IECRC (USA & Canada)

To a lay person, culture quite often means different things. In the United States, to many, culture may mean partaking in elite activities such as listening to classical music and museum-caliber art. As such, one is a “cultured” person. In the corporate context, it means the particular manner in which a group of people behave and interact with each other and carry out policies at their place of employment. Then there is Popular or Pop-culture, which generally means that which is commonly observed by the masses. Culture may be expressed in diverse ways. Quite often, culture is expressed through folk dance, music, dress, chanting or singing, and through observance of religious rituals.

Etymologically, the word culture has been derived from its Latin, cultura, stemming from colere, meaning “to cultivate.” Based on its root meaning, one may conclude that culture is really what makes a people rich, that its expression describes the deep roots of a people. It is for this reason why one may say “such and such a culture is very rich.”

Academically, culture has been defined as the patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activities significance and importance. That culture is manifested in music, literature, lifestyle, painting and sculpture, theater and film and similar things. [A Vocabulary of Culture and Society] Cultural Anthropologists generally define culture as a universal human capacity to classify, codify, and communicate their expressions symbolically.

As one can observe, wrapping our hands around the concept of culture is not an easy task, because culture means so many different things to so many different people. The definition of culture to one group is not necessarily the same to another. That which holds value in a culture is known as a cultural value. Each cultural group has their own set of cultural values that define them. However, that which is valued in one culture in not necessarily valued in another.

Misunderstandings and misconceptions between cultural groups occur when one group tries to impose its values over the other. The greatest challenge occurs when diverse groups attempt to work together when values are different. Religion on the other hand is unifying in the sense that despite the cultural differences, it is supposed to unite people based on universal values such as truth, honesty, respect, modesty, noble character, love, and belief. The Latin etymological root of the word “religion” is religio, which means to tie, to constrain, to restrain, or even, to Divinely constrain. Thus, religion ties us to a set of common values that unite diverse cultures, despite their differences.

Granted that religion has common values, the manner in which these values are expressed or practiced may vary depending on the culture. For example, the expression of love for the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his family) in some cultures is through talking about his life, his character, his family, his teachings; whereas in other cultures it is by decorating their homes with lights, flags, singing, weeping, celebrating and so forth, in addition to the former.

The value of modesty through its practice or expression of the hijab (head scarf or veil) is also diverse, and quite often one culture accuses the other of not being modest enough or too strict. The practice of Sufism, Tasawwuf, spirituality, mysticism, Ihsaan, or beautification of actions varies from culture to culture and its diverse names are testimonial enough to its diverse intellectual understanding and practice. The point that I am trying to make here is that the practice of religious values, based on interpretation and expression, vary and will vary from culture to culture.

One of the struggles of the American Muslim community, which comprises both, American-born and immigrant Muslims, is the definition of the American Islamic Culture. Is there truly a single American Islamic Culture? The answer to that question is yes and no. Yes, when the core values of the religion are the acceptable practice of all its members in a diverse society such as the United States; and no, when these accepted values are practiced by various cultures in their own manner of expression. Thus values like respect, modesty, noble character, and love are all values that define the American Islamic Culture, but the interpretation and expression of these values in their own cultural manner define the Islamic Culture as practiced by Americans, as practiced by Arabs, as practiced by people from the Sub-continent, or by Fijians, Indonesians, Africans, and so forth. The point being made here is that one group of Muslims cannot enforce a single brand of Islamic Culture as practiced in the United States over other adherents of the faith. That which unites us, are the core values of Islam, but that which makes us diverse, vibrant, dynamic, and a rich community is the mode in which we express these values. Note that I have not used the phrase “that which divides us” because cultural diversity is an asset to the American Muslim community and not a defect. If we as Muslims in the United States can understand this concept, we will begin to put aside the minor differences that draw us apart.

To accommodate and respect the cultural expression of common values requires tolerance and empathy for others. The religion teaches us to have a good opinion of Allah and of His creation, which serves as an immunity to cultural misinterpretation. If we always try to interpret actions of others in a positive light and give them the benefit of the doubt as our Beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and is family) asked us to give, then we might avoid conflict.

Recently I read a posting by a Muslim convert in a blog with the title “Marry a Muslim… Heck No!” in which the poster argues that Muslims are racists in that they will not marry their daughters to him because he does not make six figures and that he belongs to a different culture, and that he is better off marrying a Christian or a Jew. What most probably was an attempt by the fathers involved to maintain the same social status of their daughters and an attempt to reduce causes for cross-cultural conflict after marriage, was interpreted as racism by the other. This does not negate the fact that racism is a problem among some Muslims, but this is not the norm. The convert’s argument was that the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said “marry for the sake of a person’s religion” over other reasons, while the parents’ of the girls argued that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) encouraged marriage among your own social and cultural class first. This sort of exchange is a result of the rubbing of different cultures. Both are correct in their understanding, but with patience, deeper introspection, and discussion, the truth is found somewhere between the two.

A phrase that one often hears from American-born or -raised Muslims is, “No… that is not Islam, it is culture… we must separate Islam from culture.” Or something such as, “that is just cultural baggage. That’s not Islam.” On the other hand, you may come across immigrant Muslims saying, “They are new to Islam, they still have a lot to learn.” Would it not have been better if the former said, “The core Islamic values are this because the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him) said such and such, and that which you see is a cultural expression of that value, your cultural expression of the same value may be in this or that way”? There, that didn’t sound offensive at all. It would have also been better if the latter said “Their understanding of Islam is in the context of their culture, which is not necessarily incorrect.”

So, does cultural expression or custom have any place in the way we practice the religion? There is something in Islamic Jurisprudence known as ‘Urf –the reasonable and customary practice of sound people. It is a legal basis for rulings in the Shariah (the Islamic law) typically in matters of ijtihad (interpreting new matters) or ra’iy (juristic opinions). For a ruling to occur using ‘Urf, it must adhere to stringent conditions such that ‘Urf must represent common and recurrent phenomenon, it must be in existence at the time a transaction or contract is drawn, it cannot contravene a clear stipulation of an agreement, and it must not violate a nass (a text such as the Qur’an and Hadith). There are two types of ‘Urf: ‘urf as-sahih—valid customs that are followed by a large group of people and don’t contravene principles of the shariah—and ‘urf al-fasid, which are disapproved customs that are repugnant and violate the principles of the shariah. Rulings derived by way of ‘Urf are not necessarily written in stone and are subject to change based on the time and place. When the early Muslims spread over the continents and met new cultures with customs unknown to them, such customs made inroads into the religion by employing valid methods to derive laws. The point here is that every cultural practice is not necessarily acceptable in the religion, but those practices that are not in violation of the principles of the religion are valid and should not be dismissed as culture baggage because Islam has recognized customary practice and has gone so far as to insert it in the shariah as long as the aforementioned principles are not violated. This also does not mean that there aren’t any customs in practice today by a few Muslims; customs such as female genital mutilation, indiscriminate declarations of divorce, etc that are neither encouraged nor sanctioned by the shariah. Although some Muslims practice it, it is categorically condemned by the vast majority of the Muslims ummah (nation).

While the melting pot has been successful in assimilating many who have categorically decided not to maintain deep cultural roots, it still struggles and often clashes when rich cultural values are hurled against its concept. It has been proven that close-knit families with strong cultural and religious ties will unlikely lose their daughters and sons to the melting pot that has no regard for culture and all it expresses.

To summarize, culture is a complex concept. Cultural values differ greatly between cultures, but those that are based universally in religion are widely accepted. Cultural expression of religious values is where most misunderstandings occur but they do have value. Diverse expression of cultural values is a good thing because it keeps the tree of the Muslim Ummah alive and vibrant in the fruitful production of ideas and its flowering creates beauty and attraction for the Ummah. It also serves as an aid to spiritual introspection as it often enables us to dive deeply in to our innermost spiritual cores to express the treasure of iman (belief) in a manner familiar to us. It’s a means to loving and reaching our Creator, Al-Musawwir (The Fashioner), Al-Mughni (The Enricher). Not to mention that hidden behind the outward expression of culture, which is often easily dismissed, are deep pearls of wisdom from spiritual luminaries such as Hazrat Moinuddin Chishti, Hazrat Fareed ud-Din Ganj Shakar, Hazrat Mualana Rum, Hazrat Shams Tabrez, Hazrat Ali Hajweri Data Sahib, Hazrat Nizamuddin Awliyah (may Allah shower His Mercy on all of them), to name just a few, who once lived (and continue to live) among these cultures, whose contribution to the spread of Islam to vast expanses of the Muslim lands remain unquestionable, who embraced culture and used it to benefit the Deen.

There is a cultural divide between Immigrant and American Muslims. For Islam to prosper in this country, this divide must be bridged. I don’t believe that shedding ones culture is the only solution, nor is the ignoring of the contribution that culture can make to the Muslim Community in the US such, but rather the solution lies in the acceptance of each of our differences, and by looking forward as a vibrant and diverse multicultural community, ready for the challenges ahead of us. This debate between an assimilated American Islamic Culture vs. an Islamic Multiculture where respect for the cultural values of all are maintained, must continue and deserves further study. I am hopeful that this article will spark some debate on this important issue in the same spirit of differences of opinion among matters of Islamic Jurisprudence (fiqh).

May Allah keep our hearts united and our spirits alive, by the rank of His Beloved Sahib ul-Jamaal, Sayyiduna wa Maulana Hazrat Muhammad (sall-Allahu alayhe wasallam) – Ameen!

Sharaaz Khan Qadri Mr. Sharaaz Khan, Qadri is one of the the Directors of IECRC (iecrcna.org) and lives in Sacramento where he along with his wife and family offer many community services for individuals and families. This article was first printed in the IECRC Newsletter on the occasion of the organization’s 5th Annual Milad Shareef Conference themed on the subject of “Respecting Cultural Values: A Criterion for World Peace” May 2008 in Newark, California. He can be reached at sharaaz2001@yahoo.com. 