Moderate Islamists (Muslims)

Submitted by Nick4693 (Japan), May 4, 2008 at 19:44

While I defer to Dr. Daniel Pipes' superior knowledge of Islam and its dangers, I once again refer to his use of the word "moderate" in describing Muslims.

Is there or can there be such an animal?

In a recent article by Joel Brinkley, former Pulitzer Prize-winning foreign correspondent for the New York Times and now a professor of journalism at Stanford University, he writes that "one of Saudi Arabia's most senior religious authorities has directed that two reporters for a mainstream Saudi newspaper be executed for publishing stories suggesting that religions other than Islam are worthy of respect.

"In Saudi Arabia, malefactors are beheaded by sword, often in public, outside a mosque just after Friday prayers. By official account, authorities beheaded 151 people last year."

The reporters, Abdullah bin Bejad al-Otaiba and Yousef Aba al-Khail, are said to be terrified and have called on the government for protection. The government has not responded.

The fatwa was issued by Abdul-Rahman al-Barrak, a 75-year-old sheik, who is a leading authority on Wahhabism, the country's fundamentalist form of Sunni Islam and a member of the Saudi legislature.

The point I am trying to make is that given the atmosphere of terror that obviously exists in Saudi Arabia today, not to mention other Islamist countries, and given the issuance of a fatwa for what the West would consider simply an innocuous call for religious toleration, being an Islamist "moderate" is a very dangerous proposition, and I am willing to bet that if the chips were down, few if any would declare themselves to be moderate considering the death threats that they know would ensue.

Driven to the wall, I venture to suggest that not one Muslim would declare himself to be moderate in his religion, and, to save his life, would openly declare himself to be a very devout Islamist.

"Moderate" Muslims living in the West can act in a more open manner about their degree of religiosity, but even they, if urged by extremists to do their bit for jihad, would turn volte-face, knowing what would happen if they refused.

I concede that there are "moderates" per se, but given an ultimate choice, they would not hesitate to turn on us if urged to do so. Lying is permitted by Islam if done in the name of allah. To me, lying is lying, no matter how you sanitize it.

The bottom line is that there are no "true moderates" in Islam. If there are, why don't they speak up whenever an atrocity is committed by extremist Muslims? They daren't because, like those two reporters, they are terrrified.

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