The Muslim world is changing. Three years after the atrocity of 9/11, it may be in the early stages of a reformation, albeit with a small “r”. From Morocco to Indonesia, people are trying to develop a more contemporary and humane interpretation of Islam, and some countries are undergoing major transformations.
Much of the attention is focused on reformulating the sharia, the centuries-old body of Islamic law deeply embedded in a medieval psychology. The sharia is state law in many Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan and the Sudan. For many conservative and radical Muslims, the sharia is Islam: it cannot be changed, and must be imposed in exactly the shape it was first formulated in the ninth century. Since 9/11, there has been a seismic shift in this perception. More and more Muslims now perceive Islamic law to be dangerously obsolete. And these include the ulema, the religious scholars and clerics, who have a tremendous hold on the minds of the Muslim masses.
This is a rather fascinating article, even if it seems a bit optimistic. The “some countries” where things are actually being changed are India, Morocco (which has been Westernizing for years anyway), Malaysia and Indonesia. They also mention that there are (unsuccsessful) attempts to get Pakistan to change. Notice there is no mention of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Qatar, Eqypt…
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Really, all this talk of a “reformation” and “enlightement” in Islam is just so much whistling past the graveyard.
Islam was the Reformation in the Middle East, as Buddhism was in India and New Text Confucianism was in Chou China. Its Enlightenment was Mu’tazilism…long since overcome by Ash’arism.
A good — overwhelming, in fact — case can be made that Islamic culture was the progressive one until the consolidation of the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century CE. But that was over half a millennium ago, and the Ottoman Empire is deader than the Kerry campaign. Islam is now somewhere between Spengler’s “fellahin civilization” and Reilly’s Terminal Apocalypse; time to admit that and, as the Petulant Left like to say, move on.
When their members can leave it without persecution, then maybe I’ll take another look. First it’ll need to self-implode.
I think bombing them into submission will work. It’s only fair; that’s what they are trying to do to us.
This link says it well enough ; http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/sina40911.htm