Download Raheel Raza PDF - Muslims Facing Tomorrow

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The Fight of a
Moderate Muslim
A controversial,
Pakistani-born
Canadian Muslim
activist shows the way
forward to a peaceful
world not divided
by religion politics.
Society speaks to
Raheel Raza about
leading gender-mixed
prayers, dealing with
fatwas and more…
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Photograph: sAIMA FAYYAZ
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OCTOBER 2013 >>Society >>000
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By Manali Shah
I
t is difficult to encapsulate the work done by Raheel Raza
in a line or two. She is an author, women’s rights activist,
consultant for intercultural diversity, freelance journalist
and the founder of SAMA (Sacred Arts and Music Alliance),
which works towards promoting understanding between
different religions through music. She also appears frequently
on television, voicing her frank and outright views on issues
relevant to Islam and interfaith diversity. She has authored
Their Jihad, Not My Jihad, through which she iterates that her
faith has been hijacked by a group of jihadis who want to
prove that what they practise is the ‘real’ Islam.
Raheel was born and raised in Pakistan. She recounts that
in the 1970s when Wahhabism was enveloping Pakistan, she
fell in love with and married a Shia Muslim. Raheel had grown
up in a Sunni family, and they knew that with the rise of
religiosity, differences will be highlighted and their future as a
family would be at stake. So, the young couple left and set up
their life in Dubai. After seven years, they migrated to Canada
and are proud Canadians today.
The Pakistan Raheel grew up in, unfortunately, is starkly
different from the Pakistan of today. “I grew up in a beautiful
Pakistan,” she says. “I studied in convents and in coeducation schools, rode a bike, learnt swimming and riding
000 >>Society >>OCTOBER 2013
and never had religion forced down my throat. My friends
were Christian, Hindu and Zoroastrians, and we were not
taught differences between Shia and Sunni. I have wonderful
memories of Pakistan where I acted in plays; there was music
and dance and freedom.” In the 1970s, with the arrival of
President Zia-ul-Haq, Raheel saw the slow hold of political
Islam, which she terms, Islamism. Raheel terms the Pakistan
of today a mess with too many conflicting agendas. She lashes
out, “There is a turf war being fought between Iran and Saudi
on the Pakistani terrain and innocent people are the victims.
Women’s rights are in tatters and there are no institutions left
to speak of. Today, everything is a conspiracy theory with
very little self-reflection.”
Raheel has famously led a mixed-gender prayer in Canada
and was subsequently invited to Oxford, UK, to lead the
Friday prayers. The feisty activist recalls that she was nervous
before leading the prayer as she hadn’t done anything of the
sort before. But once over, it was one of the most profound
moments of her life. Many others, however, didn’t share her
views and the act turned into a controversy. She reflects, “The
repercussions were knee-jerk as with technology, the news
went viral in one day. There was support and criticism. I have
only one thing to say to my detractors: ‘If you can prove to me
through the Quran that Allah has
...with husbund Sohil and son Saif
forbidden women to lead prayers,
I will apologise.’ But this has not
happened. Despite the fact that
the first masjid of Islam built by
Prophet Mohammad was a place of
community where men and women
were equally welcome, today, most
masjids are exclusive men’s clubs
where women are either relegated
to the back, or worse still, to
the basement where they can
make tea.” Raheel witnesses the
discrimination in Canada as well
and has been protesting.
Also, Raheel is critical of the
Sharia law. She states, “The mess
Muslims are in today is due to the
fact that we don’t accept our own
shortcomings and consider the
urgent need for reform. One of
the issues aiding this challenge is
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the maulvis trying to pass off the Sharia as
divine. The laws that have been constructed
are man-made and don’t apply to the 21st
Century. We have to revisit the whole
institution of the Sharia.”
It would seem that no Muslim feminist or
religious reformer’s life is complete without
a fatwa or two. Raheel too has received her
share. “The first fatwa I received was many
years ago when I was celebrating Milad-unNabi, now considered heresy by the Saudis.
So, a Saudi cleric imposed a fatwa on me.
Now, if you understand fatwas, this by itself
can be dangerous because some whacko
jihadi might think that getting rid of me
would be his religious duty—it’s how the
blasphemy law works. I receive threats, hate
mails by email but no one has ever tried to
physically harm me. I have to add that both
my sons have stood as bodyguards when I
speak about controversial issues and they
worry more than me.”
Moving on to political views, Raheel does
not call for a complete ban on immigration
from Iran and Pakistan but emphasises on
a moratorium on these two countries “until
the Canadian government can clean up the current mess in
Canada.” She backs up her statement by pointing out that some
new Iranian immigrants and entrepreneurs were found to have
ties with their intelligence agencies. “It was recently exposed
how the Iranian Cultural Centre was providing material to
Islamic schools propagating hatred against our Jewish brothers
and sisters. Canada has broken diplomatic ties with Iran.” As
for Pakistan, she says, “When we look at radicalisation and the
instances where Canada could have been a target of terrorism,
we see the Pakistani youth being used as cannon fodder and
probably the most radicalised youth community abroad. This
is because the youth have either visited Pakistan and been
brainwashed there, or by the people here in Canada.”
The Quran has been time and again misused by the antisocial elements to instigate violence, social and political
clashes. It is no news that many religious leaders exploit
their position by preaching interpretations of the Quran
which further their propaganda. In the recent years, many
secularists and Muslims have strived to reinstate that the Quran
stands for peace and love, and there have been widespread
efforts across the globe to spread the real teachings of the
religious Islamic text. Raheel is one among them. Further,
the Quran and what it says about women’s rights has been
a bone of contention and the subject of public debate since
many years. According to Raheel, briefly, for 1400 years, the
Quran was translated and interpreted by men and hence it
has acquired a patriarchal tone. Raheel states, “When I read
the Quran, I find it very clear about women’s rights in the
chapter on women. Muslim women were given rights to keep
their earned wages, have a pre-nuptial agreement and ask
for marriage and divorce a long time ago. Let me give you
the example of my own role model, Khadija, the first wife of
Prophet Mohammad. She was a successful businesswoman
and Mohammad worked for her (first sign of a woman in
leadership). Then, she sent him a proposal of marriage and
he accepted.”
The criticism, flak or hatemongering that Raheel receives
frequently via the internet doesn’t bother her. She has
steadfastly held on to her beliefs and continues to voice
them. Raheel dreams of a world full of peace, acceptance and
tolerance. We hope her work in that direction continues to
make an impact. <<
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