 A threat to humankind
Political Islam vs. secularism
Azar Majedi
November 5, 2004
iranian.com
'Islam against Islam' is an interesting topic. The
irony of a believer criticising the beliefs is provocative. I am
not a Moslem;
I am an atheist. However, I have lived Islam; I have firsthand
experience of Islam. I was born within a religious conflict: a
religious mother and an atheist father. From childhood, I began
to see the flaws, the restrictions, the misogyny, the backwardness,
the dogma, the superstition, and uncritical nature of Islam vis-à-vis
the enlightenment, the freethinking spirit of atheist thinking.
I
became an atheist at the age of 12.
The establishment of the Islamic
Republic of Iran after a failed revolution laid bare many other
appalling and cruel dimensions
of Islam, which we later came to label political Islam. It was
not only dogma or superstition anymore. It was torture, summary
executions, stonings, amputations, and the rape of 9-year-olds
in the name of marriage. Another face of Islam? Perhaps. But a
real one. Millions in Iran, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, the Sudan,
Nigeria, and Iraq are experiencing this true face of Islam daily.
With
the coming to power of the Islamic Republic in Iran, we began to
witness a revival of the Islamic movement as a political movement,
i.e. the emergence of political Islam. I prefer not to talk about
this movement as fundamentalism, but rather political Islam. We
are talking here about a contemporary political movement which
refers to Islam as its ideological framework and vision. It is
not necessarily a doctrinaire and scholastic movement, but it embodies
different and varied trends of Islamic tendencies. It is a political
movement seeking hegemony and a share of power in the Middle East,
North Africa and in Islamist communities.
This movement embodies
Islamists who hypocritically defend freedom of clothing, so as
to oppose the banning of veils in schools and for under-aged girls
in their fight against the secularisation of society in the West,
and those in Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq and Algeria who throw acid
at unveiled women, slash them with knives and razors, and who flog
them for not observing veiling. They are part and parcel of one
movement. This movement is a threat to humankind. It is a movement,
against which all freedom loving, equality seeking human beings
must take a firm and uncompromising position.
'Islam against Islam' may imply finding ways and means to
reform Islam, to resort to so-called more moderate interpretations
of Islam. As a personal, private belief this may be possible, but
as a political movement it is not. The movement which has terrorised
the world, we are experiencing today, and which we have become
firsthand victims of, is incapable of reform.
We are dealing with
a political movement which resorts to terror as the main means
of achieving power. My experience in Iran explicitly shows that
the only way to deal with this movement is to relegate it into
the private spheres, eradicate it from the state, education and
societal sphere. To do this, we need to build a strong movement
both in the region and worldwide.
In my opinion, there are a number
of points which can be the basis for an international united
front against political Islam in order
to make the world a better, more humane and safer place.
Defence
of secularisation and de-religionisation of society is one of them.
This banner has historically proven successful in
the fight against the church and now against the gains of political
Islam. The voice for secularism has become loud and clear in Iran.
There is a strong movement for the secularisation of society in
a country under the siege of political Islam for 25 years. We should
unequivocally raise this banner in the West and in the East. We
should recreate the spirit of the 18th century, the enlightenment,
and the French Revolution, in a contemporary manner.
The fight for
universality of human rights and women's rights is another important
cause. In the past two decades the Islamists
were largely aided by the proponents of cultural relativism. By
defending this racist concept, the Western academia, media and
governments turned a blind eye to the atrocities committed by this
misogynist and reactionary movement, not only in the so-called "Moslem
world", but in Islamic communities in the West. Apparently,
according to this concept, there are some rights that are suitable
for Western women and not appropriate for women like me, who are
born in the other part of the world.
The veil, sexual apartheid,
and second class citizenship were justified by reverting to this
arbitrary concept of "their culture".
A violation that felt appalling if committed against a Western
woman, was a justifiable action committed against a woman born
under Islam. This double standard, this sheer violation of humane
principles must be stopped. I must admit that it has been pushed
back a great deal. We have fought hard against it for more than
one decade.
 Defence of children's rights is another fight which
must be extended to areas where so-called religious beliefs are
concerned.
The veiling of under-aged girls must be banned, not only in schools,
but altogether. The veiling of children is a clear violation
of their universal rights. Just as we fight for obligatory education
for children, abolition of child labour, banning of corporal
punishment,
we should fight for the banning of veiling of under-aged girls.
This has the same significance as other basic children's
rights.
The veil deprives a child from a happy normal life,
and healthy physical and mental development; it brands their life
as different by segregating them. It defines two sets of gender
roles
and imposes it upon children who have no way of protecting
themselves
and demanding equality and freedom. Children have no religion;
they are only by accident born into a religious family. Society
has a duty to protect them and uphold their rights as equal
human beings. Abolition of religious schools is another important
arena. This is also an important principle of a secular state,
and for
the
protection of children's rights. Children must be free from
official religious teachings and dogmas. Religion's hands
must be eradicated from children's lives. The new legislation
in France regarding banning of conspicuous religious symbols
in public schools and institutions, is an important step but
insufficient.
In order to safeguard children's rights, religious
schools must be abolished. Otherwise, we create religious ghettos,
segregate children living in religious families from the society,
and condemn
them to a life in isolation. The new legislation is the easiest
way out for the state. But we cannot remain indifferent to
these children's lives. The society and the state have the duty
to protect their rights. They should be allowed to integrate
in the society, to go to school like any other child, and
to
be free
from the meddling of religion in their lives, at least until
they are still children. The recognition of the right to unconditional
freedom of expression and criticism is one of the important pillars
of a free society
and free thinking. The right to criticise Islam is another
important means of fighting religious dominance in society.
We need to
and must criticise Islam relentlessly, without the fear of
being beheaded
in countries under the siege of Islam, or of being called
racist in the West. Islamophobia is a new term created by Islamists
or their apologists in order to stop a growing critical movement
against
Islam and Islamic movements. This is as hypocritical as it
is regressive.
 I call upon all of you here to recognise the
importance and the urgency of demanding secularisation and the
de-religionisation
of the state and society, unconditional freedom of expression
and criticism, recognition of women's equality and the
universality of their rights, the banning of child veiling, and
the abolition
of religious schools. In order to build a better, safer,
freer and a more egalitarian world, we must unequivocally
raise this
banner.
About
Azar Majedi is the head of the Organisation
for Women's Liberation. The above peech was made in a Paris conference
entitled 'Islam against Islam' on 30 October 2004.
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A threat to humankind
