folio

It is strange to me that the idea of being progressive has negative connotations amongst many modern Muslims.

Strange, because it seems to me that Islam was a progressive force in its nascent period.

At a time when people were committing infanticide for fear of poverty, it prohibited it.

At a time when slavery was rife, it made the act of freeing slaves a measure of piety, for which there would be a great reward.

At a time when the wealthy seemed to care little for the poor, it made the act of sharing a proportion of their wealth with the needy an obligation.

The pursuit of social justice is, to my mind, inherently progressive. The opposite would be regressive.

Progressive would be the pursuit of knowledge, investigating all aspects of the world around us, and the creation of universities, libraries and foundations for research.

Regressive would be to prohibit a whole section of your population from pursuing education, and to commit to perpetuating ignorance across society.

I can, of course, see why some people might be opposed to the pursuit of such values. Perhaps it threatens their sense of self.

It is easier to deploy labels loaded with negative connotations, after all, than it is to engage with the world as we find it.