Symposium: The Islamic Reformation?

FrontPage Magazine ^ | August 13, 2004 | Jamie Glazov

[quidnunc]

Can Islam reform? If so, where are the seeds of reformation planted and how can they best grow? Who can and should lead the reformation? To discuss this issue with us today, Frontpage Symposium has assembled a distinguished panel. Our guests today are:

Prof. Khaleel Mohammed, Assistant Professor at the Department of Religious Studies at San Diego State University. He has sparked controversy within the Islamic community by arguing, as a Muslim himself, that the Koran says Israel belongs to the Jews;

Kamal Nawash, the Founder and President of The Free Muslim Coalition Against Terrorism, which denounces all forms of  fundamentalist Islamic terror and advocates an American no-tolerance stance on terrorism;

and

Walid Shoebat, a former PLO terrorist who has become an ardent Zionist and evangelical Christian.

FP: Prof. Khaleel Mohammed, Kamal Nawash and Walid Shoebat, welcome to Frontpage Symposium, it is a pleasure to have you all here. Prof. Khaleel Mohammed, let me begin with you. Does Islam need a reformation? How come it never had one? Why is self-criticism and self-questioning almost unheard of in Islam?

-snip-

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Quote:

FP: Thank you Mr. Nawash for your moving and powerful statement. I’d like to say that in no way have I mentioned dhimmitude and other violent sides of Islam to conclude that there cannot be Islamic reform. But if individuals on this panel are going to brush off dhimmitude and other terrible ingredients of Islam as if they are irrelevant, let alone non-existent, and then argue that “everyone does it” and that it has nothing to do with Islam, then I do not know how we can move forward.

[tkathy]

The best way to reform Islam is for all 1.2 billion to leave Islam for Christianity.

[Ken522]

Can Islam reform?

NO.

[GSlob]

Given the longstanding conditions of existence in islamic countries , if Islam could have reformed, it would have already done so. Thus you are right.

[xJones]

This is why the talk of reformation can never be by "re-interpretation" but "confession".

That is a handicap for them. Muhammad was a murderous dictator, and how do they get around that?

[jolie560]

This discussion is designed to make the kafirs at ease, passive and trusting, so that the 'true believers' can then slaughter them in their passivity.

[xJones]

Whoops, I left out the first part of the quote.

Christian reformation started when followers went to the text and the founders of the faith who clearly prohibited genocide and murder. Yet Muslims cannot do the same, since the founders themselves (Muhammad the prophet of Islam, the Sahaba, and the Chaliphs) all participated in Jihad by killing infidels and whoever opposed the Islamic system.

This is why the talk of reformation can never be by "re-interpretation" but "confession".

That is a handicap for them. Muhammad was a murderous dictator, and how do they get around that?

[Fred Nerks]

The best way to reform islam is to kill the 'prophet' by exposing what he was; nothing but a cunning, blood thirsty arab - a warlord, a pillager and pirate who rode a camel, heard voices in his head (schizoid) was a psychopath who had numerous epyleptic episodes - of whom several of his own followers maintained was demon possessed. All this, quoted from the original ancient arabic sources can be found by reading his biography. Someone should make a film of the life of the man whose heritage is nothing but destruction and death. The book, published in 1913 before Oil, before Israel, before the apologists and revisionists began to lie to us, is available on PDF...click onto My Page for Link.

[eburke]

Islam will never have a Reformation for the simple reason that it doesn't have a pope or an organized, hierarchical church. The Western Reformation was a revolt against an ecclesiastical polity, which doesn't exist in the Muslim world. All this talk about an Islamic Reformation is sheer historical illiteracy.

[DoctorMichael]

Islamic Reformation?

Don't bet on it.

If anything, there'd be a further schism leading to an even MORE virulently nihilistic, suicidal, homicidal home for malcontents and psychotic, berzerk, half-human, Third-World, primitive neaderthals that would say that Shiites and Sunnis are Girly-men in need of a REAL Islamic Religion.

[AdmSmith]

http://www.albawaba.com/news/index.php3?sid=281721&lang=e&dir=news

Like Sheep without a Shepherd: The Lack of Leadership in Sunni Islam

25-07-2004 Dr. J.A. Morrow, Ph.D.*

Be it in Palestine or Egypt, Iraq or Afghanistan, New York City or Madrid, Bali or Casablanca, Karachi or Baghdad, the attacks by Islamic groups are directly linked to the lack of leadership in Sunni Islam.

In Islam, the spiritual chain of command is clear. Muslims are obliged to follow the Qur'an, the Sunnah and the 'Ulema (scholars). The Holy Qur'an calls upon Muslims to: "Obey Allah and obey the Messenger and the holders of authority from among you" (4:59). The "holders of authority" are the religious scholars and not, as has been erroneously interpreted, leaders in general.

The Prophet Muhammad stressed the authority of the 'Ulema over the Muslim Ummah (public). He said that: "On the Day of Judgment I will take pride in the scholars of my community, for the scholars of my community are like the prophets preceding me." He also declared that "The scholars are rulers over the people" and that "The scholars are the heirs of the prophets."

So long as Muslims hold fast to the Qur'an, the Sunnah, and the 'Ulema, the guardians of the sacred sciences, they are sure not to stray. The Prophet Muhammad warned that in later days "the worst of the people would become its leader." While this applies to despots and dictators, it applies equally to unqualified upstarts who assume the leadership of the Islamic movement.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban were led by Mullah Mohammed Omar, a parochial person who never even visited the capital Kabul. Although Mullah Omar never completed his religious education, he was bold enough to grant himself the title of Amir al-Muminin and cover himself with the Prophet's cloak.

In Egypt, the ranks of the Islamic Jihad are filled with the young, the uneducated, the disenfranchised and the desperate. While the Islamic Jihad does indeed include intellectuals and professionals - most of whom went over the edge because of torture - the group is not led by bona fide religious scholars, which leads to obvious excesses like the November 1997 massacre of 58 tourists and 4 Egyptians at Luxor in southern Egypt.

As for Al Qaeda, known as the World Islamic Front for Jihad against Jews and Crusaders, its leaders include Usama bin Laden, a civil engineer, and Ayman al-Zawahari, a medical doctor who became the leader of the military wing of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, the Vanguards of Conquest, in the 1990s. Its other senior leaders include Mohammed Atef, bin Laden's military chief, who was a police officer in Egypt.

As for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of the nebulous Al Tawhid group, he was raised in an unfurnished hut with only mattresses on the floor. Although this high school dropout possesses no scholarly credentials of any sort, he assumes the title of Shaykh (tribal leader) and acts in the name of Islam, bringing shame to the religion of mercy he claims to follow.

How is it, then, that such individuals have assumed a leadership role in the Sunni world? While the question is complex, part of the problem lies in the closing of the doors of "ijtihad" in the 10th century. "Ijtihad" refers to the post-Prophetic interpretation and application of Islamic Law to changing times and circumstances. Those who practice "ijtihad" are known as "mujtahidun" or jurists while "taqlid" refers to the act of following a "mujtahid". In the early centuries of Islam, when the doors of "ijtihad" were still open, any new development was interpreted and analyzed in light of the Qur'an and Sunnah. Since the demise of "ijtihad" one thousand years ago, Sunni Muslims have been obliged to follow the law as understood and interpreted by medieval scholars. For this reason, Sunnism sometimes has difficulty dealing with modernity.

Issues like birth control, insurance, interest and cloning are often received in a reactionary fashion by Sunni Muslims, particularly among the Wahhabis and Salafis, who adhere to an arid literalism and reject the very concepts of "taqlid" which they denounce as "blind following." Without "taqlid" of the most learned living "mujtahid", Sunni Muslims are left without vital direction and guidance. As a result, some Sunni militants deliberately target civilians, including women and children, and engage in atrocities such as rape and torture as was seen in Afghanistan and Algeria. Clearly - where scholars are absent, ignorance will reign.

The revival of "ijtihad" among "Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah" (Sunni Muslims) is imperative. A living tradition of "ijtihad" would keep Islamic Law active, modern and contemporary. The demise of "ijtihad" and "taqlid" among Sunnis has left a void which is increasingly being filled by scholarly charlatans and merchants of religion.

Individuals like bin Laden and Al Zawahari have no authority whatsoever to pass "fatwas" or religious edicts. Not only are they not "mujtahids", they are not even 'alims (educated). It is a case of the blind leading the blind which leads to errors and excess. The creation of an independent scholarly hierarchy of tolerant, moderate and mainstream Muslims is long overdue.

As a result of closing the doors of "ijtihad", the independent interpretation of Islamic Law based on reasoning, many Sunni Muslim militants of today are like sheep without a shepherd, wandering aimlessly in the night. In the context of Sunni Islam, ignorance is not bliss. It is death and destruction. Unless Sunni Muslims hold fast to the Qur'an, the Sunnah (the Prophet's practice) and the 'Ulema, the ignorant among them will continue to fall prey to wolves in sheepskins, illegitimate leaders and pseudo-scholars.

"Verily! Allah does not change the plight of a people, unless they change what is in themselves" (Qur'an 13:11).

* Dr. John A. Morrow has a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto. He works as a Professor of Modern Languages and has published extensively in the areas of literature, linguistics and Islamic Studies.

[AdmSmith]

ping

[Happy2BMe]

"Can Islam reform?"

No.

[Luis Gonzalez]

I'm a fast reader. It took me the better part of a half an hour to completely read this redaction of the symposium, yet you have people dismissing this very important, intelligent, and informative discussion within minutes of your posting it.

If you want to understand extremist mentality, all you have to do is understand the close-mindedness of the people responding on this thread.

One of the many truly insightful statements in this article is listed below:

"As to whether we need an Islamic reformation, the answer is YES. If Islamic society is to become prosperous, free and democratic, a true reformation must take place within the Arab and Muslim nations. The governments of the Muslim world must remove theocratic Islam as the most dynamic force within their borders. Secularization, respect for other faiths and self-criticism must be achieved in order to attain Islamic reformation and the elimination of the daily violence resulting from a plausible interpretation of Islam."

"The key to Islamic reformation is the promotion of secularism which will lead to the rationalism that is, unfortunately, rejected by most Muslims today. Secularism and rationalism is how Christians and Jews reformed their religions. For example, in Europe, rationalism lead to scientific discoveries that undermined the Aristotelian physics upon which the church had built its view of the universe. These discoveries ultimately discredited the church as the giver of the only truth about everything and relegated religion in the Western world to a personal relationship between an individual and his Lord. This is what is needed in Islam today. We need to slowly remove religion from public life and relegate it to a personal relationship between the individual and his Lord."

Bingo!