A Left Turn for Islam

Writing on the Guardian Unlimited site, Ali Eteraz calls for the creation of a viable and well-organized Muslim Left, which would espouse such ideas as the separation of religion and government, liberal democracy, free speech, and respect for international law.

Muslim leftists will – it is a must – have to be able to articulate all of these in Islamic terms, in order to persuade the people who need to be convinced, ie Muslims. This means that a Muslim leftist will, naturally, also have facility in the Muslim traditions. The real-world paucity of individuals with such dual facility is indicative of how far behind Muslim leftism is currently.

While still a far stretch from a fully humanistic interpretation of Islam, such efforts to nurture a more enlightened practice of that religion are to be applauded. Importantly, as part of his strategy for forging a Muslim Left, Eteraz calls opposition to “any and all punishments, fines and stigma for apostasy, heresy and blasphemy.” He also calls for acceptance of agnosticism and atheism (although these are confusingly grouped in a statement that also includes support for arts and literature, and precede a sentence distinguishing between opposing Islamist tendencies and fighting against “Allah or Prophet”).

Still, it’s a start.

Muslim leftism is the only thing that will assure that Islam’s individualist revolution doesn’t take an even darker turn than it already has. Some in the Muslim right like to insist that they are moderate and ready for pluralism. That might be a bit of wishful thinking. Without a potent Muslim left, the right will not have an adequate check, nor any incentive to make accommodations.

A development worth watching. After all, blasphemy laws under which the death penalty may be imposed for expressing any doubt about the literal veracity of the Quran tend to discourage the evolution of an Islamic humanism.

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