Tariq Ramadan and Political Islam

To begin, I am a secular person. I am not ashamed of such a statement though recently I have learned that it makes me some what of an elitist. I am not ashamed of being an elitist either. I can't choose what class I am born into, but I can choose how I want to live my life and what impact I want to have on my community.

This brings me to the question of Islam. Tariq Ramadan (his picture is on the left) is an Islamic Scholar at Oxford University. He is of Egyption origin and in his book Islam and the Arab Awakening he postulates that what the Arab region needs now is to encourage real revolution by adopting Islamic ethics into new Islamically shaped governments. His example or reference is Turkey, which has a political system that is very much so influenced by Islamic politics. He however would rather Turkey take more from Islamic economic policies than the liberal ones they use.

My initial reaction when reading this was how do Christians, Druze, Allawites, Jews, non or partial believers, and even loose Muslim followers all live underneath the heading of Islamic law and Islamic practices.

Ramadan argues Islam is lucid and all encompassing. It opens the doors for dialogue and inclusion. And yes though Islam when practiced with his interpretation and heart would/could/or possibly may be a feasible policy for state practices, I just don't see the Arab region being mature enough in its faith to implement such policies, if they are ever implementable.

I see faith as a jack in the box, it is surprising, powerful and bouncy, but its also a little scary. Devotion is deep, to surrender to anything is a giving of oneself that is whole and to do it blindly (for that is what faith is to some extent) than you are easily swayable in the name of that devotion.

This is the power hizballah and fanatical sunni factions have. This is how they sway there people. Through devotion and its unnerving sacrifice, Gods name can get a person to do anything.

Not to exclude the fact that the bouncy nature of any text, the fact that language is not finite and sways also is a serious concern. Fanaticals are given a means of interpreting the worst of things from the sweetest of words with the bounciness of language.

It's precisely because I see religion as a jack in the box that I fear its involvement in politics. Faith can be shared in the culture and in the society, it does not need to be silenced, but politics is a sphere where religion clouds more than it clears.

To give Ramadan a thumbs up though, I do believe that a shared societal debate about Islamic values and "ethics" can be very useful for helping in the formation of government, but the debate needn't be focused on only Islamic ethics. Shared values are as diverse and bouncy as language.

On Neglect

Picture of my little sister's 7th birthday and my 10 year old childish self, and some friends from Syria! 

I haven't written in a long time and am guilty of neglect. 

Neglect is a funny term. Literally meaning to not care for or of, its origins are latin.

Pleasure is often a neglected concept in America. I find that as an aspiring poet the pleasure of writing is superseded by the fact that making enough ends meat to live is really all one can strive to do.

I have neglected my poetry in the past few days to pursue a "career" because poetry can only ever be a "hobby", but my neglect for my passion has left me embittered and slightly angry at the world for making it impossible for me to do what I love.

Being a mature and well rounded adult, it is my maturity that tells me to neglect my rage and redirect it into words, but the child in me will not desist its crying.

I am sad. I am sad that I am currently jobless, sad that I can't pursue a career in poetry and poetry alone, sad that I probably wouldn't really want to just do poetry, sad that I am confused about it, sad that a writing instructor recently said that my poetry wasn't developed enough to enter into her class, sad that Syria is crumbling, and Lebanon will soon follow suit, sad that I ate way too much today, and sad that though so far things have been going well, I want more from life.

But this is privilege talking, because I know that the truth is people have more valid reasons to be sad, and are as obligated as I am to neglect them because life wont allow it any other way. I know I am privileged, but does that make my sorrows or concerns any less valid?

I will end this rant on sadness with neglect. Because a term which clearly has always had negative connotations since its latin origins has a specific positive function in life. My maturity will dictate my inner child, it will neglect the nuances that matter but are uncontrollable at this time. I will always nurture that  child, but she cannot always speak for me. And so today I will neglect her.

Every day a new lesson learned!

Beginnings

There are so many things to begin writing about. I could start with my humble beginnings as the Saudi born Lebanese daughter of a Syrian mother. Or I could start with the fact that I am a naturalized Muslim American returning to America after over ten years of living in Lebanon. But even though those things are a part of what constitutes this blog, I want to begin with something else.