July 06, 2007
Can Islam be reformed by (diffident) moderate Muslims?
An insider asks, "Where are the moderate Muslims who will purge Islam of its radical, violent fringe-elements?" Unfortunately, they seem to be silent -- and the presumption that they constitute a silent majority seems based more on Western hopes and fears than any empirical evidence.
According to Australian psychiatrist Tanveer Ahmed, Muslims interested in peaceful coexistance with non-Muslims are not in the mainstream of Islamic society throughout much of the world, and more and more educated young Muslims are attracted to the murderous ranks of the jihadis.
[W]ith hindsight, I can see that what we now call extremism was virtually the norm in the community I grew up in. It was completely normal to view Jews as evil and responsible for the ills of the world. It was normal to see the liberal society around us as morally corrupt, its stains to be avoided at all costs. It was normal to see white girls as cheap and easy and to see the ideal of femininity as its antithesis. These views have been pushed to more private, personal spheres amid the present scrutiny of Muslim communities.
But they remain widespread, as research in Britain showed earlier this year: up to 50 per cent of British Muslims aged between 15 and 29 want to see sharia law taken up in Britain.
[...]
At its core, Islam is deeply sceptical of the idea of a secular state. There is no rendering unto Caesar because state and religion are believed to be inseparable. This idea then interacts with centuries-old edicts of Islamic jurists about how the land of Islam should interact with the world of unbelievers, known as dar ul-kufr. The modern radicals then take it further, declaring that since, with the exception perhaps of Pakistan and Iran, there are no Islamic states, the whole world is effectively the land of the unbelievers. As a result, some radicals believe waging war on the whole world is justified to re-create it as an Islamic state.
They go as far as reclassifying the globe as dar ul-harb, "land of war", apparently allowing Muslims to destroy the sanctity of the five rights that every human is granted under Islam: life, wealth, land, mind and belief. In dar ul-harb, anything goes, including the killing of civilians.
While it may appear absurd to most, this nihilistic but exclusivist world view is clearly attracting significant numbers of young Muslims. British police have suggested the latest attacks and foiled plots may have involved teenagers. But the obvious absurdity of the set of ideas is still grounded in Islam, which, regardless of how theological experts argue, can be interpreted in many ways.
Muslim communities must openly argue precisely what it is they fear and loathe about the West. Much of it centres on sexuality. This is the first step in rooting out any Muslim ambivalence about living in the West. But thereafter, the argument must proceed rapidly to Islamic theology and all its uncomfortable truths - from its repeated glowing references to violence, its obsession with and revulsion at sex and its historical antipathy to the very possibility that reason can exist as separate from God.
It doesn't help that the West and its multiculti pusillanimous political "leaders" insist on chanting "Religion of Peace," instead of insisting that Muslims take a long, hard look at why so many of their own are drawn to this death-cult-like interpretation of their faith.
Posted by Mike Lief at July 6, 2007 12:31 AM
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