MohammedMaksudul
May Allah Forgive us
:salam2:
The following has been taken from a report released by the RAND Corporation in the year 2007. I will be quoting a part of it, which can be found on page 66-68 of the report. The complete report can be downloaded from here: http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2007/RAND_MG574.pdf
I would like to open and open discussion on this report and what the respected members think about it. Should there be any problem or the moderators think it should be removed, they have all the rights to remove the thread. But I hope the thread won't be closed because of disagreements and few rants. May Allah Guide us all and open our hearts to accept the truth. Ameen.
The following has been taken from a report released by the RAND Corporation in the year 2007. I will be quoting a part of it, which can be found on page 66-68 of the report. The complete report can be downloaded from here: http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2007/RAND_MG574.pdf
Characteristics of Moderate Muslims
For purposes of this study, moderate Muslims are those who share
the key dimensions of democratic culture. These include support for
democracy and internationally recognized human rights (including
gender equality and freedom of worship), respect for diversity, acceptance
of nonsectarian sources of law, and opposition to terrorism and
other illegitimate forms of violence.
Democracy
A commitment to democracy as understood in the liberal Western tradition
and agreement that political legitimacy derives from the will of
the people expressed through free and democratic elections is a key
marker issue in identifying moderate Muslims. Some Muslims take the
view common in the West that democratic values are universal and not
contingent on particular cultural and religious contexts. Other moderate
Muslims, however, take the view that democracy in the Muslim
world has to be based on Islamic traditions and texts. They seek to
contextualize these texts in ways that support democratic values and
to find scriptural sources of democracy, as in the Quranic command
that Muslims should order their collective affairs through consultation
(shura). In either case, what matters is the results. Whether a political
philosophy derives from Western or Quranic sources, to be considered
democratic it must unequivocally support pluralism and internationally
recognized human rights.
Support for democracy implies opposition to concepts of the
Islamic state—particularly those that imply the exercise of political
power by a self-appointed clerical elite, as in the case of Iran. Muslim
moderates hold the view that no one can speak for God. Rather, it is
the consensus of the community (ijma), as reflected in freely expressed
public opinion, that determines what God’s will is in any particular
case. Within Twelver Shi’ite Islam there is a long tradition of quietism,
a Shi’ite religious tradition that is wary of political authority, seeing it
as lacking in divine sanction in the absence of the Imam. This tradition
has been subverted by theocratic Khomeinist notions in Iran and in
other places where the Iranian regime exercises influence; nevertheless,
it persists in Iraq and elsewhere as a potential substratum for democratic
development.
Acceptance of Nonsectarian Sources of Law
The dividing line between moderate Muslims and radical Islamists in
countries with legal systems based on those of the West (the majority
of states in the Muslim world) is whether shari’a should apply. Conservative
interpretations of shari’a are incompatible with democracy
and internationally recognized human rights because, as noted liberal
Sudanese intellectual Abdullahi An-Naim points out, men and women
and believers and unbelievers do not have equal rights under shari’a.
In addition, due to the diversities of opinion in Islamic law, any enactment
of shari’a principles as law would mean enforcing the political
will of those in power, selecting some opinions over others, and thereby
denying believers and others freedom of choice.
Respect for the Rights of Women and Religious Minorities
Moderates are hospitable to Muslim feminists and open to religious
pluralism and interfaith dialogue. Moderates argue, for instance, that
discriminatory injunctions in the Quran and the sunna relating to women’s position within the society and the family (for example, that a
daughter’s inheritance should be half that of a son’s) should be reinterpreted
on the grounds that conditions today are not the same as those
that prevailed in the Prophet Muhammad’s day. Moderates also defend
women’s right of access to education and health services and right to
full participation in the political process, including the right to hold
political offices. Similarly, moderates advocate equal citizenship and
legal rights for non-Muslims.
Opposition to Terrorism and Illegitimate Violence
Moderate Muslims, just like adherents of other religious traditions,
have a concept of the just war. According to Mansur Escudero, leader
of the Federación Española de Entidades Religiosas Islámicas [Spanish
Federation of Islamic Religious Entities] (FEERI), it would be false
to say that Islam does not contemplate violence. The important thing
is to define the ethical principles that regulate violence: what kinds
of violence are legitimate and what kinds are not? How and in what
form is violence employed is of outmost importance in determining
its legitimacy. Violence against civilians and suicide operations, that
is to say, terrorism, is not legitimate.4 It is, however, legitimate to use
violence defensively to protect Muslims against aggressors. Legitimate
violence must respect normative limits, such as using the minimum
force required, respecting the lives of noncombatants, and avoiding
ambushes and assassinations.
I would like to open and open discussion on this report and what the respected members think about it. Should there be any problem or the moderators think it should be removed, they have all the rights to remove the thread. But I hope the thread won't be closed because of disagreements and few rants. May Allah Guide us all and open our hearts to accept the truth. Ameen.
