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Religion News Blog
Religion News Blog posts insightful comments on the latest international news that render us taken-aback in the domain of the religion facet of life. Religion-News Blog: Bad-Religion News The struggle between good and bad religion: May 9, 2008 by Giles Fraser
The Quilliam Foundation, a new think tank, is named after William Quilliam (1856-1932), an Englishman who embraced Islam and set up the first mosque in Britain, in Liverpool. According to the founders of this initiative, the history of European Islam — and especially what they call “our Andalusian heritage” — is an important resource in the desperately needed search for a new and confident Muslim voice, at ease with secular democracy, and clear in its denunciation of violence. The people behind the new foundation, launched at the British Museum last week, are themselves former jihadists who have renounced violence and are seeking to articulate a moderate Western-friendly Islam. Maajid Nawaz, who is from Essex, and is the director of Quilliam, was a senior member of Hizb-ut-Tahrir — a radical organisation that works for the establishment of a Muslim superstate, the Caliphate. Hizb-ut-Tahrir is banned in many Middle-Eastern countries, although not in Britain. In 2002, Mr Nawaz was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment by the Egyptian authorities for his membership of Hizb-ut-Tahrir. He was held in the notorious Mazra Tora prison in Cairo, the same prison that held the father of modern Islamism, the hugely influential Sayyid Qutb, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood. Yet Mr Nawaz chose a different path. In 2007, he recanted Islamism, choosing instead the search for a different sort of Islam, one that sought to free itself from the political burdens of the Arab world, and particularly extreme Wahhabism. He now works to provide “a theological and scriptural refutation of ideas that inspire terrorists”. Some have accused the new organisation of being a front for an anti-Islamic neo-conservative agenda. I have been attacked for being one of its official advisers — as if that makes me a “useful idiot” to some extreme right-wing agenda. Of course, a number of conservative voices have been among its most active supporters, and some of its members have been harshly critical of multiculturalism. But what this organisation stands for is too important to hitch itself to any one political philosophy. And the leaders of the Quilliam Foundation agree. The articulation of a moderate eirenic Islam, like the articulation of moderate eirenic Christianity, is one of the great intellectual challenges of our day. In Islam, just as in Christianity, there is a rich history — I am thinking especially of the works of the Sufis. The struggle between good religion and bad religion is at a crucial stage.
Religion News Blog Comment on Bad Religion News:
It's not only this band that has named itself as Bad Religion, but there is a whole lot of mental undercurrent going in the psychic background of the ones who did. Islam is being taken to be the 'bad' one as on date. But is there a single one of them anywhere that is a spotless one? Estimates for the number of Native Americans slaughtered by the Europeans in North, Central and South America run as high as 20 million within three generations. Didn't Hitler kill 6 million Jews just because he was a non-Jew, and for that matter, a Christian? Didn't the Government of India or its people in power 'sponsor' a Sikh genocide only because the person who had assassinated the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi happened to come from the Sikh religion? Didn't the Government of Gujarat in India or its people in power 'sponsored' a Muslim genocide only because there had been a clash between the Hindus and the Muslims a few days back in Godhara; and for which, later, its chief minister was even denied an American visa? Can we really expect any religion to be 'good' anywhere all the times? We must give a deep thought to why after all we need the thing called religion on earth at all! Wanna have some bidding fun with 'Bad Religion' on ebay auction? You might grab a bargain or two! Just say your bid and you're done: I invite you to subscribe to my E-zine titled Life Coach, free of charge. This E-zine publishes insightful comments on the latest international news that render us taken-aback in the domains of various facets of life. A not-to-be-missed opportunity! Subscribe to it here: I also invite you to subscribe to my Life Blog - no need to provide your e-mail address here. This RSS feed keeps you informed about new developments taking place on this site. It also harbors 25 journal bloglets posting insightful comments on the latest international news that render us taken-aback in the domains of various facets of life. In order to subscribe to the blog, right-click on the orange RSS button (see buttons up to the left) and then paste the URL into your RSS reader. Or click on add to My Yahoo! button or My MSN or Add To Google button if you keep a personalized home page there. If you are not sure what RSS or blogging is all about, click on What's an RSS Feed? here: Return from Religion News Blog to Freedom of Religion
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