Islamic Reformation

Beginning over the last couple of decades, Islamists around the world began sensing opportunity to free themselves. From what? From a long period of dominance by the infidel western culture, Jews and Christians. Their leaders sense a continuing weakening of the culture of the west, an opening, an opportunity to fill the void - a time for Islamic Reformation.

The current Islamic Reformation has a notable similarity to the Protestant reformation of the 1500's. Both the Christian and Islamic reformations promoted a cleansing of the centuries of corrupted faith and practice and a return to the ideologies and scriptural interpretations of their founders.

That is where the similarity ends. That similarity does not make it anywhere near morally equivalent. The differences are what are most important and ominous:

Unlike the Christian reformation, the ideologies and scriptural interpretations held dear by Islamic founders were supremacist, militaristic, intolerant, and unforgiving. Islamic reformation advocates a return to 6th century Islamic roots of governance, conquest, and morality.

In contrast, the ideologies and scriptural interpretations held dear by the Christian founders (Christ and his apostles) focused on salvation, love, forgiveness, and peace - the object of the Christian reformation. Have there been periods of "aggression?" If you call the Crusdes, the Christian response to 400 years of Islamic conquest "aggression", yes. But in terms of the last several decades, Islam has made itself notorious via the thousands of acts of terror "in the name of Islam" that all the religions of the world combined do not come close to matching.

Just because a "religion" is "reforming" itself does not necessarity mean it is reforming in a direction that is compatible with modern civilization. And this is certainly true of the Islamic reformation. The Islamic reformation should not be viewed through the lens of the Christian reformation.

Can Islam be reformed? Those who believe Islam can reform itself in the direction of an ideology that accepts diversity and harmony with other cultures and belief systems face a strong head wind. The gale promoted by the vast army of Islamic Imams and other leaders and teachers blows in the opposite direction from peaceful reform.

To see the Islam most current Islamic leaders envision for their future, you must become familiar with the life, conquests, and morality of Mohammad.