This is very interesting, I am assuming that unless there is a color blind society, The opinions of blacks will always be rediculed. Color is the ultimate barrier of black freedom. Amina is most certainly right. >From: "Ceesay, Soffie" <[log in to unmask]> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list ><[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: FW: [ChatAfriK] Amina Wadud Confronts Hecklers >Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2005 06:54:23 -0500 > >Muslim Issues - 'I am a Nigger, and you will just have to put up with my >blackness,' Professor Amina Wadud Confronts Her Hecklers in Toronto. > >Professor Amina Wadud Confronts Her Hecklers in Toronto > >By Tarek Fatah > >TORONTO - Her voice quivered. Barely concealing her anger, Professor Amina >Wadud's words bellowed across the hall, "I am a nigger and I can't do much >about it." Wadud, who was speaking to a Toronto audience on Sunday, was >responding to a questioner who asked her to address internalized racism >within the Muslim community and if that had anything to do with the >hostility she had faced from a section of the crowd. > >The 300 people, who had packed Toronto's Noor Cultural Centre to hear the >internationally-known scholar of the Qur'an and the role of women in >Islam, froze in stunned silence as they digested the impact of her words. >Eyes piercing towards her hecklers, Wadud leaned forward and stared down a >group of men at the back of the hall. > >"Usually I wear the hijab, and when I am wearing it, most Muslims do not >consider me African–American; I pass off as a South Asian," she said. >"But >when they see me without a scarf, they can see my African locks and they >know I am Black and suddenly their attitude changes. The fact is I am a >nigger and you will just have to put up with my blackness." > >This time, part of the audience erupted in applause, cheering her every >word. Others started walking out hurling insults, and two men were heard >jeering her, "You are just another CIA agent." > >--------------------------------- > >Amina Wadud, Professor of Islamic Studies at Virginia Commonwealth >University and author of Qur'an and Woman: Rereading the Sacred Text from >a Woman's Perspective, was speaking as part of a series sponsored by York >University and the Noor Cultural Centre that has brought a number of >academics to speak on the current state of Islam and the Muslim world. > >Wadud's reputation preceded her, resulting in standing room only in >Toronto's most progressive mosque, the only place in Canada where men and >women pray side-by-side in separate enclosures > >Midway through her speech titled "The Qur’an, Women and Interpretive >Possibilities," Wadud waded into the minefield by addressing some >difficult passages of the Qur’an. Breaking the ultimate taboo in the >Muslim narrative, she stated that despite the fact the Qur’an explicitly >asks for cutting off the hands of thieves, she did not agree with the >Qur’an. She said she understood that this was a very difficult subject to >talk about, but she would be dishonest to herself if she did not express >her views. > >She maintained that as a Muslim with Allah close to her heart, in all >honesty she could not continue with the hypocrisy of lying about how she >felt about some verses of the Qur’an. > >The basis of her talk was "How to be God's agent (khalifa) on Earth; to be >a moral agent of the Creator." In this context, she presented four ways of >looking at Qu'ranic verses which Muslims find difficulty dealing with. She >identified the four methods as: (1) The literal readings of the text, (2) >The legalistic arguments that constrain how verses are applied, (3) >Reinterpretation from alternative perspectives, and (4) Saying "No to the >Qur'an" when one disagrees with it. > >Pursuing the last point, she declared that she could not intellectually or >spiritually accept some things in the Qur'an, for example some of the >hudud punishments like the cutting of hands or the permission to beat >one's wife. She made it clear that she was denying neither the religion >nor the revelation. "It is the Qur'an," she said, "that gives me the means >to say no to the Qur'an." > >However, many in the audience were completely unprepared for her honesty. > >She had barely finished her talk when a long line of people lined up at >the microphone to ask questions. One woman, who identified herself as a >professor of Arabic Language at a Toronto University, took the mike and >started lambasting Wadud, suggesting that she had come to her conclusion >because she did not understand Arabic and that she had misread the Qur'an, >saying, "You know only one verse of the Qur’an." Instead of a question, >Wadud was subjected to a rant that was largely incomprehensible. The >professor continued, accusing Wadud of supporting illicit sex, when Wadud >had made no such reference. > >"That is the most idiotic nonsense I have ever heard," Wadud replied. > >When Amina Wadud referred to the 9/11 tragedy and the fact that some >Muslims deemed it Islamic to crash planes into buildings and kill innocent >people, a section of the crowd interrupted her. "What about Israel killing >Palestinians," they yelled. One middle-aged heckler said, "She is a CIA >agent." Other men and women lined up at the mike to accuse her of all >sorts of things. > >Another man, angered by Wadud's 9/11 remark, came to the mike and lectured >Her. "Let me remind you that no Muslim was involved in the 9/11 attack." >Wadud did not dignify his remark with a response. > >One young man, with his oversized shirt hanging out, mimicking a rapper, >took the mike out of its stand, twirled around, and started addressing the >audience, with his back towards Wadud, accusing her of not knowing the >Qur'an. > >Wadud responded to this outrageous display of rudeness by intervening and >saying, "This young man is uncomfortable with what I have said and so >instead of asking a question, he wishes to give a speech... why don't you >come up on the stage and I will go and sit in the crowd." Then she stepped >down from the podium and asked the young man to take her place, which he >did. Holding the mike in his hand, he harangued her and said she did not >know enough about Islam. > >One questioner apologized to Wadud for the rudeness of some members of the >audience, suggesting very few Muslim men had ever seen or heard an African >American woman in charge and in command. She responded that as a black >woman, she knew what it is to have one's views rejected, she thundered to >an applause that started with a few hesitant claps and then rolled across >the hall. > >Every time she used "nigger" to describe herself, most of the lighter >skinned members of the audience became visibly disturbed, squirming in >their chairs, perhaps uncomfortable at how she was destroying their middle >class comfort zone. > >When an Indian man told Wadud that he understood racism, she replied, "No >you don't understand. You are not Black; you don't know what it is to be >Black." > >Addressing Wadud, a woman with peroxide blonde hair and hip hugging jeans >said, "Even though I am not a practicing Muslim, I believe you do not know >proper Islam." > >"Your response is not new to me," Wadud replied. "When I wear a hijab, I >don't look African and my words are measured with politeness; however, >when my hijab is not covering my hair, I become Black and my words lose >all value." > >The straw that broke the camel's back came when Wadud, answering a >question, criticized Canada's proposed Shariah laws and expressed support >for same-sex marriage. > >A deeply troubling aspect of the audience's reaction was that it was >clearly divided along ethnic lines. Arabs largely behaved as one group >heckling her, while South Asians bandied together in supporting her. The >few white Muslims stuck quietly with each other. And in a telling >indication of the profound divisions within the community, it appeared >that Wadud may have been the only African in the room, although Africans >account for about a quarter of Toronto's Muslim population. > >Ahmed Bayoumi, an Egyptian-Canadian Physician who sat through the entire >lecture, reacting to the heckling said, "I find it fascinating that people >would question Wadud’s ability to speak Arabic because she has moved from >an interpretative understanding of the Qur’an to a literalist one. The >argument seems to be that if she can explain away troublesome verses by >resorting to nuance or obscurantism, her Arabic must be fine, but if she >accepts the meanings of the text at face value, well she must have lost >her previous fluency." > >Describing Amina Wadud's lecture as "revolutionary and liberating," >Bayoumi said, "I think Wadud is absolutely right. It's wonderful if you >can live with legalistic or interpretive explanations. I cannot. It was >liberating for me to hear somebody of Amina Wadud's stature say that she >also cannot, not as an excuse for wanting to perform bad acts, but from a >perspective of trying to be a true moral being and God's agent." > >The knee-jerk reaction to being reminded of our internalized racism is >predictable: complete denial. Racism governs our behavior, yet we are >oblivious to our own prejudices and tribalism. With noted exceptions, I >saw this in action on Sunday. I heard repeatedly from Arabs in the >audience that Amina Wadud does not understand Arabic. Instead of debating >the merits of her argument, many invoked and sought refuge in their ethnic >and linguistic superiority. > >Then there is the predictable reaction towards converts. If the converts >are white, all of us, Arabs and South Asians, simply go complete gaga, but >if we run into Black converts, we treat them at best in a condescending >manner with barely concealed disrespect, as demonstrated Sunday night in >Toronto. > >Abbas Syed, an Indo-Canadian who witnessed the entire episode summed it >best. "When a white person converts to Islam, we try to make him the Imam >of the mosque. But when a Black woman converts to Islam, we expect her to >run the mosque day care for children during Jum'a prayers. Amina should >have worn the Hijab; people would have mistaken her for a dark Pakistani." > >Tarek Fatah is host of the weekly TV show, "The Muslim Chronicle" that >runs on CTS-TV in Canada and Bridges TV in the US. He is a member of the >Board of Directors of the Progressive Muslim Union of North America. > > >Forward Ever (by any means necessary)! >Karen C. Aboiralor > > >Disclaimer: >Please note that views and opposing views expressed in ChatAfriK forum are >the rights of individual contributors. Mutual respect for people's views is >the corner stone of our forums. Freedom of speech and expression is our >guiding principle. >-------------------------- > >To Subscribe, send an email to: [log in to unmask] > >ChatAfriK is a division of AfriK Network Groups a network of Email-based >forums that are professionally managed by Fastrac Systems a subsidiary of >FASTRAC Corporation LLC based in Silver Spring, MD, U.S.A. >Please visit http://www.ChatAfriK.com to join our Web-based forums and take >the advantage of our other internet services. Please help invite your >friends and peers around the world to join us. We thank you for your >patronage. >Martin Akindana (Moderator Matto) >Moderator, AfriK Network Groups & Webmaster, http://www.ChatAfriK.com > > > >Yahoo! Groups Sponsor > >ADVERTISEMENT > > > ><http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=129ih1ikk/M=298184.6018725.7038619.3001176/D=groups/S=1705116291:HM/EXP=1108694122/A=2532114/R=2/SIG=12kir0p32/*http://clk.atdmt.com/NFX/go/yhxxxnfx0020000014nfx/direct/01/&time=1108607722496976> > ><http://us.adserver.yahoo.com/l?M=298184.6018725.7038619.3001176/D=groups/S=:HM/A=2532114/rand=503584919> > > _____ > >Yahoo! Groups Links > > >* To visit your group on the web, go to: >http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ChatAfriK/ > > >* To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: >[log in to unmask] ><mailto:[log in to unmask]> > > >* Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service ><http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> . > > _________________________________________________________________ Is your PC infected? Get a FREE online computer virus scan from McAfee® Security. http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963 ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤