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Essentialist Islam?

Reader comment on item: Has Islam Been Hijacked?

Submitted by Carl Goldberg (United States), Jan 2, 2006 at 20:41

Dear Dr. Pipes,

You say that Islam has evolved over its 1400 years. Yes and no. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. Religious Moslems, as you well know, insist that the essense of Islam -- the Koran, the Sunnah and the Sharia -- do NOT evolve but remain constant and binding on all Moslems. This doctrine has not evolved.

To the extent that religious Moslems guide themselves by the Koran, they must honor the requirements of jihad and dhimmitude, just like Islam always has done to one degree or other depending on the mood of the particular ruler. Religious Moslems would argue that, yes, Islam does have an unchangeable essence that makes it different from all other religions. I agree with them. However, whereas they see this as positive, I see it as negative and extremely dangerous.

Essentialism may or may not be a fallacy. It depends on what we are talking about. To argue that essentialism is always a fallacy is, itself, a fallacy.
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Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

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Reader comments (4) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
1Islam is not hijacked, it is finally looking to hijack the west [63 words]SAmOct 28, 2014 01:21218999
Hijacked Islam - The Influence of Islam on American Foreign Policy [42 words]Angela WunterMay 13, 2011 11:13185172
RELIGION HIJACKED.. [106 words]DONEVANJan 3, 2006 11:0530967
Essentialist Islam? [165 words]Carl GoldbergJan 2, 2006 20:4130949

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Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

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