According to an article in the Sydney Morning Herald (http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/its-back-to-the-drawing-board/2008/04/05/1207249543919.html), a German security agency has adopted a new way of waging the war on extremism - with a cartoon strip. In the cartoon, one young Andi, having already fought off the legitimate evils of xenophobia and racism, now goes, along with his Muslim girlfriend Ayshe, to prevent her brother Murat from succumbing to the evils of a radical hate preacher. The article stresses the difference between radical extremist Islam, and moderate, peaceful Islam - "The comic aims to show young people the difference between peaceful mainstream Islam and the violent, intolerant version peddled by militants." I have to ask, what difference?
Islam places itself in a uniquely difficult position as a religion. Unlike modern day Christianity, or Judaism, (but more like Bahaism), the Qur'an is immutable and unchangeable - it is the perfect word of god, eternal, made for all people at all times forever. Moreover, the Qur'an is very insistent that believers do not pick and choose verses.
Sura 2:85 - Yet ye it is who slay each other and drive out a party of your people from their homes, supporting one another against them by sin and transgression ? - and if they came to you as captives ye would ransom them, whereas their expulsion was itself unlawful for you - Believe ye in part of the Scripture and disbelieve ye in part thereof ? And what is the reward of those who do so save ignominy in the life of the world, and on the Day of Resurrection they will be consigned to the most grievous doom. For Allah is not unaware of what ye do. (Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall translation).
As such, moderate Muslims are in a bind. They can be progressive, and liberal, and be good global citizens while at the same time being bad Muslims, or alternatively, they can be good Muslims and do as the Qur'an says - wage war against the infidel, to make sure there is no more fitna. The West should not kid itself - while there is no such thing as "true Islam", after all, faith is only in the heart of the individual believer, the Qur'an cannot be softened, nor the hadith, and the Ulema continues to hark back to the rule of Muhammad in Arabia as the model for the Islamic community - the same regime that expelled Jews and Christians, murdered opponents, and showed no respect for freedom of belief or action. This is ultimately what the Qur'an and the hadith continue to demand of believers.
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