Do I pass?

Submitted by hypocrite-ingrate (Canada), Jul 5, 2017 at 01:12

Violence: Yes to all.

"Should Muslim women have equal rights with men (for example, in inheritance shares or court testimony)?"
Yes (perhaps with some minor qualifications pertaining to how interaction between inheritance and bridal gifts is handled, etc.)

"Is jihad, meaning a form of warfare, acceptable in today's world?"
No, assuming you mean offensive jihad. There are certain situations in which defense against explicitly anti-islamic military aggression could be both acceptable and technically qualify as jihad.

"Do you accept the validity of other religions?"
If by "validity" you mean something like their right to peaceful coexistence (though that would be a weird use of the word), then yes, though possibly with some restrictions on aggressive missionary activity. If you mean anything along the lines of either relativism or perennialism, then no!

"Do Muslims have anything to learn from the West?"
Yes. (And even the Islamists don't deny that, provided they aren't totally dense - as you yourself have rightly pointed out.)

"Should non-Muslims enjoy completely equal civil rights with Muslims?"
Yes

"May Muslims convert to other religions?"
Yes

"May Muslim women marry non-Muslim men?"
Yes

"Do you accept the laws of a majority non-Muslim government and unreservedly pledge allegiance to that government?"
Assuming you mean a non-criminal, non-despotic government, yes, at least insofar as there wouldn't be any purely religious reservations. (After all, Asad's government is also "majority non-Muslim"!) Perhaps a better thing to ask would be whether one's allegiance is at all qualified based on a religion test?

"Should the state impose religious observance, such as banning food service during Ramadan?"
No. And banning food service during Ramadan actually has the opposite effect of making it impossible to observe it properly (i.e., freely), thus rendering any government that does it un-Islamic!

"When Islamic customs conflict with secular laws (e.g., covering the face for drivers' license pictures), which should give way?"
Assuming laws are justified by a bona fide claim of public interest (as in the case of drivers' license pictures), laws should trump customs. There should be some room for civil disobedience when it comes to laws that are blatantly discriminatory (though such civil disobedience is not a religious obligation).

"Are Sufis and Shi'ites fully legitimate Muslims?"
No, not ALL Sufis and Shi'ites may be considered "fully legitimate" Muslims. Otherwise we strip the category of all meaning. They may call themselves whatever they like, however. (Not all Salafis are "fully legitimate" Muslims, either, by the way.)

"Do you see Muslims who disagree with you as having fallen into unbelief?"
Not typically! And not by virtue of disagreeing with me!

"Is takfir (condemning fellow Muslims with whom one has disagreements as unbelievers) an acceptable practice?"
Yes in principle, provided it is neither intended nor is likely to be construed as a call to violence or discrimination. In practice, many takfiris are plausibly kafirs themselves, so...

"Do you accept the legitimacy of scholarly inquiry into the origins of Islam?"
(1) Yes. (2) What does this have to do with "self-criticism"? (3) Even Islamists would assent to that, at least for what they consider "scholarly inquiry".

"Who was responsible for the 9/11 suicide hijackings?"
I kinda want to say that it's Rashid Rida, but legally speaking it's al-Qaeda and its collaborators, of course!

"Do you accept enhanced security measures to fight militant Islam, even if this means extra scrutiny of yourself (for example, at airline security)?"
Yes.

"Do you agree that institutions accused of funding terrorism should be shut down, or do you see this a symptom of bias?"
If by "accused" you mean "determined or suspected by proper authorities" and it's done through proper legal channels, then I agree.

"Do you accept that Western countries are majority-Christian and secular or do you seek to transform them into majority-Muslim countries ruled by Islamic law?"
(1) I accept it. (2) Accepting it is compatible with seeking to transform them, so the question shouldn't be formulated as a disjunction. (3) I don't seek to transform them, since the idea of countries being ruled by Islamic law is so deeply un-Islamic that it's almost incoherent!

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