Religous Frenzy
By Dr. Tashbih Sayyed:
"As a Moslem, I've followed with great agony and embarrassment the buildup of religious frenzy across the Moslem world in response to the cartoons published in a Danish newspaper.
On the one side the show of force by Islamists underlined the extent to which Islam has been hijacked by radicals and on the other side it emphasized the vulnerability of open societies to the growing influence of militant Islam.
Questions are being asked as to why there has traditionally been no effort on the part of Moslems to confront religious absolutism. Many agree that the Moslem silence in the face of growing Islamist radicalism has contributed in creating the perception that Islam is an evil faith.
After all a religion is nothing but a sum total of its adherents' social conduct. The fact that Moslem societies, at least in the modern history, have always presented a picture of violence and conflict, and their religion always seem to be playing a role in this picture, has strengthened the notion that Islam encourages violence.
If Moslem scholars would have condemned the two homicide bombers who attacked the barracks of American and French peacekeepers in Beirut in 1983, homicide bombings would not have gained currency and nobody would have been identifying Islam with terrorism.
But they remained silent as the Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility and declared that it was an Islamic act. Their silence betrayed their complicity in the crime and today they have no right to complain as to why the non-Moslem world is presenting their faith in such unflattering colors.
With this primitive sociology on display every day in the Moslem world, can anyone in his or her right mind blame the non-Moslems for blaming Islam?
Why shouldn't a non-Moslem think that Islam is an evil faith when all of the fatawas (religious rulings) issued in Saudi Arabia and Egypt justify these killers and homicide bombers? Why has there been not a single fatwa that declares these barbarians infidel?
I am a Moslem and a Sayyed. That means that I am a direct descendent of Prophet Mohammed. I know that a true follower of Prophet Mohammed cannot support, train, sponsor and direct homicide bombings. "
Dr. Tashbih Sayyed is editor-in-chief of Moslem World Today, president of the Council for Democracy and Tolerance, and an adjunct fellow of the Hudson Institute.
"As a Moslem, I've followed with great agony and embarrassment the buildup of religious frenzy across the Moslem world in response to the cartoons published in a Danish newspaper.
On the one side the show of force by Islamists underlined the extent to which Islam has been hijacked by radicals and on the other side it emphasized the vulnerability of open societies to the growing influence of militant Islam.
Questions are being asked as to why there has traditionally been no effort on the part of Moslems to confront religious absolutism. Many agree that the Moslem silence in the face of growing Islamist radicalism has contributed in creating the perception that Islam is an evil faith.
After all a religion is nothing but a sum total of its adherents' social conduct. The fact that Moslem societies, at least in the modern history, have always presented a picture of violence and conflict, and their religion always seem to be playing a role in this picture, has strengthened the notion that Islam encourages violence.
If Moslem scholars would have condemned the two homicide bombers who attacked the barracks of American and French peacekeepers in Beirut in 1983, homicide bombings would not have gained currency and nobody would have been identifying Islam with terrorism.
But they remained silent as the Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility and declared that it was an Islamic act. Their silence betrayed their complicity in the crime and today they have no right to complain as to why the non-Moslem world is presenting their faith in such unflattering colors.
With this primitive sociology on display every day in the Moslem world, can anyone in his or her right mind blame the non-Moslems for blaming Islam?
Why shouldn't a non-Moslem think that Islam is an evil faith when all of the fatawas (religious rulings) issued in Saudi Arabia and Egypt justify these killers and homicide bombers? Why has there been not a single fatwa that declares these barbarians infidel?
I am a Moslem and a Sayyed. That means that I am a direct descendent of Prophet Mohammed. I know that a true follower of Prophet Mohammed cannot support, train, sponsor and direct homicide bombings. "
Dr. Tashbih Sayyed is editor-in-chief of Moslem World Today, president of the Council for Democracy and Tolerance, and an adjunct fellow of the Hudson Institute.
posted by HeavyHanded at
11:55 PM
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