Though Muslims Exist Today, Islam Does Not

Comparing the responses of Ariel Cohen to those of John Esposito and Graham Fuller makes it crystal clear that promoting the concept of moderate Muslims accords with our previously described struggle between the two Americas: extremism versus ideals. This situation is compounded by the self-contrad...

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Autor principal: Abid Ullah Jan
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Publicado: International Institute of Islamic Thought 2005
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:f643c6503af4457b86204f77ed16bd702021-12-02T17:49:42ZThough Muslims Exist Today, Islam Does Not2690-37332690-3741https://doaj.org/article/f643c6503af4457b86204f77ed16bd702005-07-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ajis.org/index.php/ajiss/article/view/3015https://doaj.org/toc/2690-3733https://doaj.org/toc/2690-3741 Comparing the responses of Ariel Cohen to those of John Esposito and Graham Fuller makes it crystal clear that promoting the concept of moderate Muslims accords with our previously described struggle between the two Americas: extremism versus ideals. This situation is compounded by the self-contradiction and total confusion of the moderates, who, in their desire to cope with the increasingly unreasonable rather than purely un-Islamic standards, wish to appease the extremists in power and attempt to present an Islam that is acceptable to both Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Instead of elaborating on the supposed “radical ideologies” spread by the “Islamists,” the extremists (Cohen) jump to suggesting that they “should not enjoy the constitutional protections of freedom of religion or free speech.” Still others suggest “in the long term ... the legal activities of Islamists pose as much or even a greater set of challenges than the illegal ones.”1 This is an invitation to open fascism. When a people are not considered fit even for legal activities, their place in society becomes limited to either the concentration camp or the gas chamber. The basis of the extremists’ pre-conditions for being a moderate Muslim is the false assertion that Islam is, in the first place, not moderate. Yet an examination of the criteria being referred to by these non-Muslim paragons shows that many points do not contradict Islam, which ensures that Muslims are moderate by default. This is aptly shown by their general rejection of terror attacks on fellow Muslims of whichever school of thought as well as non-Muslims, whether Christian, Jew, or Hindu. Thus, there is little reason to append moderate to the title Muslim. However, as to the rest of the preconditions employed, these are good enough to take the Muslim out of the bounds of Islam. To them, for example, moderate Muslims should: 1. Not “view the greater Jihad as a pillar of faith, or as a predominant dimension thereof.”2 2. Accept that “the Koran and the Hadith were written for a time and place very different from today” and to question the “origins of Islam.”3 ... Abid Ullah JanInternational Institute of Islamic ThoughtarticleIslamBP1-253ENAmerican Journal of Islam and Society, Vol 22, Iss 3 (2005)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Islam
BP1-253
spellingShingle Islam
BP1-253
Abid Ullah Jan
Though Muslims Exist Today, Islam Does Not
description Comparing the responses of Ariel Cohen to those of John Esposito and Graham Fuller makes it crystal clear that promoting the concept of moderate Muslims accords with our previously described struggle between the two Americas: extremism versus ideals. This situation is compounded by the self-contradiction and total confusion of the moderates, who, in their desire to cope with the increasingly unreasonable rather than purely un-Islamic standards, wish to appease the extremists in power and attempt to present an Islam that is acceptable to both Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Instead of elaborating on the supposed “radical ideologies” spread by the “Islamists,” the extremists (Cohen) jump to suggesting that they “should not enjoy the constitutional protections of freedom of religion or free speech.” Still others suggest “in the long term ... the legal activities of Islamists pose as much or even a greater set of challenges than the illegal ones.”1 This is an invitation to open fascism. When a people are not considered fit even for legal activities, their place in society becomes limited to either the concentration camp or the gas chamber. The basis of the extremists’ pre-conditions for being a moderate Muslim is the false assertion that Islam is, in the first place, not moderate. Yet an examination of the criteria being referred to by these non-Muslim paragons shows that many points do not contradict Islam, which ensures that Muslims are moderate by default. This is aptly shown by their general rejection of terror attacks on fellow Muslims of whichever school of thought as well as non-Muslims, whether Christian, Jew, or Hindu. Thus, there is little reason to append moderate to the title Muslim. However, as to the rest of the preconditions employed, these are good enough to take the Muslim out of the bounds of Islam. To them, for example, moderate Muslims should: 1. Not “view the greater Jihad as a pillar of faith, or as a predominant dimension thereof.”2 2. Accept that “the Koran and the Hadith were written for a time and place very different from today” and to question the “origins of Islam.”3 ...
format article
author Abid Ullah Jan
author_facet Abid Ullah Jan
author_sort Abid Ullah Jan
title Though Muslims Exist Today, Islam Does Not
title_short Though Muslims Exist Today, Islam Does Not
title_full Though Muslims Exist Today, Islam Does Not
title_fullStr Though Muslims Exist Today, Islam Does Not
title_full_unstemmed Though Muslims Exist Today, Islam Does Not
title_sort though muslims exist today, islam does not
publisher International Institute of Islamic Thought
publishDate 2005
url https://doaj.org/article/f643c6503af4457b86204f77ed16bd70
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