Anybody interested in Islam and the role of Muslims in a pluralistic society should read this fascinating interview with M. Zuhdi Jasser of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy. Most of us should be able to agree that we need more Muslims speaking out against people trying to hijack their religion for violent causes. The interesting thing is that Jasser does so in such an eminently reasonable way without sounding like an anti-militant militant.
A couple of quick personal notes: I have known several Muslims closely over the years. We have had some good talks about religion, and they are fascinated that there are Christians who believe that prophets existed after Christ. One thing that has always interested me about talking to them is that they are strangely silent about the issue of radical Islam. They always want to change the subject.
Now part of this may be natural defensiveness in a post-Sept. 11 society. But I have always found this response interesting because when I encounter people who criticize Mormons for being literal “the world was created in 7 24-hour day creationists,” for example, I always am quick to say that most Mormons don’t believe that and it is not a tenet of our religion. So, I would expect Muslims to do the same thing, to basically say as Jasser does, “these people are wrong, and I want the world to know they do not represent my religion.” In my personal interaction with Muslims, I have not encountered that, so Jasser’s response is encouraging and, in fact, uplifting.
Much as many Mormons are strangely silent on the issue of fundamentalist/polygamist Mormons. We don’t bring it up spontaneously in conversations, and only address it if directly asked. And then try to change the subject as quickly as possible.
The difference between Islam and the LDS Church is that we have a single, high-profile leader who can disavow fundamentalists and their practices. Muslims are much more fractured.
I’m surprised Geoff that you haven’t encountered Christians who don’t want to really talk about the extremes within Christianity, because I actually have. How many Christians want to talk about why they really support Israel. How many Christians want to really talk about the fact that they would love to see Israel pounced by her neighbors because in their eyes, that means their Savior approacheth. Did you see in the summer of 2006 some of the giddy comments from Christian fundamentalists over Israel’s bombing of Lebanon? Let me share with you some of those comments.
http://thegooddemocrat.wordpress.com/2006/08/08/why-rapturists-want-israel-at-war-with-her-neighbors/
I’m glad to hear of Muslims speaking out against the extremists within their midst. It is a good sign.
Mike/Dan, I didn’t really express myself well on this issue, so let me try again. I have talked to perhaps a half-dozen Muslims in depth about their religion and what Mormons believe. These have been lengthy, involved, very open conversations. They talk about Mohammed and their view of Christ and Abraham, etc. We’ve talked about Ramadan and fasting in general and prayer. The conversation was very open with a lot of back and forth.
In each case, at some point I have said something to the effect of, “it must be tough for you when there are people inside your religion calling for violent change when you are obviously a person of peace.” In each case, the person I was talking to basically shut down and didn’t want to discuss it. I was left with a very strange perception that I had entered forbidden territory, which was strange because they had been so open about other things.
I guess we are the same about polygamy issues, but I usually do try to address those issues when I am asked (although it’s obviously difficult to address without a long conversation).
Anyway, I hope I expressed it better this time.
Strudel good …
I’m probably totally out of it, but I don’t get all the strudel references I’ve been seeing lately. Can somebody clue me in?
I don’t know about the strudel, but I also don’t know why you closed comments on the National Review endorsement of Romney.
The fact that you felt you needed to explain to this audience what National Review is does seem to undercut the importance of the endorsement.
Wow, Mark B, definitely off-topic. I can’t imagine anything new that could be said about Romney here that hasn’t already been discussed. As I said, I’m just linking an article.
On the other hand, if you really are out of strudel, I can give you the name of shop in Vienna that makes a great one.
As much as I like Jasser, I’m not sure I buy the whole “radicals have hijacked my religion” argument. I guess it comes down to this question: Do you define a religion by it’s established core doctrines or by the behavior of its people?
If you define Islam by it’s quranic doctrine (and I mean really study it in full context), and if you’re really honest with yourself, you’ll likely conclude that Islam has been hijacked by moderates. Most of the radical tenets practiced by wahabiists (Saudi Arabia) and other groups were actually practiced by Mohamed and are in the Quran and later hadith. I could go through these individually and in detail, but judging on the response to my guest post on the subject here some time ago, nobody cares.
If you define Islam by its followers, you may reach a more nuanced conclusion. Certainly the majority of Muslims don’t subscribe to it’s radical tenets as they relate to the infidel (though atrocities like honor killings are widespread in the Middle East and Sharia law is 3000 lb elephant in Europe’s living room).
Then there are Islamic views on women (husband’s property, covered 24/7, not considered a whole person, etc.), punishment for apostasy, and dhimmitude that are widely practiced by most Muslims, not just the so-called “radical fringes.”
The telling thing for me is Moderate Islam’s failure to call out Radical Islam and stamp it out. The tired notion that the terrorist ideology is only held by a small radical fringe and does not reflect the majority must be a myth because this is flat out impossible. You could not have a small radical fringe element responsible for so much violence and mayhem if it were not either actively supported or tacitly approved of by the majority.
Especially in a culture as restrictive and oppressive as most Muslim nations – a “small”, “radical” fringe element would be wiped out over night if the majority and the governments of these nations truly disapproved.
By their fruits ye shall know them. I hope I’m wrong and that Jasser is right.