Coming back from the fringe
Jacqueline Freeman-Ennaffah
Religion Writer.com |
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Surviving Salafism: An American Muslim Recovers from Extremism and Makes a Difference Posted: 12 Dec 2007 07:49 PM CST When ReligionWriter reviewed
Daveed Gartenstein-Ross' Feb. Earlier this year, however, RW was lucky to make the virtual acquaintance of fellow blogger and fellow Northern Virginia resident, Tariq Nelson. Tariq's popular blog covers both local Muslim news — seminars on homelessness, condolences for the deceased — but also takes a hard look at controversial topics like domestic violence and racism in the American Muslim community. He speaks frankly about how he joined the Muslim Salafi movement and learned the hard way that extreme piety can lead to moral emptiness. [Note: Tariq never condoned violence and never involved with any group that did.] What makes Tariq so interesting to RW,
in her journalistic mode, is that he holds points of view that might be
considered progressive, even while remaining deeply involved with his local Northern Virginia mosque, which is
not known for, shall we say, progressivism. Most American Muslims with
views and experiences like Tariq's are alienated from their mosques and
local communities, and thus very limited in the impact they can have —
RW recommends Tariq as an excellent source for journalists reporting on Islam in America. Below, Tariq was kind enough to answer some questions from RW about what attracted him to the extreme Islam and what lessons he wants to share with fellow Muslims. RW: Could you say a bit about your own religious background? How did you come to Islam? Tariq Nelson: I was raised in what I suppose you would call a Christian household. I was raised to believe in God and follow the Ten Commandments, but I was never taught any particular religious dogma growing up, and we were not regular attenders of church. Being a child of the eighties, I grew up seeing a lot of social ills and the deterioration of the black community. I knew many drunks and drug addicts, but my family was blessed to be free from that. By the time I was a teenager in the late eighties and early nineties, we were being bombarded with nightly newscasts of more and more black males being murdered and the problems of the black community. It was a period in which many of us were searching for answers to these massive problems we were seeing. There was also a lot of frustration at the time that led to a "black consciousness" environment, expressed in music, television and movies. The talk on the streets and amongst black university students was about "the struggle" and making changes to the system. This would lead to this generation having an interest in Malcolm X, who would come to personify our frustration and desire for change. The interest in Malcolm X then led many – including myself - to become interested in Islam and embrace it. A lot of young men and women accepted Islam at this time with the desire to change the world for the better. RW: You say that at one point you were a Salafist. Can you explain what, in your view, Salafism is? How is it different from the Islam that others practice? Nelson: By definition, Salafism means following the belief, practice and moral code of the salaf, meaning the First Pious Generations [following the Prophet Mohammed.] The objective is to not invent beliefs and methods of worship that were not known during the time of the salaf. In Muslim countries, this would usually equate to opposition to forms of worship and practices that one may see in some parts of the Muslim world that were not known during the time of the salaf. Salafists – who come in many different stripes – can be very literal in their outlook on the religion and life itself, and this is where the problem begins. This manifests itself in some of the extremism that we see in parts of the Muslim world in opposition to getting a secular education (especially for a woman), treating women like soul-less broodmares, romanticizing the past, and demanding a conformity in thought and personality that is impossible to achieve. In the context of the US, the 'Salafi Movement' was an exclusive group of Muslims that saw themselves as above the rest of the Muslims because they attached themselves to the slogan of "following the Qur'an and Sunnah" or "following the Salaf" - as if all other Muslims were opposed to following Allah and His Messenger (Peace and Blessings be upon him). Because we live in a country in which most are not Muslim, the Salafi Movement was also given to extreme isolation and demanding disengagement from society. As for differences in practice from other Muslims, they were perceived to pray more and memorize more from the Qur'an and the Hadith – so they were generally regarded to be more religious (which made them attractive to the new Muslim). They also had the appearance of being "real Muslims," in that they would refuse to wear Western-style clothing, had large beards (for men) and wore all black with niqaab and gloves (for women). They had a pious appearance about them. Because they were such strict conformists, the rest of the Muslims would generally know them when they saw them or even heard them speak on a recorded lecture. RW: Tell us a bit about your experiences in Salafism. What was attractive about the belief system and Salafi community? What were the downsides? Nelson: Shortly after I became Muslim in 1994 I was introduced to the Salafi movement and attended my first Salafi conference a year later. The internet was very new at the time, and the Salafis were already very active on the internet. This was part of what contributed to that movement's growth in the 1990s. They were also helped by the fact that several American converts had been recruited by the Saudis to go to school at the University of Madinah and Umm al-Qura University in Mecca; they graduated and returned to the United States just in time for this explosion of young people embracing Islam. These graduates, in addition to being from our own [American] background, spoke Arabic fluently and knew a lot about Islam. Also, as I mentioned earlier, they had the appearance of piety in that they wore the Saudi dress and sported big beards. In contrast, the more "moderate" American Muslims (that had been Muslim for some time before us) and that were opposed to the Salafi movement often did not speak Arabic and appeared not to know what they were talking about. Things went very well for a few years as the taped lectures, web sites and books spread and more "salafi masjids" [mosques] were established and the ranks swelled. As more and more new Muslims joined and made that movement stronger, the bonds of brotherhood/sisterhood got stronger and many tight friendships were made. However, because of the literalism, lack of focus on practical issues, and religious hairsplitting, there were many disagreements and the friendships broke down and the movement eventually fell apart. There were many factors to the movement falling apart, but one of them – in my mind - was that many of us were young upon accepting Islam, but as we got older, started having children and increasing responsibilities, the movement ceased to have practical meaning to more and more people. Many, however, chose to turn a blind eye to these things, put their lives on hold (quitting college and trade schools in the name of piety) and ignore their growing families and responsibilities — in fact, they were encouraged to do so by some of the leaders in the name of piety. In other words, an adult with adult responsibilities could not continue to travel from place to place listening to lectures, hanging out with other movement members, and sometimes even uprooting his family on a whim because some newly formed community is "on the truth." At some point a person must establish something tangible for their families and begin to educate their children. Then there were the disastrous "stranger marriages" in which people were very strongly encouraged to marry people they knew nothing about after an awkward 15-20 minute sitting with the prospect. Years later they would realize they have no means or skills to support the many children they were encouraged to have by other strangers. This is why there were so many marriages and divorces amongst the converts. RW: How did you leave Salafism? Did you ever think of leaving Islam all together? Do you now see Salafism as a dangerous version of the religion? Nelson: I had a series of watershed moments: The first was when my maternal grandmother suddenly passed away. During my childhood, I was very close to her, but after I became Muslim, I was not. I still cry when I reflect on that. After that, I decided I would try to be closer to my extended family, and I went to a family reunion in Chicago. However, I realized when I got there that I no longer knew them and they no longer knew me. I felt so ashamed. Over the years, I'd gotten swept up in traveling to the conferences, distributing tapes and books and translating websites while the world – including my extended family - moved on without me. Some of them have since passed away, and I will never be able to get that time back. It hurts. I'd accepted Islam, and my own family had not seen a living example of a good Muslim, but instead thought of me as a narrow and dogmatic zealot who distanced himself from the people that loved him in the name of his religion. Meanwhile, the movement was falling apart, as a sub-group amongst the Salafis began an Inquisition-like witch hunt that demanded groupthink. It got completely out of control and lists of people to boycott were formed. I thought all of that was ridiculous and wanted nothing to do with it. The thing that makes me the saddest is that, as I mentioned in the beginning, many of us accepted Islam to affect positive change in our communities. Solving issues such as affordable housing, homelessness, drug abuse, lack of education, crime, out-of-wedlock births and the litany of other issues in our own communities got lost in a web of slavish dogmatism, calls for isolation, denial, religious hairsplitting and even foreign politics. Rather than being a force for positive change, the Salafis (along with other "movement Muslims") became the very symbol of social irresponsibility. After the bubble burst and the movement essentially fell apart, many fell into depression, women were left with children without fathers in their lives and seemed to be right back where they started in the early nineties, only 15 years later. Nowadays you will find men and women now in their mid- to late 30s returning to college and trade school, angry because they could have finished years ago, but instead were talked into quitting by other movement members leaders. I have since met several others – with stories far worse than my own - "recovering" from this movement and they are angry and bitter. I see this movement as dangerous to us as converts only in the sense that the members tell you to put your life on hold and live in some carefully constructed fantasy world, seeking some perfect conformity or personality that never existed amongst Muslims [in the first place] and is impossible to achieve. I feel this way about all "movements" that demand cult-like conformity. I never thought about leaving Islam, but I did go through a short period when I just did not want to be around Muslims because I was bitter. Because many in my old (and much smaller) community were so narrow, dogmatic and conspiratorial (some of them started to accuse me of being a spy,) I felt that I had to leave [that community] to maintain my own sanity. This is one of the main reasons I came to the D.C. area RW: You agree with blogger Umar Lee's analysis that Salafism has largely died out in the US. If this happened, why it has received so little attention in the mainstream press? Nelson: The Salafi movement amongst converts has essentially fallen apart, and today has only diminishing strength in a few areas of the country – mainly on the East Coast. They only have a little bit of strength in a couple of places, but are reviled amongst other groups of Muslims. I think it has received little attention because it was mainly a convert phenomenon and the press largely presents Islam as something alien and immigrant. The thought today is that Muslims are people that are not American. RW: You remain very involved in your local Muslim community, yet on your blog, you often bring up sensitive issues like divorce rates among Muslims and the relationship between immigrant and African American Muslims. Do you get a lot of criticism? What motivates you to remain involved at the local level? Nelson: In spite of getting off track in the 1990s, I have always been a person that wanted to solve problems. If I simply wanted to complain about issues or talk about social problems, I could give a new sad story several times a week. However, my goal is not simply to pick at scabs – as some Muslims think – but to bring much-needed attention to these issues so that need to be solved. Unfortunately some would prefer to believe the slogan that we are "one ummah" [nation] in order to gloss over problems - or outright deny them – and say I am "exposing the dirty laundry," but my response is that the "dirty laundry" – particularly the problem of extremism - is already exposed. We are human beings with problems just like anyone else, and we need to come together to admit these issues exist and solve them instead of pretending that we are still living under the Muslim Golden Age. I also get a lot of criticism – particularly from Salafi "dead enders" (a few individuals still holding on to the sad hope that the 1990s movement will be revived) - who believe we should remain isolated from the community at large, but I remain undaunted. I am also encouraged by the fact that more and more Muslims are speaking out and rejecting this isolationist dogma. However, the most important thing for me is to set a good example for my children to be a person that is involved in the community. RW: What is your advice to Muslim converts now? Nelson: Because of the many sad stories I have seen, and because a convert can be blinded by idealism, I tend to give advice grounded in reality. I will tell a young college student that he/she should not only graduate, but strive to excel at the highest levels in all areas of life, not just in their Islamic studies. I would tell an older person with a family and a job to treat that family with kindness and be the best employee they can be. I also encourage them to continue to engage their family and not to cut off old friends – unless, of course, they are horrible influences. I tell all of them to not get themselves involved in some cult mentality that demands you throw your personality and life away for a pipe dream that does not exist. islam in america, salafism, tariq nelson |
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