More on Outmoded Islamic Jurisprudence

Memri

More Muslims are speaking out concerning Islamic texts at the core of Islam that legitimate exactly what the Islamic State has been doing in the name of Islam.

D. Hazan draws our attention to Report No. 1261 of the Memri Inquiry and Analysis Series, which informs us that "Following [Recent] ISIS Attacks, Arab Journalists [Have] Call[ed On Muslims] To Acknowledge Existence Of Muslim Extremism . . . [And To] Reexamine Religious Texts" (July 25, 2016). Below are the general points:

The large number of terrorist attacks carried out by ISIS in Western countries over the past year . . . . has sparked a wave of harsh criticism in the Arab and Islamic world . . . . [T]here have been an increasing number of articles in the Arab media calling to acknowledge that Islam, and the obsolete interpretations of it that are still applied today, are indeed related to the wave of global terrorism. Writers called on Muslims to be honest and admit the existence of Muslim religious extremism instead of blaming others, and to uproot it . . . . [This] requires fundamental reforms in Islamic interpretations alongside reforms in cultural, governmental and education patterns in Arab countries, which, they say, cause many Muslims to harbor covert sympathy for ISIS . . . . [Therefore, many] writers argued that most of ISIS's religious practices are drawn from the most important Islamic law books, while stressing that these laws do not reflect explicit Koranic dictates, but rather the opinion of jurisprudents that lived in a certain reality that is no longer relevant today. Therefore, they explained that in order to rescue the universal values of Islam from the culture of ignorance, backwardness, and violence, the Islamic jurisprudents of today must critically and rationally review the history of Islam and its religious texts, and adapt Islamic interpretations and laws to the spirit of the times, while taking into account the current circumstances and the greater good. In their opinion, some Islamic dictates should even be cancelled altogether to conform with universal progressive values such as liberties and human rights . . . . The writers also pointed to the confusion afflicting the common Muslims today, whether due to the refusal of Islamic religious institution[s] to accuse ISIS and its ilk of apostasy, or whether because matters that were once uncontroversial in Islam - such as offensive jihad and slavery for prisoners of war - are currently forbidden according to modern world norms . . . . [Now, the] writers stated that changing the religious discourse was a vital and urgent step, since the ongoing political and cultural situation in the Arab and Muslim world is "a wonderful recipe for extremism and backwardness," and that preserving and sanctifying ancient Islamic heritage would [give] birth [to] groups even more extreme than ISIS and lead Muslims to their doom.

Again, I say, we need more of such calls to reform! Maybe the reform of Islam is now really coming. At least Muslims themselves are beginning to admit that Islam has serious problems. But the process won't be easy. We'll see what comes of this . . .