Local Author Encourages Community to “Complicate” View of Islam

Over 50 people crammed into Rainbow Bookstore Cooperative on Thursday, July 21, to hear local author, Amitabh Pal present his new book, ““Islam” Means Peace.”

Pal, who is managing editor of The Progressive magazine, and co-editor of the Progressive Media Project, presented passages from his book, encouraging the audience to explore the pacifist side of Islam.

Pal, a non-Muslim, said he was inspired to write the book because of his own interest in non-violence and non-violent political struggles.

“I came into this sideways or backwards--my interest initially was in non-violence,” he said. “I learned of Ghaffar Khan and the Pashtun movement, I started looking at other instances in the Muslim world, and through that, eventually the book came about.”

Beginning his presentation with the story of Rais Bhuiyan, a Bangladeshi immigrant who rallied for clemency for the man who tried to kill him because he thought Bhuiyan was Arab, Pal challenged the idea that Islam is an inherently violent religion.

Pal also placed his argument in the context of the death of Osama Bin Laden and the non-violent protests in the Middle East that characterized the Arab Spring.

“This is quite a remarkable moment to be talking about [these issues],” Pal said, “because we’re just two months away from the killing of Osama Bin Laden. And at the same time...2011 has been a momentous year for the exact opposite of the philosophy that Osama Bin Laden was espousing. If I had been speaking with you even late last year about pacifism in the Muslim world, I would have to explain myself...but now there’s almost not a single [Arab] country untouched by mass protest, from Morocco, all the way to the borders of Pakistan.”

Pal believes that the democratic uprisings in the Middle East have not changed Americans’ vision of Muslims enough, however.

Citing a Gallup poll conducted in March (when protests in Tunisia and Egypt were in full swing) that found that 28% of Americans think that American Muslims are sympathetic to al - Qaeda, Pal said that many Americans’ views of Muslims are based on ignorance.

For example, Pal suggested that the West’s vision of Islam being spread by the sword was only applicable to the Middle East, and even then, neglected the complexities of the situation. Instead, he said that in much of the world, Islam was spread by mystics, saints, traders and merchants.

Pal also explored historically pacifist Islamic traditions like Sufism, and discussed examples of non-violent Muslim political movements in the Maldives, the Balkans, India and Israel.

When challenged about more militant Islamic traditions like Wahhabism, Pal conceded some that some forms of Islamic practice are harder to reconcile with pacifism that others. Still, he said that his aim was to add nuance to Americans’ image of Islam.

“My aim is not to be reductionist, not to be simplistic,” he said, “but to complicate the image of Islam in the minds of Americans. To show that there is a good and a bad side...I think the image is so overwhelmingly generally negative, that even if I’ve managed to make it complex in the minds of Americans, I think I would have done a whole lot.”

Despite a lively question and answer session, many audience members appreciated Pal’s efforts. Matthew Braun, who converted to Islam 17 years ago, said he believes efforts like Pal’s are key to bridging a cultural divide between Muslims and non-Muslim Americans.

“I think more of us need to come together whether we’re atheist or Christian or Hindu or whatever faith,” he said. “I think we have to meet on common goals.”