Islam has 1.6 billion believers around the world, ranging from mystical Sufis to violent jihadists.[1] Like every other major faith, the overwhelming majority of Muslims are not violent and do not support violence.
The first victims of Islamic extremism are Muslims who do not agree with the vision of the extremists. More Muslims than people of other faiths have been murdered by the extremists; more Muslims have fled in fear.[2]
Muslims in the West do not cheer terrorist violence.[3] Polling shows that European and American Muslims are as opposed to violence and terrorism as the rest of the population and they warn authorities of jihadists planning attacks.[4] Further, there are many examples from around the world of Muslims protecting Christians and others from the extremists.
Muslims change their cultural views dramatically when they emigrate. On many important questions, Muslim immigrants are rapidly adopting Western values. In fact, Muslim immigrants appear to be more satisfied with their new homeland than is the general population.
The same problems that worry us are also worrying the majority of Muslims. These are clashes within civilizations, not between them.[5] To judge Islam on the basis of its violent jihadists is simplistic and to judge individuals on their identity group rather than as individuals is unjust.
Islam cannot be discussed in monolithic terms. There is not a single ‘Islam’ to discuss: individual Muslims are allowed to arrive at many of their own spiritual and political understandings provided they observe basic practices.[6]
For Muslims, God’s will is revealed as recited to the prophet Muhammad and recorded in the Qur’an. This is supplemented by the Hadith – the sayings and actions of the prophet as recorded by his followers, forming what is known as the Sunnah. The Qur’an and Sunnah are legally interpreted in detail in the Shariah or Islamic Law. Law occupies as central a place in Islam as theology does in Christianity. Law is the main identity marker in Islam, and every Muslim has to subscribe to one of the schools of law.[7] For Sunnis, there are four schools of law, and for Shi’ites there is one.[8]
It is permissible in Islam for scholars to differ on any matter, except those fundamentals of religion that all Muslims must know. It is forbidden in Islam to ignore the reality of contemporary times when deriving legal rulings. It is forbidden in Islam to kill the innocent. Jihad in Islam is defensive war. It is not permissible without the right cause, the right purpose and the right rules of conduct.[9]
As is the case in Christian just-war theory, in which the power to declare war is carefully limited to governments, in Islamic law only legitimate Islamic governments can declare a jihad, not individuals or non-state actors. The jihadists without question violate Islamic law by taking it into their own hands.
We need to strongly resist the view that Islam is the problem and that violent jihadists are the authentic representatives of Islam. To denounce Islam provides excuses for twisted zealots. Moreover, it inspires fear and mistrust among the great majority of Muslims, who are not jihadists. Those who argue that jihadi groups represent the ‘essence’ of Islam actually reflect a very fundamentalist way of thinking. They presume a sola scriptura interpretation of Islam. Perversely, this approach is no different from the jihadists own ‘Qur’an and Sunnah alone’ approach.[10]
None of this is to say that Islam is beyond respectful criticism. We should not be shy about defending universal human rights where they conflict with Shariah Law interpretations that are out of step with contemporary times.
Sources
[1] “Moderate Islam the antidote to Islamism” by Daniel Pipes, News Weekly, 6 July 2013, http://newsweekly.com.au/article.php?id=5634
[2] “Middle East’s bishops urge Christians to work with Muslims” by Michael Cook, News Weekly, 14 February 2015, http://newsweekly.com.au/article.php?id=56838
[3],[5] Book review by Patrick J. Byrne of The Myth of the Muslim Tide: Do Immigrants Threaten the West? by Doug Saunders, News Weekly, 28 February 2015, http://www.newsweekly.com.au/article.php?id=56861
[4] “Geert Wilders’ agenda in Australia examined” by Peter Westmore, News Weekly, 2 March 2013, http://newsweekly.com.au/article.php?id=5478
[6] “The Deadly Mix of Tribalism and Religion” by Lawrence Cross, Quadrant, September 2014, https://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2014/09/deadly-mix-tribalism-religion/
[7] Islam and Christianity on the Edge: Talking Points in Christian-Muslim Relations into the 21st Century by John Azumah and Peter Riddell (eds), Acorn Press, Brunswick East, VIC, 2013, pp.22 & 88
[8] My Neighbor’s Faith: Islam Explained for Christians by John Azumah, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI, 2008, pp.54-55
[9] “Muslim religious leaders denounce ‘Islamic State’” by Peter Westmore, News Weekly, 8 November 2014, http://newsweekly.com.au/article.php?id=56770
[10] “Challenging radical Islam” by John A. Azumah, First Things, January 2015, https://www.firstthings.com/article/2015/01/challenging-radical-islam
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Policy Statement – Islam is provided under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.