"The disease of apologetics." That's what he calls it. "For a century, Muslims have seen their primary function as defending Islam. Not to honour Islam by critically engaging it and rethinking it and making sure that it remains viable and moral and humane, but to defend it. "They see their role primarily as marketing agents, as cheerleaders, offering the same old excuses, attributing the problems to culture or customs or colonialism or Orientalism."The speaker is Dr. Khaled Abou el-Fadl, professor of law at UCLA. The Kuwait-born and Egyptian-trained Arab scholar and prolific author has emerged as a prominent Muslim dissident...
