"Radical" vs. "Moderate" Islam: A Muslim View

I believe we have all heard the politicians extolling the good virtues of the so-called "Moderate" Muslims and their "Moderate" views regarding Islam, the Koran, the Hadiths and also their views on non-Muslims. "These are Muslims we can work with!", we are told by our leaders.

But what if the term "Moderate Muslim", used by the West to try and describe who they can work with in the hell-hole Muslim world, was actually considered a slur in the Muslim world?  What if no real Muslim really aspires to be a moderate Muslim?

After his recent electoral victory, it emerged that Sadiq Khan, London's first Muslim mayor, had described moderate Muslim groups as "Uncle Toms" -- a racial slur used against blacks perceived to be subservient to whites, or, in this context, Muslims who embrace "moderate Islam" as, in his view, a way of being subservient to the West.

One of Iran's highest clerics apparently shares the same convictions. After asserting that "revolutionary Islam is the same as pure Muhammadan Islam," Ayatollah Tabatabaeinejad recently said:

"Some say our Islam is not revolutionary Islam, but we must say to them that non-revolutionary Islam is the same as American Islam. Islam commands us to be firm against the enemies and be kind and compassionate toward each other and not be afraid of anything..."

According to the AB News Agency,

"Ayatollah Tabatabaeinejad stated that revolutionary Islam is this same Islam. It is the Islam that is within us that can create changes. The warriors realized that Islam is not just prayers and fasting, but rather they stood against the enemies in support of Islam."

How many Muslims share these convictions, one from a Sunni living (and now governing) in London, the other from a Shia living and governing in the Middle East?

According to an Arabic language article, (in translation) "The Truth about the Moderate Muslim as Seen by the West and its Muslim Followers," by Dr. Ahmed Ibrahim Khadr in 2011:

"Islamic researchers are agreed that what the West and its followers call 'moderate Islam' and 'moderate Muslims' is simply a slur against Islam and Muslims, a distortion of Islam, a rift among Muslims, a spark to ignite war among them. They also see that the division of Islam into 'moderate Islam' and 'radical Islam' has no basis in Islam -- neither in its doctrines and rulings, nor in its understandings or reality.

Khadr makes other charges outside his chart, including that radicals want religion to govern society, while moderates believe religion has no role in public life, that it must be practiced in private; that radicals take the text of the Koran and hadith literally, while moderates rely on rationalism, and that the first loyalty of radicals is to Islam -- a reference to the Islamic doctrine of "Loyalty and Enmity" -- while the first loyalty for moderates, regardless of their religion, is to the state. Radicals, he charges, also marvel that the moderate "finds hatred for non-Muslims unacceptable."

Khadr's conclusion is that, to most Muslims, "moderate Muslims" are those Muslims who do not oppose -- and who actually aid -- the West and its way of life, whereas everything "radicals" accept is based on traditional Islamic views.

If true -- and disturbing polls certainly indicate that Khadr's findings are prevalent -- the West may need to rethink one of its main means of countering radical Islam: moderate Muslims and moderate Islam.

Here;  http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8101/radical-moderate-islam

Wow!  That sure sticks a finger in the eye of what the liberal Democrats in America have been saying about "Moderate" Muslims.

As we have said all along, who is the REAL MUSLIM?  Is is one who believes the Koran and accepts that Allah is the ONLY way and that the world should be conquered for the glory of Allah?--or--one who doesn't know and doesn't care what the Koran says, seldom attends Mosque, seldom bows 5 times per day to Allah and certainly doesn't live his life as a devout Muslim?

Think about it using your knowledge of people who call themselves Christians.  Radical Christians read their Bibles and attend Bible study.  They most certainly LOVE to go to church on Sundays and exercise their spiritual gifts for the benefit of their church. They believe that Jesus is the only name given to men for salvation and they understand that Christ's call to go and make disciples is the most important thing they can do while on earth.

So what's a "Moderate" Christian?

"Yeah, I don't have time to read the Bible...if I do...I stay away from the OT crap about some angry God and try to stay on the positive passages in the NT talking about love and acceptance."

"I sometimes go to church, but I find that the golf course or my fishing boat is where I feel closest to God."

"I kind of like what Oprah says about it not being possible that Jesus is the ONLY way.  That seems totally unfair...and MY God would never be so intolerant as to send a bunch of people to hell just cuz they didn't know about Jesus.

"Yeah, I make pretty good money at the office and I like to give to charity cuz it makes me feel good!  Just last year I cut a check to UNICEF for $100...and I always drop my change in the bin at McDonalds to help the Ronald McDonald House...so yes, I would say I'm very charitable!"

You get the point.  Is a "moderate" Christian really a christian....or does he just think he is?

Is a 'moderate" Muslim really a Muslim....or does he just think he is because he was born a Muslim?

Jesus clearly told us that we will know others based on the fruit they bear.  He also told us that only a few were on the path to salvation and that most are on the wide road leading to destruction.

Are you on the path or the road?