A Muslim is not just 76 kilograms of Islam turned flesh; a one-dimensional being whose every action, from writing a book to doing an interview, can be traced back to an ‘Islamic agenda’. This is the simple concept that eluded Lauren Green, as it escapes most overt or borderline Islamophobes
Reza Aslan has been doing a series of interviews lately, promoting his latest book ‘Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth’. But nothing could’ve prepared him for the brick wall he banged his head against at Fox News recently.
Fox News religion correspondent and interviewer, Lauren Green, was ostensibly flabbergasted by the idea of “some Muslim guy” writing a book on Jesus. She made repeated attempts to strip down the renowned scholar with a PhD in the history of religions, down to his Muslim identity, and berate him about it: "You’re a Muslim, so why did you write a book about the founder of Christianity?"
It’s an ignorant question to begin with, considering that Jesus is a figure of great significance for Muslims as well. At first, it seemed like harmless fishing for compliments for Christianity; to acquire a nice sound-bite of a Muslim author praising the founder of the faith of Christians.
But the interview took an awkward turn. The same question was shot repeatedly at Reza Aslan, in different words. The subtext was clear: Christians exclusively have the right to discuss, debate and teach about Jesus Christ, and Reza Aslan was in clear violation of this supposed patent.
Like him or hate him, Aslan did respond to the interviewer with remarkable restraint. He talked slow, attempting to explain that he’s not a random Muslim, but a scholar of religious history perfectly equipped to discuss these matters.
“I…am…a…historian! I…am…a…PhD…in….the…history…of…religions!”
Lauren Green seemed unconvinced. She made a thinly-veiled accusation about Aslan attempting to push an Islamic agenda through his book, while staying candid about his true identity as a Muslim. Aslan clarified that his Muslim identity has never been a secret. In fact, it is mentioned on the second page of his book.
Following what appears to be a new low for Fox News, Reza Aslan has garnered tremendous sympathy from American liberals, rationalists, and plain non-bigots from around the world. His book has reached the top spot on Amazon, likely because of people clamoring to find out what the hullabaloo was all about.
We tend to ring the Islamophobia alarm more times than we need to these days, but in this case it’s absolutely legit. A Muslim is not just 76 kilograms of Islam turned flesh; a one-dimensional being whose every action, from writing a book to doing an interview, can be traced back to an ‘Islamic agenda’. This is the simple concept that eluded Lauren Green, as it escapes most overt or borderline Islamophobes.
A Muslim can be many things: a writer, a doctor, scholar, a historian, a father, or a vacuum-cleaner salesman. He or she deserves to be treated as an individual with own unique set of interests, beliefs and traits, as any human does.
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Faraz Talat is a doctor from Rawalpindi. He writes on science, social and political issues. |
