2010-04-12 Hollanti: Yassmine el Ksaihi etsii eurooppalaista islamia

[Miniluv]

AMSTERDAM -- Yassmine el Ksaihi doesn't see herself as a feminist rebel. She covers her head and wears modest clothing. She learned to read the Quran at age 5 and promotes traditional Muslim values.

Yet there is something pioneering about her nonetheless: At age 24 she is the administrator of a large mosque, an unusual position of authority for a young woman in the world of Islam, even in Europe.

In a first for the Netherlands, men and women pray together in the Polder Mosque - albeit segregated, with the women praying in the back of the red-carpeted prayer hall. Sermons are in Dutch rather than Arabic. Non-Muslims are welcome.

Across Europe, Muslims are seeking a formula that lets them fit into their country while maintaining loyalty to their faith, and el Ksaihi's mosque, which melds some Western secular values with deep attachment to Islam, is one solution toward resolving such tensions.

The Polder Mosque tries to find middle ground between Islamic radicalism and rightwing xenophobia. And it may be at the forefront of the effort to find, if not a European style of Islam, at least grounds for coexistence with European norms.

El Ksaihi seeks to make Islam more accessible to young Muslims born in a secular nation and make Muslims more acceptable to their neighbors. She wants congregants to embrace the religion and culture while extracting it from the homeland of their immigrant parents.

"We choose Dutch as the main language because we focus on the young people. Most of them can only speak Dutch," she said. "If non-Muslims enter the mosque, they will hear what we are discussing. There is nothing scary about what we do."

Financing is another departure from the European norm for Amsterdam's Polder Mosque, which refuses to accept foreign money. "That is one of our main pillars," El Ksaihi said. "It's a Dutch initiative so we have to keep it 100 percent Dutch."

Slotervaart, the neighborhood where the mosque is located, was the first district to benefit from the government's euro28 million ($38 million) grant in 2007 to combat radicalism through education and dialogue.

Haastattelu Washington Postissa

(en muista juuri nyt, katoavatko tämän lehden artikkelit jonkin ajan kuluttua, mutta laittakaa viestiä, jos linkki lakkaa toimimasta)

[Phantasticum]

Yassmine el Ksaihi ... At age 24 she is the administrator of a large mosque, an unusual position of authority for a young woman in the world of Islam, even in Europe. In a first for the Netherlands, men and women pray together in the Polder Mosque - albeit segregated, with the women praying in the back of the red-carpeted prayer hall ... Non-Muslims are welcome.

The Polder Mosque tries to find middle ground between Islamic radicalism and rightwing xenophobia. And it may be at the forefront of the effort to find, if not a European style of Islam, at least grounds for coexistence with European norms.

Slotervaart, the neighborhood where the mosque is located, was the first district to benefit from the government's euro28 million ($38 million) grant in 2007 to combat radicalism through education and dialogue.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/12/AR2010041201483.html?

Niinpä. Kovin on epätavallinen Yassmine el Ksaihin positio - jopa siis Euroopassa.

Minäkin olisin tervetullut moskeijaan, vaikka eturiviin ei olisikaan asiaa. Kun oppisivat vielä naiset ja miehet rukoilemaan yhdessä, antaisin tunnustusta. Eurooppalaiseen normistoon ei kuulu segregaatio. Minun logiikan mukaan naisten ja miesten erottelu toisistaan ei eroa mitenkään siitä, että mustat ja juutalaiset eroteltaisiin omiin aitioihinsa.

Hyvä alku kuitenkin.

Että 28 miljoonaa euroa radikalismin vastaiseen taisteluun?   

Jestas. Melko kallista. Toivottavasti ei mene rahat kankkulan kaivoon.

[kohmelo]

Että 28 miljoonaa euroa radikalismin vastaiseen taisteluun?   

Jestas. Melko kallista. Toivottavasti ei mene rahat kankkulan kaivoon.

Briteissä radikalismin vastaiset rahat menisivät suoraan partaradikaalien taskuun.

[Parsifal]

Ja kuitenkin törmätään perusongelmaan:

El Ksaihi seeks to make Islam more accessible to young Muslims born in a secular nation

Tämäkään muslimi ei näköjään, vaikka olisi kuinka edistyksellinen muihin muslimeihin verrattuna, kykene ymmärtämään, käsittelemään tai edes harkitsemaan maailmankuvaa, joka haistattaa homeisille uskonkappaleille pitkät. Itse antaisin tukeni taholle, joka pyrkii vähentämään uskonnon merkitystä ja korostaisi terveen järjen käyttöä ja omatunnoksi kutsutun sisäisen äänen kuuntelemista.