Ali Asani on Contemporary Issues Facing Muslims

EDITORS’ NOTE: Dr. Ali Asani — Professor of Indo-Muslim Religion and Cultures at Harvard University — discusses his insights on the necessity of religious literacy, Harvard EdX and online courses, intellectual diversity and pluralism, storytelling and perception of Muslims, nationalism, and his vision for the future. Published for The.Ismaili

Short Excerpts from the Interview

Harvard’s Massive Open Online Courses

Sahil Badruddin: … Through Harvard’s Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC), you taught a course on “Islam through its Scriptures.” This was said to have an enrollment of over 25,000 students from 170 countries. Could you share your experience, the impact, and effectiveness of the course itself?

Dr. Asani: This was actually my first attempt to teach a massive online course. It was part of a larger project at Harvard to provide courses focusing on improving religious literacy for different religious traditions. This particular course, “Islam through its Scriptures,” was focused on providing literacy about the Qur’an and the nature of the revelation in Islam, emphasizing many different ways in which these have been understood.

In the seventh century, when the Prophet Muhammad began receiving revelations, … people were struck by the beauty of what he recited and were often moved to tears. It was the beauty of this text that actually convinced people that what Prophet Muhammad was reciting was something really unique and different, and its beauty was proof of its divine origin.

It emphasizes that the Qur’an is not just a book or a source of law or theology. It represents an aesthetic experience at the heart of Islam. In the seventh century, when the Prophet Muhammad began receiving revelations, he recited them aloud, he performed them for his followers, rather than writing them down. Hence the name Qur’an, the Recitation. People were struck by the beauty of what he recited and were often moved to tears. It was the beauty of this text that actually convinced people that what Prophet Muhammad was reciting was something really unique and different, and its beauty was proof of its divine origin. The form of revelation as sacred sound was shaped by the context of Arab poetic culture and Arab sensibilities to the spoken word.

The course looks at the different ways in which the Qur’an has been shaped and influenced by differing contexts. How has it been used in so many different ways? How does it come to written down? What are the implications of it being codified and put into the form of a book? How does the emergence of the written form disenfranchise or marginalize the illiterate; those who can’t read and write? On what basis does a literate class of specialists claim power to interpret the book?

Through the notion of the Qur’an and revelation, the course explores many different dimensions, beyond the theological and doctrine, such as the artistic, literary, and performative aspects. It shows that the current discourses prevalent in Islamophobic circles about the Qur’an being a violent text are based on decontextualized and inaccurate readings of the text by those with little or no knowledge of its history, the Arabic language and its evolution.

[T]he current discourses prevalent in Islamophobic circles about the Qur’an being a violent text are based on decontextualized and inaccurate readings of the text by those with little or no knowledge of its history, the Arabic language and its evolution.

Even though I had 25,000 students, I would say probably 5,000 completed the course. The comments were overwhelmingly positive. Because the course provided a platform for non-Muslim and Muslim students to engage with each other through peer facilitated learning discussion forums, it helped develop a more informed perception about the Qur’an and about Islam. Many Muslims in particular were intrigued by the approach because this is not the way they had thought about the Qur’an. They found this to be a useful way of improving their own understanding, improving their own literacy about Islam. Also being exposed to ideas, interpretations about the Qur’an from communities other than their own was informative for them.

The fact that, for example, there are traditions of esoteric interpretations of the Qur’an that come from the mystical traditions such as the Ismaili tradition was eye- opening. Most students in the course didn’t even know this existed. Overall it was a very positive experience for me, with positive evaluations from students.

To engage students in a more active form of learning, the course did not use the recorded long lecture format. I have short 5 to 10 minute videos in which I comment on material being discussed in a module followed by a variety of interactive, online exercises for the students to engage in. It was a lot of work to put the course together — nearly two years.

It was something that I am glad that I developed. It’s archived and available for future students to use, free of cost. I hope that it will become a helpful resource for people to engage with. I also hope that there will be future reiterations of the course.

Diversity and Pluralism in Society

SB: In a previous interview on religious literacy with The Harvard Crimson, you spoke about diversity and pluralism:

“People think diversity is a problem. I actually think that diversity is not a problem, it is an opportunity for us to embrace and get to know one another, to get to know fellow human beings. Diversity is not meant to create walls, it’s actually meant to create bridges.”

So to add to that, diversity is more than color, race, faith, and includes the diversity of lifestyle, ideas, and even worldviews. But recognition of diversity doesn’t actually lead to social inclusion, or even participation or engagement; for that, dynamic pluralism, I would say, is required.

How do we move society towards a truly pluralistic one, where it seems that the current policy seems to stigmatize, marginalize, and aim to exclude certain groups, communities or new approaches?

Dr. Asani: The fundamental issue here involves engagement with difference. When people encounter difference, they frequently do not understand it and, therefore, recoil from it. Fear leads to prejudice so individuals or groups who are perceived to be different find themselves marginalized, targeted and excluded. The antidote to fear and prejudice is finding ways to help people engage across difference whether it’s ethnic or social or whatever type of difference. Such engagement entails understanding perspectives other than one’s own. Respectful engagement with those are different requires understanding another person’s perspective but more importantly recognizing their humanity. That’s important.

When people encounter difference, they frequently do not understand it and, therefore, recoil from it. Fear leads to prejudice so individuals or groups who are perceived to be different find themselves marginalized, targeted and excluded.

You may disagree with somebody who is totally different but acknowledging their humanity and their right to be different is crucial. Engaging with people on that basis is a reflective process as it helps you understand yourself better. In the process of understanding someone else’s perspectives, you reflect on your assumptions and your presumptions.

Very often people assume that accepting diversity means giving up differences and specific identities so that it doesn’t really matter whether you are Shia or Sunni or Catholic or Protestant. That is not what I mean by engaged pluralism. Engaged pluralism is when you engage across differences, understand differences but also retain the right to be different. You have the right to express your viewpoint, but you also have to respect the rights of other people to be different.

I’m using the word “respect” deliberately as it connotes the right of people to be respected for or on account their differences. More fashionable in some circles is the word “tolerance.” However, when you tolerate, you are implying the existence of a power dynamic and hierarchical relationship — that is people in power tolerating people who are less powerful than themselves. Respect develops when you acknowledge that those who are different are your equals.

So ultimately, engaged diversity means engaging across differences and recognizing the humanity of other people. This becomes a basis or principle on which you can build inclusive societies.

I want to add that educational institutions such as public schools and universities provide important opportunities for students from very different backgrounds to engage across differences. If properly managed, the diversity in these educational institutions can play a significant role in people coming to know one another.

I want to add that educational institutions such as public schools and universities provide important opportunities for students from very different backgrounds to engage across differences. If properly managed, the diversity in these educational institutions can play a significant role in people coming to know one another. As students meet each other on a daily basis, they build friendships that cut across religious divides, racial divides. Sometimes these relationships continue long after they graduate and some may get married. Not surprisingly, interracial, interfaith families are on the rise in the United States. Interfaith organizations and movements are also growing rapidly and helping to create a very strong fabric of relationships between different communities at the grassroots.

Vision for the Future

SB: Could you name specific objectives, perhaps you can see the world achieve, let’s say in 25 years, and what insights or even suggestions would you give to help them address and even achieve this vision?

Dr. Asani: I think that the most important thing that we need to recognize are the complexities of being human. We have multiple identities — religious, political, economic, social, all kinds of identities. When you reduce this identity to a uni-dimensional or mono-dimensional one, you are actually stripping a person of their humanity, creating what Amartya Sen terms “a haziness of vision which can be exploited by champions of violence.”

It’s very important for people to be able to engage with each other without being obstructed by labels. “You label jars, not humans.” I read this somewhere. I cannot recall where but this remark resonated with me. You can’t label human beings. They are far too complex to be labeled. You have to understand them in all their complexities. How can this be done? I have mentioned the importance of education, promoting critical thinking about religion, the role that the literature and the arts can play in humanizing what political discourses have dehumanized, the interaction that takes place at schools and universities. Ultimately, having people in neighborhoods building a strong social fabric through mutual engagement is important. Coming to know your neighbors or people who are different is an effective way of dismantling labels.

It’s very important for people to be able to engage with each other without being obstructed by labels. “You label jars, not humans.” … You can’t label human beings. They are far too complex to be labeled.

About Ali Asani

Born in Nairobi, Kenya, Ali Asani attended Harvard College, with a concentration in the Comparative Study of Religion, graduating summa cum laude in 1977. He continued his graduate work at Harvard in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilization (NELC), receiving his Ph.D. in 1984. He holds a joint appointment between the Committee on the Study of Religion and NELC. He also serves on the faculty of the Departments of South Asian Studies and African and African-American Studies. He has taught at Harvard since 1983, offering instruction in a variety of South Asian and African languages and literatures as well as courses on various aspects of the Islamic tradition including Understanding Islam and Contemporary Muslim Societies, Religion, Literature and the Arts in Muslim Cultures, Muslim Voices in Contemporary World Literatures, Introduction to Islamic Mysticism (Sufism), Ismaili History and Thought. and Muslim Societies in South Asia: Religion, Culture and Identity.

A specialist of Islam in South Asia, Professor Asani’s research focuses on Shia and Sufi devotional traditions in the region. In addition, he studies popular or folk forms of Muslim devotional life, and Muslim communities in the West. His books include The Bujh Niranjan: An Ismaili Mystical Poem; The Harvard Collection of Ismaili Literature in Indic Literatures: A Descriptive Catalog and Finding Aid; Celebrating Muhammad: Images of the Prophet in Muslim Devotional Poetry (co-author); Al-Ummah: A Handbook for an Identity Development Program for North American Muslim Youth; and Ecstasy and Enlightenment: The Ismaili Devotional Literatures of South Asia.

Professor Asani has been active post-Sept 11 in improving the understanding of Islam and its role in Muslim societies by conducting workshops for high school and college educators as well as making presentations at various public forums. He is particularly interested in the arts, broadly defined, as the primary means by which Muslims have experienced their faith and their potential as pedagogic bridges to foster a better understanding of the Islamic tradition. Professor Asani is the recipient of the Harvard Foundation medal for his outstanding contributions to improving intercultural and race relations and the Petra T. Shattuck Award for Excellence in Teaching.