Anthony Egan
ON BEING A MUSLIM: FINDING A RELIGIOUS PATH IN THE WORLD TODAY by Farid Esack (Oneworld)
Rethinking the great faiths is a task to arouse controversy wherever it is done. The establishment will be at best defensive, at worst downright hostile to whomsoever dareth to challenge orthodoxy, even if – ironically – it is done in defence of the truth claims of the faith.
Farid Esack is one such turbulent mawlana in South African Islam. He takes on the critical question of what it means to be a Muslim in the modern world: to what degree one’s faith should embrace modernity – even post-modernity – and how to distinguish between what is essential to belief and what is a cultural accretion.
The result is an immensely readable work which is both seriously scholarly and deeply moving. Esack draws on his life experience as a Muslim, his studies in Pakistan, his travels through Europe and the Middle East and his theological expertise, to propose a new – yet, in many ways, deeply traditional – sense of what his faith is.
By extension – for Esack is deeply committed to religious pluralism – it is also a meditation on what it means to have faith, any faith, at the end of this century.
Esack argues regularly that certain “Islamic” practices are cultural accretions and misinterpretations of the Qur’an and tradition. Thus we find a passionate plea for the full equality of women, the acceptance of a modern, secular, constitutional democracy, a pluralistic and open attitude to other faiths, and a firm rejection of the kind of Islamic justice – including the death penalty – found in many contemporary Middle Eastern states.
Unfortunately, Esack’s views are likely to get the same reception in the centres of Islam as advocates of women’s ordination get from the Vatican! This is a pity (in both cases). Esack is trying to steer his faith beyond legal formalism and “lip-service” religion: true faith means making it fully part of one’s life.
Beyond observance of law, there is ethical practice and a mystical dimension (expounded in particular in the earlier parts of the book).
Tradition is an ongoing thing; if not it simply ossifies. There is constant need for critical thinking about what is of the faith, and what is mere historical – and therefore sometimes out of date – practice.
In On Being a Muslim Esack has written an excellent work of theology. One does not have to be a Muslim to find it both informative and encouraging.