Moderate Muslim

"So how do we figure out what makes a moderate Muslim? ... First, we need to get off the extremes and understand that criticism is not an attack. Recognize that we cannot ignore Islam’s role in international terrorism, nor can we condemn Islam as immutably evil. Second, recognize that there is a difference between the actions of individuals and those of a group and its leaders. Do not confuse criticism of Islam as acts of bigotry against individual Muslims."

"The compulsion to identify moderate Islam as opposed to radical Islam suggests that there is something immoderate about Islam itself. People on both sides of that issue are free to debate it, however, we can agree that for most people the imprecision in nomenclature is not a function of “Islamophobia.” Rather, it stems from the prominent and deadly role of radical Islam in contemporary international events. My personal values and experience with individual Muslims militate against that imprecision, however, the realities of twenty-first-century life set Islam off from other faiths. Those claims by apologists that “all religions have their radicals” seem strained at best. When was the last time “radical Hindus” flew an airplane into a heavily populated skyscraper or when “radical Christians” beheaded Muslim citizens captured in territory they control? Similarly, with rare exceptions, Muslim leaders, lay and cleric, have not unequivocally denounced Islamists until their personal interests were threatened. “Moderate Muslim nation (or country)” is a functional term given these realities; and we should not let ideological biases cloud that functionality."

"How important is all this? During the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, Republican candidate Donald Trump brought a new focus to this issue. Specifically, Trump made it clear that an unchecked radical Islam, including our inability to identify true moderates, makes Americans unsafe."

"The only way to a more generally accepted and practiced moderate Islam is to evolve and give more credence to non-religious leadership among the Muslim community to take up issues of their welfare and become the dominant spokespersons of their grievances. In India over the past several decades, the leadership of Muslim clerics on the issue of the welfare of the community has been slowly rejected by the Muslim community itself."