Islam må bestemme seg for enten å være en trosretning eller en politisk bevegelse. Å være begge deler er umulig uten å bli kapret av ekstremister, skriver Amir Taheri.
Muslims everywhere need to get to grips with a phenomenon that threatens all Muslim countries and Islamic communities in the West. This requires Muslim opinion-makers to take a number of steps.
The first is to discard the notion that anyone who is not a Muslim is an “infidel” and thus not a proper human being.
Next, it is important to reject the belief that, since the goal of converting mankind to Islam is a noble one, any means to do so are justified.
(…)
Muslims could also help by stopping the use of their bodies as advertising space for al-Qaeda. Muslim women should cast aside the so-called hijab, which has nothing to do with Islam and everything to do with tribal wear on the Arabian peninsula. The hijab was reinvented in the 1970s as a symbol of militancy, and is now a visual prop of terrorism. If some women have been hoodwinked into believing that they cannot be Muslims without covering their hair, they could at least use headgears other than black (the colour of al-Qaeda) or white (the colour of the Taleban).Muslim men should consider doing away with Taleban and al-Qaeda-style beards. (…) Some Muslims also use al-Qaeda and Taleban-style clothing to advertise their Salafi sentiments.
Beards and scarves aren’t Muslim. They’re simply adverts for al-Qaeda
