Haroon over at Avari-Nameh has posted a great piece on the current (or not so current) bouts of extremisim in Islam. Here is a blurb from the end of the piece:
“Muslims must consider their reactions to present-day occurrences with a view to the past and also to the future, to see that, despite claims of resisting American or Israeli aggression, radicalism is not likely to help the Muslim community in any way. Radical Islam desires the subjugation of all competitors – no policies or procedures except shari‘ah, as imagined by activists with brittle education but plenty arrogance. Their immanent goals, when combined with wayward hopes of martyrdom (the only meaningful transcendent experience left for such religiosity) can only promise further moral outrage. The Muslim world was in such a position before, and today, has returned to that point. Except now, we have authoritarian leaders in comparison to days gone by, when those so challenged were at least of upright character. In such a dismal environment, what might be the impact of increasing terrorism upon our already dim regard for human rights, individual dignity and social development?”
I find Haroon to be very thoughtful. Even though I often disagree with his assessments – he is a good read and the above post is very good!