Even though I was born and raised as a Muslim, I never really studied Islam until my twenties. I studied Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Shintoism, Buddhism, and other religions and religious movements with great gusto, but didn’t feel it was important to study Islam.
So, over the past few years, I have been studying Islam. From an academic perspective, of course (which is why I never discuss what I have studied or am studying with relatives and family friends: they would consider me a heretic if not an apostate right away). What amazes me is the variety and diversity that exists within the world of Islam.
Most of the Muslims I know in America would like to present Islam as a monolithic, unified entity. But nothing could be further from the truth.
In the short while that I have been studying Islam, I have studied about Nizari Ismailis (also known as Aga Khanis), Tayyibi Ismailis (also known as Daudis, Bohras, or Daudi Bohras), Usuli Ithna Ashari Shias, Hanafi Sunnis, Wahhabi Hanbali Sunnis, Deobandi Hanafi Sunnis, Qadiani Ahmadis, Lahori Ahmadis, South Asian traditionalist Sunnis, hardline reformist Muslims, modernist reformist Muslims, orthodox Muslims, Kharijis (who technically no longer exist, but whose philosophy survives in some modern extremist forms of Islam, such as Wahhabism), revolutionari Usuli Ithna Ashari Shias (who follow the late Khomeini), Sunni Sufis, Shia Sufis, and more.
Such diversity I even see around me. The South Asians I know do not feel comfortable in non-South Asian mosques. Sunnis and Shias continue, just like in the rest of the Muslim world, to pray in their mosques. Rarely have I seen Shias and Sunnis cooperate or do anything together, here or elsewhere. Despite the vocality of certain Muslim organizations, I hear many different voices and opinions by Muslims on topics of interest.
His Highness Prince Shah Karim al-Husseini Aga Khan IV, the current Imam of the Nizari Ismailis, is wont to remind Muslims and non-Muslims alike that a wealth of diversity exists within Islam. He says that pluralism and tolerance are values to be promoted by all Muslims within and without Islam. I have not heard any other Muslim leader say such things: it’s a welcome relief that the Prince has the guts to say it.
I am just so thrilled and amazed by the diversity that exists within Islam; with the exception of a few groups, most groups live in peace with other groups around them. In Karachi alone, Ithna Ashari Shias, Hanafi Sunnis, Nizari Ismailis, Tayyibi Ismailis, and Qadiani Ahmadis coexist. Each group may see the others as off the correct path (obligatory disclaimer: most Nizari Ismailis, following their Imam’s opinions, view other groups as valid expressions of Islam), but they coexist with them and may even peacefully have social or business relationships with them. (There are only a few, extremist or militant groups that disturb this delicate peace.)
My mother grew up around Bohras. My father worked with Aga Khanis. I grew up around Sunnis. Some family friends were Shia. Isn’t such tangible diversity simply amazing?
I wish more people, particularly Muslims, were more aware and welcoming of this diversity. Like Judaism, Christianity, and even Buddhism, Islam is full of different groups, practices, philosophies, theologies, rules, laws, interpretations, versions of world and religious history, customs, traditions, taboos, etc.
WRS