Waleed al-husseini on restrictions on speech and secularism
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): La voie de la raison
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019
Waleed al-husseini on restrictions on speech and secularism
Waleed Al-Husseini founded the Council of Ex-Muslims in France. He escaped the Palestinian Authority after being tortured and imprisoned in Palestine, Jordan, and then France. He is an ex-Muslim and an atheist.
We have been corresponding and conducting interviews for a long time now. I approached once again to discuss certain principles, seemingly opposed.
These were the ideas of freedom of expression and secularism, then of restricted expression and theocracy. The two are opposed, including the various trends that are emerging.
France’s values tend towards secularism and freedom of expression. Al-Husseini defends values more in line with secularism and similar values. He believes in a firm separation between state and religion. Al-Husseini stated: “All these things do not exist in Islam. It only exists when all Muslims are part of humanity (‘it only exists? What is ‘it’?). But these can then only be calculated within the framework of Islam and Islamic values, which is why they demand the defense of the hijab in the name of freedom, but then attack criticism of Islam in the name of racism.”
Al-Husseini distinguishes between arguments based on race and racism and those concerning Islam and its doctrines in his critique. He views the hijab as an example of slavery and second-class citizenship within society.
In other words, he sees it as a way of viewing women as sexual objects. It also becomes a political tool for more fundamentalist versions and interpretations of Islam. He considers this form of criticism of Islam a fundamental human right enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
When I asked questions about Sharia and Sharia courts in certain interpretations of Islam, these can be separated or distinct from universalist law traditions, in which a dual law system can be established and found in a secular society.
However, society will have a dual regime, one of which will be based on theocracy and will therefore violate the fundamental basis of secularism, namely the separation of the mosque and the state.
“That’s what happened in the UK, and that’s why I don’t like secularism and prefer the term ‘lawfulness’! With secularism, they create insular communities, and everyone lets them do whatever they want,” said Al-Husseini. [The last sentence appears to be incomplete and possibly nonsensical: “Your wife within Islam and our religion!”]
He uses this as an argument in favor of separating places of worship from the public and political lives of citizens. He sees the battle for secularism as a long struggle against citizens who desire a secular state.
Al-Husseini argues that education in secularism should begin in the earliest years of an individual’s life. This would mean halting the teaching of religion as true or false in schools, and instead preserving these intellectual battles for young people as a genuine education in the simple facts of faith: believe?
Al-Husseini continued: “Furthermore, we must stop telling children about jihad and we must not separate people into Muslims and non-Muslims! It provides a simplistic view of the world. Let them see us all as human beings with multiple nuances, shades, and types. And governments should have a secularism law and work hard to achieve it!”
He observes a common problem not only in education, but also among people. Since there can be a problem with people who simply do not adhere to the principles of a secular state, this can create an issue.
Another could be obscurantism regarding aspects of certain parts of a faith. Al-Husseini spoke of terms such as Islamophobia, which, from his perspective, is a problem.
“Because, for example, there are jihadists or terrorists who physically attack you, but there are also moderates who attack you in court!” Al-Husseini stated. He can see this in the conflation of definitions between racism, hatred and fear of others because of their ethnicity or appearance, and fanaticism against an individual who believes they are Muslim.
He noted that this was something he had discussed in his latest book . Al-Husseini concluded by asserting that e-Muslims know more about Islam and the paths of Islamism than individual Muslims.
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