We need a clash over free speech
The decision not to publish a novel about the prophet's youngest wife
only delays the fight over free speech that we need
by Sunny Hundal
(Published in: The Guardian (UK), August 13 2008)
Another controversy regarding Muslims and free speech has burst into
the limelight. On Saturday the Guardian reported:
A romantic novel about Aisha, the child bride of the prophet
Muhammad, has been withdrawn because its publisher feared possible
terrorist acts by Muslim extremists. The Jewel of the Medina, a first
book by Sherry Jones, 46, was to have been released on August 12 by
Ballantine Books, a division of Random House. But the publishers
apparently panicked after Islamic scholars objected to the work.
But wait! Before commenters go off on a rant, there's more to this
story than meets the eye. The Guardian story mentions Shahed
Amanullah, editor of altmuslim.com, but doesn't quote what he wrote
about it on his website:
Muslims have generally felt embattled during the past few decades
as their media image becomes increasingly unrepresentative of the
average Muslim. As they struggle against this imagery, they are told
that the pre-requisite for changing it is for them to meaningfully
change the behaviour of extremist Muslims, who exist far outside their
sphere of influence - often a half a world away. Muslims in this
position feel they have no other choice but to push back harder
against portrayals that are insulting or misrepresenting. Some,
unfortunately, push too far. But Muslims aren't alone in this. Voices
that seek to marginalise the presence of Muslims in public discourse
routinely do the same.
Two recent examples illustrate this: the attempts by New York
congressman Peter King and others to have "Why Islam" ads banned from
NYC subways (based only on the reputation of an external supporter of
them) and calls by some to prevent publication of the forthcoming book
Jewel of Medina. Neither effort has succeeded in effectively dealing
with controversy, which will remain dormant only to reappear another day.
So in fact Shahed was not opposing publication. He is avowedly
pro-free-speech and wanted the book to go ahead.
Something about this incident doesn't quite ring true. Random House
presumably knew that a book on Aisha was going to be controversial
whether it cast her in a favourable or negative light. There are
always people on either side of the spectrum waiting to pounce. The
"threats" amounted to a posting on a messageboard that people
objecting to the book should email the publishers. The reputation of
"terrorists" precedes so much that these days you can pull a book,
blame them and watch Muslims become the target of hate mail without
even much effort.
Unsurprisingly, given the nutters who love spouting on the issue, now
the author is getting hate mail for "pandering" to Muslims trying to
portray Aisha "in the context of her times". As she points out quite
rightly, "I guess I'm damned if I do, damned if I don't ..."
The problem, though, is that most of the so-called controversies
around Islam and free speech are rarely about expression in
themselves. In most cases "free speech" is used as a weapon to fight a
bigger cultural battle. This is why you never see these principles
applied equally or fairly to all sides.
For example, BBC World Service recently produced a radio documentary
on the activities of Daniel Pipes and Robert Spencer (Jihad Watch) who
believe an untold number of Muslims are working from within America to
turn the country into an Islamic state. It's classic conspiracy
theorising, which was earlier used against Catholics and Jews, adapted
for the modern age. In this context, anything vaguely "anti-American"
is construed as supporting "soft jihadism" as a means of supporting
al-Qaida – and they see it as their job to root out these people.
For these modern McCarthyists, free speech isn't a luxury – it's a war
out there and the soft jihadis have to exposed. Except, when the shoe
is on the other foot then Muslims are blamed for not fitting in with
"Judeo-Christian values" of free speech. Though they undoubtedly live
in an irony-free zone, the point is that fairness principles are
usually the first ideas out of the window when people get into a
war-like mindset. Unsurprisingly, this makes some Muslims feel more
frustrated at the hypocrisy.
The Danish Cartoons controversy didn't generate any violence in the
UK, nor the kind of hysteria that gripped British Muslims during the
Satanic Verses affair. Of course, the usual publicity-seeking nutjobs
protested but most Muslims shunned them. As I've said before, the new
generation is slowly becoming politically and media savvy in the way
previous immigrants have.
And yet it's unarguable that a prickly feeling of censorship still
hangs over us, not just with Muslims but other religious minorities
too. Remember Bezhti? How about MF Husain? If you think only Muslims
get angry over perceived religious offence, then think again.
To some extent, we do need some controversies to play out and the
clash over free expression to happen so that people understand the
boundaries. We can't expect Muslims, or any religious minority, to
like what is being said, but we can expect them to protest peacefully.
And largely we're getting to that stage, until we reach a point where
those shrieking about a clash of civilisations become irrelevant,
people start becoming less jumpy, normal self-censorship comes back
into play, and the Daily Mail finds another minority group to pick on.
Then we'll come full circle.
But until then, this necessary clash over free speech has been delayed
for another time. But it is inevitable and it is necessary and we'll
all be fine after it. Let's just get it over with.
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