When Muslims begin living according to their faith, instead of corrupted political agendas, they will be the models of conservative morality and charitable living.
I'd like to think so, but I am very dubious of this notion. Unfortunately, what I have read suggests that charity is reserved for fellow Muslims, that it is OK to trick and lie to infidels in the name of Islam, that Jews need to be wiped off the face of the Earth, etc.
In fact, Islam has a concept in place for non-Muslims; it is dhimmi, and it is not a pretty sight.
yahoodi.com
I'm afraid that the myth of tolerant Islam is just that. Until and unless there is a huge reformation within Islam which results in the rejection of the notion that the Quran and its accompanying texts set forth the exact word of Allah [it's pretty damned bloody, trust me] or there is a liberal re-interpretation of these texts, one which I don't see possible while we are in the throes of the current Islamist fundamentalist revival, conflict will be the inevitable norm for the foreseeable future.
I wish it were otherwise, but I'm fairly sure we are in for a lengthy fight.
Bernard Lewis is nobody's fool. |
