Teaching “Proper Islamic Principles” to counter the extremists… would it really work?

Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, an Iislamic scholar of Sufism and also a politician in Pakistan, has written an article in the UK’s Guardian in which he suggests that “Teaching proper Islamic principles will help stem extremism”, he writes … Radical ideology depends upon a framework of (distorted) theological reference points and scriptural justifications. It is here that appropriate intervention can … Read more

The Islamic alternative to extremism … is even more extremism!!

What can I say on starting this post, except perhaps to advise you to prepare to face-palm. So the news, as reported in the New York Times, is that a Saudi sponsored meeting of Islamic “Scholars” in Mecca have come up with a recommendation for tackling extremism … …they counseled strict, Muslim religious observance of … Read more

Hamza Tzortzis is Policing thought crimes

Hamza Tzortzis is a well-known Islamic apologist who is one of the movers and shakers behind the rather dubious hate group known as iERA. A Hate group … really? Yes indeed, you will find a rather extensive report on them here that has been published by the Council of ex-Muslims. A few quick highlights from it concerning … Read more

Letting go of religious hatred – escaping into a better world

At a deep psychological level people tend to flow with the cultural tide, and so we have the observation that the religious belief people embrace tells us a great deal about their geographical location and the micro-cultures they inhabit, and not much else. Those born into a Sunni family will generally tend to be Sunni … Read more

Is Islamic Extremism the same as Atheist Extremism?

There is what appears on the surface to be a very strange claim in a Guardian article (24th Nov) written by Brian Whitaker entitled, “British fear of Islamists and Saudi fears about atheists are two sides of the same coin“. There are of course things that Brian writes that I do agree with,and so when I … Read more