Faced with the specter of Islamic radicalism and the terrorism it has spawned, many in the West have come to the conclusion that Islam needs a Reformation. This notion is based on the assumption that the Muslim world was left behind by modernity. As historian Bernard Lewis notes, the great events of Western civilization—the Renaissance, the Reformation, the Enlightenment, the Scientific Revolution—went largely unnoticed in the Islamic world. Isn’t it about time, Lewis and others say, for Islam to reform itself?

The only problem with this recommendation is that Islam is in the middle of a reformation. What is the rise of Islamic fundamentalism if not proof of the Islamic Reformation of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries? The term “fundamentalism” is, of course, misleading. In Christianity it refers to those who read the Bible literally, those who believe the Bible is the inerrant word of God. By this definition every Muslim is a “fundamentalist,” because every Muslim believes that the Quran is the unadulterated word of God delivered in the Arabic language to the Prophet Muhammad.

The erroneous “fundamentalist” label frequently results in Westerners positing false divisions in the Muslim world. For instance, our pundits and commentators frequently speak of the Islamic community as divided between “fundamentalists” and “liberals,” or between “fundamentalists” and “secularists.” But this is nonsense. Liberals and secularists are rare in the Muslim world. The few that do exist are politically irrelevant.

Nor is the important distinction in Islam between the Shia and the Sunni factions. The theological differences between these groups are virtually nonexistent. Islamic radicalism and terrorism have sprung out of both major strains. The Khomeini revolution arose out of Shia Islam, and today groups like Hizbollah are predominantly Shia. The Bin Laden movement, by contrast, comes out of Sunni Islam. The Iraqi insurgents are almost entirely Sunni Muslims.

The big story in the Muslim world is that for the past several decades a religious revival has been sweeping across the 22 or so countries of Islam, affecting the lives of nearly a billion Muslims. This revival is by no means confined to the Arab world. Its impact can be seen in Turkey, in India, in Malaysia, in Indonesia, and in North Africa.

Even Muslims in Western countries have become more religious, praying more regularly, celebrating Muslim feasts, adopting Islamic dress and diet, and defining themselves in private and public as “Muslims.”

Islamic “fundamentalism,” or more accurately the Islamist political movement, is a product of this religious revival. It arose out of, and to some degree in resistance to, traditional Islam. It has been gaining traction and strength for the past few decades. And the central argument of the Islamists is strikingly similar to that of the early Protestants. The Islamists argue that Islam has over the years become diluted and corrupted. True Islam stagnates, they argue, while Muslim leaders and Muslim clergy sell their souls to maintain their position and power. The Islamist solution is to call for a return to the original, seventh-century Islam that the Prophet Muhammad established.

Why then, some Western readers might wonder, do Islamists not follow the lead of the Protestants and proclaim “the priesthood of the individual believer”? Why is “separation of church and state” such an alien concept, resisted so fiercely by the Islamist leaders?

The answer to this question is very simple: in returning to their origins, Muslims are going back to a very different starting point than Christians did.

The term “Reformation” is derived from the term “reform.” The Catholic writer G.K. Chesterton once wrote that it is impossible to discuss “reform” without reference to “form.” Christianity was formed out of a different mold than Islam. Christianity from the beginning separated the realms of church and state. This was not an American invention. Christ himself instructed his disciples to render unto Caesar and to God their separate dues. This Christian teaching was reinforced by early Christian history. The early church was persecuted and harassed by the Roman empire. A Christian who was running away from a sword-wielding Roman soldier was not likely to confuse his religious beliefs with the institutions and practices of the Roman state.

By contrast, Islam from the outset united church and state. The prophet Muhammad, during his lifetime, was both a prophet and a Caesar. He established an Islamic society in which the sharia, or holy law, governed not only religious duties but also divorce, inheritance, interest rates, and the rules of warfare. The sharia is a comprehensive Islamic law that covers constitutional, civil and commercial matters in addition to spiritual or religious ones.

Many Islamic countries have adopted Western or secular codes over the years, leaving sharia to operate only in confined domains, such as family law, or they have abolished sharia altogether, as in Turkey. Obviously Muslim immigrants in Western countries cannot live under sharia; they live under secular laws. The Islamist goal is to reverse this trend, at least within predominantly Muslim countries. Consistent with history, Islam’s return to roots does not involve the priesthood of the individual believer but involves an attempt to restore the worldwide Muslim community ruled by the ordinances of Allah.

Westerners calling for an Islamic Reformation have gotten what they wished for, even if the shape of this reformation is not at all what they expected. There is no point deploring the Islamic awakening. It’s here, and it’s not going away. I’m not even sure that it’s a bad thing. It does, however, raise an entirely new set of political challenges. The big question facing us in America is how to deal with this invigorated Islam both at home and abroad. Our domestic harmony, our homeland security, as well as the success of our Middle East policy, and of the “war against terrorism,” all depend on how well we answer that question.

Once again... Speculation Reigns Supreme

Though some complain that not enough is known about Harriet Miers, numerous sources are reporting that she is long time member of Valley View Christian Church. Miers is said to have served on the mission board and taught Sunday School at the evangelical church over the last decade.

"Some politicians of both left and right have questioned Ms Miers' experience. She has never sat as a judge.

Mr Bush said because of that people would "guess and speculate" on her opinions.

'I don't have to guess and speculate,' he said.

'It's important to bring in somebody from the outside. People will get to see her character and a sense of her judicial philosophy... Harriet Miers will bring dignity to the bench.'

Correspondents say Mr Bush appears to have reached out to the middle ground, by picking a woman and by apparently consulting Democrats before making his decision."

BBC

For more than a billion Muslims around the world—including some 8 million in North America—Ramadan is a "month of blessing" marked by prayer, fasting, and charity. This year Ramadan precedes Christmas and Hanukkah. But while in many places these holidays have become widely commercialized, Ramadan retains its focus on self-sacrifice and devotion to Allah (God).

Muslims believe that during the month of Ramadan, Allah revealed the first verses of the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam. Around 610 A.D., a caravan trader named Muhammad took to wandering the desert near Mecca (in today's Saudi Arabia) while thinking about his faith. One night a voice called to him from the night sky. It was the angel Gabriel, who told Muhammad he had been chosen to receive the word of Allah. In the days that followed, Muhammad found himself speaking the verses that would be transcribed as the Qur'an.

Dutch `marriage`: 1 man, 2 women trio becomes 1st officially to tie the knot

The Netherlands has legalized polygamy in all but name, granting a civil union to a man and two women.

Victor de Bruijn, 46, of Roosendaal "married" both Bianca, 31, and Mirjam, 35, in a ceremony Friday, the Brussels Journal reported.

"I love both Bianca and Mirjam, so I am marrying them both," said de Bruijn who previously was married to Bianca.

Intentional Christian Scholars
in conversation with
The Secular Mindset Today

Keynote speaker:
Dr. Dallas Willard

November 3-5, 2005

To be held at the University of Chicago

Sponsored by:
Intervarsity Christian Fellowship,
Holy Trinity Church (Hyde Park),
Vineyard Church (Hyde Park),
Christian Law Students (Univ. of Chicago) and the Alliance Church (Hyde Park).

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