is it an "inescapable fact that Muslims alone can offer an antidote to Islamism" ?

Submitted by myth (Germany), Sep 8, 2010 at 07:56

I disagree on the statement that it is an "inescapable fact that Muslims alone can offer an antidote to Islamism". I offer two courses of action that I believe are yet open: 1) I can imagine that in western countries the state can offer islamic education at schools that is not in the hands of muslims as teachers for a start. Writing textbooks from a neutral citizen standpoint is a feasible job. 2) Islam as a body of texts and beliefs including the sharia does have some blank spots that have not been filled. That blank spot is institutions, procedures and processes. From a very practical standpoint: can the city of New York establish institutions and processes to ensure that a "moderate mosque" can operate in the city and put processes in place to evaluate the situation and react to changes ? The idea of putting processes in place is very much a western one. Democracy itself is a process replacing a rule based on some sort of dogma. The point is to replace the answer to the question "what is moderate islam ?" with the process "how do we find out ?". In the light of the checks and balances idea it is quite obvious that muslims cannot be part of all processes involved.

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