Jaladhi has a point

Submitted by Prashant (United States), Feb 12, 2016 at 00:41

Dear Dr Pipes,

Your rebuke to him notwithstanding, your reader Jaladhi who said that there are no moderate Muslims, has a point. I hope that you will allow me to explain. No one is denying that there are good Muslims scientists, artists, musicians, parents and shopkeepers. And no one is saying that on a good day all Muslims can talk about the merits of democracy, freedom, prosperity and growth. In this sense Muslims can be moderate and are like anyone else. Then what goes wrong? I hope you will agree that for some unknown reasons all (or almost all) Muslims are obligated to defend Islam at all costs. Just let us look around ourselves. When I run into Jews/Christians/Buddhists/Hindus around me I do not find them incessantly talking about their religion. I cannot say the same about the Muslims. Almost all prominent Muslim personalities on he US TV (the same is true in other countries) are either defending Islam, or defending Palestinians or defending Islam in America. Similarly, I have never met a Muslim who is not advancing the cause of Palestine. Have you ever met a Muslim who does not favor Kashmiri separatism in India? I have not. You may be a very good friend of a Muslim but you dare not question his religion. Something will trip.

I think it is due to this kind of behavior Jaladhi says that here are no moderate Muslims. When we see Muslim authors critiquing certain practices of Islam, or we see them understanding the cause of Israel when we hear them say that Bible is just as wrong and right as Quran and is not a corrupted book, or when we hear Syrian refugees organizing and joining marches for democracy after they escape from Syria, no oen will ever question whether there are moderate Muslims or not.

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