In a cowardly attempt, some one using the name Abu Dharr has made a vicious, cowardly and ad hominem attack on my person on Znet and on the American Muslim Perspective. This attack titled “Memo to Muqtedar†has been endorsed and marketed by none other than Fareed Esack, the South African educated in Pakistani madrassahs, who has been emailing the article to various people. I have found his writings interesting and provocative, specially his bold essays on sex. I know that many young Muslims are excited by his celebration of the sexual impulse.
I myself have admired his work, specially his book On being a Muslim. I think it is an excellent book that all Muslims struggling to understand their Muslimness should read. I am not disturbed as much by what this rather uncouth and unsophisticated author has to say, essentially because his/her style and method are more reflective of his/her intellectual potential and personality than anything else. I am merely disturbed by Farid Esack’s marketing of this article with the following editorial comment:
Dear friends, while I am not a great fan of personalizing ideological enemies, sometimes it is very difficult to not do so.
The following article on Z-Net addresses a rather cancerous development among a few Muslims living in the North – selling out your soul for short term career prospects and a couple of TV appearances
Farid Esack
And therefore the following rebuttal. First of all this spirit in which this article has been written is itself so unIslamic. The Quran is so clear that only Allah knows what is in one’s heart yet Esack and his collaborator allege that they understand the motivations behind my intellectual pursuits.
One of the main themes of the article is that the only reason why my articles are published in the global media and why I hold peripheral positions in the American academia is because, I quote:
“You say what you like because they (media bosses) like what you say!â€
Esack alleges that I sold my soul for short-term career prospects and a couple of TV appearances.
But ironically Farid Esack has shown up on the same TV shows more than I have and enjoys better academic positions in the West than I do. If I have sold my soul, what has he sold to get better cookies from the evil west? Perhaps he is a better soul seller than I am.
The author alleges the following:
1. That I am a right wing scholar [See paragraph 3].
This attempt to malign me has been done on the basis of just two Op-Ed articles one written immediately as a reaction to 9/11 and one written addressing Bin laden in 2002. This article ignores my books, many of my research publications and book chapters, which are enumerated at http://www.glocaleye.org/resume.htm.
Here are some facts.
1.1) I am a Non-resident Fellow at Brookings Institution the most prestigious left of center think tank in the country.
1.2) I write very often for Foreign Policy in Focus, a prominent progressive foreign policy think tank.
1.3) I am on the advisory board of the Progressive Muslim Union and I write frequently for its flagship, the Muslimwakeup Magazine.
1.4) My work has been frequently published and syndicated by Progressive Media Project.
1.5) Also see my article “Global shift to the Right?†in Moving Ideas Network, Foreign Policy in Focus and other places.
Ask yourself this question, why would all these progressive institutions disseminate my ideas if I were a right-winger as this article claims? I can provide more examples but this should suffice.
2. The article suggests that I do not care for either the Palestinian cause or the Kashmiris.
Unlike the author and his collaborator I shall not resort to round about arguments, insulting and abusive language to make my case. I will only provide exhibits, let the readers be the judges.
Here are some of my past articles on the subject. The titles will give some sense of the contents.
2.1) “Likud Votes for Armageddon†in Salon.com and Outloook India both are very prominent progressive outlets in the US and India.
2.2) “Middle East – If there is a Will there is a Way†in Globalist and many other places.
2.3) Kashmir: India’s Gateway to Greatness once again in the Globalist.
3. The article tries to suggest that I support the war in Iraq. Somewhere between paragraphs 25-30 [the article’s layout is difficult] the author writes: “I hope Khan continues to maintain his enthusiasm to fight in the U.S. war on Iraq since today..â€
Read these articles of mine which the author conveniently forgets to mention for yourself:
3.1) “War Against Iraq: Illogical and Unethical†in Detroit Nws.
3.2) “Neoconservative Plan on the Rocks†in Al Ahram (Egypt).
3.3) “Lessons from the Imperial Adventure in Iraq†in CounterPunch.
4. The author tries to somehow insinuate that I am an apologist for the present Bush administration and support its agenda. Most of the early part alludes to this idea.
Here read for yourself all my work that this article studiously ignores.
4.1) Foreign Policy Forecast: If Bush Wins, If Kerry Wins.
4.2) “Its time for George W. Bush to ride into the Sunset†in The Daily Star and many other newspapers worldwide.
4.3) “The threat of American Wahhabis†an article critical of the right wing extremists of America.
I can go on and on and on. In the last few years there are very few topics of concern to Muslims and those who promote democracy, social justice and religious tolerance that I have not commented on. You can read most of the shorter articles at Ijtihad www.ijtihad.org. My column on Islamic affairs and www.glocaleye.org my column on global affairs.
I am a public intellectual and I consistently take critical positions on deeply controversial issues and understand fully well that many of the positions that I take will disagree with those held by many people and may even offend some. I have no qualms if people criticize my work and challenge me. But using abusive and insulting language and cowardly tactics is unbecoming of any Muslim or anyone seeking to stand for justice and engaging in the good fight.
I conclude with a link that I hope will serve as an example for both the anonymous author and his marketing agent Farid Esack on how to analyze and critique someone. Read A Liberal Muslim Goes to America.
Dr. M.A Muqtedar Khan has a bachelor’s degree in Engineering and an MBA [from India], a M.A. in International Studies from Florida International University and a Ph.D. in International relations and Islamic political thought from Georgetown University. He is currently the Chair of Political Science and Director of International Studies at Adrian College. He is a Non-resident Fellow at the Brookings Institution and a Fellow of the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding and the center for the study of Islam and Democracy. He is the author of American Muslims: Bridging Faith and Freedom (Amana, 2004) and Jihad for Jerusalem: Identity and Strategy in Intern! ational Relations (Praeger, 2004). He is also a former President of the Association of Muslim Social Scientists.
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