Yusuf Smith has relaunched Blogistan as “a Muslim group blog for mainstream, orthodox Muslims, offering commentary on both religious and social issues from a Muslim point of view“.
His intention is that the blog will represent the:
true, moderate face of Islam in Britain, and be a counterweight not only to unfair representations in the media, but also to certain media monitoring sites run by immature people who (probably unintentionally) regularly show us in a bad light.
When I have disagreed with Yusuf, it has usually been for two reasons:
First, I do not think that political or ethical arguments should be treated in a special way – particularly by the state – merely because they are premised upon a religious belief.
Secondly, I would resist the sleight of hand which frames identity in religious terms, and then treats “leaders” of that religious community as the true representatives of all “members” of that faith: from the devout to the semi-detached.
This is an argument that we’ve had at length in these pages, so I won’t rehearse it here. Suffice it to say that none of these objections apply to Yusuf’s new group blog, which is neither a committee, a pulpit, or a campaign. It is specifically and explicitly a voice for those “mainstream, orthodox Muslims“, who broadly share Yusuf’s perspective, and who he is now recruiting as co-bloggers.
I wish it success.
