Ed Husain's New Book : The Islamist
Ed Husain's new book The Islamist is well worth a read.
Husain grew up in the UK in a family of devout Sufi Muslims. He got involved with a variety of Muslim youth organizations, and eventually ended up a member of Hizb-ut-Tahrir (Party of Liberation) - a Sunni pan-Islamist party with the stated aim of creating a caliphate uniting the disparate elements of the Muslim world. He was a recruiter for a period and describes the work of the organization as attempting to "mobilize the Muslim masses" in the UK.
He got heavily into the extremist ideology of the party, with its vile attacks on Jews and homosexuals. He also had contact with characters such as Omar Khan Sharif and Eisa al-Hindi who got involved with terrorism.
In addition to being an author, Husain is also a PhD student at the School of Oriental and African Studies. A turnaround that isn't as unusual as you may think. Quite a few young Muslims who get caught up with hard line youth organizations, make the transition to a life less defined by radicalism. It's just that unlike Ed, they haven't had the opportunity to share their story with the public.
In the book, Husain confirms the views of Tony Blair, that veins of radicalism are embedded in the Muslim communities in the UK and goes further to state that he believes multiculturalism has acted as a cover for much of the extremist activity. He also criticizes soft government policies that allow extremist organizations a lot of room to operate. I agree with both of these perspectives and have long believed that extremist religious groups that preach hate and advocate violence should be banned outright. That goes for Christian organizations also.
While acknowledging the extremist culture that exists in many communities in the UK, Husain also points out that significant changes have occurred since the 90's. He refers to a new form of Islam, that is more spiritual and less political. Writers such as Tariq Ramadan have spoken of how important it is for Muslims to relate to non-Muslims in their community as citizens, rather than from the sheltered perspective of a defensive minority community. This speaks to an emerging Muslim individualism that defines relationships outside of the traditional norms.
There is a small, but developing trend in Islam to move toward a more private and spiritual expression of the religion. It would be a welcome development if Christian fundamentalists in the USA followed a similar route. Our societies these days are much too complex and sophisticated to be placed under the thumb of narrow religious values - whether those values happen to be Christian or Muslim.
The author also addresses the problem of government and media giving recognition to extremist groups and accrediting them with representing the Muslim community. This is a large problem and adds to the perception distortion that permits many on the outside to get a warped view of immigrant communities. A Guardian review of the new book put it this way - Husain is appalled at the way unelected and unaccountable Islamist groups are portrayed by the media as representative.
Husain's book has irked a few on the left who don't like the nod given to Tony Blair's view of Muslim society in the UK. Nor do they go along with Husain's tendency to dismiss Islamophobia as a ploy on the part of the Islamic leadership to obtain special concessions.
What I like about the book is that while it addresses the problem of extremism, it also points to positive new developments - of which of course, Ed Husain is a living example.
Aidan Maconachy is a freelance writer and artist based in Ontario. You can visit his blog at aidanmaconachyblog.blogspot.com/.
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