Yes, it does matter!
Reader comment on item: Guest Column: Nicholas Kristof & the Spirit of Charlie Hebdo

Submitted by Abdul, Jan 9, 2015 11:15

Esman writes:

"So it doesn't really matter if you call that ideology "Islam" or not. There are also millions of Muslims who do not subscribe to the same ideas; and by all means, we should embrace them. Think of the protesters at Gezi in 2013. Think of Malala Yousafzai. Think of Zuhdi Jasser."

Yes, it does matter! In fact, it is crucial to our efforts to defend ourselves. It matters because Islam, that is, the belief system based on the Qur'an and the Sunnah, is the source of the problem. It matters because Islam, -- the Qur'an and the Sunnah -- are taught and preached in every mosque in the world. Therefore, there will always be millions of Moslems who take those Islamic sacred texts seriously.

People like Malala, Jasser and a few other prominent Moslem dissenters are not representative either of Islam or of the Moslem community. To the extent that they are "moderate", they deviate from Islam. We do not need to "embrace them", whatever that may mean, because they are irrelevant to the struggle against the Islam which is threatening us. Because they are not representative of Islam or the Muslim community, they can be of no help to us. Their "Islam" is a non-Islamic Islam. In the meantime, they are confusing ignorant non-Moslems about the possibility of reform in Islam. They raise false hopes that reform is possible; and they divert our attention from the real problem, namely, the Koran and the Sunnah. By diverting our attention from the real enemy, they are weakening our ability to defend ourselves against the Islamic threat.

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