Globalog is the Gateway to Muqtedar Khan's commentaries on Islam and Global Affairs.
There is room for Islam in America and Germany. We can and we will build bigger and more spectacular mosques in the West, but there is no place for Saudi flags, or Turkish or Pakistani flags in Western mosques. They have their embassies and that is enough. They should not be allowed to use our mosques. To read the entire article click here.
Dr. Muqtedar Khan is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Delaware. He is also the Driector of Islamic studies Program. He is a Non-resident Fellow at the Brookings Institution. He is the author of American Muslims: Bridging Faith and Freedom (Amana, 2002), Jihad for Jerusalem: Identity and Strategy in International Relations (Praeger, 2004).
7 Comments:
There are several points that you have made that make sense, but there are also others that are clearly flawed. How can you even suggest that God is blind to nationalism when God very specifically mentions it in the Qur'an? Maybe it is more appropriate to say "extreme nationalism" but nationalism in itself is in no way against any Islamic principle.
As for you saying that there is no place for Trukish flags at a mosque, I would argue in agreement with the German who pointed out that there were no German flags but there should have been. A mosque identifying itself as a Turkish mosque in Germnay (thereby displaying both flags) is in no way being overly nationalistic or anti-German.
Another point that must be raised is that if Saudi Arabia can openly support and propagate Islamic centers and not Christian or Jewish centers, then I would say Germany has the right to do whatever it is they are doing. While I do disagree with both positions, the Saudi case must be mentioned whenever other countries are criticized...otherwise your criticism seems biased. In addition, Islam is the only religion that supports (based on accepted prophetic traditions) the discrimination based purely on religion when it comes to entering a city (Mecca in Saudi Arabia). The day that this restriction is lifted, or at least a public official protest is made against this restriction by Islamic organizations around the world, that Muslims will have the right to criticize the religious discriminaion of other countries. The fact that religious discrimination lies at the very heart of Islamic belief is something that weakens the Muslim position on any anti-discrimination discussion.
Yes, Germany has a way to go, but certainly not anywhere close to how far Islamic belief still needs to go amongst most of its practitioners.
While I agree with much of the article, I would comment that the Muslim American community is not immune from many of the problems we see in Europe. Though flags of other countries may not be flow from our mosques, there are definitive ethnic identities to many of these institutions. Everyone knows which is the Pakistani mosque or the Iraqi mosque in their area. They feel uncomfortable praying at a mosque that they cannot identify with on a non-religious level. This is harmful to the Islamic identity of our community here in America. Instead of creating barriers between ourselves and our place of residence, we have created barriers within ourselves. This is an added factor to a less dramatic version of the European phenomenon, which can be found throughout the country. Here, though, we have the audacity to make claims to, and even demands from, the political freedoms that we are allotted, however we contribute far less to the political framework of society. I am excited to see Muslims on ballots in the upcoming elections, but I hope that the community rallies behind them and realizes the need to become more politically active.
With the World Cup approaching concerns over racism and intolerance in Germany and in Europe in genral is constantly heard on national public radio in the United States. It seems that to display the Turkish flag outside a Mosque in Germany acts as a bold display of pride designed to both remind the Turkish members of the mosque of home and as a slap in the face of those who are racist and intolerant in Berlin. This symbol of pride however also insults those whom may not be intolerant, such as Berlin Parlamentarian.
US ships sailing in the waters of another nation must display the colors of the host nation. While serving in the United States Army, as a watercraft operator I remeber intially feeling insulted by the idea of flying another nations flag on a US Army ship. After some time however, I realized that it was a simple matter of respect. In times of war the same ships fly only the US flag.
If muslims in Germany are seeking recoginition and intergration from their government and still want to display pride for their homeland or heritage they are going about it the wrong way. Both the German and the Turkish flag should be displayed. This simple act shows respect for a proud German people and sets a model cohabitation for muslims who attend the mosque and German christian and jews who pass by the mosque.
It seems if Germany is seeking to shed its image of racisim that steps should be taken to either remove all religions from its national budget or integrate all of them.
Salaamu alaikum dear brothers and sisters,
I am bothered by the haphazard use of the term "nationalism" and associating it as being consistent with Islam, especially when it comes to flag waving.
First, Khan states that "In the U.S. one may occasionally find a US flag in a mosque, but never a flag of a foreign country." Note here that he does not address the promotion of the use of flags at Mosques in general, even of the host country. It appears that Khan does not notice that an American flag flown over a Mosque in America is still a flag--the fact that it is not from a foreign state has nothing to do with the idea of it being flown, or hung, at all. Keep in mind that the American flag, like most nation flags, borders idolatry in the sense that one makes allegiance to it "under God" rather than, in this case, to Islam or Allah. Also, the flag, especially the American flag, extols the ideology of a system that is, in some cases, inconsistent with the practices of Islam (note here its complex relationship with racism which still exists today).
The very basis of "nationalism" as an ideology (a purely Western one at that) rests on the idea of distinguishing oneself from the "other"; it is invariably discriminatory at its core. Keep in mind it was out of the ideology of nationalism that Hitler wanted to create his Nazi state. And this is not "extreme" nationalism; it is nationalism at its best in creative form. It is based on a certain "pride" that borders arrogance. The means to which Hitler sought to realize his "nation" state was no less horrific than those of America when she all but wiped out whole communities of what she interpreted as "savages," translation: "others," not to mention the countless enslaved Africans she brutally exterminated when transported through the “middle passage.”
Historically regarded, "nationalism" was a response to the fall of the Ottoman Empire, which is calculated to have been completed in 1924 under the tutelage of the pro-West (and anti-Islamic) Mustafa Attaturk. It was seen as progressive and "liberating" for those living under the former Islamic rule of the Empire period.
But "nationalism" is not the free-floating ideology that Westerners envision it to be (again it was only useful during its time). Look at Kashmir, and Chechnya, and Ireland, for example. The nation state ideology was even adopted here in American by blacks in the "Nation" of Islam.
But the biggest mistake people make, especially "Islamic" scholars, like Khan, is that they associate nationalism--in this case as represented by the national flag--with being consistent with Islam in some way.
Note that Allah in the Quran mentions that He created us in many "nations" and tribes so that we may get to know one another in tranquility. Here, it would be useful to parse the term "nation" and what is both implied and deduced from it.
The "nations" here refer to the idea of diversity and the coexistence of those who may be of other demographic backgrounds. It is not based solely on a political ideology that labels those outside its frontiers as simply "others." Implicit in the spirit in the way the term is being used, it does not imply assimilationism but plurality and a respect of others.
Often, the term "ummah" has been associated with the term "nation." In that case, the world "community" of Muslims aspire to realize a state (not a single physical one today like Israel, for instance) where we are free to manifest our Iman in society through pious behavior. Therefore, the "ummatic" state (or state of mind) is or cannot be "objectified" into any object; it is a state of being in right action and cannot be codified in a flag--any flag.
Finally, no flag should be hung or flown over any Masjid, whether it is of the host country or a foreign one. No object should be associated with allegiance to Allah and Him alone. No nation is above another except those that exemplify pious behavior.
Scholars, especially so-called "Islamic" ones, should relate their interpretation of such matters to a hermeneutics and exegesis of Islam, especially the Quran and hadithic literature.
(I've posted this response elsewhere, but I wanted to comment here as well.)
I've been in Berlin for the last 6 weeks interviewing imams and visiting mosques for my dissertation on Turkish Islamic sermons. I've visited the mosque you wrote about several times, interviewed the imam, and spent hours chatting with people coming there from prayers. I wrote about my first visit on my website: http://jimgibbon.com/2006/06/20/visit-to-ditib-mosque . My observations differ a great deal from yours, and there is a particular factual detail that probably should have prevented you from writing the article the way you did.
First, in my most recent visits to Sehitlik Mosque there were two flags flying high above the grounds--one Turkish and one German. I'll ask when they were installed b/c it's possible that word got back to the mosque about this story and they made changes over the past few weeks.
Second, in the picture on alt.muslim, there is an Azerbaijani flag and another flag next to the Turkish flag on the balcony in front of the mosque. Those flags are no longer there, so it makes me think there was some Turkic cultural day/celebration taking place. Just a hunch.
Third, I have never seen scores of men watching the gate, but in any case, keep in mind that the mosque is on the site of Berlin's oldest Islamic cemetary, which contains the remains of Ottoman ambassadors and even Turkish soldiers from WWI. Seeing as how the cemetary is alongside a wide, dusty road where cars come at speed, I can understand the need for a wall to keep the dirt and noise out (and maybe a gate to keep vandals out).
Fourth, and this is the kicker, I've been told repeatedly that Germany has actually granted the land of that cemetary and mosque to the Turkish government, who in turn has returned the favor in Istanbul at the site of a cemetary containing remains of German/Prussian soldiers. Indeed, the mosque's website explains that the cemetary belongs to the Turkish Ministry of Defense. In other words, it's nearly the same as when you visit a nation's embassy, so in a sense you were right to perceive an extension of Turkish sovereignty into the heart of Germany. (The mosque has a very friendly volunteer PR staff that could have explained this to you.)
In short, disregarding your thesis for the moment, you might want to find a different example to support your argument.
Yo Muqtedar Khan Why you so dark skinned? Oh yeah I know why you're a fucking indian You ain't a real muslim. Real muslims are Arabs who are light skinned tall warriors Not some short ugly ass darkskinned south indian
As-salamu alaikum,
Dr. Khan,
Thank you for your articles, deep interest, and concern regarding the experience of Muslims in the West.
You mentioned in the article "When traveling overseas, I frequently testify that coming to America for me was like joining the marines – in America one can “be all you can be”."
A small point, perhaps, but one worth your attention is that "be all you can be" is the slogan of the US Army, not the Marine Corps.
There is a great deal of discussion regarding Islam in America these days...progressive/liberal authors writing in the same vein as many of your articles continuously push the point to drop the baggage from overseas and understand where we now reside.
I couldn't agree more...but it has to be more than a slogan. We have to actually care enough about America to know what we're talking about.
As I previously mentioned, it was a small slip, but if one chooses to be a voice for American Muslims, it's an unacceptable one.
Sincerely,
Jack Rhodes
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