Islamic "Reformation"

"Islam does not need reformation. It just needs to be applied correctly. That's all."

Those were the words spoken by a friend of mine. It might be shocking for you to hear this, but it's true: Islam really does not need reform; even it did, it would require a little.

But there are many people who scream for "reformation of the Islamic faith" or "reformation of Islam" as a whole. What, pray tell, in Islam needs to be reformed? Before I continue this little spiel, I'd just like to say that I appreciate those who come out with such a plea in the sense that they'd like to see Islam get a better perception in today's world. In my opinion, it's better than being an Islamophobe or a Muslimophobe.

First, we have to answer this bugging question:

What is Islam?

Islam, by all means, is just a religion. It's not a culture, like many of you tend to believe. It's not a government either. And it does not have a body like the Roman Catholic Church, and certainly has no "Pope". Furthermmore, Islam is a religion sacred to 1.4 billion people, and only thousands of people are considered "radicalized". Moreover, Muslims are dispersed around the world, and Islam itself is made of many different sects, the two major ones being the Sunnite and the Shi'ite sects. Islam is practiced daily by Muslims,who pray five times a day and read the Quran. Muslims around the world are also more or less concerned with their daily lives: working, eating, praying, studying, sleeping, reading, and so on.

With this in mind, we deduce that "reformation" of Islam means reformation of its creeds and beliefs. But then you might ask, "What, exactly, needs to be 'changed'?" People cry foul of "Islam's 'abuse of women'" and its "terrorist dogma". It is found, though, that much of Islamophobic allegations are based on ignorance and out-of-context translations of Quranic verses. For example, there is the misunderstood role of women in Islam and other misconceptions that have been addressed very well by the link I provided. However, I will get into the specifics later on. The itty bit concerning terrorism was posted before.

Another major misconception is the concept of tolerance in Islam and Islamic Law, or Sharia. Sharia, by essence, is the law derived from the Quran and some Hadiths as well. It is said, for example, that stoning is the punishment for a man or woman who commits adultery. However, death for adulterers is given only in the case of married adulterers and adulteresses, and stoning was the punishment at the time of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). However, this cruel punishment was substituted by execution or simple flogging much later on in Islamic history, but that does not change the fact that adultery is viewed as a major sin in not only Islam, but also in Judaism and Christianity.

Another argument against Sharia is the jizya, an annual 2.5% tax required from non-Muslims living under Islamic Law. This tax is passed to a governmental treasury that ensures protection of non-Muslim property as well as maintenance and safeguarding of churches, synagogues and temples. It is taken that "Dhimmitude" is a second-class status for non-Muslims living under Islamic Law. This is not really the case: Jews and Christians are exempt, it seems, from some of the punishments under the penal code of Sharia Law, except of course murder, theft and other serious crimes. Thus, Jews, Christians and other non-Muslims are spared from the punishments for adultery and other unIslamic acts that are strictly prohibited in Islam. Even when you take a look at Arab History do you realize that indeed Jews, Christians and other non-Muslims (who were really small minorities at the time) fared well under Islamic rule; in fact, after the conquest of Spain by the European Christians, the Jewish Moors fled to North Africa to live with their Muslim brethren.

The problem is that Islam is not being applied correctly these days. It was once said that when Muslims moved toward secularism, intolerance became common, but when secular Christians in the West became more religious, the same thing happened: intolerance became more common. It seems therefore that tolerance is a religious concept in the East, but a secular concept in the West. Moreover, when you take a look at the radical governments that rule the MidEast, you'll find that their systems of government, even though they claim to be applying Sharia Law, do not comply with Islamic principles. Islam is all for freedom and democracy, but we are not living in such an elusive environment: it seems that the Western powers don't want us to govern ourselves with their continued intervention.

However, I'll be the first to admit that indeed there are radical elements who have appeared to have "hijacked Islam" as many Islamophobes might claim, whereas in fact they are a loud minority. Islamophobes say that the problem is Islam, but I, as a Muslim, think that the real solution to all of this is indeed Islam itself. If our radical elements are silenced, we can proceed. First, we must encourage the preaching of tolerance and discourage the preaching of intolerance. Second, we should de-radicalize any volatile educational material on Islam. Third, we alone can push for governmental reform and greater social change, which I will discuss later on in greater detail. Finally, we should discourage violent reactions to whatsoever insults our religion (cartoon controversy ring a bell?), and teach people, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, what Islam really is: a religion of peace.

All these changes will take time, and can't be done in the way that it is being done right now when it comes to interventionism. Only when we are left alone to help ourselves can we succeed.

Salaam, from
Saracen