Whether it's a criminal activity or a superstar's role in a new movie, if the name is that of a Muslim, immediately his religion comes into play. The paranoia is well evident, especially in terror related reporting. Should we blame Muslim for that?
Regarding Muslim identity, it's inseparable. As an all-encompassing ideology, Islam doesn't demarcate your public and private live. The noble values you imbibe should reflected in your public behaviour.
There is nothing wrong in a person being a Hindu, Muslim, Christian or a Jew first and then an Indian, Pakistani or an Israeli next, as long as you tolerate and cohabit with other peoples' faith and values as a responsible citizen of the globalised world.
"Couldn’t you be a Muslim trade unionist with a passion for football? Trying to classify humans on the basis of an isolated, singular identity rather than investigating the messy mesh of identities that constituted the lived reality of most people didn’t seem helpful. And yet it was the constant lot of immigrants from Islamic countries to be itemized as Muslims, regardless of whether they were fanatics, devout, nominally observant, or merely culturally affiliated to the religion."
The problem is that Muslims themselves tend to prioritise their "Muslim" identity over other identities. To a large extent it's also true of Jews and lately Hindus. We're all now "Muslims first", "Jews first", and "Hindus" first. I can understand so-called "host" communities' angst.
Whether it's a criminal activity or a superstar's role in a new movie, if the name is that of a Muslim, immediately his religion comes into play. The paranoia is well evident, especially in terror related reporting. Should we blame Muslim for that?
Regarding Muslim identity, it's inseparable. As an all-encompassing ideology, Islam doesn't demarcate your public and private live. The noble values you imbibe should reflected in your public behaviour.
There is nothing wrong in a person being a Hindu, Muslim, Christian or a Jew first and then an Indian, Pakistani or an Israeli next, as long as you tolerate and cohabit with other peoples' faith and values as a responsible citizen of the globalised world.
"Couldn’t you be a Muslim trade unionist with a passion for football? Trying to classify humans on the basis of an isolated, singular identity rather than investigating the messy mesh of identities that constituted the lived reality of most people didn’t seem helpful. And yet it was the constant lot of immigrants from Islamic countries to be itemized as Muslims, regardless of whether they were fanatics, devout, nominally observant, or merely culturally affiliated to the religion."
The problem is that Muslims themselves tend to prioritise their "Muslim" identity over other identities. To a large extent it's also true of Jews and lately Hindus. We're all now "Muslims first", "Jews first", and "Hindus" first. I can understand so-called "host" communities' angst.
Thanks for this Hasan. What do you suggest would be a good way forward?
Is this book different from the "New Old World"
No. The same. New Old World is the title of the American edition. In India it was titled, "Punjabi Parmesan"