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The Right Time for an Islamic Reformation

(Washington Post) Salman Rushdie - When Sir Iqbal Sacranie, head of the Muslim Council of Britain, admitted that "our own children" had perpetrated the July 7 London bombings, it was the first time in my memory that a British Muslim had accepted his community's responsibility for outrages committed by its members. However, this is the same Sacranie who, in 1989, said that "Death is perhaps too easy" for the author of The Satanic Verses [Salman Rushdie]. Tony Blair's decision to knight him and treat him as the acceptable face of "moderate," "traditional" Islam is either a sign of his government's penchant for religious appeasement or a demonstration of how limited Blair's options really are. Sacranie is a strong advocate of Blair's new religious-hatred bill, which he expects to outlaw references to Islamic terrorism. If Sir Iqbal Sacranie is the best Blair can offer in the way of a good Muslim, we have a problem.
2005-08-08 00:00:00
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