Real Islam vs moderate Islam

Submitted by Silas (United States), Feb 20, 2014 at 21:29

I respect and appreciate Dr. Pipes. He provides valuable insight into many things Islamic. But one area where I believe he errs is in being able to distinguish real Islam from inaccurate Islam. Muhammad is Islam, real Islam. Only Muhammad spoke the Quran, the sahih Hadith are mostly derived from Muhammad, either his words or deeds, and Muslims are commanded to imitate Muhammad's life.

The question is not "Was Muhammad a Muslim or Islamist," rather, the question is "Which Muslims of today more closely imitate Muhammad in word and deed, the moderates or Islamists?" The answer of course is the Islamists.

I've written an article on this theme that goes into this a bit deeper at Answering-Islam.org: http://answering-islam.org/authors/silas/pipes_islamism.html

Again, no disrespect towards Dr. Pipes. I truly appreciate his work. But I think more clarity is needed in identifying the real root of the Islamist's theology. It is not Qutb, it is not Ibn Kathir or Ibn Tammiyya, rather it is Muhammad.

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