Forum: Race and Identity in the Muslim Community

Left to right: Azhar Usman, Preacher Moss, Eugenia Flynn

On the 19th this month it was my pleasure to attend this little forum at the University of Melbourne. As the event's Facebook page put it, the matter for discussion was '....the politics of inclusion and exclusion taking place within many Muslim communities - communities which themselves are constantly subject to racism and daily pressures to 'integrate' and assimilate by wider society.'
The panelists consisted of Eugenia Flynn, a Muslim woman of Aboriginal and Chinese heritage with a CV longer than Hannibal Lecter's rap sheet, and Preacher Moss and Azhar Usman, founders of US comedy group Allah Made Me Funny.

Mr Moss gave a valuable insight into bing a black Muslim in America, and Mr. Usman powerfully closed the discussion with a discourse on the unreality of race on the metaphysical level, the universality of the Nur Muhammad (Light of Muhammad - a complex concept, speak to a knowledgable person!), and how the Ummah in fact includes all of creation. However, Ms Flynn was the first speaker, and for me, the most edifying (no offence to Misters Moss and Usman!), largely due to her reflections on Indigenous Australians, Islam and Australian society itself. Stating that the essence of the whole discussion can said to be to learn how to "Practice Islam with a mind that has ben decolonised", Ms Flynn refreshingly encouraged us to look at some hard truths. This post will thus focus on her presentation.

From a Catholic background, Ms Flynn accepted Islam some nine years ago, thought she made an effort to emphasise that this was a genuine spiritual awakening and not done as a rejection of a "religion of oppressors" - you'll see how this ties in with her following arguments.

As a convert/revert, she noticed how born Muslims would frequently treat new adopters of the religion as something of a badge of honour. Conversions to Islam were seen as a method of proving the superiority of the religion and the moral high ground of Muslims. Citing the long history of contact between Muslims (eg Macassan fishermen) and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, Islam was often seen as the religion of Indigenous Australians, to which they were converting in droves, regardless of the hyperbole of the statement and the fact that plenty of Indigenous peoples identiy as Muslim more through heritage than anything else - so far we cannot really say what Indigenous conversions to Islam indicate about Islam, Australia or other things in general.

Ms Flynn criticised how this perception of a sort of "exclusive bond" and sense of shared "non-whiteness" effectively implied a sense of ownership over Indigenous Australians, this arrogant attitude also serving to deny the legitimacy of others in regards to relations with Indigenous people. non-Indigenous Muslims are unconsciously drawn into bigotry as they feel that they have the right to take up Indigenous speaking space.

Indeed, Ms Flynn observed that many Muslims from migrant backgrounds ironically share the same mentality as white Christian missionaries. They view themselves as bringing freedom to the natives, bringing a superior belief system and way of life to wipe out primitive and superstitious beliefs and practices. These kinds of Muslims possess an implicit desire to colonise, and it is assumed that being Muslim necessarily involves giving up one's "Indigenousness". She cited an example of when, during a pro-Palestinian rally, a non-Muslim politician who was addressing the crowd began to draw parallels between the suffering of Palestinians and the suffering of Indigenous Australians - the previously enthusiatic applause died down almost immediately.

Ms Flynn further mentioned reading a thread about racism in a popular Australian Muslim online forum. A user stated in the thread how he/she was sick of Lebanese making fun of Indigenous people. Another user replied, writing that Indigenous Australians do nothing to counter stereotypes, and so deserve it anyway. All this when you'd think that Muslims would be such experts on racism! She then powerfully quoted an extract from an article by Irfan Yusuf (who I had the unexpected pleasure of meeting afterwards), which essentially stated that Muslim leaders should not expect empathy when they show none to those who have experienced prejudice a lot worse and for far longer.

She made a point on the privilege migrant-background Muslims possess over Indigenous people, a privilege that many Muslims are unaware of themselves.  In this regard, Muslim privilege is essentially the same as white privilege. They may see themselves as discriminated against, but every day non-Indigenous Muslims are enjoying along with the white majority the fruits of the legacy of colonialism. Ms Flynn called for us to challange prevailing perceptions and popular myths, and acknowledge Indigenous disadvantage. Muslims are enthusiatic about da'wah (inviting people to Islam), and view it as the height of adab (etiquette). But did this adab extend to the invitation to share in the land of the original Australians? Unfortunately, we lack the ultimate proper etiquette - the real invitation must be to consider the proper adab of living in Australia itself.

My great thanks to the organisers and panelists, and my sincere apologies in case I misquoted anybody. Prejudice is both overt and covert and we should not remain complicit in contributing to existing oppression - reality is unpalatable at times, but continuous self-reflection is a must if we want to move beyond problems and unto solutions. May we be constantly in a state of muhasaba, amin.