The Muslim Problem – Tawseef Khan [Review]

As a Muslim I am always a little wary about reading books about Islam; there are nearly two billion of us from so many diverse cultural backgrounds, and naturally all of those who write about this religion do so from their own interpretation, opinion, and bias. Often the words appear on the page as though they are fact, and even when this is not the case it is easily read as if it is fact. I have to say, though, that I enjoyed reading this book. I really enjoyed the introduction to this book; the perspective of the author was refreshing, and I agree that myth-busting and correcting common misconceptions is just as important for Muslims as it is for outsiders - it is going to be impossible to convince Islamophobes that these myths are not true if so many Muslim people mistakenly continue to perpetuate them at the same time.

The book attempts to correct common misconceptions, divided into 5 broad categories, which the author uses a multi-pronged approach to dismantle. The book reads well, and the author comes across as well educated and articulate. It is also clear that a degree of research has gone into this book. What I occasionally find in debates between Muslim’s and critics is that we can get emotional and offended (with every right to), and this can lead to weak arguments being presented in rebuttal. Tawseef’s responses, in contrast, are calm and well thought out, and he proposes arguments and uses examples that I have considered but have rarely heard in mainstream debates. The historical accounts and analyses of the social factors and political objectives behind Islamophobia in the western world are all generally strong. More often than not I found him selecting clear, strong and well defined arguments, and appropriate examples in support. The breadth of his analysis and evaluation will surely provide a great foundation for those who are new to this debate.

The book, however, is not without flaws (though these are relatively specific). Toward the end of the first chapter he says that “there is no tension between our duties to the western nations that we are living in and our duties to Islam. Living here doesn't involve a necessary compromise with our Islamic principles”, and yet the impression I got was that he was suggesting Muslim’s shouldn’t mind getting involved in the festivities if their fear is that it diminishes their religious faith. In reality, many Muslim’s do not celebrate Christmas because it is a Christian religious festival, in the same way I’m sure most Christians do not celebrate Eid. With the above quote in mind, I believe a better message would have been that Muslim’s are not required to celebrate Christmas in order to be assimilated. After all, he does later explain that assimilation isn’t just doing what the indigenous people do, but i didn’t find he made that point here. This may seem like an insignificant point, but it is an example of the gymnastics required of Muslims to simply fit in in the west which I am all too familiar with.

My main critique, and one I have seen levelled by others (albeit in a different manner to mine) is his critical use of scripture at times, and specifically his attempts to discredit some Hadith. There are several occasions where he provides context behind verses from the Quran that are commonly misused to portray Islam as inherently violent or misogynistic, and for the most part he does this very well, but there are a few instances where I noticed he uses inflammatory language to discredit Hadith, by concluding that they are “weak”. Hadith are the words, actions, traditions, and teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, and have been collated using a very strict procedure with well recorded evidence to support, in order to ensure that any “weak” or unsubstantiated Hadith is not published (one of which evidence is not strong, where quotes or anecdotes cannot be corroborated, or where the source is distant from the Prophet, for example). I think I understand the two points he was making: firstly that the people who collated these were human, and we can’t be sure they were not influenced by external forces and that their intentions were [even unintentionally] unbiased, and secondly that those Muslims who use the Hadith to pass orders on people must be completely knowledgable about the context of the text, and the insinuation therefore that people often aren’t (this sentiment I do agree with it).

Even if you ignore the lengthy processes behind creating the Hadith and evidence that had to be provided to support the selections, the issue is that huge debates already exist, or have taken place, on almost every aspect of the Hadith, spanning hundreds of years and generating more critical academic debates that you can count. The topics debated can range from the contributors, to the selection process, down to the meanings and uses of individual words and even letters. Some of these debates have been concluded and agreed upon with substantial academic evidence in support, while there absolutely is room for interpretation in others. What Tawseef can’t do in his book, then, is conclude definitively that a Hadith is “weak”. I appreciate that there is a limitation of what can be discussed in an already short book where only a small section is dedicated to this topic, but if it isn’t possible to conduct a comprehensive discussion as he has done successfully with other topics I would have recommended not including it (realistically I don’t believe it needed to be included to strengthen his points any further, and risks doing more harm than good). This comes back to a point I made in the introduction; some people who are learning what Hadith are for the very first time may take these two pages as fact and as being comprehensive, thus leaving with the belief that Hadith in general are all conclusively weak and therefore of no utility.

To those of you who have made it this far, I would still recommend you read this book, and then supplement what you have read by speaking to your Muslim friends (or me if you want!). As the author explains, we are not defined solely by our Muslimness and we all have agency, we are all different with different opinions on Islam and that point is vital. As he does advocate in the book, you should do your research and supplement this with a variety of texts, and should never take what someone says as fact (not least myself). If you have questions I can’t promise to have definitive answers but always happy to chat if you want to build your understanding of certain issues.

Thanks to Atlantic Books for a copy of the book, and to W. F. Howes for the audiobook. Available for pre-order now, book is out 4 March 2021.