What is Islam

Submitted by Budd Kopman (United States), Nov 26, 2003 at 09:18

Answering the above questions (particularly Modernity, Secularism and Pluralism) in a way that would indicate the responder is a 'moderate' Muslim would mean to me that the responder is no longer a Muslim.

I think we can agree that the phrase 'Islamic fundamentalist' is meaningless because ALL Muslims believe that the Koran, hadith and Sharia are from Allah and hence true for all time, past, present and future; therefore all Muslims are fundamentalists.

For Muhammad to say (something like), "Never shall there more than one religion in Arabia", or the Koran to say that 'hell is occupied mostly by women', or 'kill the infidels wherever' you find them MEANS JUST THAT. Arafat, when referring to Muhammad's breaking of treaties to justify his saying yes to a Israeli/Palestinian peace plan, knew that Muhammad broke treaties on the flimsiest of grounds because he was stronger enough at the time to do so.

I believe that the only difference between 'militants' and 'moderates' are that the militants are acting on the words and thoughts in Islam because they feel strong, while the 'moderates' feel too weak to act on what they hear every week in the mosque.

I just do not see how someone can answer the above questions in the 'friendly' way and say that they are 'still' a Muslim. You know that for sure they would not and could not repeat those answers in say, Saudi Arabia or Pakistan or Iran.

You are really talking about Islam changing AT ITS CORE, which would make not Islam anymore, and until I see reciprocation in Islamic countries with respect to the rights and privileges that American Muslims are DEMANDING here, I will not believe it possible for Islam to change.

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