What I’ve Learned From My Muslim Friend

I’ve been interested in interfaith dialogue ever since I heard about “A Common Word Between Us and You.”

To sum up a lot of Internet searching for you, it’s an open letter from leaders of the Muslim faith to leaders of the Christian faith. It basically puts forth a simple enough argument: that the two faiths have two commandments in common, namely 1) to love God and 2) to love one’s neighbor. It also calls from more reasoned dialogue between the two faiths, rather than more vitriol. I’ve also been impressed by the Christian response, which you can view here.¹

In high school, I had the pleasure of getting to know a few Muslim friends, one of whom has been influential in terms of my understanding of my faith. She wore a burqa² to school everyday, a detail which I found somewhat off-putting, puzzling and endearing at the same time. She once explained to my AP English class that she had chosen to wear it in middle school, free from coercion from her parents. In other words, she had freely chosen to wear it after reading Muslim texts.³

As my faith has grown, I’ve been interested in the intersection of Christianity, modern feminist thought, and philosophy.

For one, it is awfully easy to say that the burqa is repressive. Yet I harken back to a comment on the Penn F-Word blog: “Basically, isn’t the case against the burqa making others uncomfortable, similar to the case, in some Islamic countries, against incompletely covered women making others uncomfortable? In both cases, the problem is with the person who feels discomfortable, who instead tries to make the (female) target of his discomfort responsible for removing the source of this discomfort.”⁴

I find this interesting and deeply thought-provoking, to the point where I see the burqa as somewhat of a gray issue.

I’ve also been interested this summer⁵ about conceptions of freedom and autonomy, and what philosophers of the past have had to say about the two. I’ve been particularly struck by what Immanuel Kant, the 18th century German philosopher wrote about the topic. Basically, Kant’s conception of freedom is as follows: you are only as free to the extent that you act according to a moral law you give yourself. That means what we commonly perceive of as freedom (doing what you want, pursuing your self-interest) is not freedom at all. Interestingly, it is the opposite; you essentially become a slave to your own desires and your own interest. Think about the Sprite advertisement, “Obey your thirst.” You are, in essence, obeying your physiological need to drink. Therefore you are not free; you are subject to your body’s needs.⁶

How does this relate to faith? Well I can think of plenty of examples; the Bible talks about how we are slaves to “sin” and “selfish ambition.” Romans 7:14 says, “We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.” There is reference to laying down our selfish desires and becoming a "slave" to the Spirit.

When I think of my Muslim friend, I often wonder what makes her tick. Is she happy? Does she feel fulfilled? And I have a recurring and almost unsettling thought that while she may operate under a set of constraints, she may be the freest of all of my friends. For she is going against her own desires to be accepted in school and living according to a set of rules she gives herself. And perhaps, I think, that is what is deeply humbling about my judgments of her.

As believers, as Americans, and as human beings, we could benefit from this conception of freedom. As easily as we throw around the words “free” and “freedom” in the United States and as fervently as we fight for this conception around the world, it is as necessarily to realize how truly hard and difficult being free actually is.










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Notes

1. A caveat to this point. John Piper responds with a tactful criticism which I find valid and hard to dispute.

2. By burqa I mean the covering Muslim women wear in many Arab-speaking countries. She wore one that covered not only her face, but also her body.

3. She took care to emphasize that wearing the head/body garment was the consequence of her independent choice.

4. http://pennfword.com, Penn’s only feminist literary magazine

5. Okay, longer than that, but primarily this summer.

6. Thanks to Michael Sandel’s series of lectures on justice for this example.