On Privilege and the Politics of Victimhood

The midterm elections and successful campaigns of Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib have brought about a number of “firsts” for Muslims in America. Tlaib and Omar became the first Muslim women elected to Congress. Tlaib became the first Palestinian-American woman to serve in Congress, while Omar is the first Somali-American woman to do the same. Omar became the first to wear hijab on the house floor, and Tlaib became the first to don traditional Palestinian garb while being sworn in. These “firsts” were widely reported as historic, and a triumphant attitude remains in the air as talk of retaking the White House gains steam on the left.

Unlike Tlaib and Omar, Abdul El-Sayed was unsuccessful in his Michigan Democratic gubernatorial bid, though even he has seen his star rise in recent months. El-Sayed is now viewed as a progressive political leader. Following defeat, El-Sayed initiated his own PAC and was recently announced as a fellow at American University’s Sine Institute of Policy & Politics alongside a select number of prominent political and cultural icons, including political analyst and founder of The Weekly Standard William Kristol and Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus.

In advancing their political careers, Tlaib, Omar, and El-Sayed never shied away from their Muslim “identity” — in fact, they were frequently reported as being “unapologetically Muslim.” Such a stance should be lauded in many respects. It is never easy to wear religion on one’s sleeve, particularly one so seemingly disparaged in our body politic as Islam. But things are changing, and the image of a Muslim, the brand of the “unapologetic Muslim,” and the embrace of Muslims as full members of liberal society are now common themes we encounter. Muslim women in hijab are now featured in advertisements by companies eager not only to capitalize on the spending potential of Muslim consumers but also to appeal to the multicultural intuitions of leftist millennials. Gap, Target, Nike, and H&M are but a few of the retailers that have deployed the hijab in their marketing material. Retailers are not alone in recognizing the commercial potential of an identifiable Muslim. Elite universities are now self-consciously marketing themselves as diverse, with Muslims serving as an important piece of their public relations messaging. Fortune 500 companies are, of course, doing the same, albeit to a lesser degree. Even movies and TV shows are starting to cast Muslims in non-villainous roles, with a recent NPR article dubbing the current environment a “Hollywood moment” for Muslims.

These cultural trends confirm what is being reported in various fora: attitudes towards Muslims are improving in America, especially within the political left. A Muslim “identity” in America is now an advantageous credential to have among those who view diversity as an end in itself (or, perhaps, among those who see liberal sensibilities as the natural consequence of diversification). Indeed, the symbol of motley ethnic and other “identity” constituencies banding together now denotes resistance, empowerment, and change in our political landscape. That Muslims find themselves regular fixtures in these settings is no accident of circumstance; it is the result of a willful and deliberate program of inclusion, one that serves to promote a particular type of Muslim within certain spheres of society.

To admit that this reality constitutes a sort of “privilege”, or that it is advantageous at times to present as a Muslim with identifiably left-leaning predispositions in contemporary America, is a rather difficult thing for many American Muslims to own up to. For the better part of two decades, the focus of the Muslim community — including its leadership, largest institutions, and a broad cross-section of Muslim ideological dispositions — has been to thwart Islamophobia. This singularity of mission has fostered a culture of victimhood. We are the perpetual David surrounded by the Goliaths who wish to do us wrong, and every misgiving, every act of aggression — real or imagined — seemingly corroborates our presumptive identity as disenfranchised, underprivileged, and frail victims.

The rise of identity politics in recent years has given new life to this victim narrative, providing comfortable residence for the Muslim victim. Armed with the rhetorical authority of oppression, the Muslim victim uses the sympathetic circumstances to deploy his identity as a badge of honor. Whether the Muslim victim has actually experienced any of the persecutions commonly decried in the name of victimhood is immaterial to the pursuits of affirmation and inclusion. Even if the Muslim victim has enjoyed a comfortable life, it is his existence as a non-white, non-Christian member of society that allows for him to pass as a subjugated citizen. It is all self-evidently justified, even as it lacks coherence.

There is an obvious tension at play in holding to this victimology playbook while at the same time experiencing upward mobility on account of being perceived as (the right kind of) Muslim (and, at times, conscientiously playing up one’s “unapologetic” Muslim identity for that very reason). But these Muslims cannot have it both ways, and there are costs to a conception of oneself as permanently besieged.

There are a few immediate implications to the ‘woe is me’ attitude that dominates the thinking of some Muslims in the West. For one, the facts on the ground often betray the suggestion that Muslims live in a state so disadvantaged that it leaves them practically imperiled in the face of Islamophobic juggernauts. Many Muslims have experienced economic success in America, and although Muslims are undoubtedly confronted with the general resentment held by a non-trivial number of our co-citizens, they have nonetheless managed to establish a multitude of masajid, halal meat shops, Islamic schools, and related institutions supporting the community. Yes, the Bill Maher’s of the world exist, and they use their platform to paint the Muslim community as a legion of cultural saboteurs. But so do the Ben Afflecks, reminding the rest of America how much we Muslims like to eat sandwiches.

Secondly, the sort of victimology that passes today for political posturing is a novelty that is not only foreign to our faith, but unbecoming a person of belief. The Prophet of God (pbuh) gave glad tidings to those possessing faith in an atmosphere of irreligion. He (pbuh) portended a time in which grasping belief, love of Allah, and obedience to His Messenger (pbuh) would be more difficult than maintaining hold of hot coal. In such times, believers are reminded to clench faith with their molars. Allah reminds us in His book of individuals, besieged by circumstance, who complain to Him alone, seeking His pleasure, forgiveness, and deliverance. Asiya, the wife of Pharoah, turned to Allah in moments of desperation, seeking His pleasure, nearness to Him, and a home in jannah. Al-Tabari and other exegetes report that Asiya, in the throes of persecution, was shown her home in paradise as a blessing for her steadfastness. When the Prophet of Allah (pbuh) was driven out of Ta’if, bloodied and bruised, he (pbuh) called out to Allah:

“O, Allah, I appeal to you for the weakness in my strength, my limited power, and treatment of contempt and humiliation from people. You, the most Merciful of all the Merciful ones, are the Lord of the oppressed and you are my Lord. Under whose care are you leaving me?
To an enemy oppressing me?
Or to a friend you have given control of my affair?
If there is no anger from you upon me I will forever be content…”

“If there is no anger from you upon me I will forever be content” — Such is the attitude of the pious.

Of course, there are nefarious and hostile actors, just as there have always been. Muslims in various parts of the world inhabit circumstances that are indeed existential. Our Chinese brethren languish in internment, while our spiritual siblings throughout the Muslim world live in either active conflict or post-war trauma. But this is hardly the experience that Muslims in the West have had (at least as a normative matter), even as laws have been passed criminalizing their speech and practices.

Another rather unfortunate consequence of blaming external actors alone is the unwillingness to own up to maladies brought on by our own doing. Colonialism and neo-colonialism in particular serve as a catch-all explanation for every problem in the Muslim world for some, thus exculpating ourselves from responsibility. Violence between warring Muslim factions, corruption, nepotism, ethnocentrism, a disregard for the environment, and more cannot be exclusively attributed to the heavy hand of imperialist empires. So long as we avoid taking ownership of the problems that we have the ability to correct (by the permission of Allah), we will remain in a malaise that protests its circumstances but does nothing to change them. We must remember the words of Allah: “You who believe! If you help God, He will help you and make you stand firm.” (Surat Muhammad, 47:7)

But the problem is not merely the histrionics of oppression or abdication of responsibility. A far more acute risk of victimhood fixation is a fundamental misreading of our circumstances and the problems posed to the vitality of a spiritually committed community in the West.

Neil Postman famously juxtaposed the dystopian novels of Aldous Huxley and George Orwell as a forward to his renowned Amusing Ourselves to Death. Orwell’s writings often speak of despotic regimes and totalitarian ideologies, with a fear that powerful oligarchies will superimpose on society who, incapable of fending for themselves, submit to the powers that be. Huxley, on the other hand, argues that society will deteriorate through misguided populism. The government won’t need to preempt objectors or impose draconian strictures as society, of its own accord, will revel in the gratification of self-indulgence, withering away in soma-induced comas with the gleeful misery of a lonely drunk. Postman goes on to proffer the following thesis: Huxley was right and Orwell was wrong.

If we carry Postman’s diagnosis into our cultural setting, then it stands to reason that the vibrancy of Islam in the West is more likely to be eroded through full-fledged cultural assimilation than it is by a government program of coercion. In other words, if Muslims are to remain as a community animated by their beliefs, they will have to resist the sorts of compromises that might yield short term gains while, wittingly or unwittingly, subverting their own convictions.

In the context of progressive politics, this risk is more so given the advantages Muslims are afforded as participants in a political environment whose only established alternative is a party that continues to treat Muslims as outsiders. Of course, these advantages are furnished so long as one plays by the rules, and the rules of progressive privilege, often unspoken, require sacrifice at the altar of liberal politics. One must endorse the sexual revolution, critical gender theory, and radical individualism while adopting a platform of intersectionality and opposing “rigid tradition.” These moral verities of the left are now firmly entrenched among young Muslims in the West. Muslims supporting gay marriage, transgenderism, “reproductive rights,” and religious reform are so common that they no longer elicit surprise. The quotidian complaints of a younger generation — of inconvenient obligations, unwanted dependencies (i.e, upon the family, community, etc.), and cultural irreconcilability — resonate in communities fearful of reprisal and public discontent. Whereas the wisdom of elders once served to modulate this youthful temperament, independence and self-affirmation today reign unopposed. Popular “third spaces” multiply, servicing students and young professionals whose education, careers, and purported freedoms have failed to quell their vulnerabilities and insecurities. Conventional responses capitulate to these anxieties by serving up platforms that promise a studious avoiding of judgment while steering clear of anything that might inflict “emotional violence” on attendees.

Muslim leaders have largely struggled to formulate a coherent response to this liberal zeitgeist overtaking the community. A number have elected to channel their inner Martin Shkreli and plead the fifth. The right to remain silent assiduously avoids taking a side, thus furnishing plausible deniability. Others have chosen to respond with the magic words of liberal elites, clumsily cobbled together to fulminate against those “bad Muslims” who fail to comprehend an “enlightened tradition” (which is typically explained with just enough innuendo to placate bourgeois intuitions). Such opprobrium is routinely paired with a few pithy words of disapproval for the “other side” too, but without the clarity needed to figure out what exactly the problem in fact is. Qualifications such as “but feminism is not perfect either” (why not?) or “but we have to realize that our beliefs must come first” (in what circumstances are they not coming first?) typify the obscure equivocations we have grown accustomed to hearing. There are exceptions, of course, but they are far and few between.

Some will regard this appraisal unnecessarily alarmist, but the facts on the ground more than justify a sense of urgency. Politics are becoming more visceral by the day, and few obstacles stand in front of the radical agendas of cultural and economic deregulation. Our president is a vulgarian, and so are our elected officials. Our entertainment is becoming more sordid, if that was even possible. Atomization is intensifying, and the bonds of ummah, community, and family are being forsaken in the service of “Me.” Our tradition is being reformed by unscrupulous charlatans who have managed to obtain impressive followings. The environment is collapsing in front of our eyes. Heck, the very definition of “man” and “woman” is being arbitrated in the public square.

If we are to survive this, we must begin by excising our insecurities and capturing the dignity our faith teaches us to live by. Muslims need to be taught to live with ‘izza — honor, dignity, and nobility. Our faith, Book, and moral instruction are noble. One attains rank in front of God by pursuing a path of righteousness, and receives nothing but humiliation through abdication. Negotiating with the capricious fads of liberal society is a Faustian bargain entirely unbecoming of a person of belief.

In living with ‘izza, we must reorient ourselves to admire piety, not power or prestige. Our youth must be taught that true heroes often possess no celebrity, and that prosperity is found in the substance of life, not material accumulation. “The most noble of you with God are the most pious” (Surat al-Hujurat, 49:13). It is an enduring paradox that the wealthiest of men are often the poorest.

We are in need of confident actors, now more than ever. People who can speak with moral clarity and buck liberal fashions while braving the social costs. Those who cannot act without interminable calculation are better suited for vocation on Capitol Hill than the masjid. The halls of salah must be comprised of those who do not hesitate to utter the words “Allah and His Messenger have said.”

In advancing this argument concerning the presence of a “Muslim privilege,” I am not contending that all Muslims experience this privilege uniformly, even as they align their dispositions with the latest trends. Nor am I suggesting that anti-Muslim animus is fiction and there is no denying the real struggles Muslims face in the West. However, the specter of the celebrated “unapologetic Muslim” is an undeniable one, and the manner in which it is subverting Islam’s moral teachings cannot continue to be left unabated.

The irony of it all is that the vanguards of a “relevant” Islam, fully negotiated with the reigning order, repeatedly condemn traditional religion as being itself an artifact of power. Masjids are accused of perpetuating oppressive structures for observing simple, Islamically-mandated gender segregation or holding an event that happens to feature exclusively male panelists. The less affluent, less secular, and less assimilated members of the community hardly matter. The poor are elevated rhetorically by the progressive coalition, though they are celebrated as mere caricatures instead of serious and contributing members of the community. Meanwhile, the gross privileges attained by committing to the urbane fashions of cosmopolitan progressivism are not so much as acknowledged. I hope that we as a community can be a little more adept at recognizing its hypocrisies and shorting the discussion at its source; our rubric is Truth, and it is in adhering to it that we will find success.

May Allah grant us the discernment to see Truth as Truth and to follow it and to see falsehood as falsehood and to avoid it. Ameen.

Our brother Majd Kamalmaz is missing in Syria. It has been nearly two years since his family has heard from him, and it is thought that he may be held in one of Assad’s prisons. The family has recently appealed to President Trump directly for his support. You can find a recent media interview here.

May Allah return brother Majd to his family safely and expeditiously. Ameen.

I was blessed late last year to meet Imams Hamzah Imtiaz, Muhammad Zayd, and Umer Ansari in Karachi. Muhammad and Hamzah are completing their studies at Darul Uloom Karachi this April and will be returning to the United States thereafter, insha’Allah. Imam Hamzah is local to St. Louis and Imam Muhammad to Miami. My experience has been that our masajid in this country are in need of imams, especially ones who have been raised in this country and are conversant with the various challenges we face. Masha’Allah, I found the aforementioned three to be dedicated students with a deep concern for the state of Muslims in America and a genuine desire to help — wa la nuzakki ‘ala Allahi ahadan. I would encourage communities seeking imams and strong students of knowledge to reach out to them before they commit elsewhere.

For the sake of clarity, none of them requested this and I have written this entirely of my own volition without consulting them. In any case, spread the word and let your local masjids know sooner rather than later.

Allah Knows Best.