Creativity in Protesting Religious Fundamentalism Maryam Namazie

i’d like to speak about creativity

in protesting islamic fundamentalism

particularly since

i’ve had some difficulties trying to

speak about

my experiences for example at goldsmiths

university

the islamic society students there tried

to aggressively cancel my talk

and i have actually once been barred

from speaking

at warwick university though of course

that decision was eventually overturned

as a result of protests but

the decision to initially bar me was

defended

by the likes of the guardian i

faced character assassinations

censorship

on social media and i’ve had more death

threats than i care to remember

including one that was a pre-recorded

threat

from the intelligence services of the

islamic republic of iran

i mean can you imagine they had so many

people to threaten that day

that they needed a recording

the iranian regime has called me immoral

corrupt a harlot and of course many

people here have labeled me islamophobic

even though criticism of religion which

is just

really another idea or criticism of

religious fundamentalism

which is just really another far-right

political movement

is not bigotry against believers in the

same way

that criticizing trump and the christian

right

is not the same as attacking christians

they’re two very different things

they’ve also called me some have called

me inflammatory

and offensive and i do understand of

course that

creativity and protest against islamic

fundamentalism against religious

morality

can offend even if it’s not done

intentionally

and i think it can offend because it

pushes the boundaries

and it challenges dominant narratives

and perspectives and i think it offends

because it challenges the limits of what

is permissible for people like me

others can live their lives in any way

that they choose

but for those of us who are from

minority backgrounds from migrant

backgrounds

who come from muslim families who come

from countries who have fled

islamic laws there is this expectation

that we must live

within confines that have been imposed

by fundamentalists fascists

and mullahs but let me ask you

a very simple question do i

or do i not have the right to tell my

story

do islam’s non-believers the kauffars

the harlots the unveiled women the the

the those who want to question and

challenge religion

the ex-muslims do we and not have the

right to speak

and to live and to love the way that we

choose

i agree that what i say is sometimes

uncomfortable to hear for some

not for everyone it’s uncomfortable for

some

and if i’m fully honest it’s very

uncomfortable

oftentimes for me even to say the things

that i do

but what else can i do to say that i

exist

that we exist and that there are many of

us

that we are not property we are not

extensions of male guardians

and of the family patriarch and of some

homogenous imagined community or society

and i say imagine because no society and

no so-called community is homogeneous

there are so many differences of opinion

there are class struggles social and

political movements

and always there is dissent uh you know

so

for for me it’s really important that we

can say we we

are individuals we have rights we have

hopes we have dreams

and i suppose the question is if we

don’t speak

who will speak for us if we don’t speak

how

can we move from exclusion to inclusion

from isolation to participation

from absence to presence from

shunning and trauma to survival from

discrimination to equality

yet it’s our words even sometimes

written on our own bodies

that are more offensive than death

threats

violence and murder let’s not forget

that as we speak apostasy which is

the renunciation of religion leaving

religion

and blasphemy which is poking fun of

religion or

criticizing it or questioning it is a

is they are offenses punishable by death

in a dozen

countries under islamic law and it’s not

just people who are atheists and

ex-muslims like myself

but also many questioning and dissenting

believers

who are faced with these laws

these laws persecute some of the most

wonderful people

in all of our societies someone like

badawi

who has been sentenced to 10 years in

prison

and a thousand lashes in saudi arabia

merely for writing and speaking and

thinking freely

there are others like sina dejan in iran

ayaz nizami in pakistan and also junaid

hafiz in pakistan who are currently

languishing on death row on accusations

and charges of blasphemy

and of course women who transgress very

restrictive religious

norms and laws and mores face severe

consequences particularly because

women are seen to be the personification

of family and male and religious honor

and pride in iran three women

have been sentenced to up to 42 years in

prison

between them just for defying compulsory

veiling

rules they have been charged with

inciting prostitution because according

to the islamic regime in iran if you

show your hair

you are inciting prostitution

and of course it’s not just over there

there are lots of people

young people in particular living in

britain living in the west

who face honor related violence and

threats

who face shunning and ostracization from

their families because

they want to be atheists because they

are gay

because they don’t want to wear the veil

and shunning

while it’s taken very lightly is truly

one

form of psychological long-term

psychological torture

and a form of social death penalty

when you are systematically silenced and

erased in this way

often with violence or at least always

you know somewhere behind the scenes the

threat of it

the mere act of speaking with creativity

is an act of survival and it’s also

an important act of resistance and

civil disobedience when the public space

is so oppressive and so full of fear

subverting flouting disobeying

ridiculous

rules and mores absurd ones misogynist

ones

not only challenges dogmas and taboos

but it helps to reclaim and

transform the public space and society

that is of course not to say that racism

doesn’t exist that anti-muslim bigotry

don’t exist

that xenophobia doesn’t exist of course

they do

but because they’re a ra there is racism

you cannot ignore

fundamentalism and i’m talking about all

fundamentalisms

including hindu and buddhist

fundamentalisms

killing muslims in india and myanmar

to jewish fundamentalisms in the paris

palestinian territories

to christian fundamentalism the rise of

which

we are witnessing in the united states

and in many

european countries and likewise

just because there is because there is

fundamentalism

you can’t ignore racism you can’t ignore

one because of the other

you have to combat and fight against

both

i think that creativity

challenges bigotry by appealing to our

common humanity

it responds to violence with humor and

non-violence

you can’t be as afraid if you’re

laughing

it increases democratic and

participatory politics it moves you out

of isolation and despair

it makes you feel less afraid and i

think with it

it brings courage and hope

like the ex-muslim because hashtag it’s

a hashtag we started in 2015

thinking that only a few hundred people

at most would join in

to the hashtag but it became viral

in 24 hours and it was the stories of

countless people

saying why they had left islam and

become

non-believers so some of them were quite

funny ex-muslim because

no 72 virgins for me others had very

heart

breaking stories attached to their

coming out in public

and of course it became more than 120

000 tweets from over 65 countries

worldwide

which was also met with solidarity

actions

from some muslims as well

other actions we’ve done is actions like

the fast fast-defying

actions during ramadan so instead of

having sit-ins we have eatons

where we eat in front of embassies of

governments

that imprison and flog people for eating

and drinking water during ramadan

of course people have the right to fast

there are members of my family

that fostering ramadan but the point is

that they are free to do it just as

others should be free including

believers

not to fast if they don’t want to

like actions and solidarity with the

movement in iran

against compulsory veiling the white

wednesdays movement

or nude protests you know the thing is

when you are

met with a fundamentalist movement that

despises

women’s bodies that want us to be erased

from the public space nude protest is an

important challenge to that perspective

that

says there is nothing wrong with our

bodies they are not dirty

they are not obscene they are not the

source of fitna and chaos in society

and in fact our bodies in our own hands

can become tools for liberation

or campaigns that assert that periods

are natural

and that we will never be ashamed for

this natural occurrence in our bodies

or acts like the atheist azan which is

subverting

the muslim call to prayer in order to

normalize

heresy and descent or dancing in king’s

cross

asking for for uh believers to show

support

and love to the ex-muslims and their

families

in their societies and so-called

communities

and asking for an end to the practice of

shunning

or creativity in defense of the lgbt

rights

of muslims and ex-muslims now i know

uh you know some people think that allah

is gay is such an offensive word to use

but

it’s only offensive if you think being

gay is something that

needs to be become offended by

in the same way that singers can sing

about god being a woman

or you have placards in pride saying

god is gay jesus is queer jesus has two

dads

in that same vein and in that context of

pride in london

it’s a struggle to challenge religious

homophobia

and open the space for lgbt muslims and

ex-muslims

i think creativity in protest says to

the fundamentalists

you do not have power over us you cannot

silence us we will not submit to your

rules

we will determine our own stories and

history

as the brilliant organization south hall

black sister says

our tradition is struggle not submission

creativity in protest insists on the

human rights of freedom of conscience

and let’s not forget that freedom of

conscience is not just

the right to religion but also the right

to be free

from religion creativity and protest

also insists on

freedom of expression which by the way

also includes the right to criticize

religion the sacred and the taboo and it

does it in practice

in the public space not in art galleries

and not

as abstract and theoretical notions and

concepts

it creates solidarity and insists on

equality

not superiority and not difference

creativity and process protest goes

i think to the core of what it is to be

fully human

it enables us to reimagine society

and the world and to change it for the

better

thank you very much