Comment is free: Everything in moderation

Everything in moderation by Ali Eteraz

Ayaan Hirsi Ali should note that when addressing injustice in Islam, there is a need for reconciliation between secular humanists and Muslims

Ayaan Hirsi Ali recently published an op-ed in the New York Times entitled Islam's silent moderates, wondering where were the Muslims speaking out against the Saudi rape tragedy, the Sudanese teddy bear fiasco, and the persecution of feminist writer Taslima Nasreen in India. Her article makes me think two things.

First, she clearly doesn't read leftwing magazines. Four days before her piece, Mahir Ali wrote in at Znet discussing Saudi Arabia, Sudan and India, and called the Muslim demagogues in each place "dimwits". He is just one example of a "moderate" Muslim speaking out, but it makes one wonder how many other condemnations Hirsi Ali ignored.

Second, her article is about more than condemnation. Her argument is that when Islamic dictates collide with a person's sense of "compassion and conscience", a Muslim should opt for the compassionate solution. She wants a compassionate interpretation of Islam spread "more widely".

Putting aside Hirsi Ali's questionable political affiliation and history of appalling statements - Islam must be defeated - hers is a hopeful piece. It makes me wonder whether she has finally realised that not all people who adhere to Islam are prone to cruelty and violence. If the future Ms Ali is more like this, she might resonate in a community that matters most: Muslims. However, in order to do so, she will need to have a better grasp of how Muslims respond to injustice in the name of Islam.

When, in the name of Islam, something horrifying occurs - say a raped woman is punished, or a bombing occurs - there are, in fact, a vast number of average Muslims who find the situation unconscionable. Their usual reaction, as Ms Ali points out, is to say something like, "But Islam means peace!" or that "this is a hijacking by extremists!"

Now, Ms Ali thinks that such slogans are platitudes, and do not reflect actual opposition. Thus: her pessimism about the unlikelihood of a moderate Islam.

Yet, the fact that Muslims around the world insist "Islam means peace" is evidence that a vast number of Muslims do not think that Islam means violence. Given that Islamically sanctioned violence is the actual threat we are dealing with, this is a good thing. Further, when a Muslim does commit something nasty against fellow human beings, and other Muslims decry this person as an "extremist", this is evidence that a vast number of Muslims find brutish behaviour worth distancing themselves from. This too is a good thing. At the least, it shows that most Muslims share in the universal definitions of good and bad.

Comment is free: Everything in moderation