Tawfik Hamid
Dr Tawfik Hamid is a former radical Muslim turned moderate who openly opposes militant Islam. His website is linked on this site. Dr Hamid has written a fascinating article on aspects of Islamic thought that should be flatly repudiated by anyone calling himself/herself a "moderate Muslim". This article appears on a website of a Canadian group (Lessard Community) that is opposing a proposed Islamic school in Edmonton, Alberta and has concerns about the Muslim Association of Canada (which owns the property). On the latter count, at least, they should. On the MAC's own website, they state that they support a form of Islam envisioned by Hasan al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood.
"MAC is a wholly Canadian organization that operates only in Canada. It has no organizational link or affiliation with other organizations. It strives to practice Islam as embodied in the Quran and the teachings of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and as understood in its contemporary, comprehensive, and balanced context by the late Imam Hassan Albanna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood. MAC regards this ideology as the best representation of Islam as delivered by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)."
Linked below is Dr Hamid's article as part of the above-mentioned Lessard Community site.
http://lessardcommunity.wordpress.com/2010/08/18/is-mac-and-lessard-mosque-moderate-or-radical/
Dr Hamid's statement is, indeed, thought-provoking, and I would encourage my Muslim readers to comment. I think this is a great opportunity to start a real discussion on those issues that concern us non-Muslims. Even more, I would welcome feedback from Dr Muzammil Siddiqi, the most influencial Muslim leader in Orange County, about Dr Hamid's points. Since Dr Siddiqi is recognized as a renowned bridge builder among faiths in Orange County, indeed, the US, and he serves on the Fiqh Council of North America, his comments on these points would be especially welcome.
Dr Muzammil Siddiqi
What say you, Sir?
Dr Muzammil Siddiqi
What say you, Sir?
I don't find the words "extremist" and "moderate" useful in any political or religious context. I found it embarrassing, putting in a day canvassing for Democratic candidates last October, that an incumbent state senator plastered the theme that his opponent was "too extreme for the district" on his leaflets. He lost. In my seldom humble opinion, "extreme" and "moderate" don't resonate with voters, and don't tell much about a candidate. He should have found the right words to assert in public that his opponent was and is a complete airhead, without a thought in her vapid mind.
ReplyDeleteTo twist Barry Goldwater's famous convention speech, moderation in pursuit of justice is indeed no virtue. Extremism in defence of liberty is an oxymoron.
Now, moving on to Islam. The point is not moderate vs. extreme. The point is, Muslims who wish to practice Islam in Canada, or the United States, or India (which has a larger Muslim population than Pakistan), or Tanzania, or Brazil, must be prepared to do what Malcolm X openly called upon his followers to do: obey the law of the land.
Ex-extremists have the same kind of warped zeal that many ex-communists do. I don't buy Hamid's assertion of what Islam currently teaches, although he is mostly right about what it should accept. Islam as he learned it in his past commitment allows for all these horrors. It is easier to convince a Muslim, a Christian, a Jew, to come to terms with modern life if we don't try to rub their noses in archaic practices of their various faiths.
If I want to know the fundamentals of Islam, I would ask a Jordanian immigrant, long settled in America, whose son sent to school in America and has a Baptist godmother, an active member of the local Islamic center, who runs a prosperous business, participates in local civic life. This man (obviously, an individual I know personally), does have objections to U.S. support of Israel, and deeply appreciated General Colin Powell's remarks on the relevance of false insinuations that Obama was a Muslim. I doubt very much that he beats his wife, or would even consider killing someone who left the faith. What his cousin in Jordan might do is another question.