WHO ARE MODERATE MUSLIMS?

Muqtedar Khan, Ph.D.

The term moderate Muslims is not only becoming important in the post
September 11 discussion of Islam and the West, it is also becoming highly
contested. What do we really mean when we brand someone as a moderate
Muslim? Indeed the more interesting question is what does the word mean to
Westerns, looking-in to Islam, and to Muslims, looking out from within
Islam?

As one who identifies himself strongly with the idea of a liberal Islam and
also advocates moderation in the manifestation and __expression of Islamic
politics, I believe it is important that we flush out this “political
identity”. In an era when who we are determines what we do politically, it
is imperative that we clarify the “we” in politics.

American media uses the term moderate Muslim to indicate a Muslim who is
either pro-western in her politics or is being self-critical in her
discourse. Therefore both President Karzai of Afghanistan and Professor
Kahlid Abul Fadl of UCLA wear the cap with felicity, the former for his
politics the latter for his ideas.

Muslims in general do not like using the term, understanding it to indicate
an individual who has politically sold out to the “other” side. In some
internal intellectual debates, the term moderate Muslim is used pejoratively
to indicate a Muslim who is more secular and less Islamic than the norm,
which varies across communities. In America, a moderate Muslim is one who
peddles a softer form of Islam – the Islam of John Esposito and Karen Arm
Strong – is willing to co-exist peacefully with peoples of other faiths and
is comfortable with democracy and the separation of politics and religion.

Both, Western media and Muslims, do a disservice by branding some Muslims as
moderate on the basis of their politics. These people should general be
understood as opportunists and self-serving. Most of the moderate regimes in
the Muslim World are neither democratic nor manifest the softer side of
Islam. That leaves intellectual positions as the criteria for determining
who is a moderate Muslim, and especially in comparison to whom, since
moderate is a relative term.

Both Muslims and the media are generally on the mark when they identify
moderate Muslims as reflective, self-critical, pro-democracy and
human-rights and closet secularists.  But who are they different from and
how?

I believe that moderate Muslims are different from militant Muslims even
though both of them advocate the establishment of societies whose organizing
principle is Islam. The difference between moderate and militant Muslims is
in their methodological orientation and in the primordial normative
preferences which shape their interpretation of Islam.

For moderate Muslims Ijtihad is the preferred method of choice for social
and political change and military Jihad the last option. For militant
Muslims, military Jihad is the first option and Ijtihad is not an option at
all.

Ijtihad narrowly understood is a juristic tool that allows independent
reasoning to articulate Islamic law on issues where textual sources are
silent. The unstated assumption being when texts have spoken reason must be
silent. But increasingly moderate Muslim intellectuals see Ijtihad as the
spirit of Islamic thought that is necessary for the vitality of Islamic
ideas and Islamic civilization. Without Ijtihad, Islamic thought and Islamic
civilization fall into decay.
For moderate Muslims, Ijtihad is a way of life, which simultaneously allows
Islam to reign supreme in the heart and the mind to experience unfettered
freedom of thought. A moderate Muslim is therefore one who cherishes freedom
of thought while recognizing the existential necessity of faith. She aspires
for change, but through the power of mind and not through planting mines.

Moderate Muslims aspire for a society – a city of virtue -- that will treat
all people with dignity and respect. There will be no room for political or
normative intimidation. Individuals will aspire to live an ethical life
because they recognize its desirability. Communities will compete in doing
good and politics will seek to encourage good and forbid evil. They believe
that the internalization of the message of Islam can bring about the social
transformation necessary for the establishment of the virtuous city.  The
only arena in which Moderate Muslims permit excess is in idealism.

Today, the relationship between Islam and the rest is getting increasingly
worse. Muslim militants are sowing seeds of poison and hatred between
Muslims and the rest of humanity by committing egregious acts of violence in
the name of Islam. In this precarious environment, it is important that
everyone finds and nurtures the many wonderful examples of moderate Muslims
one can still find.

Chandra Muzaffar in Malaysia, Tarik Ramadan in Europe, Maulana Waheeduddin
Khan and Asghar Ali Engineer in India, Khalid Abul Fadl and Louay Safi in
the US, Karim Soroush and Muhammad Khatami in Iran and many many more who
are committed to their Jihad (struggle) to revive the spirit of Ijtihad.
Fortunately the tradition is alive globally; it needs the support and the
attention of all who aspire for peace and understanding.


A book by Muqtedar Khan,:"American Muslims:Bringing Faith and Freedom".

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Islam in America
2. American Muslims and American Politics
3. American Muslims and American Foreign Policy
4. American Muslims and American Society
5. American Muslim Perspective
6. Reflections on Islam and Democracy
7. The Attack on America ands its Aftermath
8. An American Muslim Perspective of the Muslim World

To Place an order with the publisher call Amana Publication: 1-800-660-177
or over the internet at Amazon.com

With the very best of good wishes,
Musa Amadu Pembo
Glasgow,
Scotland
UK.
[log in to unmask]
Da’wah is to convey the message with wisdom and with good words. We should
give the noble and positive message of Islam. We should try to emphasize
more commonalities and explain the difference without getting into
theological arguments and without claiming the superiority of one position
over the other. There is a great interest among the people to know about
Islam and we should do our best to give the right message.
May Allah,Subhana Wa Ta'Ala,guide us all to His Sirat Al-Mustaqim (Righteous
Path).May He protect us from the evils of this life and the hereafter.May
Allah,Subhana Wa Ta'Ala,grant us entrance to paradise .
We ask Allaah the Most High, the All-Powerful, to teach us that which will
benefit us, and to benefit us by that which we learn. May Allaah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala grant blessings and peace to our Prophet Muhammad and his family
and
companions..Amen.


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