Mind, Body, Soul

Delving further into the theories and precepts of modern ‘American Islam’ and its fundamental list of principles and beliefs, we begin to see a list of beliefs concentrating and culminating on ‘ilm’.

3 ) Since Islam is a filter of good and bad, one needs to obtain ‘ilm’ (religious knowledge) in order to learn how to behave.  Studying ‘ilm’  is paramount in Islam, and most ‘ilm’ is in Arabic.

4 )  What is taught by people in classes at seminars and ‘events’ is a translation and summarization of what is considered ‘ilm’.

5 )  Your status is defined by how much of this seminar-event-based ‘ilm’ you know.

6 ) Your source of English-’ilm’ is infinitely better than other peoples source of English-’ilm’.

7 )  If you learn Arabic yourself you will one day know exactly without a doubt that #6 is true.

8 ) ‘Ilm’ can be expensive.

As earlier stated, Suburban Capitalist Islam is inherently an American cultural product.   What most Muslims in the West experience as the Islamic message is actually  American culture filtered through certain Islamic injunctions.  Under this paradigm, Muslims are able to argue day in and day out over details as to which particular filters/knowledge/’ilm’ they should apply in their lives, while ignoring the overarching logical breakdown and inconsistency between their belief system and their actual lifestyle, filled with TV, video games and shopping.

Since it is a fundamental aspect of the ‘modern Muslim ideal’ that life remains ‘Islamic’ as long as one abstains from certain aspects of Western society (drinking, gambling, clubbing), there is a psychological gap that needs to be filled.   What are these cultural concepts replaced with?  What are the youth to do with themselves while they are struggling in being ardent abstainers from these aspects of Western society?  Surely,  Islam must provide some alternative?

Largely this gap has been filled with the pursuit of ‘knowledge’.   The message has been that through knowledge you are empowered to controlling your own Islamic future.  While knowledge has been important to Muslims since the time of the Holy Prophet (S), it is only now that we see studying being associated so directly with piety and spiritual progress.   ‘Knowledge’ has been set up as this idealized form of certainty and conviction. The more knowledge you get/purchase/sit in, the more everything about Islam makes sense, the more easier it becomes to justify the abstaining from the few ‘bad’ things surrounding us and also rationalizing our largely Western lifestyle as being halaal. And doesn’t everyone want self-justification and doesn’t everyone desire for it all to make sense?

If one notices, every one of the points that are held by Suburban Capitalist Muslims regarding knowledge are relating to the self. Self-esteem, self-certainty, self-motivation. On the other hand, historically, knowledge such as this was thrust onto people by their parents, curriculum, or just osmosis from the culture which surrounded them. There used to be very little ‘self’ to think about when it came to learning *facts* about the religion. This allowed the ego to be removed from the equation when it came to applying such facts.

The consequence? People were as proud of their ‘tajweed’ as today’s college graduates are of their basic pronunciation of English. In other words, it was hardly given a second thought, it was just done.

In fact, the entire realm of knowledge that institutes sell today was largely that which was taught to children. From Tajweed, to the Arabic language, the sunnahs of wudu, only a few really sincere people were studying these subjects well into adulthood in times of Islamic Empire, and if they did so, they were studying intricate details and they did it under guidance and permission of high teachers. But now the masses are doing so, through their own decisions, with a variety of levels of sincerity and ego.

American Muslims, proud in their knowledge, seem to actually be stamping ‘infantile’ on our foreheads.

Most of these ilm-sessions are set up as the Islamic equivalent to very secular self-help seminars. This cultural stand-in has allowed for competing institutes and community programs to emerge, each giving their own message of specific information-based knowledge. And it should be carefully noted that what is being peddled is information-based knowledge versus knowledge of the self or other forms of tacit knowledge which was how much of Islam was implemented in Muslim lifestyles.

It is also interesting to note that although they technically compete on the ‘message’ they deliver (with some specific differences on where they place their feet in ritual prayer or on what type of functions they allow in their Masjids), the lifestyle the people reach under varying programs is quite similar.

A primary consequence of this Western approach towards Islam is the productization of ‘Ilm’, religious knowledge.  What does Western society bring if not the concept of marketing?  Catchy slogans, professional videos ads, hype-machines and superstar personalities have been built up to bring ‘Islamic knowledge’ into our lives.  No one could deny, if given the opportunity , ‘American Muslim Institutes’ would be clamoring for some sort of witty ad selling their wares during Superbowl commercials.

Frankly, if given the opportunity, they would want their own team and hijab-laden cheerleaders.

In this way ‘modern ilm’ has begun to have more in common with Doritos than the sacred, sober and ecstatic people that claimed it a hundred years ago. Since we are customers of ‘ilm’, it needs to be made appealing and worthwhile to us. We are the consumer so we dictate what we want to hear. And therefore we are largely changing the messages to suit what meets our needs. Controlling student egos is hard to do when they are paying the bills and the goal is trying to fill up the hall as much as possible.