Where are all the moderate Muslims?

We’re repeatedly told by the media and by politicians that most British Muslims are moderate Muslims. But what does this mean?


The term’s been criticised by Muslims and non-Muslims alike, but it still persists.
In a clumsy and imperfect way it manages to draw a distinction between those Muslims that we really ought to be worried about, and those who are normal, decent members of our communities.

Although it is certainly important to make this distinction, the term ‘moderate Muslim’ tells us nothing about the sort of Muslims and the sort of Islam that we need in order to defeat extremism.

To be a moderate means to be restrained, or to not take things to extremes. And whilst we’d undoubtedly love for all members of the Muslim community to restrain themselves from committing acts of violent extremism, in order to defeat the causes of Islamic extremism we need more than ‘restraint’ - we need change.

It is simply not enough for Islam to be ‘moderated’, it needs to be modernised and reformed.
It needs to ask serious questions of itself, rather than continually pointing the finger at ‘Western’ foreign policy, a ‘handful of extremists’, or so-called ‘Islamophobia’.

The more British Muslims rely on these excuses, the easier it will be for them to be duped into believing ridiculous conspiracy theories such as the idea that the world is being controlled by an all-powerful New World Order orchestrated by the Jews (of which the EDL is no doubt just a quirky spin-off).

That may be an ‘extreme’ example, but the important point is this: the more British Muslims rely on excuses and refuse to accept any criticism, the less it will matter who is a ‘moderate’ and who is a ‘radical’ – they will all serve the same agenda: dividing the country between Muslims and non-Muslims.

That is why it is important for British Muslims to make a stand; to prove, through a program of change and reform, that their religion does not have to be a barrier to integration and the inspiration for extremism.

Unfortunately use of the term ‘moderate Muslim’ does nothing to encourage this sort of reform. Part of the reason for this is that the term seems to suggest that the ‘more Muslim’ a person is the more likely they are to be a danger to others.

In the context of regular Islam-inspired terrorist attacks being committed around the world and the ever-present influence of outspoken radicals in British Mosques and Muslim associations, this might not seem to be an unreasonable assumption. But, of course, what it is to be a ‘proper Muslim’ is fiercely contested. It’s more than possible for someone to be completely indoctrinated with an extreme Islamic ideology (that will of course have some connection to mainstream Islamic opinion, however much that is disputed), but not be a devout Muslim in the sense of completing regular religious observances (such as praying five times a day).

Likewise, it’s entirely possible for someone to be ‘very Muslim’ in the sense that they regularly read the Qur'an, pray five times a day, and perform whatever other observances they believe are a testament to their faith, whilst not holding to any beliefs that we might term ‘radical’.
The idea that the Islamic world is divided between moderate Muslims and radical Muslims seems to suppose that ‘radicalism’ exists in the heads of a few extremists, and that all that needs to happen is for Islam to work to expel these troublemakers.

The reason that Islam has so-far failed to convincingly combat extremism is not simply because it has failed to deal with the radicals that have infiltrated and exploited it, but because, whilst the extremists, at one end of the spectrum, may well be characters who are completely overcome with a radical form of Islam, that does not mean that some of their radical opinions are not shared with people who we might otherwise think of as ‘moderate’ Muslims.

The present situation in Britain in particular is that radical forms of Islam are not only loosely connected to ‘mainstream Islam’; in fact, in some cases the two are incredibly difficult to separate from one another.

One of the main reasons for is that the concept of the Ummah, or worldwide Islamic ‘family’, is incredibly strong. It would appear at first glance that the Christian World shares a similar sense of shared identity, but the Ummah makes such a dramatic distinction between Muslims and non-Muslims that it can cause otherwise ‘moderate’ Muslims to lend support to extremists, based on little more than their having a shared religion. This is part of the reason why we see, even in the UK, support for the Taliban, Hezbollah, or Hamas – organisations with views that the vast majority of British people find abhorrent, but which many Muslims feel a certain brotherhood with.

That British Muslims should have a strong bond with other Muslims around the world is certainly not something that we should immediately leap to condemn, but when British Muslims are more concerned with their ‘brothers’ in the Taliban than they are with the lives of their fellow Britons, the strength of the bond (of the Ummah) has clearly become a problem.

Likewise, when 25% of Muslim respondents say that they would not inform on someone that they know to be involved in terrorism, it is clear that we have reached a stage where this sense of belonging to a worldwide Islamic community conflicts with one the basic duties of British citizenship – concern for the wellbeing and security of fellow Britons.

Of course it would not be difficult to find a Muslim academic who would, in no uncertain terms, reject the type of Islamic ideology that encourages suicide bombings or other acts of terrorism, but it’s also not difficult to find respected Islamic scholars who preach the exact opposite either.

Most British Muslims would also no doubt condemn acts of terrorism as the work of radical Islam, but what about other forms of extremism? What of Sharia Law, for instance? Would all British Muslims agree that support for Sharia is radical? Not when some polls show support for Sharia Law running as high as 40% amongst British Muslims! The more questions are asked, the more we find that radical beliefs are to be found lurking beneath the surface.

For example, the vast majority of Muslims would certainly condemn the July 7th bombings, but how far do their sympathies extend? Do they believe that the July 7th bombers were in any way justified, would they extend their sympathies to British soldiers, and would they have informed on the terrorists had they known their identities? The more questions you ask, the more the distinction between moderates and radicals breaks down.

Unfortunately, numerous polls have found that a worryingly high percentage of British Muslims do believe that British support for the war on terror justifies the July 7th bombings (24%), and even that the September 11th attacks were actually a conspiracy by America and Israel (45%!).

These statistics may be the result of alienation with ‘the West’, and the relative strength of the Ummah in comparison, but this alone does not explain why hatred of non-Muslims and ‘the West’ is so widely taught in British Mosques.

Numerous clues can be found in Islamic scripture, but perhaps of most concern is the role of the prophet Mohammed, the man that Muslims are taught set a perfect example.

Mohammed was a warrior, not a healer or teacher. Despite the obvious flaws in his character (the raping, torturing, murdering and warmongering that he is credited with in Islamic scripture itself), the simple fact that he was a warrior conflicts with his supposed position as a role model. In 21st century Britain a mentality born of 7th century barbarism would have to have come a long way not to conflict with our modern, globalised, secular, and democratic society.

It is this context, this background of radical opinion, which continues to allow the emergence of Islamic extremists. The Islamic terrorist may not be a devout Muslim (though, of course, in many cases he is), but his path towards radicalisation will have relied upon the presence of radical elements within the Islamic community – elements that are well-established and which are difficult to uproot.

In many cases these ‘radical elements’ are radical preachers or recruiters, but they owe their effectiveness to a powerful undercurrent of malcontent, intolerance of others, and anger at perceived wrongs. There are some who would blame the foreign policy of Western governments, colonial history, or any number of wrongs committed by various non-Muslim powers at various times in history. But, of course, this is to again ignore the role that Islam itself has played. Islamic extremism is unique to Islam (there’s a clue in the name), and either Muslims have a unique claim to being victimised by the wider world, or Islam has failed to ‘moderate’ itself sufficiently to prevent the continued emergence of those who are willing to kill in its name.

It is in the nature of the tolerant British people to assume that other members of the community are fundamentally decent folk. But the tolerant assumption that all British Muslims are decent people is being continually tested by the emergent of more and more extremists, and by the silence of the vast majority.

We shouldn’t give up on the idea of moderate Muslims, but we should be more careful to define what it is meant by the term. What does it mean to be a moderate? Is it sufficient to condemn the worst cases of Islam-inspired hatred, but still support ‘lesser’ cases? Is a moderate someone who condemns the July 7th bombings but believes that (subject to the Sharia) homosexuals should be executed? Or should we seek out a new standard?

Perhaps we should stop looking to moderate Muslims, and instead ask ourselves ‘where are the reformist Muslims?’

Moderates will not make the hard decisions that need to be made if Islam is to better adjust itself to modern Britain.

It is essential that we encourage the work of reformists. Only they can make the important changes that will help to improve the reputation of British Muslims – which will, in turn, help to protect them from genuine anti-Muslim prejudice.

We call upon all Muslims to open the gates of Ijtihad; to question, to debate, and to accept criticism.
We need Muslims who are willing to accept that it is Islam that has failed to integrate, not this country that has failed to accommodate.

We need Muslims who can critique their own scripture, who will challenge the example of Mohammed (or at least how it is taught to constitute a perfect example), and who will speak out against those who rely on 7th century interpretations of Islam - interpretations which only lead to division and hated.
We don’t need moderates – we need modernisers.