Reformist Muslims and ex-Muslim transformers of Islam

In my very first post, I stated that the purpose of this journal was as a place to express my thoughts on religion and society. Before becoming a Buddhist, I had studied the major world religions intensively (and I continue to do so), and so my perspective on these religions is neither like that of the believer nor like that of the typical outsider.

In particular, I had studied Islam as a "prospective convert" long before this religion became a hot-button issue in modern international politics. Of course, nowadays there is no shortage of commentators on Islam. But they fall mostly into a few major camps, none of which I fall into. So I hope that I can contribute something to the discourse. Unfortunately, I am very busy and often don't have the time to write the essays that I want to write at the pace that I want.

Today I saw three items that are related by a common theme, and I thought that I should at least post about them, so that I can comment on them later. And that theme is (as the title of this post says) "reformist Muslims and ex-Muslim transformers of Islam". It is an undeniable fact that the interaction between modernity and Islam has caused massive social upheavals throughout the Muslim world. Some Muslims have reacted to the intrusion of modernity by retreating into religious fanaticism and obscurantism, while others aspire to reform Islam and reconcile it to modern standards of rationalism and norms of human rights, while yet others have rejected the religion entirely.

It was only several hundred years ago that factions within Christianity underwent a similar struggle, resulting in the loss of political power for the religious fanatics and a flowering of both reformist Christian movements and skeptical thought. As someone who is the product of these historical currents, I naturally wish that the reformist Muslims and ex-Muslims would succeed in the end against their fanatical adversaries. However, there are many differences between Islam and Christianity, as well as between the situation of today's Muslims compared with yesteryear's Christians, so that one cannot draw on the Christian template for a "Reformation" of Islam. The outcome of the struggle for "the soul of Islam" is as yet unclear.

The posts:

1. Wafa Sultan: "first cracks in the walls of our prison"
2. Naser Khader: there are now those with a vested interest in making matters worse
3. Ameer Ali: Islam's prophet had character flaws

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