Journalism / Deaf Indian Muslim Anarchist (Analysis)
It is rare to find an authentic original in a world populated by mindless lemmings. Sabina England is such an original. A self-described anarchist and punk rocker, Sabina’s has defined herself on an internet profile as ” a secular humanist, but I am a Muslim anarchist by faith and I am a proud Indian nationalist. I am also Deaf, however I can read lips, although I prefer sign language.”
At the age of twenty six, Sabina is also an accomplished playwright with a script pending with a Los Angeles producer for a possible movie production. Intrigued by her self appointed tag of ‘Deaf Indian Muslim Anarchist’ I instigated a dialouge and over the course of several e-mails she revealed to me her point of view and entailed a lifestyle that I might never have otherwise come into contact with. The following interview was comprised from direct quotes of those conversations:
[ TRAVIS:You mention very prominently that you are an anarchist. Do you mean Anarchism on a Philosophical level or a political level or maybe in a more personal, day-to-day, life by the cuff kind of sense?
SABINA: I call myself a Muslim anarchist by way of spirituality, not politically. There is an old Islamic tradition called Ijtihad, which means any Muslim can interpret the Holy Quran in their own way and NOBODY (not religious authorities) can tell them how to practice Islam. During the Golden Age of Islamic civilization, the tradition of Ijtihad was very alive, common and well.
Sadly, today not anymore. a lot of Muslims are brainwashed and told how to think, what to believe in. it's bullsh-t. so I refuse to follow Islam as an organized religion. My relationship with Allah is between me and him, only. I am an anarchist because I interpret Islam loosely, my way. and f-ck organized religion. I hate the whole rigid structure of organized religion and leaders and authority.
TRAVIS:This Ijtihad interest me. What else can you tell me about it? are there specific texts dedicated to this aspect of Islam?
SABINA:Ijtihad is a very cool concept. I don't know too much about it, but from what I've gathered, it allowed Muslims to believe that it was acceptable to be gay/lesbian/queer, to have sex before marriage, to drink alcohol, to get tattoos, to marry a non-Muslim, and all that jazz. basically, it was just a general idea that Islam was between you and Allah. Nobody else could tell you how to pray and you answered to nobody except Allah. That's how I follow my religion.
Like you, I also believe in evolution. A lot of Muslims do, actually. Many people think that religions are so anti-science, but in this case for Islam, it's not. Islam always encouraged Muslims to study science, to become scientists, and to bring up theories of evolution. unfortunately there's a lot of right wing Muslim extremist assholes in other parts of the world who are so against science and education, that they think everyone should follow the Wahhabi way of life and live by the Shariah." ]
From this point on, the structure of our dialouge broke down somewhat into more segmented discussion. Not as conducive to the interview format. But when the conversation drifted back to religion, sabina had this to say: “I absolutely loathe religious authority. This includes evangelists, mullahs, imams, priests, rabbi’s, pandits, gurus, and whatever else are out there. Religion should be a personal thing; nobody has the right to tell me how to live my life, what to believe in or who I should vote for. Religion and politics should never mix. Whether a religious group is the majority or minority of the voting population, just remember that people will never agree on morals and values. Hence, it’s better to keep religion seperate from politics.” This mildly political tinge gave way to discussion of Barrack Obama’s recent speech that he addressed to the muslim world. It was a diatribe clearly intended to express his tolerance and acceptance of the Islamic way of life. Here in America, certain conservative right-wing political pundits began an offensive attack against the speech. Discrediting his message and spreading racist propaganda against Islam and muslims in general. In an internet blog, Sabina posted a typical reaction to the speech from the opposite side of the spectrum:
“”In cafes and restaurants, televisions were turned to sports or movies or blared music videos. When a man at a restaurant in Mosul tried to change the channel to the speech, diners shouted at him, “What a stupid speech!” In the Shorooq restaurant in Karbala, a small crowd heckled Mr. Obama as he spoke about Israel. “The most important thing is to accomplish things, not just say them,” said Alaa Sahib Abdullah, a 30-year-old lawyer.”
But it is important that we do not assume all muslims experiecne the anti-american psychopathic zeil that some would have us beleive runs rampant in the middle eastern pocket of the globe. In fact, Sabina assured the readers of her blog that the taliban is regarded with a measure of dissaproval not unlike that of the white supremacist movement here in the states: “A lot of Americans, who don’t read the news, wrongly and falsely assume that a lot of Muslims in Pakistan and Afghanistan support the Taliban. Not true. There’s a lot of anger and resentment felt toward the Taliban, because the Taliban is such a perverse, extreme right wing Islamic group, who have destroyed the social, political and economic factions of the Afghan government (with help from the USSR and United States, of course). They are trying to take over northwestern Pakistan, but which should come as NO surprise to anyone, many Pakistani’s hate them and don’t want the Taliban in their country.”
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i feel this is 1 persons opinion regarding an entire culture of people how can 1 person sum up a conclusion on this subject?
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Great interview. I think Ms. England sounds very educated and straight-forward in her answers. I also like the formatting and how neither of you shied away from tough questions. Good job.
” a secular humanist -quote marks are wrong way, delete the space between them and the first word..
to religion, sabina had this -capital S
Interesting read, one thing that may have turned them off if the harsh language. Maybe toning it down would help some. Makes sense, and maybe some people will see the usefulness of your knowledge.
I enjoyed it alot. The title caught my attention and you really captured how this persom was unique. It also brought up many of todays issues and what people thought of them. I really like the opinion of someone who is different. Sorry I cant help much with editing but it was an awesome article.
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