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Mar 29, 2017milo_63 rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Letters, written by Ghobash, to his son, is an attempt to guide young muslims on a different path from the one that appears dominant in the muslim community. That dominant culture is one of islamic fundamentalism that has created what Ghobash describes as an intolerant “binary” view of the world – one of harem and halal, based upon slavish devotion to unbending interpretations of islamic doctrine. Ghobash attempts to describe a grey area inside islamic doctrine that allows values that we in the West enjoy, such as democracy, womens rights, and free speech. Ghobash actually makes a credible argument for the existence of the grey area and does an admirable job of questioning the legitimacy of the ISIS types, even while acknowledging their appeal amongst muslims – that a return to a more pure islam will bring the blessings of Allah to fruition and re-create islam as the dominant force on the planet. Ghobash is a devout muslim. Throughout the book he argues that what is not clear from the quran and hadith allow the room for a more modern path for muslims. He is so devout that he even talks about how listening to recordings of recitations of the quran could move him to tears. Evidently, such recitations are form of entertainment for many in the muslim world. However, that is also an inkling of the problem – the doctrine. A plain reading of the quran, which states that it is plainly stated to be easily understood, along with the hadith, is quite clear and quite ugly. At no point does Ghobash actually tackle that ugly doctrine. Instead we are to believe that somehow it just floats out there as a benevolent force for good. However, Ghobash even admits that, as a 12 year old, he spent a month in summer quranic school to memorize the quran, and emerged falling into the trap of thinking and spouting off just like the intolerant imams and other leaders that he takes to task in this book. In fact, this book does a great job of describing life in a muslim Arab country as one of being steeped in rigid doctrine and rigid social controls that is harshly critical of any and all that is not islamic. He also often mentions how dangerous it can be to speak out against those social or religious norms. He describes what is possibly the perfect self re-enforcing cult. Ghobash was able to recognize the dark path that he was following and managed to step off. He had the benefit of being partly Russian in his recent ethnicity and being highly intelligent and educated. He notes that a very large portion of the muslim Arab population is uneducated and illiterate. When considering the sad social state of muslims along with the fact that even Ghobash, an educated intelligent and moral man, chose to ignore instead of deal head on with the vast corpus of islamic doctrine that is indeed terrible leaves one with the nagging feeling that the hopeful argument that Ghobash makes will be ignored. That doctrine will always inspire the next generation of fundamentalists and even terrorists as it has now for 14 centuries, even amongst educated and prosperous muslims (consider the backgrounds of the 9/11 terrorists and many others). So, in closing, the book is a good read. However, to an outsider, the impression left can easily be less than hopeful.