Why don't Muslim leaders condemn atrocities by the extremists?

That's been a question I've had for quite a while. But, Rabbi Marc Schneier, President of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, says that moderate Muslim leaders have been speaking out. It's just that the press does not publish their protests.

Schneier cites a number of protests by moderate Muslims. For example, back in September more than 120 Muslim scholars from around the world joined an open letter to the “fighters and followers” of the Islamic State, denouncing them as un-Islamic by using the most Islamic of terms. They spoke up re the recent incidents in Australia and Pakistan.

Schneier seems to have a point.

Pope Francis and Muslims

I've been wondering for quite a while whether there are any moderate Muslims. So, it was refreshing to hear that Pope Francis has urged Muslim leaders around the world to condemn terrorism carried out in the name of Islam. He also denounced those who say that "all Muslims are terrorists. As we cannot say that all Christians are fundamentalists".

Where are the moderate Muslims?

I've been searching for some for six years now.  I have found the grand total of one, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf who is trying to build a mosque near the World Trade Center.  I just can't imagine any religion being as quiet as Islam if its followers killed innocent people or did some other dastardly deeds, such as burning the Koran.  American Muslims are supposed to be moderate.  As far as I can tell, they haven't said one word.

I wonder

Does a moderate Muslim faction really exist? I have been struck over the past ten years by the relative silence in the Muslim world as fanatical Muslims have been wreaking havoc. I can't see that any other major religion would be as accepting of the violence that the fanatics have displayed.

Is it possible that the incipient revolution that seems to be sweeping the Arab world is the result of the average Muslim realizing that his leaders will do or say nothing about the evil that some Muslims are perpetrating?

Don't Even Say The Word

The word being 'mosque' or 'Islam' or 'Muslim'. In the last century it was 'Catholic' or 'Pope'. What is wrong with some people? Why are they so insecure? Even in the rich town of Wellesley you have these people. As in many New England towns, the Wellesley schools offer a course on world religions. Most of these courses involve visits to the houses of worship of the religions studied. Well, Islam is a world religion, perhaps it has the most members. So, the students visited the mosque when a service was being held. Some of the kids knelt when the prayers were being said. A parent who was chaperoning the trip recorded this and gave it to a group called "Americans for Peace and Justice". Then the brouhaha followed.

Two qualifiers:

1. Where are the moderate Muslims who can actually make a coherent case for their cause? There is as much coherence in their cause as in that of the major religions.
2. The teachers were probably remiss in not specifying beforehand what the modes of conduct should have been.

In this country we have always had people who hate differences. Why do we give them such notice?

Moderate Muslims

For a couple of years now, I've been wondering where the moderate Muslims are. They don't appear to be in Saudi Arabia as they've just decided it's okay to whip a 75-year-old widow and sentence her to four months in jail for 'mingling with young men', one of whom was a nephew of her dead husband.

According to a former Islamist terrorist, "Scholars in the most prestigious Islamic institutes and universities continue to teach things like Jews are "pigs and monkeys," that women and men must be stoned to death for adultery, or that Muslims must fight the world to spread their religion." Many of the 'crimes' that are punished in Islamist governments are also in the texts of other religions but these other religions have moved on. He urges Islam to move on and join the modern world.

Some Insight

The Pew Research Center has conducted a survey of Muslim Americans. Those interviewed seem to be fairly happy and typical of most Americans. However, the younger Muslims seem more willing to condone suicide bombings than older Muslims.

The survey compared American Muslims to those living in England, France, Germany and Spain. There was a fairly large difference in the economic status of those interviewed. In this country only 2% were considered low income; in the other countries this number varied between 18 and 23%.

How much influence does your economic status have on your views? I think a fair amount. Perhaps, that's why American Muslims seem more moderate.

A Moderate Muslim

I've been wondering whether there really are any moderate Muslims. It seems that we only hear from Muslims who go ape over a cartoon or the ramblings of a pope. They don't seem overly concerned with the damage caused by Muslim terrorists around the world. So, I was surprised when I read this month's Seven Questions article in the Foreign Policy web site.

The questions are posed to Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, founder of the multifaith Cordoba Initiative. It would be hard to find a more rational person with a truly international view than Rauf. He opened by actually disparaging all the Muslim hoopla about the pope's talk. I found the following comments wise and something to ponder over:

"The perception in the Muslim world is that the West wants to impose a secularism upon it, which to them is equivalent to the erasure of religion in society. As an American, I know that is not the intent of the United States at all. But that's the perception. The perception in America is that when people say they want an Islamic state, they want something like the Taliban. And that is not true at all."

"Imposing sanctions on Iraq had no impact on Saddam Hussein. It strengthened his authoritarian will on his own people. And it resulted in the people themselves suffering. When you employ sanctions, you’re creating an artificial economic depression. If there are sanctions against Iran, it will strengthen [the Iranians'] resolve.

People basically want a few simple things in life: a decent meal, the ability to clothe themselves, and a roof over their heads. And they want their pride. To do that, you have to engage with people on an equal basis. A year ago, I was involved in discussions between Americans and Iranians. I asked one high-level Iranian official, who I won’t name, what the price would be for Iranians to give up nuclear development. He said three things: 1) A nuclear-free zone in the region. 2) No talk or action about regime change. 3) To help develop the economy. This gentleman sounded very rational."