In God We Trust

Abstract

Question 1: Who are the moderate Muslims, and what are their beliefs andpolitics?FAR: The debate among the participants shows that while the term moderateMuslim is problematic, there is a need to define the attitudinal differencebetween Muslims who can be worked with from those who cannot. Isuggest that the defining feature is between those who believe in a pluralist,multicultural, multi-religious societal contract that allows for differencesof opinions within an over-arching construct, as opposed to thosewho believe in a societal contract that has no space for other religions, ethnicities,or cultures, or even intra-Islamic differences of opinion.1The latter attitude leads to the phenomenon known as “Islamist terrorism,”the modern-day version of the seventh-century Kharijites, who foughtand ultimately assassinated Ali, Prophet Muhammad’s son-in-law, and who,over the following century, developed a political philosophy that justifiedmurdering fellow Muslims, including innocent women and children.Contemporary Muslims need to support that aspect of the war on terror thatis a true jihad against all forms of terrorism, known in classical Islamicjurisprudence as hirabah, and anarchic terrorism that tears the social fabricessential to well-functioning societies. But this cannot be done withoutsimultaneously purging Muslim societies of some other modern “isms” thathave “terrorized” Muslims and still continue to deny them their inalienablehuman rights under the Shari`ah ...</jats:p