowflakes.  Allah(swt) created us with a variety of styles, looks, colors, views, likes, ideas, etc. so how could we be expected to constrict our community to a monolithic Muslim identity. What would that monolithic identity dress like, talk like, look like.   Should it be like Afghan women under Taliban jurist or like the American Muslim artist Me’shell Ndegeochello (Suhaila Bashir-Shakur).  

Ok, I probably lost some Muslim readers by now but seriously, what amazes me is a faith that has touted the freedom and equality of women for over 1400 years is still embattled with the role and position of women within its own community.  Like Plessey v. Ferguson, separate but equal, African-Americans were legally free and equal but socialized inequalities resulted in Jim Crow rules and years of social oppression and discrimination.  I wrestle with the fact that in too many cases, Muslim women have been given a ‘bad check’ under the notion of ‘equality’ under various interpretations of Islamic jurisprudence.  I’m not a jurist, a scholar or even a wanna-be Imam, neither is this an exegesis on Quran but as a born and bred Muslim I bear witness to the mask we wear when addressing equality. We can’t equal the playing field because we’re playing on the same field.

Whatever side you are on, whether you agree that a Muslim woman should be viewed publically or not, we as Muslims have to take a serious listen to the rumblings in our community for the salvation of our community. What’s interesting, we already know Muslim women like this so why the shock and divisiveness…it’s the mask that Paul Laurence Dunbar describes in his famed poem ‘We Wear the Mask’ or as Jaz Z raps in the soundtrack, “New money, they looking down on me, Blue bloods they trying to clown on me, you can turn up your nose high society, Never gone turn down the homie”.  Muslimahs, let the haters hate, look down on you and clown you but know that they can’t turn you down…only the One that create you wears the Crown.  Blaze a path so the ones to follow know, not that it’s cool to be Muslim but it’s cool to be themselves while keeping their faith.

#Mipsterz

Where are the American Muslims in the media?

With a second round of Congressional 'Radicalization' hearings complete, Islam in America continues to be under fire. Americans continue to be misled into thinking Islam is any less American than Judaism or Christianity. If we go by strictly numbers, Christianity would be the religion of America, although, it landed on American shores the same time as Islam. Some may argue Islam preceded Christianity as Muslims have been documented to have traded and lived among Native Americans. However, it is a known fact that Muslim 'Moors' accompanied Columbus on the Santa Maria.

Today, Christianity is the religion of the land. Our national holidays, historical context and 'natural' religion of the majority comes from the Christian tradition. It is important to note that race has played an unfortunate role in American religious culture. During slavery, traditional African religions and Islam was forcibly rooted out of the enslaved population considered to be dangerous to the oppressive institution. For all practical purposes, there was only one acceptable American religion, Christianity and it was being unfairly used to segregate and oppress.

American religion evolved as racial status progressed. As African-Americans found freedom, Black Churches were established to support the welfare and advancement of Blacks. The Black church found itself in contention with the racial theology of mainstream America as it provided a theological foundation for the liberation of slaves and later a platform for the Civil Rights Movement. Still today, Black churches are primarily segregated but are now considered a part of mainstream American religion.

The journey of Islam in America has been rooted in a similar struggle for liberation as the Black church. Enslaved African Muslims are documented to have maintained their faith, although not allowed to openly practice. To practice meant physical reprimand, abuse and death. Islam represented the antithesis to the slave doctrine and oppression. Theologically, it abolished slavery and could not coexist in a system of injustice. Islam still survived through slavery and continued to be relevant in Black life during the turn of the 20th century up through the Civil Rights movement. African-American Muslims played a critical role in the American struggle to freedom and equality.

Looking at Islam in the media, few could determine its long and important history in America. Media outlets are either choosing immigrant Muslims to address issues of radicalization, terrorism and the dangers of Islam in America or Muslim organizations are making the choice. Some representatives are born Americans, usually 1st generation but they still look and feel non-American. Their appeal is closer to what and who we are being led to fear...a stereotypical prototype of a Muslim or worse a terrorist who is of middle-eastern or south Asian descent.

I can't help to think that the lack of indigenous Americans being shown in the media is aiding in creating a climate of Islamophobia. African-Americans makeup the largest single ethnic segment of Muslims in America, yet they are rarely seen in the media. Immigrant Muslims are commonly seen usually attempting to look more 'american' to accommodate the American public. This is a poor image to present as most terrorist are seen wearing the traditional dress of Muslim immigrants. By not presenting a 'normal' Muslim, in traditional dress, speaking of peace and inclusion in the context of Islam, then the 'radical' Muslim becomes anyone who doesn't 'appear' to have assimilated into American culture.

To make a better impact in the fight against unjust discrimination, why not bring forth the folk, whose very image is wrapped in the liberation movement of America. The image of the American Muslim, is an indigenous American image. An image historically rooted in American religion and culture. It comes with the historical wherewithal of discrimination and segregation. It maintains a voice of justice and equity for all Americans and maybe, most importantly, reminds America to be weary of repeating her crimes against humanity.

A lot of damage has already been done since 9/11 to the image of Muslims in America. Without question, immigrant Muslims are taking the biggest hit in this era of Islamophobia. But just as the history of America reflects, we can overcome injustice. To do so, Islam in America needs to employ representatives who have the seniority and experience in speaking out against injustice. The people whose image is not only wholly American but has helped shape what is considered to be American tolerance and humanity. The African-American image is already normalized as American and being the oldest Muslim population in America, it should be represented. By doing so it will help in bringing clarity and focus to the conversation of terrorism and injustice.

Is Allah Sexist?

The other night I was talking with family about equality of women in the religious sphere. The conversation started with a reference to Eric Michael Dyson's 'Making Malcolm' book where he accuses both Malcolm and Martin as being sexist. The indictment in the book caught me off guard because it is something I've never considered in my reading or critique of either.

Our family friend, who is a 'womanist' and intellectual, began to provide support for Dyson's position. As she referenced the place of women in the religious tradition, I began to see the legitimacy of such an accusatory statement. She continued and posed the question, could a woman be an Imam in Islam?

Before I could answer, my daughter quickly retorted a common but flawed Muslim response, that a woman could not perform all the duties of an Imam because of her menstrual cycle. In the midst of her answer and the anticipation of my sister's refutation of such a medieval notion, I had a semester of thoughts. I quickly scanned every familiar verse and hadith on the subject. The reform efforts of women leading mixed congregations in prayer (salat). The position of women in Quran and it's mostly patriarchist interpretations. The oppression and inequities enforced on women in Muslim countries and the undiscerning sexism in my own Mosque and Muslim community.

Then I thought of the response of my daughter whom my wife and I have always taught she could achieve anything, that ceilings were meant to be shattered, yet, she defended a limitation that we've never submitted or even conceded as an improbability. I knew where it had come from but didn't realize the power of influence from which it came.

Sexism, is discrimination based on gender, prejudice + power. The struggle of women throughout history dates back to Eve from bearing the blame of 'temptation', through the early women movements and continuing through the 21st century as women continue to be subjugated to socioeconomic inequities.

Inside the hallowed walls of faith, particularly, those of the Abrahamic traditions, patriarchy remains dominate. Those who choose to see 'man' prioritized in scripture continue to render women as secondary patrons. In most cases, partriarchy is so entrenched that male members rarely recognize any inequality. The subtlety of religious-sexism has become engrained in the mosque/church culture, denomination/sect and even the hermaneutics of the texts.

The Islamic tradition is particularly challenged with sexism and some would argue having the larger 'elephant in the room'. Of the three Abrahamic faiths, Islam is theologically the more liberating. In the Muslim text woman is set as equal to man, given rights over her husband, property and inheritance. The equal rights of women are well documented in the fiqh of Quran and hadith (traditions of Muhammad).

However, pre-Islamic traditions and cultural influence blur the equity of the Quran in the treatment of women. This most unfortunate behavior is played out too often in Muslim countries with unfair, unequal laws against women from illegal driving to not being allowed in public after dark to not being deserving of education. Men, dictating and interpreting how women should live and function in society has created a blasphemous list of injustices against women that are too frequently mis-charged to God. Much of this discriminatory behavior has crossed the seas with those of 'authority' providing their interpretations.

The blame of sexism in American Mosques isn't solely an immigrant product. Sexism has been a long-time partner in American and African-American culture. We've seen it played out in advertising, music, hiring, salaries, purchases, jobs, etc, etc. Although we rarely acknowledge the possibility, we all bring our own 'bags' of 'isms' to our places of worship and in too many venues, the bags of sexism are still being carried where they were banned long ago.

We can continue this thought with more specifics and offer examples and solutions but this writing isn't about what dress is oppressive or should walls stand between men and women. Those are products of the issue of sexism and it's ignoring in Islamic spaces. We as Muslims must do a better job at giving attention to the subtle practices of sexism within our walls. We are very adept at responding to criticism of unfair treatment of women by stating Quran and Hadith but it's in the application where we become decrepit.

I purposely haven't given any anectdotes, I'll leave that to the reader, the believer, the Saint, the Minister and the Imam. Or maybe I'll write in more detail at a later time but for now, it's about changing the culture within the walls of faith and the focus on the response of my daughter.

My daughter who served as Commander of the largest JROTC command in St. Louis. She successfully led and trained young men and women in discipline and order. From Senior Class President to being the protective 'big sister', she embodies the dignity and courage of her fore-mothers. Yet, in the space where women are to be anointed, my daughter inhaled faith and with it, it's latent patriarchy. For her and all of the daughters, we must change.