Nekyia's Threshold

subject:
Secular Islamic Summit
post date:
2007-02-14 20:48:40
views: 28 comments: 0 ratings: 0

http://www.muslim-refusenik.com/I saw Irshad Manji on the Glenn Beck show the other night and I spent most of her interview time nodding my head and muttering "DATS RIGHT!" (cause sometimes I just like to say it like that). This woman impressed me with her articulation, her faith in Islam, and her understanding of some of the problems inherent in the religion of Islam today and how it plays out into the world of "now".I've been spending some time learning about Islam. It began with a man named Muhommad, who wasn't anybody special at all, and who went to a cave and heard the voice of an angel. He returned to his town of Medina and was pretty much astrocized as a fool and a crazy person for telling his tale of the angel voice. In time he managed to gather a few believers to his words. They left Medina and went into the city of Mecca. Even more followers gathered around him. The fierce warrior chiefs of desert tribes decided to throw in their support of his words. These are the people that founded Islam. The traits of the warriors permeated those that founded the religion. Irshad Manji speaks to the need for a different sort of muslim in today's world. She brings concepts of humanity into the fray. On March 5th, in Saint Petersburg Florida there is going to be a Secular Islamic Summit. Like minded muslims from all over the world are going to gather to discuss the need for a change in the way that Islam is perceived. One of her main points on the Glenn Beck show was that it was the fundementalists that were busy creating atrocities, and they are far fewer than the vast majority of muslims, yet the majority remains silent in the face of the atrocities. They do not protest the acts of a few, and its the face of the few that the world sees and believes. Its sort of like Nazi Germany. Most of the Germans were not horror inflicting Nazis. They were just citizens that assumed those that were taking control were doing what was best. They were complacent and eventually paid the price, as did much of the world, and most especially those of the Jewish faith. We need to break the silence. Extremists on either side - christian or muslim, or any other belief system, need to know that co-operation is the path to co-existance. Its up to us to speak in our tones of compromise - especially over the shrieking of the extremists.