This comment was published in a Danish newspaper last week: NASER KHADER Senior Fellow WWW.HUDSON.ORG The Quran needs an update Not also recently, bur for quite some time, people have been sentenced to death for mocking the prophet Muhammad. Even though that certainly does not reflect all of Islam, it cannot be denied that is a part of it. Therefore, it has never been clearer that this religion needs a revolution. A revolution fueled by Muslims themselves. The attack on Charlie Hebdo and the following two hostage situations have not just stirred things up in France, but all around the world. Debates on multiple matters have taken place, and it is imperative to keep these going. Especially the debate whether this is a part of Islam or not, because no matter how radicalized and extreme these terrorists are, they claim to act on behalf of Islam. Such an act of cowardice towards the overwhelming majority of Muslims, the moderate ones, should not be marginalized by saying it is not a part of Islam. These terrorists obviously thought they were working on behalf of the Islamic faith; hence the solution to stop future extremists is to focus on changing this worldview, not to distance them from their own mindset. David Cameron, Barack Obama and a number of prominent Muslims have said the events in France have nothing to do with Islam. Naturally, they claim this in a sympathetic attempt to acknowledge all world’s moderate Muslims, however, I strongly disagree. What happened in France is also Islam. There is a religious dogma within the science of religion, which states that a religion is what the religious themselves define and practice it. In other word, you cannot strip the terrorists for the fact that they perceive themselves as Muslims. It can come across as grotesque to say that the leader of ISIS, al-Baghdadi, and jihadists are not Muslims, when al-Baghdadi for example is educated as theologian and has taught this at university level as well. They are just as much Muslim as others, and it appears to be obvious that the recent terror attacks have been affiliated, in one way or another, to Islam. The above is highly based on my analysis of the religious tradition, which throughout history has punished people, who have committed sabb alsahaba and istikhza of the prophet. Sabb al-sahaba means mocking the prophet’s friends and first descendants. Stikhza is mentioned in the Quran (36:30-32), and al-istikhza means ‘making fun of, mocking or ridicule’. A Muslim scholar has pointed at mocking and making fun of those, who Muslims call Allah’s messengers, have been around for most of history. Noah, as well as Abraham, Moses and Jesus were ridiculed among things, however, the Quran says that they reacted with patience, and hence just increased their devotion to God. In other words, they remained calm, which made the critique bounce off them. The Quran warns against mocking Islam and the prophet, but nowhere is an outright punishment of doing so mentioned. Nonetheless, this ‘violation’ has traditionally meant facing a death penalty – which applies for Muslims as well as non-Muslims. Consequently, there has been and is a tradition in Islamic law, which punishes mocking with a death penalty – so when someone argues that killing as a result of mocking the prophet and religion in general has nothing to do with Islam, it is simply not true. Indeed it is, and it should be regarded as a major issue. Instead of being busy with denying this, there should be a fight for wanting to change this practice. It is absolutely certain that the moderate Muslim would never enforce this part of the Islamic tradition. Unfortunately, the world has never had so many extremists, willing to carry out the violent part of Islam. Recently, Bill Maher discussed extremism in his talk show with Salman Rushdie among others. He rationalized that if a religion can bring out so many rotten apples, there has got to be something wrong with the orchard. I agree with this analogy. Martin Rhonheimer, professor at the pope-related Santa Croce University in Rome, says that Islam consists of both social and religious regulations, and from its origin has been belligerent. I find this to be accurate as well. When someone confronted al-Baghdadi with crucifixion and beheading being un-Islamic, he just answered that it does say so in chapter five, and this is exactly what needs to be amended. The Muslim theologians must work towards the goal of what is stated in places such as chapter five does not play any role in modern reality. Beheading and crucifixion do not belong, anywhere, in the modern world. As far as I know, there have been no prominent theologians, who of this date have stated that the passage from chapter five belongs to a certain historical context and therefore is invalid today. It is of utmost necessity that Muslims acknowledge the existence of the problem, and confront the related obsolete traditions. In other words it is the traditional practice that needs alterations. Muslims need to focus on the things about Islam, which are not consistent with our modern world, and they need to greatly dissociate from the terrorist attacks in France and elsewhere. I have seen more Muslims protesting against Israel compared to the terrorist attacks in France, which simply is not good enough. The biggest battle of them all should be within the ‘Muslim sphere’ of mainstream-Muslims and Islamists. Everyone has a duty to get involved, because the Islamist ideology harms the Muslims themselves. They have to take the fight and eliminate the rotten fruits in their orchard. It cannot solely be the neighbor or my old mother, who stand in the hallway and tell each other. The greater number of Muslims refusing to put up with terrorism, the greater the pressure. This way, the theologians and scholars will be present more often. These are the people, who can and should take a confrontation with the violent passages of the Quran, because it truly needs an update. By clearly distancing from this, the Islamists will receive the message that you strongly disagree with them. Accordingly, you enter the battle in Islam’s house. Numerous Muslim leaders are busier distancing themselves from people saying they need to distance themselves publically from the attacks, than actually joining the fight without reservations. As I made clear in my last book, the problem with Islam today is that there is no place for criticism. The present is filled with too much intransigence, and the Islamists have practically made the prophet into a God, also making the Quran untouchable. Furthermore, there is intolerance towards non-Muslims, which is completely out of proportions, and the will is not free, but tied to Gods will. A revolution of Islam is the only thing that can put an end to radicalization. If the basic way of looking at life is not changed, new jihadists and terrorists, who justify their actions in the name of God, will keep being brought up.
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 21:37:14 +0000