Moderate Islam - does it exist? If yes, how do YOU define it?

In light of the current events, I came across this article and found it interesting and relevant to this thread. It originally appeared in the Washington Post.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/qasim-rashid/will-the-real-moderate-mu_b_817600.html

Qasim RashidMember, Muslim Writers Guild of America
Posted: February 3, 2011 06:34 PM

Will the Real Moderate Muslims Please Stand Up?


The crisis in Egypt has re-ignited the debate of whether moderate Islam is a reality or just a show. Political and religious dissatisfaction, especially in the Third World, demonstrate the need for a new leadership philosophy. In an NBC interview shortly after Faisal Shahzad's 2010 arrest, I was asked, "Do you think more moderate Muslims need to stand up against radical Islam?" "Absolutely!" I replied. In response, I was asked: Well, what exactly is a moderate Muslim? In the absence of a unified voice from the Muslim world and with time running out, it seems few have a clear idea. However, for well over a century the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has practically defined, through the Quran and Prophet Muhammad's life, what it means to be a moderate Muslim.


First, a moderate Muslim recognizes that Islam requires complete separation of mosque and state. The Quran does not endorse any particular government philosophy, but instead requires that justice, not religion, be the determinative factor when governing (4:59). Extremists, like the Wahabbis, ignorantly preach that Islam requires the imposition of sharia on non-Muslims. But since the Quran categorically forbids all religious compulsion (2:257), such an imposition find no Islamic justification.

Contrary to Faisal Shahzad's ambitions, the Quran requires a Muslim to obey and be loyal to those in his charge. Prophet Muhammad added, "You should listen to and obey your ruler, even if you [despise him]." While national loyalty does not forbid dissent, that dissent must be expressed legally and peacefully -- never violently. Critics like Robert Spencer claim Islam allows Muslims to engage in taqiyya, treachery against non-Muslims. However, the Quran unequivocally forbids lying or hiding the truth and Prophet Muhammad instructed, "It is obligatory for you to tell the truth."

Moderate Muslims reject violent jihad, recognizing that true Jihad is the struggle to attain nearness to God through good works. Would-be Portland bomber Mohamad Mohamed apparently never read the Quranic verse, "... whosoever killed a person... it shall be as if he had killed all mankind" (5:33). If Mohamad Mohamed felt persecuted, the Quran requires that a Muslim facing persecution must sooner emigrate than retaliate (4:98). Even after facing 12 years of actual persecution in Mecca, Prophet Muhammad rejected all forms of terrorism, instead ordering his followers to migrate to preserve the peace.

In response, critics cite the abrogation argument, asserting that later "violent" verses of the Quran abrogate earlier "peaceful" verses. Far from abrogating any verse of the Quran, these so-called violent verses permit self-defense and mandate the protection of universal religious freedom. For example, the Quran states, "Permission to fight is given to those against whom war is made..." (22:40). A moderate Muslim recognizes that the Quran permits (not commands) self-defense if attacked after emigration. The next verse commands Muslims to indiscriminately protect all places of worship. This teaching is neither unjust, nor does it nullify any prior verses.

Therefore, a moderate Muslim recognizes that Prophet Muhammad promoted freedom of religion and speech for all mankind, without threat of punishment for blasphemy or apostasy. This is one reason why Ahmadi Muslims vehemently reject anti-blasphemy legislation and instead support both the First Amendment and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Moderate Muslims also recognize the equality and empowerment of women. Prophet Muhammad clearly stated that education is a fundamental right for Muslim women. His first wife Khadija was an accomplished entrepreneur and his wife Ayesha was a prolific jurist. While Islam urges both sexes to dress modestly and guard their eyes, women are enjoined to cover their heads and wear an outer garment to conceal their beauty from strangers. Her dress encourages society to focus on her intellectual merit rather than her physical characteristics. Indeed, a December 2010 New York Times article reported that American Muslim women have "achieved a level of success and visibility unmatched elsewhere." Modestly dressed Muslim women are active in every sphere of life as doctors, lawyers, journalists, engineers, politicians, as well as mothers and wives. Furthermore, the Quran is clear that both sexes are equal in matters of spiritual salvation (4:125).

Additionally, a moderate Muslim recognizes that Islam does not monopolize salvation. Rather than condemn non-Muslims to eternal hell, the Quran declares that God's prevailing mercy offers salvation to all Jews, Christians and people of other paths who believe in God and do good works (2:63). Extremists await a bloody Messiah who will kill all non-Muslims to attain worldly Islamic domination. However, moderate Muslims recognize that a prophet's only responsibility was the delivery of the message. Compulsion was categorically forbidden. Consequently, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community are Muslims who believe in the Messiah, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian. Ahmad, like Jesus, came to end religious wars, and unify mankind under one flag of peace and tolerance.

This definition of moderate Islam has fared extremely well for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. In just a century, Ahmadi Muslims have established themselves in nearly 200 countries with millions of adherents, hundreds of schools and dozens of hospitals. Their membership includes the Muslim world's first Nobel Prize winner in Dr. Abdus Salam and the only Muslim President of the UN and World Supreme Court in Sir Zafrullah Khan. Perhaps most importantly, they live as loyal and productive citizens to each of their respective countries, demonstrating that moderate Islam practically thrives in this world -- not just in theory. As organizations the world over scramble to define moderate Islam, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community extends an invitation to adopt a century old tried and true method -- and you don't even need to be Muslim to endorse it.


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So, in summary:

"Moderate" defined as:

- Complete separation of mosque and state, contrary to wahhabism, no imposition of sharia on non-Muslims
- No Taqiyya (lying to non-believers)
- Rejection of violent jihad
- Freedom of speech and religion
- No threat of punishment for blasphemy/apostasy
- Equality and empowerment of women
- No monopolization of salvation (no belief in eternal hell for non-believers)

Sounds pretty good to me.

My initial list (which most seemed to agree with) was:

- wants Sharia as the rule of law = not moderate
- wants women to be forced to (at least) veil = not moderate
- believes in polygamy = not moderate
- believes marriage to a menstruating child should be legal = not moderate
- thinks amputations and stonings are acceptable punishments = not moderate
- thinks apostasy should be criminal = not moderate
- views Jews, Christians and other non-Muslims as "dhimmis" with lesser rights than Muslims = not moderate

Pretty much in line with what this guy posted. If all Muslims thought like this guy, I would not have a problem with Islam as it is practiced.

But, e.g., the Muslim Brotherhood

- wants to impose sharia law on everyone, does not believe in separation of mosque and state
- wants to enforce a "dhimmi" tax on non-Muslims: In 1997 Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mustafa Mashhur told journalist Khalid Daoud[99] that he thought Egypt's Coptic Christians and Orthodox Jews should pay the long-abandoned jizya poll tax, levied on non-Muslims in exchange for protection from the state, rationalized by the fact that non-Muslims are exempt from military service while it is compulsory for Muslims. He went on to say, "we do not mind having Christians members in the People's Assembly...the top officials, especially in the army, should be Muslims since we are a Muslim country...This is necessary because when a Christian country attacks the Muslim country and the army has Christian elements, they can facilitate our defeat by the enemy." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_Brotherhood#Criticisms
- most probably wants to force women to veil
- would probably advocate punishments for "blasphemy" and apostasy
- is hostile towards Israel and some of its leaders want war with Israel.

Reasons to be concerned.

 

The Muslim Brotherhood is the best-organized opposition group. Around 90 % of the population in Egypt are Muslims. There are concerns that a post-Mubarak government including or backed by the Muslim Brotherhood could sway Egypt into a more fundamentalist direction regarding the brand of Islam that is predominant in the country.

 

Apparently the Egyptian Christians disagree with you (although I am not surprised that you would try to downplay the threat).

Egyptian Christians Concerned About Muslim Brotherhood

International Christian Concern officials recently returned from Egypt, where they met with Egyptian Christians to discuss the mass demonstrations calling for the end of Mubarak’s 30-year reign as president.

ICC reports that most Christians share the frustrations of their Muslim countrymen and support the demonstrators for political reform, an end to police brutality, and stagnant incomes. At the same time, many Christians fear that the demonstrations could lead to a power vacuum and possible takeover by the only organized, determined, and moneyed opposition: the Muslim Brotherhood. This would, of course, be a disaster for the Christian population.

"Christians in Egypt are finding themselves at a crossroads. While there is little support for President Mubarak, there is uncertainty over what an alternative government might bring,” says Aidan Clay, the Middle East Regional Manager for ICC.

“The Muslim Brotherhood is trying to hijack the revolution and call it their own. If the Brotherhood is able to gain the upper hand, Christians fear that the few religious freedoms they do have will also be taken away from them. While some Christians have a trust in the army to protect them from the Brotherhood, others look to Turkey and how Islamic radicals have neutered the army."

While Coptic Pope Shenouda III vowed support to President Mubarak on Monday, Christians vividly remember the horrific bombing outside a church in Alexandria that killed 24 people on New Year's Eve. While the government blamed the Army of Islam, an A Qaeda-linked Palestinian network, many Christians believe the attack was executed by Egyptians. ICC reports many Christians see Mubarak's accusation of the Palestinian group as a cover to avoid addressing internal Islamic terrorism targeting Christians.

Nearly all Christians and many others live in fear. "I'm on the streets right now on watch because we need to protect our families, our homes," the director of an evangelical training center told ICC. "It's really dangerous because of those who got out of the prisons. Everybody is really praying hard for the Lord to have mercy on the people here, because people are starving. They lack food, money, everything. There is no money to buy food because all the banks are closed. The situation is really tou



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