[QUOTE=jw74;286031]
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dad
They are not true followers of the prophet.
But according to the Qu'ran, they (extremists) ARE true followers. they are doing/living according to the book.
That's the rub, and IMO, the point of this thread. I appreciate that there are Muslims against the mayhem and mindset of terror groups, but there are also Catholics that are pro-abortion, jews that are agnostic, and protestants differ greatly amongst themselves on doctrinal issues. All of this "true follower" stuff can be resolved in one's own mind by picking up a copy of the qu'ran and seeing what "the prophet" said. Its not mysterious, but it is troubling.
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So what do we do? If so called moderates are in fact not true followers of the prophet how do we deal with them? Ignore their existence? Or use them as a wedge against the fundametalists and hope that with our support they will be the lynchpin in calling for a "Islamic Reformation" against the fundamentalists. As has been stated by others, all the Muslims I know and have worked with believe the fundamentalist have hijacked their religion and turned it into something it was never meant to be. They have a voice, regardless of whether we believe a whisper is not as good as a shout in combatting the fundamentalist.
If the fundamentalists are the true followers of the prophet how do we deal with them? Call for their irradication, and appear in the eyes of the world to be no better than them?
The problem as I see it is the true interpretation of the Koran. I understand WM points in that there is only one true interpretation, but that is only true in academic discussions. There are obviously many interpretations of the Koran, in reality, because if there wasn't EVERY Muslim, EVERYWHERE would be a fundamentalist calling for the annihilation of everything not Muslim. And that is not reality.
Reality is the Muslim family that has children that attend the same high school as my children. They are not calling for death to America. Reality is the exchange officers from Pakistan, Turkey, Indonesia, Jordan, that I spent the last 18 months attending Naval Post Graduate School with, none of which were calling for death to America.
Once we recognize that Muslims practice many different forms of Islam, and not all are fundamentalists (whether that means they are true Muslims or not) we will get a better handle on who we can leverage, and who just needs to be removed from the face of the earth.