Where The F*ck is The Muslim World?

5.6.09

I am a Muslim and live in South Africa where my ancestors have been for more than 400years. Am I in or out of the "Muslim world"?

The notion that there is a "Muslim world" is a deeply racist idea steeped in the colonial myth that westernization and its ideological project, whiteness, 'civilized the world'.

You would think that Al Jazeera would be the one international news broadcaster who would question the assumptions behind the term.

Wrong!

Al Jazeera has joined CNN, the BBC, and of course our own SABC, in adopting the notion that there is a "Muslim world".

Let's be clear. There are Muslims everywhere. Even in Obama's immediate family. There are white, black, and brown Muslims in the US, Europe, China, Australia, South Africa, and elsewhere.

Not all Muslims are Arabs and not all Arabs are Muslims. Also, the so called Middle East is not in the 'middle' of anywhere and it is also not the "Muslim world".

The vast majority of Muslims live outside of the Middle East. The country with the largest number of Muslims is Indonesia while Islam is the fastest growing religion in Africa.

There are 1 billion Muslims in this one world we live in. That means, that one out of every six people in our world is a Muslim.

But that is not to say that all Muslims are absolutely the same. Muslims are as varied and complex as any other religious group.

This means that there is no Muslim mindset or Islamic formula to decipher a universal Muslim.

To construct a "Muslim world" is an extension of the project of Orientalism as Edward Said argued.

I am tired of being defined and categorized for the purpose of showing me my place.

That speech Obama gave today in Cairo was different in the tone he adopted but it was the same in its imperial assumptions.

Obama should stop his machine from killing innocents in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. And, he should distance himself from that despicable Egyptian dictator, Hosni Mubarak

When he starts to do these things, in the name of universal humanity no less, then maybe I, one cranky man who just happens to be Muslim, will listen to his trifling Uncle Tom ass.

Onward!

Ridwan Laher