Finding the Voices of Moderate Islam

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all any one needs to do, to know the truth of who the real terrorist is , is to read the Bible and the Quran an then make a decision ,based on how much good and how much bad is in the two.All that other foolishness about sharia and alqueda is not Islam. Islam is in the quran. Christanity is in the bible. like mordern day christains ,dont follow every thing that is in the bible, you should be able to understand that mordern day muslims dont follow every thing in the quran. dont get me talking abou all those things that i read in that bible of yours. Enough already ok. I i am a muslim and you are ruinning things for me.I and going to hold you responsible in legal court, for all the things that i am going through if you dont stop your foolishness.

lisa of MA 11:38AM December 09, 2008

The main proplem is in most of muslims did not know the core of islam , The Prophet Mohammed (God bless him with peace ) in the definition of Islam says, "that is not god but Allah" …. To certify the meaning of it , that it is not enough to say it by your tongue ... But it is testimony and witnesses and taste and faith and certainty, whether a sight to the ability of God's greatness, by the the mind and Inference, or witnesses of heart and vision, and the presence of witnesses and a taste of excitement and love and thanks.

You, O you ,human are divided in yourself to visible part and interior ( hidden ) part .... and your body and your actions are a phenomenon .... And your thoughts and your intention and internal certainty, not to be seen only by God ....

Therefore, the religion is also an apparent and interior ( hidden ), and God is the interior ( hidden ) and the apparent ... you must have with the religion an concern in your apparent , and also in your interior . ....

But in fact You are, belongs to your interior and not to your apparent , and your apparent actions is a result of what took place in your heart and your intention and determination ..... the mover in yourself , your soul, your sprit , between inspiration from God ... or insinvation from the devil ... or Speaking to your soul . ...

- And we see the Islamic appearance(aspect ) is often absent in the Islamic countries ... Despite that, we see our dilemma and our complaints from everything!! Why!! Because the disease in our interior and not in the appearance .... In our belief .. The right to believe in God Almighty ...

from the book (Mohamed niche lights) to the author . Abdullah/"Salah al-Din Elkoussy."

khaledegeg 9:16AM October 29, 2008

Tolson's article is largely a positive display of moderation in journalism. The one qualm I would have with this piece was the bit on Wafa Sultan and co...people who would surely fall under the Pipes category in their vehement Islamophobia and desire not to reform Islamic trends of Wahabbism or Islamism, but rather to fight Islam in itself such that it no longer exists. Should CAIR judge people like Sultan to be Muslims it would be far more problematic than if they were to go the other direction, as she herself has professed to not believing in Islam. Real reformers such as Timothy Winter and Tariq Ramadan do exist, and an assessment of Ramadan should be carefully undertaken by anyone, as he is quite an intriguing character with quite some nuance in his history.

of NY 8:23PM July 29, 2008

Moderate Islam is an oxymoron.

Kind of like a Vegetarian Cannibal, or Gentle Ax-Murderer.

That awful book - "The Koran" - and the vile 'prophet' whose delirious ravings fill it have spawned more violence and oppression than any single evil tome to date. To follow the ravings of a hallucinating epileptic mass murderer, brigand, serial rapist and pedophile is to follow madness.

Mohamed was a singularly evil man who began as a penniless worker, eventually murdering his employer Kaddiyah, and marrying, raping and enslaving scores of women, most disgustingly 6 year old Aisha - his favorite. He married Aisha when she was only 6 years old, and raped her when she was 9 and he was 50.

Some prophet! Some religion!

Islam is for the criminally insane, and daily their actions and interactions with followers of other faiths proves this.

Santiago Matamoros 1:18PM May 02, 2008

Having personally met with the senior-most Shiite clerics in Iraq, and facilitated their first meeting with the US Embassy, IMHO most of these comments of mindless obedience are way off the mark. As descendents of the same God of Abraham, all were interested in seeking the common ground and opposed to the violence that detracts from our concerted efforts to impove the human condition.

Ayatollahs were very pleased that President Bush had been re-elected, principally because of his views in opposition to the violence of abortion and in support of the sanctity of human life, which they firmly believe begins at conception!

Those positions and his strong support for traditional family values appearled to clearly transcend the preoccupation with more temporal events, including war, which is accepted as part of the Will of God.

Many of the thousands of Iraqis I've met have lost an immediate family member to some tragic circumstance: the Iran-Iraq War; Sadaam Hussein; the quashing of the Shia uprising of the early 90s, promoted by Pres Bush; and the current conflct. They want a sense of normalcy and a chance to send their children to school, where they will be exposed to something other than the Taliban-esque form of education. Spend a couple years in Iraq, and perhaps one will have a wider perspective. And stay away from TV!! Read more press from other countries.

If you want a dose of what's coming, check out Navarro's "The Coming China Wars."

George M of CA 8:09AM April 18, 2008

heres the thing though the Quran and hadith are indeed permenant but the interpretation differs ! how u(or the schools of thought) interpret it defines whether ull be a moderate muslim or an extremist. so in response to the comment that said for example that muhammad once said : "Anyone who changes his religion, kill him" this can be interpreted in different ways ! indeed schools of thought differ on that subject, with some saying that it is literal, others saying that it was for a specific case and a specific period of time. you have to understand the reasons behind the hadith and when and why it was said by the prophet before you go on assuming what it might mean. my point here is clear althought the sayings (hadiths) and qur2an do not change and are permenant the interpretation changes depending on the time period and the circumstances this is indeed the diversity and flexibility in islam. The problem is that those voices of moderation are lost ! and the extremists veiws are the ones beign followed why is that and how do we change that is the correct question to ask. but to put forth a postulate that islam as a religion can not be moderate is simply not true !

Ali Seleit of MD 5:39AM April 13, 2008

Read your Quran, all of it, from the beginning. See the life of Mohammed unfold. Allah is a figment of Mohammed's imagination, conjured solely for his pursuit of power. It's easy to see where this mere man was coming from and going to. Real peace loving people need to open their eyes and speak openly about the nonsense being fed them about how Islam is about peace. "Moderate Muslims" are Trojan Horses.

Be Serious of IL 8:24PM April 07, 2008

There is little documentation of what would be called 'terror' attacks because there was so little mingling of Muslims and non-Muslims. However, there are many instances of Islamic terror within their own countries, for instance, the Ottoman's genocide of the Armenians.

In the Ottoman Empire, in accordance with the Muslim dhimmi system, Armenians, as Christians, were guaranteed limited freedoms (such as the right to worship), but were treated as second-class citizens. Christians and Jews were not considered equals to Muslims: testimony against Muslims by Christians and Jews was inadmissible in courts of law. Their religious practices would have to defer to those of Muslims, in addition to various other legal limitations. Violation of these statutes could result in punishments ranging from the levying of fines to execution.

jimmy the dhimmi of TX 3:16PM April 04, 2008

If it is a fact that the Quran and Hadith will always be an inspiration for terrorism then where was Muslim terrorism before this century? How come we only started noticing and discussing it after 9/11?

It is true that all Muslims believe the Quran is the explicit word of God, but it is also true that the overwhelming majority of Muslims, the masses and the scholars, do not interpret a single verse to incite violence. On the contrary the Quran urges Muslims to be kind and just to those who do not initiate hostility (Quran 60:8).

The problem IS extremist Islam that has no authentic authority (which 1400 years of scholars have gone to great lengths to measure and verify) over its interpretations of the Quran and Sunna. It is a wave of extremist violent thought and practice that feeds on injustice, poverty, and ignorance. Correct authentic traditionalist Islam IS moderate Islam.

The Quran commands it adherents to follow all the Prophets and believe in them; from Noah running through Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, and ending with Muhammad, peace be upon them all. By just that virtue of being an Abrahamic faith, Islam cannot be inherently violent or immoderate.

Mostafa 4:44PM April 03, 2008

There is no moderate Islam, or any other organized belief. It is the nature of belief that the individual surrender to a conviction based on convenience, safety, and membership in a social body. Religion is an organized belief system led by politicians for personal gain over social behavior and customs.

Conviction is an emotional attachment of the individual to a social group. All beliefs require segregation and fierce defense, even to paranoia, against any presumed threat to the superiority of that belief.

Belief is a form of enslavement. It demands complete and unquestioning obedience. It requires intolerance and prejudice. It is bane of free will, self expression and self responsibility. God didn't make you do it. Your fear of the social group made you do it.

A moderate human is on who takes responsibility for his actions, something universally understood by those not suspended between fear and illusion.

The same is true for beliefs in race, gender, nationality, or cultural equality. That is utter nonsense. A belief sets boundries and value judgments. Only those who do not judge can be free of prejudice.

Morton Kurzweil of FL 2:17PM April 03, 2008

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Faith Matters

Faith Matters follows developments in the world of religion and spirituality, exploring their influence on politics, culture, ideas, and everyday life.

Jay Tolson is a senior writer at U. S. News & World Report covering religion, culture, and ideas. He is the author of Pilgrim in the Ruins: A Life of Walker Percy and has written for the The New Republic, The Wall Street Journal, and other publications.