The Reformed Word

The sad reality of mainstream Islamic proselytization in the West

There’s a short book by one of the most underrated American writers of the 20th Century called The Painted Word by Tom Wolfe, a real example of Anglo-German literary impalement through one of the many facades of everyday life that proliferated in the post-WW2 liberal order. In less than a hundred pages Wolfe details and decimates in suave fashion how the institutions of visual art degraded from being a characteristic interest of aristocrats and nobles pre-19th century to an “art market” — the way we see the ridiculous institution of “modern art” today — and the transformation of painting from an expression within the artist that explodes outward to capture aesthetic ideals, a story or event, a magnanimous figure, etc. to one where the Art Theory precedes the art itself, where the artist willingly becomes a slave to the wants of critics and a small group of pretentious collectors so that they profit off of their contrivance.

Though Wolfe never mentions it as it is solely an art criticism book, the sort of slavish dynamic between the creative (of often questionable talent) and the elitist group that guides their hand isn’t restricted to the field of visual art. You see it most commonly today with journalism, a profession where barring a few real aficionado investigators is entirely made up of the blob of eunuchs and femcel shrews, whose job is to run propaganda pieces from the latest regime memo. It’s more shameless, in-your-face, and explicit than hardcore pornography — yet many Americans insist on the idea that journalists are a protected class of truth-seekers immune to criticism from the public; and that their work entirely revolves around the noble desire to uncover what lies in the inner machinations of the grimy political machine against all odds!

Since the Gulf War of the late nineties and 9/11, the same thing can be seen with Muslim communities in the anglosphere at large where for the past twenty years, despite the best efforts and intentions of the esteemed folk in prestigious roles such as “community leader” and “outreach director”; the process of Dawah was no longer organic nor lending from the natural observations of learned scholars and Imams throughout North America and Western Europe of their respective communities, but rather guided by the ISSUES OF OUR TIME (the motto of the contemporary Western Imam). Of course, what is really meant by that, without the Imam even knowing, is the issues the regime dictates are of our time.

I really wonder — how many lectures, books, conference meetings, etc. by Muslims in the west on the concept of “race” in Islam existed before the exponential growth of American racial animosity during the Obama era? I’m willing to bet a particular explosion occurred after the Ferguson riots of 2014, which hasn’t ended since.

Is there a single classical scholar before the 20th century who presented the transgression of Satan against God in the Quran as an antiracist allegory? It’s quite bizarre that the ridiculous quote: Iblees was the first racist, which has become a hallmark phrase repeated any time the issue of race is discussed in Muslim circles, ever appeared in the first place. You’d think that these University-of-Medina and Al-Azhar graduates would review the original tafsirs of Tabari or Ibn-Kathir to see if even an inkling of such a comparison could exist before turning it into the Gold Standard of Western Muslim rhetoric on anti-racism, but alas we had a different outcome.

We’re looking for an honest answer. Which came first? These American celebrity scholars’ groundbreaking concepts on the Islamic ethics of race relations, or the overwhelming pressure to go along with the communist, government & corporation endorsed BLM movement by the bright and powerful Linda Sarsours and Dalia Mogaheds of their community, those absolute giants in spirit and justice?

I’m merely using race here as an example. The same applies to the gender question and “equality”, to economics, to the complete neutering of our vital history as a result of widespread fear post-9/11. This is a tough issue, I imagine, not only because these celebrity Imams and Dawah figures have never been formally confronted about their trend-chasing and enslavement to regime agitation propaganda, but because most if not all are not even aware of it themselves. Like the artists Tom Wolfe mentions who intellectualize themselves into thinking their scatological paint splatters on a 22x36 canvas are “breakthrough art”, these figures have hypnotized themselves into believing that forming stories, analogies, and syllogisms that squeeze Islam into the latest regime memo for mass production is actually a form of Ijtihad.

The reason they don’t know is, of course, because they believe the mythologies about modern life that they were students of in the Western education system. They’ll sincerely tell you that you’re a conspiracy theorist, that they don’t profit off of this, and that they’re just going after issues they know the public suffers from. Of course, many American Imams for example may be talented in their memorization and understanding of Tafsir, Fiqh, and so on and graduate from an esteemed Islamic university — but to what extent are they able to apply their knowledge if their secular learning entirely took place in the states, where they were fed lies from childhood?

What lies, you might ask? Women have always been “oppressed” and continue to be so. White colonialists invented all evil in the third world and beyond. Water and rodent-caused diseases had no role in the “death counts” of WW2. The USA civil rights activists of the 60s and 70s were all peaceful, Gandhi-like folk who never committed acts of domestic terrorism. People can be born homosexuals. Democracy is good, and monarchy is bad. These are just a few of them.

Here lies the reality that it’s not the issues that afflict the regular public that they grow obsessed with as they chase the next interfaith conference or solidarity march, but those issues that are agitated into existence by the liberal regimes they live under. If your entire view of the world is a charade and a lie, then how far can your religious knowledge go when it comes to your ability to commentate on social and political issues? This is why so many Imams sound beautifully eloquent when talking about prayer, fasting, and the day of judgment — but give them the mic to talk about anything political abroad or about why POC are an underclass and they drop 50 IQ points.

Just like how when real Ijtihad was virtually illegal in the late Ottoman Empire forcing all the scholars worth their salt to have their discussions through hidden channels; such is the case today where most scholars who address the real issues facing youngsters aren’t granted the big stages, but are in their respective mosques teaching groups of students worthy of the knowledge they’re receiving. They’re like the underground artists whose work you have to look for instead of that which is shoved down your throat with every billboard and social media ad. And often, the search is worth it when you listen to what they have to say…