To Eradicate or to Moderate! 
This is the Question.

By Ali Sina 

Can Islam become a moderate religion? There are many people, especially none Muslims, who think it is much easier to reform Islam and make it a moderate religion than try to eradicate it. This question of course would not occur to a Muslim because he does not believe Islam needs to be reformed. A Muslim who thinks Islam needs to be reformed is not a Muslim anymore, he is a refusenik, a dissenter, an apostate. Such a person does not call himself a Muslim anymore and no Muslim accept him as Muslim either. Muslims allow themselves to interpret the Quran to suit their understanding, but they do not allow themselves to question it or oppose it.  

There are people who think the problems affecting the Islamic world has little to do with Islam and that they are due to the character of the people. Recently a new poster in the forum of this site wrote:  

“The situation is more complex than to simply say "by ridding the world of Islam, these things will cease to exist". Or, to put it another way, "Muslims do honour killings, therefore if we make them 'not muslim' then they won't do honour killings any more." 

The fact is that many of the vices of the Muslims are due to the bad teachings of Islam. Iranians did not practice hand chopping, women stoning or eye gauging in their pre-Islamic civilization. But with the blessing of Islam now they do. These draconian laws are not cultural but religious. Honor killing for example is not specifically prescribed in the Quran, but it is generally practiced in most Islamic countries, because honor killing is the logical consequence of the misogynistic and patriarchal ethos of Islam.  Islam does not directly teach many of the bad practices of the Muslims but Islam is responsible for inspiring those bad practices.  

Unfortunately we can’t bring about any significant change in Islamic countries because Islam acts as a major obstacle. The only option for change is to remove this obstacle.  

The same poster wrote: 

“My view is that human character is the eventual (and final) source of every action. Thus, if we are to blame anyone, it is not Islam itself rather the individuals who specifically perpetrate these deeds.”  

Could we say that holocaust had nothing to do with Nazism and it was just in the character of the Germans? I agree that those who perpetrate these deeds are responsible but don’t you think doctrines have anything to do with the way humans behave? There were people who believed if they ate the heart or liver of their enemies they would inherit their courage. Do you think such belief had nothing to do with the fact that these people practiced cannibalism? Idi Amin was one such person. The thugs in Islamic Republic of Iran used to rape the virgin girls before executing them. This was because of an Islamic belief that virgins will not go to hell. So to eliminate this obstacle in the way of God and free his hands to send them to hell they would rape their victims prior to executing them. 

You are what you think. We act according to our beliefs. If we believe in doctrines that teach us women should not be seen because their sight make men sin we impose on them draconian measures and curtail their human rights. If we believe that a certain group of people is “najis”, (untouchable, filthy) by virtue of their beliefs, we take away their rights and abuse them. In the past in most Islamic countries Jews, Christians and other minorities were not allowed to go out of their homes on rainy days because a drop of rain could rub from their najis bodies and soil the Muslims. This belief was responsible for a lot of discrimination and atrocities.  In Pakistan Muslims kill the Christians, In Bangladesh they kill the Hindus, Christian missionaries are killed in most Islamic countries, Can we really say that Islam has nothing to do with it and it is all the fault of the people?  

Not all the Muslims are extremists. Many are moderate. In fact most of the Muslims, not only in the west but also in Islamic countries are moderate and wonderful people. The truth is however that most of the Muslims are not knowledgeable of the real Islam and do not practice it. As a matter of fact if they come to know the real Islam they will leave Islam at once in shock and horror. The real Islam is the one practiced by the Taliban, the Islamic Republic of Iran (now slightly more moderate than when it came to power with Khomeini) and the Wahhabis.  We are fighting against the true Islam not the moderate Muslims.  

This poster asked, “ Instead of "eradicating" Islam, then, wouldn't it be easier to push towards moderation?  

The answer is that moderation in Islam means less Islam. How do you propose we bring about this moderation? Quran teaches murder of the infidels, chopping hands of petty thieves, stoning adulterers and beheading apostates. How can we make Islam moderate if we do not challenge these teachings and tell the Muslims these are wrong? How can we do that if we do not tell the Muslims that Muhammad was a liar and not a prophet? To undermine these teachings we have to show that they are not from God. That is what FFI is doing.  We are bringing moderation by eradicating Islam. That is the only way.  

Many people before us have tried to make Islam moderate without challenging the authority of the Quran. They all failed and you can see by the result. One thousand year ago a group of Muslim rationalists who called themselves Mo’tazelis formed a school of thought that said religion must be in conformity with reason and if they contradict, the latter must be given precedence. No trace of them is left. That school is dead, because it did not go far enough to denounce Islam altogether. Sufism that was created to make Islam a more moderate religion by giving the harsh verses of the Quran esoteric meanings, has failed to establish itself as the main stream and in many cases has proven to be no less intolerant than other brands of Islam. Once you give any credibility to the Quran, you acknowledge that this book has some validity and some divine authority. Then you lose completely the power to confront its barbaric teachings and Islamic fundamentalism wins each and every time.  

To make Islamic world moderate, there is only one thing to do and that is to eradicate Islam.  Islamic moderation is a myth. Such thing does not exist just as a round square does not exist.

Some Muslims indeed show signs of moderation. Some even drink and engage in premarital sex. However these Muslims change their ways and become fundamentalists overnight. 

A good example of that is my own cousin who did exactly that and one day he had an accident while drinking and driving. Luckily he did not die. But he interpreted this incidence as a warning from God and turned to Islam becoming a hardliner. Iran 25 years ago was not a fundamentalist Islamic state. Iranians were mostly “moderate” Muslims. All that changed overnight.

Muslims believe Islam is the source of all the good and anything else is perversity. This belief is enshrined in their subconscious. Many of them like to live freely and enjoy the pleasures that life offers. Nevertheless, subconsciously they believe they will one day go back to pure Islam and repent to gain Allah’s forgiveness. As long as this belief lingers in their subconscious, there is little hope for them to get themselves rid of Islamic fundamentalism. Islam’s gravitational pull, which is based on fear, is so strong that like a black hole sucks them into its darkest core. Fear is the most primitive and the strongest instinct of us humans. Islam operates at this level.

Reason is not as strong as fear. Fear is the most powerful force that operated on a subconscious level. To free Muslims from Islam we have to liberate them from their fears and to do that we have to show them that Muhammad was nothing but a liar and a charlatan. That he was an evil man who fooled people for his own personal gain, power and grandiosity.

What about moderate Muslims? What their views are on the harsh teachings of Islam, e.g. stoning the adulterers or killing the apostates, etc.? The answer is that the moderate Muslims deny that such rules are Islamic. But they are wrong and when they are confronted with the real teachings of Islam, they have no option but to submit to the will of Allah. As long as Muslims are unable to accept that Islam is false there is no chance for them to maintain their “moderate” views. The only way to make Islam moderate is to challenge it and eradicate it. 

See also this article: Can Islam be Reformed? 

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