Though Muslims Exist Today, Islam Does Not

Abstract

Comparing the responses of Ariel Cohen to those of John Esposito and
Graham Fuller makes it crystal clear that promoting the concept of moderate
Muslims accords with our previously described struggle between the two
Americas: extremism versus ideals. This situation is compounded by the
self-contradiction and total confusion of the moderates, who, in their desire
to cope with the increasingly unreasonable rather than purely un-Islamic
standards, wish to appease the extremists in power and attempt to present an
Islam that is acceptable to both Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
Instead of elaborating on the supposed “radical ideologies” spread by
the “Islamists,” the extremists (Cohen) jump to suggesting that they
“should not enjoy the constitutional protections of freedom of religion or
free speech.” Still others suggest “in the long term ... the legal activities of
Islamists pose as much or even a greater set of challenges than the illegal
ones.”1 This is an invitation to open fascism. When a people are not considered
fit even for legal activities, their place in society becomes limited to
either the concentration camp or the gas chamber.
The basis of the extremists’ pre-conditions for being a moderate
Muslim is the false assertion that Islam is, in the first place, not moderate.
Yet an examination of the criteria being referred to by these non-Muslim
paragons shows that many points do not contradict Islam, which ensures
that Muslims are moderate by default. This is aptly shown by their general
rejection of terror attacks on fellow Muslims of whichever school of
thought as well as non-Muslims, whether Christian, Jew, or Hindu. Thus,
there is little reason to append moderate to the title Muslim.
However, as to the rest of the preconditions employed, these are good
enough to take the Muslim out of the bounds of Islam. To them, for example,
moderate Muslims should:
1. Not “view the greater Jihad as a pillar of faith, or as a predominant
dimension thereof.”2
2. Accept that “the Koran and the Hadith were written for a time and
place very different from today” and to question the “origins of
Islam.”3 ...