It starts with the simple disgust at the word slave. Why is belittling ourselves rewarded by our parents, so it eventually flowers into somewhat of a teen rebellion-against-parents phase, not quite understanding the link between god and toxic parenting. Before the awakening phase, the word didn’t make sense. I don’t think I’m alone, but subconsciously I begin to slowly want to read the book that states such things. Especially when this rhetoric was shared with people who would rather kill me. It was no surprise that they shared the same basic creed. But for such a masochist idea to fester and invade in the brain of a child would eventually be hidden away by the child and seen only by disgust. However, since religion operated on guilt, such a thought is shunned by the child in order not to lose the approval gained by adopting such a silly title. In order to be coined so, one must show how deeply passionate they are to the other person demanding them to do so, perhaps equally so, or to the point of martyrdom, mirroring the words of an autassassinophiliac and feeling disgusting while doing so.
The power play doesn’t end there, and that’s where the abuser tests the child with just how loyal they are to the role they are meant to play. A slave, a servant of god, is on such a noble mission, that forms of cultural expression are usually shown to be bad. Now this is a very broad term, which needs redefining. Whichever culture the person is originally from, the mainstream consensus is that this culture is pagan and bad. The idea stems from the successful model of Christianity, as a lot of Islamic ideas share. This is what mixes cultural conservatism and religious conservatism. Since no culture is perfect, themes in said culture which match encouraged themes could make their way into Islam. Here are a few following examples.
Abstinence is a needed Islamic trait. The verses in Quran about modesty are too vague and Imams have the tendency to create more precise interpretations of every aspect of practical life, abstinence became more about monitoring the women’s lives and trusting the men with the vaguer and purer interpretation of the vague abstinence verses. Instances (24:30–31) in which God instructed men and only men to watch their behaviour get their integration in society completely twisted because of the mixture of conservatism with other cultures. It doesn’t take long for a new movement like Islam to become a tool for conservatives. After all, this is a successful formula with European colonists and Christian moral values. Much as the intricate stories of Christianity were revealed in Islam on request, Muslims historically have looked up to Christian morality. When colonists carried their misogyny around, so the imams have adopted it too. They adopted that image of the Christian wife instead. That’s why countries that weren’t poisoned have a strong and liberal image for their Muslim women, but they are a minority in the sea of normalized Islamic culture. Cultures which have indigenously more misogyny compared to the global norm have remained that way, as Islam does not challenge the social system much as it did not directly tackle slavery.
Tell the believing men to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts. That is purer for them. Indeed, Allah is Acquainted with what they do. (24:30–31)
With this logic, I speculate this is how FGM made its way into being an integral part of Islamic conservatism. Supporters of it believe it decreases libido despite being discouraged of knowing anything else about sexuality and therefore have dragged on this horrific practice for more than it needs to be.
Thirdly, it’s the ironic and iconic first verse of the Quran revealed that I believe is worth mentioning (96:1–5). Back during the golden age of Islamic countries, it meant to hold all science dear. However, it is now used to tell religious students that learning only about religion and not science is of more value, because nowadays conservatism rejects new ideas. There are a lot of examples but these come to my mind now.
Recite in the name of your Lord who created. Created man from a clinging substance. Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous. Who taught by the pen. Taught man that which he knew not. (96:1–5)
When your culture is so intertwined with a foreign culture, how is one supposed to find an identity otherwise, or why would they even have the incentive to? Islam has made itself so comfortable by telling people that they are intellectual by not caring to research knowledge and leaving it “to the experts”. I still question where do they get this logic from as it is contradictory to Islamic principles but follows more of Christian values. Whichever the cause, misinformation is a reality and one is only supposed to trust whichever false hadith is circulating or cherry-picked verses meant to push a specific conservative agenda. The famous examples are disputed by Islamic scholars themselves [1] [2]. I have translated one paragraph of an official Egyptian report following the hadith from Muslim book 20 (1879) that quotes directly from the Azhar mosque:
“Secondly, it is not a description of women as incomplete mind and religion as an accusation against them, but rather a telling about the meaning of a reality that does not have an accusation or diminution, and is not intended to be pronounced. The testimony of a man, “and the decrease of religion”: means leaving her prayer and fasting during menstruation.”
Has disputing it stopped other religious leaders and patriarchs from using the quote insensibly, however quietly disputed it is false? No. Fundamentalist and extremist texts remain in the original scripture unchanged until society has a need for them. In this way, religious scholars do not aim to reform the religion at all, only the negative practical implications of it, to make it look like the true Islam is of more falsely proclaimed moderacy and enlightenment among the majority of self-oppressing masses.
This is a perfect example of religion being used to cater to self-loathing sentiments that is often encouraged but it’s also not the only tool used to enforce negative ideas. Culture has always been accepting of status quo outside of religion too. Religion is just a way of validating that culture.
Culture has then proven itself to be a soft spot to use by politicians, conservatives, and patriots alike to give people the need to believe in justification of specific actions (sexism, classism) and make it look like it is empowering and aligning to their original culture. Most people just want to be comfortable, not correct. They are willing to suffer for no reason if they believe it is morally just. That’s why you find a lot of women enforcing sexist rules on the false pretense that if they pay this price they will get a man who pays the price of financial support, instead of discovering more communicative ways which have existed in pure cultures but unspoken about in Islam as they were a given in Arabic culture during the time of revelation. The Arabs prided themselves in their intricate communication. This is not mentioned in Islam as the religion didn’t need to reform social interactions. As the current focus of Islamic studies on purity of self-immersion into trivial stories, cultural knowledge is lost, rather than compared and contrasted.
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