There are moderate Muslims. A lot of them are in Asia.
JAKARTA, Indonesia, Oct. 21 — Indonesia’s two largest Muslim organizations, claiming nearly one- third of the population as members, today urged the government of President Megawati Sukarnoputri to crack down on Islamic militants suspected of violent activities.
Following the arrest of a radical cleric, Abubakar Baasyir, the two main groups representing mainstream Muslims here have joined the public debate, tagging Islamic extremists as a fringe minority in the world’s most populous Muslim nation.
Leaders from Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah have rallied behind a pair of government decrees issued over the weekend that make it easier to detain people suspected of involvement in terrorist activities, such as the massive bombing of Bali’s nightclub district on Oct. 12, which killed at least 183 people. Some moderate Muslim leaders have urged Megawati to propose even more draconian measures.
I found that last, almost throwaway, sentence rather telling. It means that more than just the two specifically mentioned are fighting the Islamist militants (and Islamists in general). To those Muslim leaders who are standing up to fight for their religion, I’d like to say “terima kasih” from all those of us who keep saying, with too little proof, that not all Muslims support the Islamists.
3 Comments
Well, you know the reason they are “moderate” is because they have been made soft by the Bali Hindus..
I think Islam need some more “Hinduism”, though not the cow-killer lynching kind though.. eek!
It seems to be most moderate where any SE Asian religion has moderated it. The SE Asian influences from India (both Hinduism and Buddhism) along with the original animism, have created a much more moderate form of Islam than is common in areas which were originally Arab, or areas taken over from another monotheistic religion.
Now if more of the religious leaders would do the same and decry those who wish to encompass the world by violence rather than education…