Response to Tariq Ali
"The Shia [...] have little to do with Islamic theology." So writes Tariq Ali in his review of Reza Aslan's book, No God but God.
I interviewed Reza for my 11th podcast which can be heard here.
I found Ali's review to be both inaccurate and distasteful. Below is the response that I sent to both the Guardian and Reza:
***
Dear Editor,
Tariq Ali's review of Reza Aslan's book "No God But God" ironically lacks the nuanced approach that Ali praises about Aslan's debut book. Ali's criticism of Aslan's understanding of early Islam--particularly of the rise of Shiism---is based on inaccurate and offensive claims.
It is inaccurate because Ali recycles the myth that the heirs to the Fourth Caliph Ali were "weak-willed and easily manipulated." This ignores the historical fact that the Imams of Shiite Islam were fiercely persecuted by Sunni Caliphs from the Ummayad and the Abbasid dynasties. Despite this opposition, they refused to rubber-stamp the political order of their time. The eighth Imam from the Shiite household, for example, refused political authority because he did not want to be co opted by the corrupt and brutal caliph at the time, Haroon Al-Rashid.
It is offensive because of Ali's assertion that "Shia sects..have little to do with Islamic theology." This gross denouncement of nearly 15% of the Muslim world is more typical from the mouths of extremist Wahhabis who are all too eager to caste Shias as unbelivers. It is odd--and discomforting--coming from an intellectual like Ali.
Aslan's book provides a lucid and fresh survey on Islamic history, one that looks at the initial schism between Sunni and Shia not as a contestation of who would rule the Muslim community but as how the Muslim community would be governed.
Perhaps Ali, who has repeatedly described Shia Muslims with condescension, is more close to the "bearded moderates" that it would appear.
Zahir Janmohamed
Janmohamed is Co-Director of the Washington DC based Qunoot Foundation, a non-profit organization that seeks to empower Muslim youth.
zahir@qunoot.org
I interviewed Reza for my 11th podcast which can be heard here.
I found Ali's review to be both inaccurate and distasteful. Below is the response that I sent to both the Guardian and Reza:
***
Dear Editor,
Tariq Ali's review of Reza Aslan's book "No God But God" ironically lacks the nuanced approach that Ali praises about Aslan's debut book. Ali's criticism of Aslan's understanding of early Islam--particularly of the rise of Shiism---is based on inaccurate and offensive claims.
It is inaccurate because Ali recycles the myth that the heirs to the Fourth Caliph Ali were "weak-willed and easily manipulated." This ignores the historical fact that the Imams of Shiite Islam were fiercely persecuted by Sunni Caliphs from the Ummayad and the Abbasid dynasties. Despite this opposition, they refused to rubber-stamp the political order of their time. The eighth Imam from the Shiite household, for example, refused political authority because he did not want to be co opted by the corrupt and brutal caliph at the time, Haroon Al-Rashid.
It is offensive because of Ali's assertion that "Shia sects..have little to do with Islamic theology." This gross denouncement of nearly 15% of the Muslim world is more typical from the mouths of extremist Wahhabis who are all too eager to caste Shias as unbelivers. It is odd--and discomforting--coming from an intellectual like Ali.
Aslan's book provides a lucid and fresh survey on Islamic history, one that looks at the initial schism between Sunni and Shia not as a contestation of who would rule the Muslim community but as how the Muslim community would be governed.
Perhaps Ali, who has repeatedly described Shia Muslims with condescension, is more close to the "bearded moderates" that it would appear.
Zahir Janmohamed
Janmohamed is Co-Director of the Washington DC based Qunoot Foundation, a non-profit organization that seeks to empower Muslim youth.
zahir@qunoot.org
4 Comments:
If at all possible, I think you should e-mail a response to Tariq Ali himself too.
This post has been removed by the author.
This is a very cool response to something that is so obviously meant to inflame. Kudos for keeping your head and your logic.
Did you ever receive a reply from the author? Just curious.
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