Jordan Peterson's message to Muslims
Jordan Peterson has some advice for Muslims… should we listen?
To say that Jordan Peterson’s message was ill-advised, unnecessary, and perhaps patronizing is to point out the obvious. Beyond a critique of why he’d put out this message or how he comes across in doing so is to look at the actual message itself —is there any value there? I’ve wondered for some time if Jordan Peterson suffered from compound ignorance or willful ignorance of Islam. For a long time, he seemed to talk about Islam on rare occasions and with clearly little knowledge, then he began talking to critics of Islam or those who simply were no longer religiously affiliated, but then —finally, he began discussing Islam with practicing Muslims who held adequate knowledge of their religion, this is progress.
For so long Muslims have sought alliances with only those on the left. The most recent attempt to do so is by pushing the idea that Islam is pro-abortion. It’s been a long time since we’ve sought alliances on the other end of the aisle. For left-leaning Muslims who hate Jordan Peterson and what they believe he represents, his tone-deaf message to Muslims feels like a win. Yet, I’m not so sure it is. While I don’t want to perpetuate the idea that left-leaning and right-leaning Muslims are in some kind of battle against each other, if we were to entertain that worldview for a moment, I don’t believe this counts as a major loss.
Unlike liberal messaging which is hidden behind acceptance and therefore much easier for vulnerable Muslims to fall for, Peterson’s lecture is so blatantly patronizing and steeped in ignorance, that most Muslims will easily reject it.
So, let’s talk about the content of the speech, much of the speech is not in opposition to common sentiments in the Muslim community —including among scholars. One of my teachers gave a lecture on ‘Islamophobia’ a while back in which he encouraged us to change our behavior, fulfill the promise of this religion —charity, kindness, neighborliness, etc., and people will naturally have a good opinion of us. That much of Jordan’s message was certainly true.
But then there was the offensive. Muslims don’t hate Jews as a group. Whenever anti-Jewish sentiments are echoed in the Muslim community they are usually condemning one of two specific groups —Jews of old who disobeyed Musa, peace to him, and the Jews currently oppressing or supporting the oppression of Palestinian Muslims. We do not in any way resemble the Nazis of the past with their blind hatred of Jews. This is a painful misrepresentation and simplification of the issues Muslims have with specific groups of Jewish people, not Jews as a whole.
And lastly, the ignorant. The criticism of Peterson that he is “not truly an intellectual” is itself steeped in ignorance. As this video essay points out, long before releasing his 12 Rules book he released another similar, more dense, less accessible version of the book called Maps of Meaning. What Peterson has done since his rise to fame is to simplify his academic work into bite-size pop psychology that everyone can digest. But none of this has anything to do with his knowledge of religion —any religion in all honestly, at the end of his message he states, “let’s unite as people of the book and negotiate our way towards a paradise that we might truly and jointly attain.”
I’ve listened to Jordan Peterson for a long time and I’m still not sure what religion he ascribes to. Like another of my favorite thinkers —Neil Postman, I get the sense that he believes religion is valuable for society but has not settled on religion as a belief system to which he is willing to submit his life. But, that side, the problems with this last statement are worthy of its own multi-volume text. But instead, we can let Allah speak for Himself, “Those who claim Allah has offspring… What a terrible claim that comes out of their mouths! They say nothing but lies.” (18:4-5) God has no offspring and no partners, anyone claiming He does is in direct objection to this belief. Of course in the end God can forgive and let into Paradise whoever He wills, but that’s for Him to decide it is not up for negotiation by His followers.
Nevertheless, right before this statement, Peterson did showcase his growing respect for Islam and Muslims, he states, “I wish you well as you strive to become the light in the world that your faith truly demands.” Ameen.
Peterson is a non-Muslim who has very slowly, increasingly opened his perspective on Islam. He doesn’t strike me as a blatant “enemy of Islam” and even if he were, we’ve had far worse enemies submit to this beautiful faith. We pray Dr. Peterson is on that path, but as for this particular message, we’ll take it with a grain of salt.
To Note: I admit my own ignorance of politics in general and particularly the ‘Abraham Accords’ that he seems fond of, I’ll leave that for someone more knowledgeable in that area to discuss/comment on.