Can Islam Be Reformed?

Townhall.com ^ | August 2, 2011 | Dennis Prager

[Elendur]

I have gotten to know one a bit and based on my very small sample size (her circle of co-religionists) I believe they are clueless. They could read an article like this and not get it until it is too late (the radicals take over).
///
good point. MANY Muslims, have NEVER read the Quran !
they don’t know their own religion.
(same true with many “christians” of course.)

this also explains “sudden jihad syndrome”, and why the smart college educated muslims who have studied Islam the MOST, often become terrorists.
they simply are doing what their God TELLS them to in the Quran. (to disobey a direct command of God?)

i told a “moderate” Imam, that it seemed to me, that bin Laden was NOT “misunderstanding” Islam.
the Imam told me, to my surprise, that i was correct.
bin Laden DID understand Islam correctly...

also, the Quran SPECIFICIALLY and CLEARLY forbids a Muslim to even be friends with a non-Muslim. so the one you are talking to, clearly doesn’t know her own religion.

[Cronos]

thank you. Incidently, other empires that stretched across continents also caused the merging of ideas -- the Mongol empire merged Chinese, India, Arab, Turkic, Slavic etc. thoughts and had a positive result.

so too did the Assyrian, Persian, Roman, etc. Empires

[Cronos]

and remember that that reformation was a return to fundamentalism, to puritanism. The Islamics have done this in the form of Wahabbism and the Salafis

[stevie_d_64]

You know, I almost thought you might have stayed up too late last night watching Jay Leno or something...hehe

Good thing I practice “safe” FReeping...

I do not drink (anything) while parusing these threads...Not even the titles...;-)

[Elendur]

perhaps we should be very suspicious of ALL MUSLIMS in this country.
///
actually, Islam should be banned entirely.
as you said, by definition, they CANNOT accept a non-Sharia government. so Islam is seditious by it’s own words.

[dagogo redux]

Can cancer be reformed?

[nuconvert]

I didn’t say those people calling for reform weren’t threatened. They are and publicly speak of it. It’s not a secret.
Yet they are willing to endure the threats & possible harm to themselves & family in order to call for reform.
Those people should be recognized for their work not only by others who are muslim & agree with them, but by non-muslims, too.

[JayAr36]

I agree, Muslims are not here for any other reason than to take over this country. All that needs to be done is to refer to Lebenon. History has provided the answer all one ahe to do is review it.

[raygunfan]

yeah, meanwhile, back to Realityville....

[AustinBill]

No, the reformation was really about secularizing political power. In pre-reformation Christianity the Church and State were essentially one (same as it true for Islam today). After the reformation political power was essentially secular across all branches of Christianity (including Catholicism) even though it took a further century for this transition to be complete. This is precisely the course Islam must follow if it is to be reformed. It is arguable that such a reformation is happening today, but like the Christian reformation the process is slow and not without violence.

[raygunfan]

yeah, meanwhile, back to Realityville....

[Jack Hammer]

A writer kidding himself. Period.

[Impy]

Can communism be reformed?

Can the Democrats?

Pedophiles?

[Impy]

Meant to ping you to.

[B4Ranch]

A Short Course on Shariah & the Muslim Brotherhood

1. What Is Shariah?

2. How Does Shariah Define Jihad?

3. ‘Civilization Jihad’ – the Muslim Brotherhood’s Potent Weapon

4. True Lies – the Paradox of Debating Shariah

5. Taqiyya – A Concept of Deceit that Security Professionals Must Know

6. Slander – How it is Used and Abused Under Shariah

7. How Shariah ‘Blasphemy’ Laws are Being Imposed On Us

8. What is the Muslim Brotherhood and How Does it Operate?

9. Genesis of the Muslim Brotherhood

10. Movement of the Muslim Brotherhood into the West

11. The Muslim Brotherhood’s Westward Infiltration

12. The Muslim Brotherhood in America

13. The Holy Land Trial: On the Trail of the Muslim Brotherhood

14. The Muslim Brotherhood’s ‘Strategic Plan’

15. Penetration of the US Government: A Case Study

16. Mapping the Muslim Brotherhood in America

17. Who’s Who in the American Muslim Brotherhood

[Cronos]

In pre-reformation Christianity the Church and State were essentially one (same as it true for Islam today)

That's not true.

In pre-reformation Christianity there were two centres of power -- Church and State and they fought each other. Read up on the Guelphs versus the Ghibellines

Also note that in Western europe the Church was separated from the secular authorities by the fall of Rome in the 400s. Then there were Goths, Lombards, Franks etc. Once the Pope was even carried off to Avignon and the centre was moved there.

So, there was a separation of Church and state -- not as much as today, which one can argue has gone too much the other way, witness "gay marriage" etc.

In the case of Islam too there is a separation of Mosque and state ever since the fall of the Caliphate. the Caliph embodied secular and spiritual power in one person that was never in the christian world

Since the fall of the Caliphate in 1918, only in Iran has there been a merging.

In Saudi Arabia the Sauds are deeply tied in with the Wahabs and probably close to that merge but not completely.

In the case of other Moslem states it is not merged to the extent that they are one and the same.

[Cronos]

Post the reformation, I would argue that religion came to dominate politics even more strongly

Take Oliver Cromwell's case or any of the Lutheran princes in Northern Germany or Scandanavia or the Catholics in Spain or Calvinists in Geneva and the Netherlands.

[Cronos]

my apologies — I meant to say “not completely accurate” — I did not want to imply that you were false in any way as a person

[OB1kNOb]

Only Jesus can reform Islam (not Islam’s fake one, but the REAL Son of God).

[onedoug]

The question will become, can we reform within Islam?