Can Muslims Handle the Truth? Amina Wadud Talks About Islam, AIDS, and Tolerance

Interview by Ahmed Nassef

Amina Wadud was at the center of a huge controversy that took place at the recently concluded 2nd International Muslim leaders Consultation on HIV/AIDS in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We continue our coverage of the conference with a conversation with Dr. Wadud herself.

MWU!: Please give us a background on how it came about that you were invited to this conference.

Amina Wadud: I have a long-standing relationship with Malaysia. I taught at the International Islamic University there from 1989 to 1992. During that time I was involved in various outreach activities there related to gender and justice issues, including being a core member in a non-governmental organization called Sisters in Islam. Since my teaching contract ended, I have returned to Malaysia 8 times and continue to be active in Sisters in Islam.

MWU!: Tell us more about Sisters in Islam

Amina Wadud: I was one of 8 women who started the group before it became an officially recognized NGO in Malaysia, and we work on various issues around gender justice. In the late 1990’s, we organized a Reproductive Health Conference, and that was when I first had an opportunity to interact with Marina Mahathir, the organizer of the HIV/AIDS conference that just took place.

MWU!: Did you have any idea that your presentation would get the reaction that it did?

Amina Wadud: I had no such expectation whatsoever. I had presented similar ideas many times before to diverse audiences, including to many Muslim ones, and I had never encountered anything like this. No one had called me blasphemous before.

MWU!: So why do you think these people reacted this way this time around?

Amina Wadud: You’d have to ask them. I don’t spend my time trying to think up reasons for what they do. Instead, I try to work proactively toward gender and justice reform in the context of Muslim society. If I kept thinking about them, I’d be a basket case! They’re not my main focus in life.

Traditionally, Islam has included a broad spectrum of ideas, from conservative to radical, and I’ve always seen my ideas as belonging within that tradition of legitimate Islamic responses.

I think the people who attacked me wanted to use my presentation as an excuse to attack the whole process. Many people who supported me wanted to call for the removal of the people who caused the disruption, but I opposed that and believed in their right to be there. But they were not as generous with me.

MWU!: Would you have done things differently?

Amina Wadud: Yes, I would have. The paper was really a work in progress that is part of concepts I am developing regarding an ethic of care and a theology of compassion. I would have devoted less time to inquiring into possibilities and more to suggesting concrete steps for reform. This presentation was meant as a process, not a product, and this needs an intellectual safety and integrity that some people are not willing to give.

MWU!: When it comes to dealing with HIV and AIDS, are Muslims or Islam the problem? And is there a difference?

Amina Wadud: The basic definition of Islam that I teach in my classes includes a negative definition, that Islam is not necessarily what Muslims do. So yes, there is a difference, but Islam can only be that which is a reflection of Muslims in the first place. And it’s important to inquire into the connections between the Qur’an and Sunna, Hadith and Sunna, the Prophet and Allah, etc.

Islam is vital and dynamic, not static, and when we as Muslims, through our intellectual and spiritual strengths or shortcomings, fail to be vital and dynamic, then Islam has died. We can mess it up or do it justice.

Islam has the capacity to respond to a wide variety of things. There can be an Islamic response to HIV and AIDS that is compassionate, tolerant, supportive, and inclusive. But what is considered an Islamic response now is unacceptable to me. Others are making more viable responses, and Muslims are sitting on the sideline. Meanwhile, AIDS continues to grow in our community. We need to step up to the plate as Muslims.

MWU!: Only a small minority caused the disruption, and the majority of speakers, audience members, and the organizers of the event were supportive. So why did you issue a retraction in the first place?

Amina Wadud: That’s a good question. The truth is I was holed up in this hotel all day, and someone asked to interview me and offered to take me out. When I finally went outside, it was so liberating to get out of that oppressive environment. We had a wonderful conversation about nature and creation, and I realized how much I loved what I do.

When I returned, I was told my Marina [Mahathir] that some people at JAKIM wanted to talk to me about the paper. I said to myself, They still can’t figure out what to do with it. So I just decided to withdraw the paper because I felt badly for Marina. I felt that although she wanted to take a stand, her role as a diplomat would be compromised by antagonizing these forces.

So I decided that I did not want to give an excuse to the extremists who wanted to use the paper to attack the whole process.

MWU!: Has anyone apologized to you for what was said?

Amina Wadud: No one came to me and apologized in a sincere, personal, or direct way. Some just wanted to make a political show, even to the point of wanting to take pictures with me afterwards, but there was no genuine request for forgiveness.

MWU!: Progressive Muslim academics and activists usually take one of two paths: “reclaiming” early Islamic texts and charging conservatives with corrupting the original intent and meaning, or calling for a new interpretation of Islam based on contemporary circumstances. Which of these approaches are more valid in your view?

Amina Wadud: I think both are equally necessary and mutually supportive.

Dr. Amina Wadud is an Islamic Studies Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. She is the single parent of five children.