The Islamic State: Delivering Islam's Reformation?
10/03/14
Cheryl Benard
Religion, Terrorism, Middle East
"When the dust finally settles, we may find that IS has given the world a lasting, if expensive, gift: the long-overdue Islamic Reformation."
Of
all the reactions to the so-called Islamic State (IS) and its grisly,
intentionally provocative brutalities, perhaps the most interesting one
is surely unintended: it is inspiring critical and substantive debate
about the nature of Islam, on the part of Muslims, a debate with the
potential to bring about the modernization and reformation of that
religion.
In
decades past, it has been taboo even to hint at any possible
anachronisms or problems in the Quran. And: “Islam is a religion of
peace” was the universal obligatory mantra after 9/11. Only a daring few
voices expressed the occasional doubt, to be instantly branded as
Islamophobes.
And
this politically correct version might have been true. Some of the
theological observations made in this context had validity: it is true
that almost all religions contain seeds of extremism and have engendered
violent fringe movements. Certainly, the Quran also contains passages
about justice, tolerance and communal peace. It is true as well that the
Bible’s Old Testament contains multiple injunctions and sanctioned
behaviors that shock us today—from infanticide to polygamy to rape.
Judaism and Christianity have adapted their religions to changing mores
by tacitly ignoring those passages that no longer fit the times, and by
accepting that some aspects of religious doctrine are historic, rather
than ethical or theological.
But
the sentence about Islam being a religion of peace was never a
theological statement. It always had an ulterior motive: the desire to
be polite, to be politically correct, and to wish into being a desired
reality. I have attended more than one academic conference where an
incipient discussion of Islam was anxiously aborted with the warning
that “one can’t go to war with 1.6 billion people.” This statement in
itself, of course, pretty much negates the religion of peace premise,
presuming as it does that an angry horde would be ready to rise up if it
didn’t like your panel’s comments. “Religion of peace” was an
invocation more so than a diagnosis.
Read full articlehttp://nationalinterest.org/feature/the-islamic-state-delivering-islams-reformation-11400
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