The chattering classes in the West fondly cling to the idea that Islam can be Westernised. It can be transformed into the kind of nominalism tolerable to the West. What is being proposed is readily understandable.
The idea is that the teachings and doctrines of Islam would be filtered through Western humanitarian glasses. All doctrines which clashed with Western values--particularly socio-political values--would be modified if not discarded. All Islamic teaching would be filtered so as to exclude or modify every teaching that did not conform to Western values and beliefs. What would be left would be a nominal Muslim--that is, a Moslim in name only. But there is a trade-off. The West in return would honour and genuflect before the butchered remnant of the religion. The nominal Muslim would be treated with respect. He would be invited to participate in the highest councils of the land. He may even get the odd invitation to the White House.
We in New Zealand have seen how this process works. In fact our nation is built upon it. We proudly proclaim ourselves to be generally multi-cultural, but specifically bi-cultural. We have welcomed Maori into the highest councils and counsels of the land. But every Maori knows that most of the traditional beliefs of Maoritanga have long been left behind.
There are no "pure blood" Maori any more; nor are there any true believers in the Maori pantheon of deities and demi-gods. To be sure, Maori religion and world-view have been plundered to expropriate concepts and beliefs and practices which are roughly congruent with Western values, ideals, and laws. But that's where it ends. Modern Maori are coconut Maori; brown on the outside and pakeha (white) on the inside. In this way, Maori are able to maintain a position of honour and acceptance in the community at large.
Fundamental Maori beliefs were long ago laid aside. Tribalism is a mere shell of what it once was. The values of utu (vengeance) remain as a concept, not an accepted practice. Cannibalism is no more. Farming captives for protein has gone the way of the dodo. Slavery has been rejected. These were once Maori taonga (cultural treasures). No more.
When Christian missionaries brought the Gospel of Jesus Christ to Maori there was a widespread turning from animism to Christ amongst the tribes. This resulted in a decisive rejection of central aspects of Maoritanga. Consider the speech delivered by the first ordained Maori cleric, Rev Matiu Taupaki at the dedication of a memorial to Henry Williams, one of the most prominent missionaries:
"Think of the wickedness of our island. The exceeding heavy stone which weighed us down was cannibalism, but that did not deter him. He forsook his own country and people, parents and relatives. He arrived here in 1823. He landed at Paihia, and there built his first fortress, the church standing before you. It was in that fortress he forged the weapons of war wherewith to overthrow the strongholds of the earth."
Taupaki gave a rendition of the long series of tribal disputes and warfare in which Williams had intervened, and his long journeys across the country to establish missionaries amongst other iwi.The missionaries and Maori converts were later swamped by hordes of European settlers--the vast majority of whom were nominal Christians--that is, Christians in name only. Secularism and atheism is their legacy to New Zealand. Maori have gone along for the journey, and now only vestiges of Maoritanga remain, along with vestiges of genuine Christian faith.
What I find most interesting about Taupaki’s language is the metaphor of fortress and war. Taupaki envisages the Paihia church as a turreted castle – or perhaps, a pallisaded pa – in which Williams drew on all the resources of Christian scripture and tradition, and prayer, to wage a spiritual war against powers present in the land. Through proclamation of Te Rongo Pai [the Gospel], much of it translated right here at Paihia, and the missionary peacemaking, Taupaki saw that the spiritual dynamics and atmosphere of Aotearoa NZ underwent a profound sea-change. [Samuel Carpenter, Land and Memory: Reflections on the Williams' story, from Pewhairangi to Pouerua.
When the West calls for Islam to "modernise" it wants Islamic believers to give up on the teachings of their religion. It wants (expects) them to adopt Western beliefs and values and retain only the vestiges of Islamic teaching which are congruent with Western notions of human rights and justice and freedom. But what everybody, except the most paternalistic amongst us, understands is that traditional, ancient Islamic doctrines, beliefs, and teachings must be done away with.
The writer regarded as the greatest Arabic language poet alive today has said Islam cannot be modernised. Adunis Asbar, known by his pen name Adonis, is a Syrian-born writer often considered one of the greatest living poets of the Arabic language. He has come under criticism for comments he made recently about Islam before receiving the Erich Maria Remarque Peace Prize, named after the famous pacifist and author of the classic World War One novel ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’. . . .Nominal Muslims most certainly exist. But let none doubt they are like coconut Maori. They are Muslims in name only: white (Western) on the inside, brown (Arabic or Asiatic) on the outside. Nominal Muslims are coconut Muslims.
Being raised a Muslim himself and having one of the greatest understandings of the language of the Quran, Adonis said: “You can not reform a religion. If they are reformed, [the original meaning] is separated from it. Therefore, modern Muslims and a modern Islam is already impossible. If there is no separation between religion and state, there will be no democracy especially without equality for women. Then we will keep a theocratic system. So it will end.”
Laying down a heavy critique of the Islamic world, he added: “Arabs have no more creative force. Islam does not contribute to intellectual life, it suggests no discussion. It is no longer thought. It produces no thinking, no art, no science, no vision that could change the world. This repetition is the sign of its end. The Arabs will continue to exist, but they will not make the world better.”
The remarks are in reference to the broader questions of how he sees the Middle East, and specifically his native Syria which has been in a state of civil war for years. Adonis describes the totality of Islam in the life of people in the Islamic world saying Muslim society is “based on a totalitarian system. The religion dictates everything: How to run, how to go to the toilet, who one has to love…” [Chris Tomlinson, Breitbart News.]
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