{"id":7153,"date":"2014-03-26T14:34:31","date_gmt":"2014-03-26T21:34:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/?p=7153"},"modified":"2014-03-26T14:34:31","modified_gmt":"2014-03-26T21:34:31","slug":"why-moderate-islam-is-an-oxymoron","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/why-moderate-islam-is-an-oxymoron\/","title":{"rendered":"Why ‘Moderate Islam’ is an Oxymoron"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/\u00a0CBN News<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

At a time when terrorism committed in the name of Islam is rampant, we are continuously being assured\u2014especially by three major institutions that play a dominant role in forming the Western mindset, namely, mainstream media,<\/p>\n

\"Umar
Umar Nasir via Flickr<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

academia, and government\u2014that the sort of Islam embraced by \u201cradicals,\u201d \u201cjihadis,\u201d and so forth, has nothing to do with \u201creal\u201d Islam.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrue\u201d Islam,\u00a0so the narrative goes<\/a>, is intrinsically free of anything \u201cbad.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s the nut-jobs who hijack it for their own agenda that are to blame.<\/p>\n

More specifically, we are told that there exists a \u201cmoderate\u201d Islam and an \u201cextremist\u201d Islam\u2014the former good and true, embraced by a Muslim majority, the latter a perverse sacrilege practiced by an exploitative minority.<\/p>\n

But what do these dual adjectives\u2014\u201cmoderate\u201d and \u201cextremist\u201d\u2014ultimately mean in the context of Islam?\u00a0 Are they both equal and viable alternatives insofar as to how Islam is understood?\u00a0 Are they both\u00a0theologically<\/em>\u00a0legitimate?\u00a0 This last question is particularly important, since Islam is first and foremost a religious way of life centered around the words of a deity (Allah) and his prophet (Muhammad)\u2014the significance of which is admittedly unappreciated by secular societies.<\/p>\n

Both terms\u2014\u201cmoderate\u201d and \u201cextremist\u201d\u2014have to do with\u00a0degree<\/em>, or less mathematically,zeal<\/em>: how much, or to what extent, a thing is practiced or implemented.\u00a0 As\u00a0Webster<\/em>\u2019s puts it, \u201cmoderate\u201d means \u201cobserving reasonable limits\u201d; \u201cextremist\u201d means \u201cgoing to great or exaggerated lengths.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a question, then, of doing either too much or too little.<\/p>\n

The problem, however, is that mainstream Islam offers a crystal-clear way of life, based on the teachings of the Koran and Hadith\u2014the former, containing what purport to be the sacred words of Allah, the latter, the example (or\u00a0sunna<\/em>, hence \u201cSunnis\u201d) of his prophet, also known as the most \u201cperfect man\u201d (al-insan al-kamil<\/em>).\u00a0\u00a0 Indeed, based on these two primary sources and according to normative Islamic teaching, all human actions fall into five categories: forbidden actions, discouraged actions, neutral actions recommended actions, and obligatory actions.<\/p>\n

In this context, how does a believer go about \u201cmoderating\u201d what the deity and his spokesman have commanded?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 One can either try to observe Islam\u2019s commandments or one can ignore them: any more or less is not Islam\u2014a word which means \u201csubmit\u201d (to the laws, or\u00a0sharia<\/em>, of Allah).<\/p>\n

The real question, then, is what do Allah and his prophet command Muslims (\u201cthey who submit\u201d) to do?\u00a0 Are radicals \u201cexaggerating\u201d their orders? Or are moderate Muslims simply \u201cobserving reasonable limits\u201d\u2014a euphemism for negligence?\u2014when it comes to fulfilling their commandments?<\/p>\n

In our highly secularized era, where we are told that religious truths are flexible or simply non-existent, and that any and all interpretations and exegeses are valid, the all-important question of \u201cWhat does Islam command?\u201d loses all relevance.<\/p>\n

Hence why the modern West is incapable of understanding Islam.<\/p>\n

Indeed, only\u00a0recently<\/a>, a Kenyan mosque leader said that the Westgate massacre, where Islamic gunmen slaughtered some 67 people, \u201cwas justified.\u00a0 As per the Koran, as per the religion of Islam, Westgate was 100 percent justified.\u201d Then he said: \u201cRadical Islam is a creation of people who do not believe in Islam.\u00a0We don\u2019t have radical Islam, we don\u2019t have moderates, we don\u2019t have extremists. Islam is one religion following the Koran and the Sunna<\/em>\u201d [emphasis added].<\/p>\n

Note his point that \u201cRadical Islam is a creation of people who do not believe in Islam,\u201d a clear reference to the West which coined the phrase \u201cradical Islam.\u201d\u00a0 Ironically, the secular West, which relegates religious truths to the realm of \u201cpersonal experience,\u201d feels qualified to decide what is and is not \u201cradical\u201d about Islam.<\/p>\n

Consider one example: Allah commands Muslims to \u201cFight those among the People of the Book [Jews and Christians] who do not believe in Allah nor the Last Day, nor forbid what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden, nor embrace the religion of truth [i.e., Islam], until they pay the\u00a0jizya<\/em>\u00a0[tribute] with willing submission and feel themselves subdued\u201d\u00a0 [Koran 9:29].<\/p>\n

How can one interpret this verse to mean anything other than what it plainly says?\u00a0 Wherein lies the ambiguity, the room for interpretation?\u00a0 Of course there are other teachings and allusions in the Koran that by necessity lend themselves over to the fine arts of interpretation, or\u00a0ijtihad<\/em>.\u00a0 But surely the commands of Koran 9:29 are completely straightforward?<\/p>\n

In fact, Muhammad\u2019s 7th\u00a0century followers literally acted on this and similar verses (e.g., 9:5), launching the\u00a0first Muslim conquests<\/a>, which saw the subjugation of millions of Christians, Jews, and others, and the creation of the \u201cMuslim world.\u201d\u00a0 Such jihadi expansion continued until Islam was beaten on the battlefield by a resurgent West some two or three centuries ago.<\/p>\n

Western scholarly works, before the age of relativism and political correctness set in, did not equivocate the meaning of jihad.\u00a0 Thus the authoritative\u00a0Encyclopaedia of Islam<\/em>\u2019s entry for \u201cjihad\u201d states that the \u201cspread of Islam by arms is a religious duty upon Muslims in general \u2026 \u00a0Jihad must continue to be done until the whole world is under the rule of Islam \u2026 Islam must completely be made over before the doctrine of jihad [warfare to spread Islam] can be eliminated. Islamic law expert and U.S. professor Majid Khadduri (1909-2007), after defining jihad as warfare, wrote that \u201cjihad \u2026 is regarded by all jurists, with almost no exception, as a collective obligation of the whole Muslim community.\u201d<\/p>\n

(As for the argument that the Bible contains similar war verses, yet Jews and Christians are not out to conquer the world\u2014so why say Muslims are?\u2014see \u201cAre Judaism and Christianity as Violent as Islam<\/a>\u201d for a detailed breakdown of the similarities and differences.\u00a0 Also see \u201cIslamic Jihad and the Doctrine of Abrogation<\/a>\u201d to understand how the Koran\u2019s more tolerant verses have been abrogated by its more militant ones, such as 9:29.)<\/p>\n

In short, how can a sincere Muslim\u2014by definition, one who has submitted to the teachings of Allah\u2014\u201cmoderate\u201d verses like 9:29?\u00a0 How can he \u201cobserve reasonable limits\u201d vis-\u00e0-vis these plain commands to combat and subjugate non-Muslims?<\/p>\n

Must Muslims not, at the very least, admit that such teachings are true and\u00a0should<\/em>\u00a0be striven for\u2014even if they do not personally engage in the jihad, at least not directly (but they are encouraged to support it indirectly, including\u00a0monetarily or through propaganda<\/a>)?<\/p>\n

Just recently, reports appeared telling of how Islamic groups in Syria were following Koran 9:29 to a tee\u2014forcing Christian minorities to pay them jizya<\/a>, i.e., extortion money, in exchange for their lives.\u00a0 In fact, all around the Islamic world, Christians and other minorities are\u00a0regularly plundered by Muslims<\/a>\u00a0who justify their actions by referring to the aforementioned verse.<\/p>\n

Are all such Muslims being \u201cextreme\u201d in light of the commands of Koran 9:29\u2014which specifically calls for the taking of money from Christians and Jews\u2014or are they simply upholding the unambiguous teachings of Islam?<\/p>\n

One may argue that, if Muslims are to take Koran 9:29 literally, why are Muslim nations the world over not declaring an all-out jihad on all non-Muslim nations, including America? The ultimate reason, of course, is that they simply\u00a0can\u2019t<\/em>; they do not have the capability to uphold that verse (and Islamic teaching allows Muslims to\u00a0postpone their obligations<\/a>\u00a0until circumstances are more opportune).<\/p>\n

It would obviously be silly, if not suicidal,\u00a0 for, say, Saudi Arabia, birthplace of Islam, to issue a statement to the West saying either accept Islam, pay jizya\/tribute, or die by the sword.\u00a0 But just because Muslim nations\u00a0do not currently have the capacity to actualize Koran 9:29<\/a>, does not mean that they do not acknowledge its veracity and try to actualize it in\u00a0other places when they can<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A\u00a0quick survey of history<\/a>\u00a0before the meteoric rise of Western military might put Islam in check makes this especially clear.<\/p>\n

Bottom line: If Islam teaches X and a Muslim upholds X\u2014how is he being \u201cextreme\u201d?\u00a0 Seems more logical to say that it is\u00a0Islam itself<\/em>\u00a0that is being \u201cextreme.\u201d\u00a0 Similarly, if a self-professed Muslim does not uphold Islamic teachings\u2014including prayer, fasting, paying\u00a0zakat<\/em><\/a>, etc.\u2014how is he being a \u201cmoderate\u201d?\u00a0 Seems more logical to say that he is not much of a Muslim at all\u2014that is, he is not submitting to Allah, the very definition of \u201cMuslim.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time to acknowledge that dichotomized notions like \u201cmoderate\u201d and \u201cextreme\u201d are culturally induced and loaded standards of the modern, secular West\u2014hardly applicable to the teachings of Islam\u2014and not universal absolutes recognized by all mankind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/\u00a0CBN News\u00a0 At a time when terrorism committed in the name of Islam is rampant, we are continuously being assured\u2014especially by three major institutions that play a dominant role in forming the Western mindset, namely, mainstream media, academia, and government\u2014that the sort of Islam embraced by \u201cradicals,\u201d \u201cjihadis,\u201d and so forth, has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[29,225,227],"tags":[1028,1017,1061,431,30,706,894,478],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-1Rn","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6920,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/gen-sisi-religious-discourse-greatest-challenge-facing-egypt\/","url_meta":{"origin":7153,"position":0},"title":"Gen. Sisi: ‘Religious Discourse Greatest Challenge Facing Egypt’","author":"victorhanson","date":"January 16, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/\u00a0RaymondIbrahim.com\u00a0 According to Egyptian media,\u00a0during\u00a0his recent speech at the Dept. of Moral Affairs for the Armed Forces, Gen. Abdul Fateh al-Sisi\u2014the man who ousted former President Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood in response to the June Revolution and who is seen as the nation\u2019s de facto ruler\u2014declared\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Egypt"","block_context":{"text":"Egypt","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/egypt\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6219,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/crucified-again-venn-institute-interviews-raymond-ibrahim\/","url_meta":{"origin":7153,"position":1},"title":"Crucified Again — Venn Institute Interviews Raymond Ibrahim","author":"victorhanson","date":"July 18, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Raymond Ibrahim [Note: The following interview was conducted by the\u00a0Venn Institute\u00a0with Raymond Ibrahim] Raymond Ibrahim is a widely published author, public speaker, and Middle East and Islam expert, and author most recently of\u00a0Crucified Again: Exposing Islam\u2019s New War on Christians. Follow him on Twitter\u00a0@RaymondIbrahim5 Venn Institute: Most Americans see persecution\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Raymond Ibrahim"","block_context":{"text":"Raymond Ibrahim","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/raymond-ibrahim\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Crucified-Again-Cover.jpg?fit=797%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Crucified-Again-Cover.jpg?fit=797%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Crucified-Again-Cover.jpg?fit=797%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Crucified-Again-Cover.jpg?fit=797%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7216,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-are-slaughtering-us-like-chickens-muslim-persecution-of-christians-december-2013\/","url_meta":{"origin":7153,"position":2},"title":"The Are Slaughtering Us Like Chickens’: Muslim Persecution of Christians, December 2013","author":"victorhanson","date":"April 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/\u00a0Gatestone Insitute As happens at Christmas every year throughout the Muslim world, Christians and their churches were especially targeted\u2014from jihadi terror strikes killing worshippers, to measures by Muslim authorities restricting Christmas celebrations.\u00a0 Some incidents follow:","rel":"","context":"In "Islam"","block_context":{"text":"Islam","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/islam\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2448,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/why-are-christian-girls-converting-to-islam-in-egypt\/","url_meta":{"origin":7153,"position":3},"title":"Why Are Christian Girls Converting to Islam In Egypt?","author":"victorhanson","date":"August 14, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim Jihad Watch Few things in Islam are as liable to provoke passion and violence as the issue of conversion. The health hazards involved in converting out of Islam \u2014 apostatizing \u2014 are well known. But even the issue of converting\u00a0to\u00a0Islam is fraught with drama. Consider Egypt alone:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Egypt"","block_context":{"text":"Egypt","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/egypt\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11999,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/book-review-sword-and-scimitar-fourteen-centuries-of-war-between-islam-and-the-west-by-raymond-ibrahim-da-capo-press-2018-pp-297\/","url_meta":{"origin":7153,"position":4},"title":"Book Review: Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War Between Islam and the West by Raymond Ibrahim. Da Capo Press, 2018. Pp. 297","author":"victorhanson","date":"September 26, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Please\u00a0read\u00a0this\u00a0book\u00a0review\u00a0from\u00a0my\u00a0colleague Terry Scambray \/\/ New Oxford Review Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War Between Islam and the West\u00a0by Raymond Ibrahim.\u00a0 Da Capo Press, 2018.\u00a0\u00a0 Pp. 297 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We judge individuals by what they say and what they do.\u00a0 We judge cults, religions and ideologies the same way; that\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2587,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/continuity-st-francis-of-assisi-fr-zakaria-botros-and-islam\/","url_meta":{"origin":7153,"position":5},"title":"Continuity: St. Francis of Assisi, Fr. Zakaria Botros, and Islam","author":"victorhanson","date":"July 19, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim Jihad Watch While not formally connected, two books I recently finished reading \u2014\u00a0St. Francis of Assisi and the Conversion of Muslims\u00a0and\u00a0Defying Death: Zakaria Botross, Apostle to Islam\u00a0\u2014 complement each other very well, specifically by establishing continuity between medieval and modern Islam, and, in so doing, demonstrating that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Raymond Ibrahim"","block_context":{"text":"Raymond Ibrahim","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/raymond-ibrahim\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7153"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7153"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7153\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7155,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7153\/revisions\/7155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}