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Identifying Moderate Muslims
(Jerusalem Post)Daniel Pipes - The idea that "militant Islam is the problem, moderate Islam is the solution" is finding greater acceptance, but there is growing confusion over who really is a moderate Muslim. Anti-Islamist Muslims who have found their voice since September 11 include distinguished academics such as Azar Nafisi (Johns Hopkins), Ahmed al-Rahim (formerly of Harvard), Kemal Silay (Indiana), and Bassam Tibi (Gottingen). Important Islamic figures like Ahmed Subhy Mansour and Muhammad Hisham Kabbani are speaking out. The American Islamic Forum for Democracy, headed by Zuhdi Jasser, is active. The Free Muslim Coalition Against Terrorism appears to be genuinely anti-Islamist. Internationally, 2,500 Muslim intellectuals from 23 countries signed an important petition posted a month ago by a group of liberal Arabs calling for a treaty banning religious incitement to violence and specifically naming "sheikhs of death" (such as Yusuf al-Qaradawi of Al-Jazeera television). The bad news: There are lots of fake-moderates parading about.