By Dr. Umar Faruq Abd-Allah
Scholar in Residence, Nawawi Foundation

 This article has appeared in various publications, including Cross Currents and Islam Online. The excerpts provided below hope to capture the gist of Dr. Umar's insights in a more condensed form for online reading. The reader is encouraged to view the full article, with endnotes, available for download at www.nawawi.org.

 For centuries, Islamic civilization harmonized indigenous forms of cultural expression with the universal norms of its sacred law. It struck a balance between temporal beauty and ageless truth and fanned a brilliant peacock's tail of unity in diversity from the heart of China to the shores of the Atlantic. Islamic jurisprudence helped facilitate this creative genius. In history, Islam showed itself to be culturally friendly and, in that regard, has been likened to a crystal clear river. Its waters (Islam) are pure, sweet, and life-giving but -- having no color of their own -- reflect the bedrock (indigenous culture) over which they flow. In China, Islam looked Chinese; in Mali, it looked African. Sustained cultural relevance to distinct peoples, diverse places, and different times underlay Islam's long success as a global civilization. The religion became not only functional and familiar at the local level but dynamically engaging, fostering stable indigenous Muslim identities and allowing Muslims to put down deep roots and make lasting contributions wherever they went.

 By contrast, much contemporary Islamist rhetoric falls far short of Islam's ancient cultural wisdom, assuming at times an unmitigated culturally predatory attitude. Such rhetoric and the movement ideologies that stand behind it have been deeply influenced by Western revolutionary dialectic and a dangerously selective retrieval and reinterpretation of Islamic scripture in that light. At the same time, however, the Islamist phenomenon is, to no small degree, a by-product of the grave cultural dislocation and dysfunction of the contemporary Muslim world. Culture -- Islamic or otherwise -- provides the basis of social stability but, paradoxically, can itself only flourish in stable societies and will inevitably break down in the confusion of social disruption and turmoil. Today, the Muslim world retains priceless relics of its former cultural splendor, but, in the confusion of our times, the wisdom of the past is not always understood and many of its established norms and older cultural patterns no longer appear relevant to Muslims or seem to offer solutions. Where the peacock's tail has not long since folded, it retains little of its former dazzle and fullness; where the cultural river has not dried up altogether, its waters seldom run clear.

 Human beings generate culture naturally like spiders spin silk, but unlike spiders' webs the cultures people construct are not always adequate, especially when generated unconsciously, in confusion, under unfavorable conditions, or without proper direction. Unsurprisingly, Muslim immigrants to America remain attached to the lands they left behind but hardly if ever bring with them the full pattern of the once healthy cultures of their past, which -- if they had remained intact -- would have reduced their incentive to emigrate in the first place. Converts -- overwhelmingly African-American -- are often alienated from their own deep indigenous roots and native cultural sensibility through the destructive impact of culturally predatory Islamist ideologies from abroad.

 All the same, Muslims in America have been silently forging sub-cultural identities over recent decades around our mosques, in Islamic schools, at home, and on college campuses. Some of these developments are promising. The upcoming generation has produced a number of notable Muslim American writers, poets, rap artists, and stand-up comedians. We experiment with dress (special dresses from denim, for example) and coin words (like fun-damentalist) as parts of our daily speech. Cross-cultural and interracial marriages have increased and show that many Muslim Americans now find themselves more Muslim and American than Indian, Pakistani, Syrian, Egyptian, or anything else. In other ways too, the young generation shows signs of cultural maturity and is connecting on positive levels often unthinkable to their parents. Many of them are comfortable with their American identity, while cultivating a healthy understanding of their religion, pride in their past, connection to the present, and a positive view of the future.

 But, despite positive signs, much of the cultural creation taking place over recent years around the mosque, school, home, and campus has been without direction, confused, unconscious, or, worse yet, subconsciously compelled by irrational fears rooted in ignorance of the dominant culture and a shallow, parochial understanding of Islam as a counter-cultural identity religion. The results -- especially if mixed with culturally predatory Islamist ideology -- may look more like a cultural no-man's-land than the makings of a successful indigenous Muslim identity.

 Development of a sound Muslim American cultural identity must be resolutely undertaken as a conscious pursuit and one of our community's vital priorities. It is not a problem that will sort out itself with time and cannot be left to develop on its own by default. Islam does not merely encourage but requires the creation of a successful indigenous Islamic culture in America and sets down sound parameters for its formation and growth. As we take on this commitment, we must understand that our revealed law and long history as a world civilization do not constitute barriers in the process but offer tremendous resources and latitude ...

Respecting Other Cultures: A Supreme Prophetic Sunna

 The Prophet Muhammad and his Companions were not at war with the world's cultures and ethnicities but entertained an honest, accommodating, and generally positive view of the broad social endowments of other peoples and places. The Prophet and his Companions did not look upon human culture in terms of black and white, nor did they drastically divide human societies into spheres of absolute good and absolute evil. Islam did not impose itself -- neither among Arabs or non-Arabs -- as an alien, culturally predatory worldview. Rather, the Prophetic message was, from the outset, based on the distinction between what was good, beneficial, and authentically human in other cultures, while seeking to alter only what was clearly detrimental. Prophetic law did not burn and obliterate what was distinctive about other peoples but sought instead to prune, nurture, and nourish, creating a positive Islamic synthesis.

 Much of what became the Prophet's sunna (Prophetic model) was made up of acceptable pre-Islamic Arab cultural norms, and the principle of tolerating and accommodating such practices -- among Arabs and non-Arabs alike in all their diversity -- may be termed a supreme, overriding Prophetic sunna. In this vein, the noted early jurist, Abu Yusuf understood the recognition of good, local cultural norms as falling under the rubric of the sunna. The fifteenth-century Granadan jurisprudent Ibn al-Mawaq articulated a similar outlook and stressed, for example, that it was not the purpose of Prophetic dress codes to impinge upon the cultural integrity of non-Arab Muslims, who were at liberty to develop or maintain their own distinctive dress within the broad parameters of the sacred law.

 The Qur'an enjoined the Prophet Muhammad to adhere to people's sound customs and usages and take them as a fundamental reference in legislation: "Accept [from people] what comes naturally [for them]. Command what is customarily [good]. And turn away from the ignorant [without responding in kind]." Ibn 'Atiyya, a renowned early Andalusian jurist and Qur'anic commentator, asserted that the verse not only upheld the sanctity of indigenous culture but granted sweeping validity to everything the human heart regards as sound and beneficial, as long as it is not clearly repudiated in the revealed law. For classical Islamic jurists in general, the verse was often cited as a major proof-text for the affirmation of sound cultural usage, and it was noted that what people generally deem as proper tends to be compatible with their nature and environment, serving essential needs and valid aspirations.

 The story of the "sons of Arfida" -- a familiar Arabian linguistic reference to Ethiopians -- provides a telling illustration of the place of culture (here, of course, Black African culture) within the Prophetic dispensation. In celebration of an annual Islamic religious festival, a group of Black African converts began to beat leather drums and dance with spears in the Prophet's mosque. 'Umar ibn al-Khattab -- one of the chief Companions -- felt compelled to interfere and stop them, but the Prophet intervened on their behalf, directing 'Umar to leave them alone and noting to him that they were "the sons of Arfida," that is, not his people. The Prophet invited his wife 'A'isha to watch the dance, took her into the crowd, and lifted her over his back, so that she could watch them clearly as she eagerly leaned forward, her cheek pressing against his. The Prophet made it a point to dispel the Ethiopians' misgivings about 'Umar's intrusion and encouraged them to dance well and, in one account of this authentic story, reassured them to keep up their drumming and dancing, saying: "Play your games, sons of Arfida, so the Jews and Christians know there is latitude in our religion."

 The Prophet's intervention to stop 'Umar made it clear that the Ethiopians were not to be judged by 'Umar's indigenous Arabian standards or made to conform to them. The "sons of Arfida" had their own distinctive cultural tastes and conventional usages. The fact that they had embraced Islam did not mean they were also required to commit cultural apostasy or become subservient to Arab customs. The Prophet allowed Muslim Arabs agency in their social expression and extended a similar right to non-Arabs. By his affirmation of the "sons of Arfida," he established an overriding sunna and abiding legal precedent for respecting different ethnic and cultural traditions and acknowledging the emotional needs, tastes, and cultural inclinations of all who embraced his teaching.

 The Prophet cultivated openness and objectivity toward others -- this was also part of his lesson to 'Umar -- and such openness enabled his Companions to acknowledge the good in other cultures even when, as was the case with the Byzantine Christians (al-Rum), they were not only hostile to the rise of Islamic power on their southern flank but constituted Islam's most formidable enemy. When it was related to 'Amr ibn al-As -- a Companion of the Prophet and victorious commander in the Byzantine wars -- that the Prophet had prophesied that al-Rum (specifically the Byzantines but understood, in this context, as a general reference to Europeans) would predominate at the end of time, 'Amr responded to his informer: "If, then, you have related this honestly, know that they have four excellent qualities. They are the most forbearing of people in times of discord. They are the quickest of people to recover from calamity. They are the most likely of people to renew an attack after retreat. And they are the best of people toward the poor, the orphan, and the weak." 'Amr then added: "And they have a fifth attribute which is both beautiful and excellent: They are the best of people in checking the oppression of kings."

 'Amr drew attention to those European cultural traits which he knew and regarded as both compatible with Islam's ethos and universally desirable as human qualities. His response demonstrates his understanding that the future prominence of Westerners would be an outgrowth of their exceptional cultural traits, which his mind immediately began to search out after hearing the Prophet's prophecy. Four came at once to his mind, and the fifth ("they are the best of people in checking the oppression of kings") occurred as an afterthought but was clearly regarded among the most important (it was viewed as "beautiful and excellent") ...

Envisioning a Viable Muslim American Culture

 As along Africa's Swahili Rim and elsewhere in the traditional Muslim world, Islam in America must become wenyeji, "something belonging here." It must be indigenous -- not in the sense of losing identity through total assimilation or of being the exclusive property of the native-born -- but in the word's original sense, namely, being natural, envisioned, and born from within. Regardless of birthplace, Muslim Americans become indigenous once they truly belong. Islam in America becomes indigenous by fashioning an integrated cultural identity that is comfortable with itself and functions naturally in the world around it.

 Building a successful indigenous Muslim culture cannot be left to occur haphazardly, unconsciously, or without direction. The process requires deep knowledge of Islam, history, the humanities, and social sciences and must be based on cognizance of how viable cultural traditions are formed. It must enlist the most gifted and resourceful men and women in our community and liberate our Islamic cultural imagination. Constructing a sound Muslim American culture requires taking into account what is already established, especially the community's successful initiatives. Promising directions must be identified and mistakes rectified. Managing the mosque sub-culture is the biggest challenge, since it has already become "second nature" for a vocal minority and difficult to reorient, despite the fact that it alienates a substantial part of the community.

 We must be producers of culture, not passive consumers of it. A successful Muslim American culture must provide psychological space for all constituents of our highly heterogeneous community, taking on a cosmopolitan cast from the outset like a nationwide peacock's tail reflecting our rich internal diversity. One size does not fit all. Culturally speaking, what is right for the suburbs may not be right for the inner city. What suits African-American or Asian-American identity may not always suit others. But to embrace all and foster a true sense of continuity and community among us, our culture must address Islam's transcendent and universal values, while constructing a broad national matrix that fits all like a master key, despite ethnic, class, and social background. This overarching cultural template must allot generous sub-group space for each individual entity to foster its own self-image and unique cultural expression. It must facilitate dynamic internal diversity, while promoting mutual understanding among groups, cross-cultural communication, and interfaith cooperation with the larger American society ...

Conclusion

 Many in our community today look askance at culture but with only the vaguest notions of what culture actually is and the fundamental role it plays in human existence. For them, "culture" is a loaded word, something dangerous, inherently problematic, and "un-Islamic" (a deeply ingratiated Islamist neologism). Culture, for them, is a toxic pollutant that must necessarily be purged, since Islam and culture are mutually exclusive in their minds. Some foolishly or ahistorically regard Islamic culture -- legacies like the Taj Mahal, for example -- to have been chief causes of Muslim decline and fall in history. Their mindset reflects the general malaise of the modern period and the breakdown of traditional Muslim cultures, leaving chronic existential alienation and cultural dysfunction in its wake. Such cultural phobia is untenable in the light of classical Islamic jurisprudence and is antithetical to more than a millennium of successful indigenous Islamic cultures and global civilization.

 We must insist upon the traditional wisdom of Islamic law and deconstruct the counter-cultural paranoia among us. But, if the counter-cultural identity religion unconsciously developing around many of our mosques, schools, homes, and college campuses is not brought under control and redirected, it will imperil the growth of Islam in America. As for those immersed in this counter-cultural paradigm, explication of Islam's culturally friendly jurisprudence and talk of creating a Muslim American culture often awakens deep anxieties, subconscious fears, and implacable misgivings. Assurance that Islamic law sets down parameters for indigenous cultural growth rarely allays their apprehensions, because they are rooted not in rationality but a substratum of the subconscious that has been trained -- often since childhood -- in the defective ideas and false universals of an alien ideology.

 Creating a sound Muslim American identity is a difficult and hazardous undertaking and requires personal integrity as well as knowledge and understanding. But there can be no safe retreat from the task, and the dangers of failure are devastatingly great. Failure to foster a successful Muslim American culture would not only threaten our continued existence but constitute an inexcusable betrayal of the divine trust and unique historical opportunity we have to make Islam work in America. Our sacred law requires us to undertake the task. The work before us is a matter of true ijtihad, moral commitment, and dynamic creativity. In the spirit of the great jurists of the past, any failure on our part would constitute "iniquity and disobedience before God," except that, in our case, the "gross error" we commit pertains not to an isolated legal ruling and a few individual cases but the ruin of an entire community. A famous Mandingo adage states: "The world is old, but the future springs from the past." We must engender a Muslim American culture that gives us the freedom to be ourselves. And to be ourselves, we must have a proper sense of continuity with what has been, is, and is likely to be. Only in the context of a viable cultural presence can we hope for a bright Muslim American future to spring forward from the richness of our past.