Liberal Muslims?
I would like all of you to answer this if you can:
Is it possible (or correct) to be Muslim and liberal/democrat/”lefty”?
Does being liberal equal being irreligious? Does being religious equal being conservative politically? Does only one political belief match with religious standards? I sincerely appreciate any input here. :-)
Some great photo essays from Time:
I think it is possible sure. I guess you have to first define what is a “leftist”. I consider myself a social conservative but certainly an economic far leftist. I believe in social values, ie Islamic moral values, at the same time I believe in social benefits, wealth redistribution and stuff of the like.
I dont think it is possible to be Muslim and support open marriages/relationships or other immoral type things. I guess that is where the definition of what a leftist is gets into play. I think you can be a leftist and still support Islamic values because I dont think the leftist ideology is rooted in loose social values.
i think abu sinan said it right - “liberal” has so many definitions. Liberal democrats are not necessary what defines social “liberation.” sure some of our foreign policy views might coincide with liberal democrats, but there is a point where -stuff- starts to hit the fan.
w/regards to “open” marriages, we may not support them, but w/regards to privacy, muslims should be pretty big proponents of this. We can’t KNOW what is going on behind closed doors, until authorities look there, and THAT is something authorities cannot do, even islamically. I.E. a search for homosexual activity invading ppls homes.
Salaam ‘Alaikum:
I agree w/ Abu Sinan. It depends on what you’re defining as “liberal.” A lot of these labels are really…superficial. Someone’s a “liberal” b/c he believes in one position, someone’s a “conservative” b/c she’s anti-abortion. I think it’s more fluid, and a lot greyer than those things. Personally, in today’s political atmosphere, I would feel a little more comfortable among liberals, but not entirely b/c a lot of them have no love and respect for a conservative Muslim.
I guess mostly people think that conservatives are religious and liberals are secular and there is no middle ground.
Abu Sinan pointed out the “social” and “economic” positions… I think that’s the difference I’m wondering about.
And “Muslims for Bush”… they think “we” should vote conservative because it matches our morals… Thoughts?
The Muslim “vote for Bush” thing was stupid when it first happened. The only people who reccommended him did so without really looking into him. Anyone who did should have seen what was coming, war in Iraq, conflict with Islam, fundamentalist Christian domination.
I think there is no “right” choice for Muslims in the USA to vote for, only the lessor of two evils, which them makes me even wonder, if as a Muslim, I can vote for an evil, even if it is “lessor.”
But if you’re living in the US, aren’t you already supporting an “evil” ?
The US will likely never have an Islamic govt., except maybe hundreds of years into the future when the “United States” as we know it has collapsed and another govt. has a chance… but… that’s kind of far fetched.
Salaam ‘Alaikum
The Muslims for Bush people are not about conservative values (whatever those are), that’s just the line they thought they’d push in order to appeal to us, as if Muslims are too stupid to see what’s going on in front of us. Some of the material on that site is R.I.C.H. — in humor. Unbelievable. I was cracking up when I read it. I thought it was a joke at first.
How is living in the US supporting an evil?
Salam,
I understand about the line that the MforB were using and judging by the amount of “mainstream” press they got, I thought they got a lot of support. That could be untrue, though..
I don’t think living in the US is supporting an evil, but Abu Sinan said he wondered if he could vote for “evil” even if it was lesser, so I was saying if by default both parties/candidates are “evil” doesn’t that mean the system itself (govt., country, whatever) is evil?