The Modernist Menace To Islam by Daniel Haqiqatjou

Explaining Islam using the vocabulary of liberalism is, at best, counterproductive. Saying that something is “freeing” or “liberating” is an empty claim because anything and everything can be conceived by someone as liberating. Some people feel liberated by X and others feel liberated by Y. It’s entirely subjective, so you’re not saying anything meaningful by resorting to these empty terms (especially when people’s understanding of liberty is so heavily influenced by contemporary cultural sensibilities and hence they aren’t inclined to believe Muslims when they say the hijab or whatever else is liberating or empowering, etc.). It is especially counterproductive for us as Muslims to use this vocabulary because there is so much meaning to convey in our deen and our tradition. Why don’t we tap into that expansive, deep reservoir of meaning to talk to our neighbors, our friends, our family? Why do we insist on scraping the shallow puddle of liberalism instead?