Book Reviews 157

The Trouble with Islam: A Wake-Up Call
for Honesty and Change

Irshad Manji
Toronto: Random House Canada, 2003. 247 pages.

Set up as an open letter to Muslims, Irshad Manji’s book contains one letter,
nine chapters, six pages of recommended readings, and three pages of
acknowledgement. Together the 247 pages charge that “[t]otalitarian
impulses lurk in mainstream Islam” (p. 3, original emphasis) and reform is
crucial for the world’s security. Her open letter informs readers that “Islam is
on very thin ice” (p. 1) with her, and asks for her charges to be heard. She
then provides an autobiographical narrative that jumps from her days as a
youngster in a Baptist after school program to a madressa and junior high
school. It moves to her career as a journalist pioneering QueerTelevision then
to 9/11 and its aftermath. Interwoven between these brief accounts are her
indictments of Islam and Muslims. She ends the book with her bid for reform. 

In a colloquial style, Manji lays her heavy charge: mainstream Muslims
are “intellectually atrophied and morally impaired” (p. 55). Regardless of
their location, they are universally homophobic, anti-Semitic, and misogy-
nistic. Those arguing otherwise are ignorant, fraudulently cry racism or
injustice when criticized, and are compliant in all the gross human rights
violations occurring in Muslim countries. Muslims who promote Islam’s
egalitarian message and reconcile contradictions by engaging in discourse
and contextualizing the Qur’an, the Shari`ah, and the Hadith, or cite cultural
influence to renounce stoning, rape laws, or discrimination are not, accord-
ing to her, following mainstream Islam as they would like to think. Rather,
they are acting despite it. Islam, according to Manji, is “really” a tribal reli-
gion that is centrally controlled by Arabs who interpret the “Koran,” a con-
tradictory book suffering from “a mountain range of moods” (p. 228), to
propagate “desert Islam.” Globally, Muslims cling to “foundamentalism,” a
glorification of the Islam of the past, which actually was not as egalitarian
as they claim. This, along with Arab imperialism, are responsible for the
social ills of Muslims, not western imperialism, colonialism, or “the Jewish
conspiracy.”

Nonetheless, with Orientalist tropes and her western-cultivated commit-
ment to fairness and the individual, which, she informs, did not evolve from
Islam, Manji says there is room for Islam – as long as it reforms. “Operation
Ijtihad” involves questioning Islam, its tenets, and proponents by reviving



158 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 21:3

the concept of ijtihad (independent reasoning); empowering women finan-
cially; and, ultimately, using western democratic ideals, including recruiting
Oprah to head a western-based media coalition in the Middle East, to screen
and develop pluralistic Islam. The result would be elevated Muslims and less
“foundamentalism” in the world. 

Throughout her diatribe, Manji poses legitimate questions regarding
stoning, rape laws, women being barred from mosques, anti-Semitism,
homophobia, the Shari`ah, and Muslim-on-Muslim oppression. However,
she uses totalistic language and presents her suppositions as binary opposi-
tions, which ultimately antagonize the reader. To confront anti-Semitism,
which does rear its ugly head among some (but not all) Muslims, she trivi-
alizes the oppression faced by Palestinians, arguing that potential freedoms
under Israeli law are better than what religious minorities have in Muslim
countries. In other words, the oppression suffered by a disempowered indi-
vidual is meaningless if they are Muslim. To highlight western tolerance, she
downplays racism and discrimination, cautioning that unchecked multicul-
turalism will ultimately threaten western freedom. She urges non-Muslims
to speak up and criticize Islam, but nowhere does she encourage them to do
it with humility or respect. In her binary world, the West is fair and should
police Islam.

What is most perplexing is that as Manji berates Muslims for lack-
ing ijtihad, her book, ironically, prevents Muslims from engaging in any
meaningful dialogue with her. She dismisses scholars, activists, and any-
one who contextualizes the Qur’an or calls oppression un-Islamic cul-
tural deviations. She further bars dialogue by writing that Islam is how
Muslims behave, not the theory; therefore, she prevents any pro-faith
rebuttals. It does not matter that the Qur’an advocates equality, because
Muslims do not practice it. The Qur’an has no potential, because, Manji
argues, it is vague. Moreover, as a rant she describes as a struggle to con-
trol and as a colloquial letter, she leaves no room for counterarguments.
She acknowledges her reader’s frustration through dismissive rhetorical
questions, but silences her reader through insults (hijab is a condom that
“inoculate[s] ... from ‘unsafe’ intellectual activity ...” p. 12) and by blaming
Muslims for the oppression they experience. While not all Muslims are
oppressed, this should not negate the experiences of those who are.
Consequently Muslims, particularly those who are invested in ijtihad, are
put on the defensive in order to fight for legitimacy. Manji ultimately slams
shut the door to dialogue that she claims to be fighting to open.



Interestingly Manji, who identifies herself as a tentative Muslim, has
found the Qur’anic theme of humility encouraging. Humility, she states, “sets
us free to ponder God’s will – without any obligation to toe the dictated line”
(p. 228). It is a key component of her self-labeled, dramatic call for reform.
But humility, the revival of ijtihad, and applying it to the Qur’an and the
Shari`ah are not new. Pro-faith Muslim scholars and activists have urged –
and are urging – such engagement. Ironically, this is a commonality that she
shares with them. However, a pro-faith perspective seeks perfection within
Islam not from outside of it, and the contradictions that Manji sneers at are
the grounds for engagement and reform. Moreover, the Qur’an states in sev-
eral places that it is a problematic text, that the best of the believers will seek
the best meaning, and that those bent on spreading mischief will not. But
Manji’s rules of pluralism do not make any room for this type of discussion.

Despite its numerous shortcomings, Manji’s book should be a required
reading. Meaningful and educated engagement is part of ijtihad, and
Muslims, especially scholars coming from a pro-faith or activist background,
need to continue to confront Orientalism and neo-Orientalism head on and
seek answers to address such questions. Such questions are not a challenge to
faith, but a way to assert it.

Nergis Mazid
Independent scholar and educator currently on leave from Georgian College

Barrie, Ontario Canada

Book Reviews 159