S. Parvez Manzoor reflects upon the Muslim world and the effects if salafi-ideology in the American Muslim.
In earlier issues, our contributors examined the nature of the Neo-Salafi ideology and its consequences for the Muslim societies. They came to the conclusion that its militant politics, informed by a rigid theology and distinguished by a rabidly antiintellectual disposition, terminates in the heartless land of fanaticism and terror. It represents a betrayal of our tradition, a debasement of out morality, indeed a disfigurement of our humanity.
In this issue, these insights have been extended to the realm of culture. The neo- Salafi politics of purity, it is further demonstrated by our authors, is scornful of all human achievements. It is as destructive of the artistic heritage of the past, as it is inimical to the cultural life of the present. In seeking a moment of authenticity in a mythical past, it rejects all history and tradition. By so doing, it acts as an agent of sedition and disharmony We on our part seek to demonstrate that our civilization is heir to a rich artistic tradition in which spirituality triumphs over puritanical emptiness and in which beauty is regarded as a means to approaching God, at par with prayer! Similarly, our faith demands an ethical revolution in the soul and prescribes righteousness as the measure of man. This we believe is the ultimate antidote against all the poisonous ideologies of self-worship.
