On #CriticalTheory

On this day some eat turkey, I read dry scholarship on #liberalism and #postmodernism. Oh, yeah. And I eat turkey, too. I’ve seen a number of debates — some quite heated! — going back and forth about the validity, soundness, and compatibility of #Islam with #criticaltheory scholarship. Some advocate that it’s entirely incompatible with so-called traditional Islamic thought.

The western academy can be a wonderful place to learn but it doesn’t come without its pitfalls. Many who venture in, or even dabble their toes in the water, end up reprogrammed with a number of interpretive viruses. One of those is the inability to see the world through any other lens than that of power. Postmodernism’s methodology is axiomatic on seeing power structures and hierarchies and seeks to not merely deconstruct them but to tear them down and ultimately supplant them with its own (a)moral authority.

#Postmodernism and the Muslim Today

In discussing the topic of postmodernism today with a colleague we arrived at a conclusion that the main opposition to #polygyny in today's postmodern world - including from Muslims - is rooted in the notion that (a) polygyny is a right that men exclusively enjoy and (b) that men may enjoy that right unabashedly (that is, having legitimate sexual relationships with another woman).

The reason we touched on polygyny, a marital practice very few Muslims enjoin, is because of its "controversial" status in the minds

Low Hanging Fruit

There are few topics more sensitive than sexual ethics in the Muslim community. This can undoubtedly be explained, admittedly in part, due to the secularization of the Muslim mind, particularly in the West. The result of this secularization process cannot be better seen in the way Muslims, especially younger Muslims, simultaneously perceive that there is a god whilst at the same time denying that same god any authority over their lives.

"#Modernism can be characterized as the forceful imposition of rational administrative procedures into all facets of everyday life. Its subjects — you and I as individuated identities — crave both protection and authority. You and I search for some measure of refuge in a totalized, secularized myth, a grand meta-narrative that accounts for everything, and this tendency towards #totalitarianism is worldwide.

The #postmodern spell that many who claim activism in the Muslim community have fallen under is no better displayed by the manner in which some "celebrity" actors attacked perceived power structures. In fact, nothing could be more post-modern than to see the world almost exclusively through the lens of power. As a result, these self-proclaimed activists, who also attempt to claim Islamic orthodoxy and legitimacy, seek to supplant the very authoritarian power structures they claim to be fighting against with their own brand of authoritarianism:

Who’s On First?

When analyzing our predicament today (for me, “we” is both non-Black #postcolonial peoples, Muslims, as well as #AfricanAmericans) I have made the observation that we are so highly manipulated by the dominant culture and its post-colonial psychology and institutions that it’s akin to Abbot in the classic skit, “Who’s On First?”.

Once upon a time, the so-called “inner world” used to be one’s relationship with God, or some other higher power/spiritual tradition. In relation to this, I was asked recently why the crisis of poverty is not only so persistent in America but also so rampant, one must consider the retreat of religion from the public and private space. Our private spaces are no longer concerned with the Almighty but with, what Paul Roberts calls, “our aspirations and hopes, our identities and secret cravings, our anxieties and our boredom”.