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