[Dialup Llama]

Its just that how can he say he's got the real deal when physical jihad is so central to that religion. bin Laden is right. He has the real islam. The author, although very noble in his intentions, cannot really claim that the extremists are creating a distortion and which can be corrected by returning to the true islam. What the author is really suggesting is that islam should be remade in the image of a kind of genericized, neo-Christianity.

[Angelus Errare]

"bin Laden is right. He has the real islam. The author, although very noble in his intentions, cannot really claim that the extremists are creating a distortion and which can be corrected by returning to the true islam. What the author is really suggesting is that islam should be remade in the image of a kind of genericized, neo-Christianity."

Re-read the first two paragraphs of the article:

"Western observers, both among the general public and the media, commonly make the mistake of thinking that Islamism is the same as traditional Islam. Even Western researchers describe Islamism as a resurgence of traditional Islam. In contrast, moderate Sunni Muslims are characterised as those whose faith is mitigated, influenced by syncretism, or diluted by a certain amount of secularisation and Westernisation.

"But this turns reality upside-down. In fact, Islamists depart in important ways from the Islamic tradition. Indeed, some outstanding traditional Muslim scholars, such as Sheikh Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri and Sheikh Ahmad al-’Alawi, see Islamism as a symptom of secularisation and as a reshaping of their religion into a modern, ideological totalitarianism. It is this view that I myself share."