Download the .mp3 version of this show here.

Links to things we discussed:

A Pakistani view of the apostasy issue.

More commentary on the Shabina Begum case.

Another experience with the no-fly list.

assalaamu alaykum

While I sympathize with your frustrations about not having a "fatwa" to hold up in our discussions, consider the following:

1. We need to get away from the "drive-through fatwa mentality", by that I mean we need to stop acting as if a fatwa **by itself** is all we need to know what is right or wrong. Obviously, a fatwa at its best is a learned person's considered opinion. At its worst, it's an ignorant person's opinion. When a fatwa permitting an action contradicts a Muslim's conscience, he or she should not act on it. There is no obligation to follow a fatwa, although God obviously knows what a person's intention is. Lastly, since Salman Rushdie, "fatwa" has become synomynous with "death sentance" in U.S. popular media.

2. A genuine learned opinion takes time to formulate. In addition, material facts are important. The U.S. Supreme Court does not hear a case and issue an opinion the same day. The case of Abdul Rahman has its unique circumstances. To expect U.S. scholars to drop all the other important things they have to do and research it within a few days is too much. Needing quick answers is another bad aspect of the "drive-through fatwa mentality."

3. Lastly, Protestant and Evangelical (primarily U.S.) missionary groups have long been a point of contention in Muslim countries. I think there are very good arguments for restricting their activities.

I agree that this issue is hard on Muslims in the United States because we enjoy religious freedom and we don't want it jeaporadized by restrictions on religious freedom in Muslim countries. But this is not an issue that's going to be fixed within a few weeks. At some point, we U.S. Muslims must dialogue with credible religious authorities in Muslim countries and explain to them why we think religious freedoms should be expanded. But people don't change under the barrel of a gun nor through patronizing instruction. Also, we U.S. Muslims have to organize ourselves to represent this point of view.

JAK! YES! You subversives finally graced us the latest progressive acumen. Please ante the frequency of these updates. One of the reasons I do not kill myself is the possibility of hearing your Terry Gross-esque banter marshalled with John Hancock allusions - each time this MAC roars on.
Your Stalker with Love,
Ahmad

One of the reasons I do not kill myself is the possibility of hearing your Terry Gross-esque banter marshalled with John Hancock allusions - each time this MAC roars on.

Um... thanks? Trying to thing of something insightful to say in a transatlantic conversation at 1 am while trying to keep my voice down to avoid waking the little one in the room next door apparently = terry gross-esque...

Ayman, you're absolutely right in that there is both a global and localised context within muslim communities and we should be very careful of coming off as patronising (and given our western sensibilities, cynicism does come off that way sometimes).

The fatwa genie is out of the bottle, though, and abandoned by the more rational scholars, it will be left to the irrational ones and believed by naive Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Perhaps its the process or the verified consensus, as I was alluding to, that could separate the theological wheat from the chaff, so to speak. That consensus should be thorough, global, and while not final (as per your Supreme Court analogy), trusted enough to persuade those on the fringes to reconsider their "drive-bys".

My sincere thanks to both of you for listening and for your comments.

I think Ahmad is referring to the interview (which was also done late at night) with Maha, which we did in a NYC hotel lobby. (Most of our interviews are done in hotel lobbies, offices, or cafes.) I concur with Zahed that there is a middle way between taking fatwas as the gospel (excuse the pun) truth and ignoring their role in helping shape debate. The best answer to the lone (usually from someone extreme) fatwa is a multitude of them, from various points on the ideological spectrum. Let a thousand fatwas bloom! (Or maybe not.)

Thanks for this podcast, it was really interesting to hear the pr in the muslim community segment and Maha's perspective. I do think that the dearth of proactivity from our scholarly community is an issue, since I believe the process of moving towards a rational usage of ijtihad is a concern for western muslims. If we have a foot solidly in the modern world, we can at least expect to pull our scholars with us, too.

- hussain