E Pluribis Islam?

Now for the irony. Moderate Muslims are ignoring this frustration while Salafis are eagerly tapping into it. Hard-core Islamists open the doors of inquiry, usher the vulnerable through and then extinguish the very curiosity that attracted their recruits. They achieve this by providing "safe" spaces in which Muslims who feel suffocated by their own can question conventional teachings, especially those of mainstream imams whose smug feudalism oozes the warning: do as you're told. Tribalism to a T.

Moderate Muslims fail to appreciate at least two realities. One: at a time when youth are constantly engaging their minds to navigate the ocean of information flowing through the Web, it's humiliating to be told you can't think for yourself. Two: in our era of mass migration, young Muslims have more questions than ever. I draw strength from the most common remark sent to me through my Web site these days—"Can we, as Muslims, marry non-Muslims?" A hot 21st-century issue, interfaith love is helping to drive a new school of Islamic jurisprudence that reinterprets theology for Muslim minorities in the multicultural West.

Reinterpretation will be painfully messy because it demands excising tribal tradition from the practice of Islam. It's not just Salafis who confuse culture with faith. Seemingly integrated Muslims do, too. I remain amazed at how often Muslim-American students whisper to me what is, in fact, an open secret: that they can't voice their support for progressive Islam because they would be accused of "dishonoring" their communities.

The shame-soaked culture of honor comes straight out of the desert. It predates Islam. Why should children of the First Amendment sacrifice their authenticity at the ancient altar of a non-Islamic, even un-Islamic, mindset?

Culture is emotional, and a critical mass of Arabs may feel deeply attached to the code of honor. But with equal emotional sincerity, non-Arab Muslims often resent this custom being foisted on them. Previously colonized by the Dutch, Indonesians detect Saudi cultural imperialism today. After one of my film screenings, Professor Hindun Annisa lectured to an auditorium of students that "when theologians talk about Islamic history, they're really talking about Arab history." The audience instantly understood. Their reaction gives me hope that a cultural shift away from honor is possible in the world's largest Muslim nation.

Which leads me back to Sakdiyah, who echoes countless young Muslims today. She wants to be honest with her father but compromises her conscience the moment she faces him. How to help her harmonize faith with freedom? The key, I'm convinced, is to replace honor with dignity.

As a starting point, Muslim children ought to be taught higher expectations of themselves. Some of them will rise to the occasion, as I glimpsed at an Indonesian Islamic boarding school. The adolescent girls didn't need to be persuaded that Islam and human rights can be reconciled. Instead, they asked whether Indonesians, so distant from the news media's attention, could emit that vision effectively.

Invited to reply, I assured them that compelling ideas have historically come from the edges. Witness the Grameen Bank, the world's most energetic lender to the poor. Created by Muslims in Bangladesh, Grameen is now bringing its wisdom to America. The students began to buzz.

Seizing on their excitement, I reminded them of their precious democratic privileges. Use your freedoms of thought, speech and conscience to invent a fresh future for Islam, I advised. Then use digital technology to circulate your ideas. You'll show open-minded Muslims everywhere that they're not alone.

At the end of our session, a gaggle of girls surrounded me to ask more questions, shake hands and snap photos. One confided in slow and deliberate English, "I am so inspired. Thank you, Wonder Woman."

Her reference to a universal superheroine assured me of two things. First, honor can indeed be redefined if the feminist heart of Kartini beats in the religious enclaves of the most populous Muslim country on earth. Second, the potential for a cross-cultural and contemporary Islam can be found in the unlikeliest corners.

In that cross-cultural vein, it's vital to peer past conventional combat zones for hints of where progressive Islam still has a fighting chance. The Prophet Muhammad reportedly counseled going as far as China to gain knowledge. I'm reinterpreting his guidance to include Indonesia. Same time zones.

A scholar with New York University's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and the European Foundation for Democracy, Irshad Manji is the author of "The Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim's Call for Reform in Her Faith" and creator of the Emmy-nominated PBS film "Faith Without Fear."

© 2009