August 22, 2006

“There are moderate Muslims, but Islam itself is not moderate.”

From Ibn Warraq:

The truth is there is no real difference between Islam and Islamic fundamentalism - at most there is a difference of degree, but not of kind. There are moderate Muslims, but Islam itself is not moderate. All the tenets of so-called Islamic fundamentalism are derived from the Koran, the Sunna, and the Hadith - the defining texts of Islam - and elaborated in intimate detail by the classical Muslim jurists from all four schools of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence, as well as by Shi'ite jurists.

The only solution is to bring the questions of human rights out of the religious sphere and into the sphere of the civil state, in other words to separate religion from the state and promote a secular state where Islam is relegated to the personal. Here, Islam would continue to provide consolation, comfort, and meaning, as it has to millions of individuals for centuries, yet it would not decree the mundane affairs of state.

Are Islamic societies capable of being secularized? Yes, there are many reasons for optimism.

Egypt is politically friendly to the U.S. in many ways. Yet the Grand Mufti of Egypt (described by Wikipedia as "highest official of religious law in a Sunni Muslim country) repeats the notorious blood libel which has been used in Arab nations as a false pretext for attacks on Jews since the Middle Ages. Of this current Grand Mufti, Shaikh Ali Gomaa, Wikipedia says:

He is considered to be one of the most respected and qualified traditional Islamic scholars alive.

Is it possible that the Mufti is some sort of isolated anomaly? It is not. His views are repeated in all the mosques. From The Big Pharaoh weblog:

"May God destroy the Jews and their allies. May God curse the Jews and the Americans. May God widow their women just like they widowed Muslim women. May God orphan their children just like they orphaned Muslim children." That's what I sometimes hear the man in the mosque nearby preach during the Friday prayers. I have accustomed myself to the man's prayer, it became as routine as the word amen.

We definitely have a huge problem with our mosques. Many of these mosque preachers never had any religious education; they could just be members of the congregation who know a word or two from the Quran and end up preaching to hundreds if not thousands every week.

Preaching against Jews and praying that God will orphan their children is not the only problem with these guys. Many of them, including even those who had religious education but are extremists in nature, say insane stuff that drive sensible minds crazy.

...if the guy in the mosque located in my upscale Cairo neighbourhood is saying stuff like this, what are the preachers in poorer and less educated areas are saying?

In conclusion: "one of the most respected and qualified traditional Islamic scholars alive" repeats the blood libel. That appears to document Ibn Warraq's statement, that "There are moderate Muslims, but Islam itself is not moderate."

(Hat tip to: A.M. Whittaker.)

Pres. of German FBI: “The enemy of violent Islamists is the Western world as a whole.”

From commenter A.M. Whittaker:

Well, now they understand!

This article is from today’s (22 Aug 2006) New York Times and concerns the recent bomb plot in Germany:

“People thought for the longest time that Germany would be safe because we didn’t send troops to Iraq,” said Johannes Schmalz, the president of the agency for the protection of the constitution — a rough equivalent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation — in the state of Baden-Wurttemberg.

“This presumption is wrong,” he said. “The enemy of violent Islamists is the Western world as a whole.”

The NY Times even seems to endorse this view, appearing to call it a "blunt reality" in the next sentence:

That blunt reality is influencing the debate over how strongly to respond...

Iran Continues its Stalling Tactics at the U.N.

So Iran is saying officially that it refuses the demand of the U.N. that it halt enrichment. Pres. Ahmadinejad threatened the West less than two weeks ago, saying :

If you want to have good relations with the Iranian people in the future, you should acknowledge the right and the might of the Iranian people, and you should bow and surrender to the might of the Iranian people. If you do not accept this, the Iranian people will force you to bow and surrender.

Yet today, Iran says to the U.N., that they want to have "serious nuclear talks." 

It couldn't be more evident that the talks Iran wants to have, are anything but serious.  

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