A Moderate Muslim Revolution
The war on terror is largely a result of a civil war within Islam. The extremists use terrorism, oppress those who don’t agree with them, and establish states based on strict Sharia law. The moderates, who may disagree with U.S. foreign policy but stand for freedom and democratic principles while opposing terrorism, may not have as powerful of a voice, but they are decisively winning this conflict, making advances in almost every part of the Islamic world.
The Middle East is where the turnaround is the greatest. When the Iranian regime rigged the elections in favor of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on June 12, the population began a peaceful uprising and today protests against Ayatollah Khamenei, the supreme leader, and chants calling for democracy and human rights are commonplace. The regime is today facing the greatest challenge to its very survival since its creation in 1979. This instability has already caused problems for terrorists relying upon Iranian support and when the regime one day inevitably falls, it will have positive consequences across the world.
In Iraq, the provincial elections of January 31, 2009, were a blow to sectarianism and those against separation of mosque and state. The groups who focused on issues like security and less on religion and sectarian identity benefited politically. The party of Prime Minister al-Maliki, who had made the decision of taking on the Iranian-backed militias of Muqtada al-Sadr, won in a landslide, even winning in Baghdad, Basra, and Najaf, strongholds of the Sadrists and his more religiously conservative rivals in the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq. Gains were also made by the secular Shiite party of former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, while the moderate Sunnis affiliated with the Awakening, the movement that sparked an uprising among Iraqis against the insurgents and al-Qaeda-linked terrorists, have become a significant political force.
On June 7, the March 14 coalition led by Saad al-Hariri defeated Hezbollah in Lebanon, taking 72 of the 128 seats, even though the terrorist group had allied with the Free Patriotic Party, a Maronite Christian party led by Michel Aoun. Al-Hariri’s victory could only have happened with a large amount of Muslim support.
On May 16, four women were elected to Kuwait’s parliament and the Islamists were handed a political defeat. The Islamic Constitutional Movement, a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Islamic Salafi Alliance lost four seats. They now only hold three of the 50 seats in parliament.
Polls in the region show a dramatic drop in support for terrorist organizations and key pillars of extremist doctrine. In Saudi Arabia, for example, nearly half of all Saudis had a favorable opinion of Osama bin Laden in a poll conducted only a few months after al-Qaeda bombed Riyadh in May 2003. In December 2007, only 10 percent of Saudis had a favorable view of al-Qaeda and 15 percent had a favorable view of bin Laden. Forty percent view the U.S. favorably and more Saudis view Hamas and Hezbollah unfavorably than favorably.
All across the Middle East there are signs of hope, such as election victories by moderates, louder calls for human rights and democratic principles and against extremism, and reforms instituted by governments to ease popular pressure. This encouraging trend is also taking place in Southeast Asia.
Mr. Mauro, wishful thinking will get you nowhere. You ignore the fact that any ‘moderate’ Muslim country will be hell on earth for freedom loving Westeners.
Let’s see … hmm … Turkey, that bastion of secularized Islam: Today composed of 99% Muslims, whereas just 100 years ago it held sizeable Greek Christian minorities. This headline is just two days old: “Turkey: Man Assaulted for Missionary Activities.”
No number of ‘encouraging’ factoids that you may cite will cancel the fact that non-Muslim minorities in Muslim majority countries will always be in decline and under pressure from a supremacist and bigoted majority. They will not make apostasy from Islam safer, or proselytizing for other religions. Even at the very best, your trends would take decades of progress to reach something barely resembling Western freedom.
Yet you make no mention of this: Your optimism is just relative to something far worse, something that we would do better to keep out of our countries altogether.
You only define moderate in relation to those willing to use violence to advance Islam, not in relation to any moderate strain of Islam. Obviously, because a mainstream non-supremacist Islam does not exist. If I’m in error, please point me to this fabled beast, and tell me how it has managed to forever suppress the hateful commands against infidels in Qur’an verses such as 9:29, 9:111 (oooh, that number) and 9:5.
In other words, your optimism hangs on the goodwill of well meaning individuals here and now. Thus:
“…decrying the extremists and terrorists who are acting in the name of Islam”.
Would you hang your future on nice people “decrying” bad people? Me neither. There is no hint of why these “extremists and terrorists” are acting falsely “in the name of Islam.” Why are they, Mr. Mauro, which school of jurisprudence do they adhere to, have they rejected 9:29, 9:111 and 9:5, and the notion of Muhammad as role model for all times? Have they rejected the notion of Islamic supremacism indefinitely, or do you just have to rely on their goodwill, and on the goodwill of the following generations? Can you openly criticize the barbarities of Islam’s founder in front of these nice people? Would you be willing to try, say, on Pakistani soil? No, I bet you would not.
Fluff, Mr. Mauro. And what irony, the first name of the nice Imam Shaheed Satardien means “martyr,” and I’m pretty sure it is not about martyrdom in a Christian sense.
Baby steps, baby steps. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, etc. Going from chopping off people’s heads and flying planes into buildings to other less lethal forms of prejudice is certainly worth celebrating.
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So Bush’s strategy to inject ‘democracy’ into the heart of the beast with an Iraq war may bear fruit? It should have, had the rabid Left not bolshevized the media against it.
But I don’t believe you anyway. The best you can hope for is the life of a Dhimmi paying Jizya until one of the Islamic lords decides to take your wife for a concubine.
Muslim moderation. Sure.
You mean Bush’s strategy of driving a stake of democracy into the heart of Islam with the Iraq war actually is working? It surely would have, had the Left not bolshevized the media right in under the noses of the Country Club Republicans.
Islamic moderation. Right. Best you can hope for is the life of a Dhimmi paying Jizya until some teenage muslim lord finds he wants your wife for a while as a concubine.
I do not believe that all Moslems are terrorists or that they hate America/Israel/women/Jews/non-Moslems, etc. but by it’s very definition, Islam (meaning submission), is an intolerant and exclusive doctrine and therefore is not condusive to free-thinking and progressive societies. I personally don’t think there really is such a thing as a moderate Moslem.
The success of political islam cannot be measured solely on the advance of Shariah law, (although that’s one very reliable indicator). I also measure it’s success based on the treatment of non-muslims in muslim majority societies and the movement of populations as a result of such treatment. On that front, the news has been troubling with a number of recent genocidal (or religiocidal?) attacks against non-muslims in Pakistan, Egypt, Sudan, Somalia and Nigeria. While there are many people of good will in these places, they are largely cultural muslims who are, more often than not, unable to protect themselves much less their non-muslim neighbors. So we have a situations of extreme, intractable insecurity and danger for non-muslims and very little political will to see an end to it.
Even without Shariah law, there is not a single Muslim governed country which is considered ‘modern’. This is true even when they buy all the ‘western’ toys that they want. Muslims claim to have invented just about everything, but if so, why did they give it all away to the West? The term ‘Moderate Muslim’ is an oxymoron…moron for short.
As long as those who exult because blood is on their hands, as long as they continue to be the mainstream voice of Arab society, I have more confidence in Jews and Christians rather than Muslims to build societies, rather than engage
in perpetual warfare.
What Paul said. By western standards, there are no Moderate Muslims. There are no “Liberal” ones either.
The entire religion is based on the principal that there are Muslims ( House of Islam) and enemies (House of War). Until you get around that little issue, there will be no peace. No co-existence either.
The best solution we will get is for Islam to create another house. The House of Islam, the House of War and the House of Mean Bastards that you better not screw with.
I forget which Englishman said; “Arabs are either at your throat or at your feet.” but he was correct. Of the two ‘at your feet is less dangerous’.
according to those that hang out on PM, all Muslims are terrorists. What gives?
Thanks heavens! we can now stop worrying about Osama Bin Laden, who says that it is a religious duty of all muslims to acquire chemical, biological and nuclear weapons and use them against the United States.
We needn’t be disturbed that the mendacious and amoral lowlifes who run Iran, who cheerfully sponsor and arm Hezbollah, Hamas, and even succour Sunni psychpaths like Al Qaeda, are about to acquire nuclear weapons. Can’t see what’s to be concerned about there. The mushroom cloud mullahs about to be swept away, and replaced by democratic leaders who will say, “hell, we don’t want nukes. Let’s ask the Americans to help us cut them up”.
Let’s triumphantly consign Hamas, whose constitution explicitly calls for the destruction of Israel by violence, to the dustbin of history. Israelis, you have nothing to fear but the sky falling on your heads. The primitive, stone-age grubs who brutalize the people of Gaza are the ones who are nervous!
Good news indeed.
The ultimate solution can only come from the islamic world.
The conflict is between the exhaltation of 8th century standards, as mandated by the books and sanctionned in practice under tyrannies, and the adoption of modern values increasingly visible and accessible on the world market place. This presents constant dilemmas to the folks living in this mix of old and modern.
A few years back, I remember visiting the Singapore bazaar during Ramadan, after sundown. The sprawling displays of carpets of all sizes and styles where impressive by their extent, but did not attract as much traffic as the stalls where appliances, electronics, and recorded music were offered. Very large families were strolling, browsing and buying throughout the bazaar.
Although walking together, these large families where often dressed in a most dramatic contrast: The elders in the traditional attire, the mid-generation in a strange mix of styles, and the youth in blue jeans and T-shirts. All the products of the industrial world, satellite receivers, automobiles, cell phones, are bought and enjoyed by people who are often exhorted to reject the societies where all these modern conveniences come from.
People in all the middle East seek, and get, first class medical treatment in Israel, and the rich in Lebanon even send their children to the catholic schools, all the while denouncing the vile infidels, the Christians and the Jews.
If Islam does not evolve, the peaceful assimilation of muslims in the modern world will be simply impossible.
The ball is in their camp. Muslims will be welcome if they show some adaptability. Which way will they go? At least G. W. Bush, against all odds, implanted values and practices probably rejected by the elders, considered with some consternation with the mid-generation, and quite possibly adopted with some enthusiasm by the youth. Whenever this kind of changes happen, they happen very slowly relative to the hectic pace we are familiar with, anb unbearably fast relative to those who are still going by almost static ancient standards.
The jury is out, and we better be patient.
I guess everyone can dream.
So called Moderates within Islam are Apostate. One must follow Muhamed if you want to be a Muslim. We all know what Mohamed did.
The so called extremists follow Mohamed. The West better wake up to that fact.
ROPMA!
Sorry, Professor Guvinoff, but I disagree. In Nazi Germany, people dressed modernly, but bought into a system that harkened back to a pagan past.
As long as the one-ness of life overrides the diversity of life, it would be as if Avram did not heed, lech lecha.
Any form of diversity within Islam, or the Sons of allah, as Orianna Fallaci called them, is in spite of the Sons of Allah, not because of them.
The efforts of the Revivalists (as Joel Rosenberg
refers to them in his book, “Inside the Revolution”) have to succeed. Otherwise, life will be more difficult than it ought to be, until
the Revivalists succeed.
On a different note, Leatherneck, what is ROPMA?
How many of you have met a Muslim? How many of you have been in Muslim countries? I agree that ‘moderate’ is a misnomer, it should read conservative or mainstream. The reason we found success in Iraq is because the people stood up against the radicals. They stopped believing the lies they were being told about the west and stopped fearing retribution. The saw that it wasn’t Americans murdering them by invading their homes and beheading them, they saw that it wasn’t Americans planting bombs in their busy markets, they saw it wasn’t Americans killing and maiming their children.
The Muslims of the world are turning against the radicals, their countries won’t become America or Europe overnight nor should they completely but any step in the right direction is a good one. Think of them as Democrats, wailing masses of ACORN zombies destroying everything in their path, those are the radicals. The rest are the friends, neighbors and co-workers that you almost do not realize exist because they are quiet and respectful.
When I served in Iraq many of the people (though not all Muslim) were the most generous and respectful people you will ever meet and I absolutely refuse to put them in the same basket as the scum I was forced to gun down in the streets. (and by forced I mean when someone is trying to kill you, you’ve got to kill them first)
#14 David,
ROPMA is religion of peace my arse!
I do not believe the Revivalists will ever succeed. Only power will succeed against Islam. You can talk all you want, and for a lot of people it will make you feel better. But this is planet earth, so all you nice educated individuals who think talking, and writing about how to be at peace with Islam BZO your weapons or get out of the way.
The moderate Muslims are the ones holding your arms behind your back while the extremist Muslims are cutting off your head.
14. David W. Lincoln asked:
On a different note, Leatherneck, what is ROPMA?
Peter answers: Religion of Peace My @$$.
I am offended. Please do not use that photo. Moslems are not your rednecks.
First of off. Islam Ala’ Bin Laden is what the profit Mooham head is. You cannot disassociate that reality. If they follow moohamhead.. they will kill us. Kill Hindus.. kill any non islamist.
That is a reality.
The koran leaves no other reality. moslems will blow up our chirdren as a function of islam… and all your “moderate’ moslems will be ok with that as long as the “bin ladens” are killing us… not them.
Islam can only be militant and aggressive. Or its not Islam. Many folks living in islamic countries were swayed by western civilization and up until a couple decades ago had begun to see Islam for the sickening, enslaving inhuman political institution that it is.
This trend has now ceased and islamic societies are moving quickly in the opposite direction. The westernized ‘muslims’ will be forced into obscurity or murdered outright over the next few years. Islam is a virulent cancer that cannot be stopped short of total war and extermination. And we all know that ain’t gonna happen.
Can’t wait to see them go head to head with the Chi-Coms however. Sweeeeeeet!
#14, David W. Lincoln:
I’m not offended by your disagreeing with me. We cannot calculate in which way the public attitudes will evolve in the islamic world.
In the meantime, it is good to do all we can to discredit the fanatics among them. A lot of this has already been accomplished in Iraq, and some of it in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In Lybia, the crazy self-appointed colonel has judged prudent to backtrack on his ultimate jihadist ambitions, and Hezbollah has lost ground in the last Lebanese election. Hamas suffered a serious setback at the end of 2009. They are far from renouncing their absolute rejection of Israel, but they have been effectively rebuffed.
These new trends are opposite to the jihadist momentum initiated by the muslim brotherhood since the crumbling of the Ottoman empire after WWI. After the fall of Saddam and his cohort, the worst actor is presently Iran, and they are starting to look wobbly. It will take a long time, probably generations, before the dust settles.
#15, Rob, Thanks for your service, and your testimony.
#14, David W. Lincoln:
I’m not offended by your disagreeing with me. We cannot calculate in which way the public attitudes will evolve in the islamic world.
In the meantime, it is good to do all we can to discredit the fanatics among them. A lot of this has already been accomplished in Iraq, and some of it in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In Lybia, the crazy self-appointed colonel has judged prudent to backtrack on his ultimate jihadist ambitions, and Hezbollah has lost ground in the last Lebanese election. Hamas suffered a serious setback at the end of 2009. They are far from renouncing their absolute rejection of Israel, but they have been effectively rebuffed.
These new trends are opposite to the jihadist momentum initiated by the muslim brotherhood since the crumbling of the Ottoman empire after WWI. After the fall of Saddam and his cohort, the worst actor is presently Iran, and they are starting to look wobbly. It will take a long time, probably generations, before the dust settles.
#15, Rob, Thanks for your service, and your testimony.
How can Islam reform without rejecting its “prophet” Muhammed?
The Koran fetes Muhammed as “an excellent model of conduct”, and Muslims revere him as “al-insan al-kamil” (the perfect man).
Muhammed was not an excellent model of conduct, however, unless you are Charles Manson. Muhammed was:
- a sadist
- a murderer
- a beheader
- an amputator
- a mutilator
- a torturer
- a slaver
- a rapist
- a sex trafficker
- a sexual deviant
- a paedophile rapist
- a looter & thief
- a liar
- a misogynist
- a genocidist
- motivated by greed, power and unquenchable lust.
If Sharia law applied to Muhammed, he would have his hands & feet cut off, be flogged, stoned & crucified.
How can a religion “reform” itself when the standard for all followers of that religion was a sociopathic megalomaniac?
How can anyone who reveres this kind of monster ever be considered “moderate”?
Muhammed made Charles Manson look like a schoolboy. A man like Muhammed should be reviled, not revered. He should be incarcerated, not venerated.
There can be no reform of Islam. It’s die was cast in word & deed by its barbarian “prophet”.
~ The Infidel Alliance
I don’t think there will be any hope in the Islamic Caliphate until the people demand that they have the freedom to choose to believe in the Islamic Faith or not. That, I think is why, there is some much violence against each other in those nations. The Islamic leaders have to worry about the outside world, but they also have to worry about the citizens who have lived in the darkness of Islam unwillingly but forced by threat of death to convert or die, or leave and die, or live as second class citizens
Leaders of the West who respond to aggression by the Islamists, win conflicts against them, and then turn around assuring the Islamists that they will help make them stronger by kowtowing to their tyrannical belief system, are as much to blame for the phenomena of appeasement and conflict over and over.
Anyone living in those lands has no hope of freedom when their liberators have a hand in their suppression, and they know that they will get no help if they rise up against those evil dictators, Imans, and mullahs. It is just a perpetual cycle and only gives time for the Islamic Caliphate to grow larger and stronger. Freedom a distant lost hope, out of reach for many in that region.
Our elected leaders forget that while voicing respect for Muslims they should also be emphasizing respect for the many who choose to live under perpetual dhimmitude to Islam, rather than convert. Obama when emphasizing the right of Muslim women to wear the hijab, forgot the more important right to not wear the hijab.
It is no wonder that the world so hated President Bush. He broke away from the same old path the world has taken when dealing with Islam fourteen centuries ago. When he spoke to the world about all peoples yearning for freedom, it gave those who lived in tyranny hope. It caused the rest of the world to hate him even more. As if freedom is the enemy.
What path will Obama take? Probably the one most of them do, with his finger to the wind.
#5. Toronto Girl: “by it’s very definition, Islam (meaning submission), is an intolerant and exclusive doctrine and therefore is not condusive to free-thinking and progressive societies.”
- A clear thinking, true observation.
#9. John “birther” Samford: “The entire religion is based on the principal that there are Muslims ( House of Islam) and enemies (House of War). Until you get around that little issue, there will be no peace. No co-existence either.”
- Absolutely correct.
#10. tom: “according to those that hang out on PM, all Muslims are terrorists. What gives?”
- No one consideres all Muslims terrorists, but all Muslims revere a terrorist, Muhammed, and are admonished to emulate him. Thus, every Muslim is a potential terrorist when faced with the choice of embracing or rejecting Muhammed.
#13. Leatherneck: “So called Moderates within Islam are Apostate. One must follow Muhamed if you want to be a Muslim. We all know what Mohamed did.”
- Exactly!
#15. Rob: “How many of you have met a Muslim? How many of you have been in Muslim countries?”
- I have. I agree, individually they can be the nicest people. But just like the “good Germans” of NAZI Germany, the “good Muslims” are trapped by a vile ideology.
#17. Frank: “The moderate Muslims are the ones holding your arms behind your back while the extremist Muslims are cutting off your head.”
- Brilliant, succinct analysis!
I’m glad to see so many rational, clear thinking people educating themselves about the truth of Islam. It is a terrorist religion, founded by a terrorist.
Keep spreading the word!
~ The Infidel Alliance
Islam against:
- the Catholics in the Philippines
- the Christians in Indonesia
- the Buddhists in Thailand
- the Hindus & Sikhs in India
- the Zoroastrians & Bahai in Iran
- the Chaldean Christians in Iraq
- the Jews in Israel
- the Jews in Yemen
- the Coptic Christians in Egypt
- the Christians & animists in Sudan
- the Christians in Nigeria
- the Christians in Zanzibar
- the athiests in Europe
- Parisians in France
- the native Swedes in Malmo
- the native Dutch in the Netherlands
- train commuters in Spain
- tube commuters in London
- airline commuters everywhere
- Dutch cartoonists (death fatwa)
- Dutch politicians Ayann Hirsi Ali & Geert Wilders(death fatwa)
- novelists like Salman Rushdie (death fatwa)
- journalists like Daniel Pearl (decapitated)
- aid workers like Nick Berg (decapitated)
- Polish engineers like Piotr Stanczyk (decapitated)
- S. Korean business man Kim Sun Il (decapitated)
- Paul Johnson (decapitated)
- Scottish airports (fire bombed)
- students at UNC (run over by SUV jihadist)
- office workers in New York (twice)
- defense workers in Washington
- embassy workers in Tanzania & Kenya
- cafe patrons in Bali (blown up, twice)
- women in Sydney (rape brigades)
- women in Sweden (rape brigades)
- Jewish centers in Argentina
- Jewish centers in Mumbai
- Jewish centers in Seattle
- Jewish centers in Toronto
- Jewish centers in Venezuela
- Olympic athletes in Munich
- free speech at the U.N.
- free speech in Canada
- the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights
And on, and on, and on…
I’m not so sure I’m seeing the “moderate Muslim revolution” here.
It looks more like an ISLAMIC WORLD WAR, waged against every non-Islamic creed & culture, in every non-Islamic nation on every continent except Antactica.
Let’s not kid ourselves about what is really going on:
The ISLAMIC WORLD WAR.
~ The Infidel Alliance
The author writes:
The moderates, who may disagree with U.S. foreign policy but stand for freedom and democratic principles while opposing terrorism, may not have as powerful of a voice, but they are decisively winning this conflict, making advances in almost every part of the Islamic world.
Descans ponders:
If there are internecine forces in Islam — like the desire for personal freedom and the right to political and cultural self-determination — that are pushing back against radical Islam domestically, that is all well and good. But the author gives mighty short shrift to the anti-western momentum of radical Islam internationally, and to the suicidal way in which the west is dealing with the destructive power and influence of radical Islam. It is one thing to be hopeful about the ferment in the domestic sphere of the Islamic world; it is quite another to be complacent about the toxic international effects of radical Islam.
Interesting. Also important to note the role that women candidates and women voters are playing in the upcoming elections in Afghanistan. In fact, the US Senate just passed a Resolution on Security Threats Facing Afghan Women Voters and Candidates. Read more here:
http://www.huntalternatives.org/pages/7_the_institute_for_inclusive_security.cfm
TO: Ryan Mauro
RE: If You Hadn’t Noticed….
….the only places where the extremists are in retreat is where there are American boots.
Look at Pakistan. The current government is holding on in a tenuous manner.
Look at Iran, if you doubt this. Sure. The kids are trying. But they have not succeeded.
Call me again when they’ve overthrown the Mullahs.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[Freedom through American boots. -- graffiti on a wall in Tehran shortly after the downfall of Hussein]
P.S. The extremists will kill the moderates. Whereas the moderates are not extreme enough to kill the extremists.
This sounds like “advantage extremists” to me…..how about you?
Leatherneck, take a look at “Inside the Revolution” by Joel Rosenberg. The revivalists are those who were Muslim, but
are now Christian. They are doing more than talking. For part of their number is a Coptic Priest, who has only been Coptic, and the price on his head is larger than the price on Osama bin Laden’s head.
Just because tv cameras and microphones do not cover activity, it does not mean that there is no activity.
29. Chuck Pelto:
—————–
I have to admit to agree half way with Chuck here. Yet a lot of the Arab world seems to be engaging in Democracy rather than militarism. The Arab world realizes radial Islam is a cancer. They are combating it with ballots instead of bullets. Of course if that doesn’t work, I say lock and load.
#32,
I think lock and load up front and then do the rest. Best to be prepared for all eventualities.
Well, this is certainly a ray of light in dark times. It’s better to have the “moderates” help us get rid of the extremists, so then we only have to deal with the “moderates” instead of both.
Still, I’m more concerned about the Islamization of Europe by these same “moderates” than by the radicals. Everyone knows the extremists are bad, but a lot of those same people think the “moderate” that tells its hospital to remove all depictions of Jesus Christ, or petitions its job for 5 prayer breaks a day, are harmless.
It’s very very good to see Muslims standing up against terrorism. It certainly makes our job easier, but it doesn’t make them harmless. These “moderates” are the real threat.
Also, CAIR is probably the worst example of a Muslim “moderate” organization, as is almost any Islamic organization in the US.
The main article and the responses are facinating and represent many islamic and non-islamic points of view. Being a non-muslim I do not understand Islam, but from all that I have read and seen, Islam seems mired in an antiquated view of reality. That muslims the world over are trying to balance a 21st century life with a 9th century religion that cannot abide most of 21st century life seems to be improbable if not impossible. Everything about Islam appears on the surface to negate what the non-muslim world believes. How can two such radically different world-views EVER coexist, let alone work together. I want to believe that Islam will undergo some reformation that will bring the ‘religion of peace’ into modernity without the incessant conflict but I don’t see that happening. Islam seems to want peace, but only if Islam is the only religion.
To all of the posters that obviously are knowlegable of Islam, please keep posting and continuing this conversation. We non-muslims need your thought on this sublect.
From what I understand Islam cannot be reformed because one of the central tenants is that the word of Mohammed is the last word. Also since there are so many conflicting versions of Islam wouldn’t one have to unite Islam to reform it? That hasn’t been the case since the day Mohammed died.
As far as I’m concerned, any true test to determine whether one is a moderate muslim would be if they come to accept the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state, acknowledge the historical claims Jews have to the land of Israel and oppose terrorism against Israel. There is no evidence that views towards Israel are changing in the muslim world. This article did not deal with that issue.
The name of Sheikh Prof Shaheed Satardien was given by his mother to mean “witness” to peace and justice and not “martyr” as it became known in the Arab world.
Shaheed primarily means witness and martyr is a secondary meaning.