In a recent London editorial the opinion writer expressed concern that Terrorists that the world has faced lately tend to be labelled as Muslims.  He found this unfortunate and certainly a concern of those Muslims considered ‘moderate.’  The problem however with ‘moderate’ Muslim is it is viewed by the more devout as a Western idea.  It is an attempt to play down and soften the belief that is born out of the Quran. 

From the website IslamForToday.com Muqtedan Khan, PhD, notes:

• American media uses the term moderate Muslim to indicate a Muslim who is either pro-western in her politics or is being self-critical in her discourse. Therefore both President Karzai of Afghanistan and Professor Kahlid Abul Fadl of UCLA wear the cap with felicity, the former for his politics the latter for his ideas.   
•  Muslims in general do not like using the term, understanding it to indicate an individual who has politically sold out to the “other” side. In some internal intellectual debates, the term moderate Muslim is used pejoratively to indicate a Muslim who is more secular and less Islamic than the norm, which varies across communities. In America, a moderate Muslim is one who peddles a softer form of Islam – the Islam of John Esposito and Karen Arm Strong – is willing to co-exist peacefully with peoples of other faiths and is comfortable with democracy and the separation of politics and religion. 
•  Both, Western media and Muslims, do a disservice by branding some Muslims as moderate on the basis of their politics. These people should general be understood as opportunists and self-serving. Most of the moderate regimes in the Muslim World are neither democratic nor manifest the softer side of Islam. That leaves intellectual positions as the criteria for determining who is a moderate Muslim, and especially in comparison to whom, since moderate is a relative term.

For moderate Muslims Ijtihad is the preferred method of choice for social and political change and military Jihad the last option. For militant Muslims, military Jihad is the first option and Ijtihad is not an option at all. Ijtihad is the process of making a legal decision by independent interpretation.  It has been suggested as a framework for modernizing the tenants of Islam and becoming more tolerant of other religions.  But that is not the case, as one jurist’s decisions do not compel another to come to the came conclusion based on the Quran, Sunnah and Hadith.  Indeed there is a call to be objective, a need to be more accommodating of all people, yet it is problematic for those rooted in the foundational writings of Islam.  Change is welcomed; the militants and the Muslim Countries are adverse, and the Western world views are seen as intended to alter what Allah wants.  Thus the terrorists (the Muslim types) fight for their Ideology.

All Muslims are not Terrorists, indeed, that is true.  Moderates, as defined, may exceed the extremists more than 2 or 3 to 1, yet they fall under the banner of those bombing for Allah.  The Terrorists we have confronted in most recent years are Muslims.  The Shoe Bomber (Reid), The Times Square Bomber (Shahzad), The London Bus Bombers (4 Muslim men – 7/7), The Texas Army Bomber (Malik Hasan), The Underwear Bomber (Abdulmutallab).

Remember the photos – not the names, as these represent the profile of those who have crossed the borders of free countries and attempted to destroy our way of living in the name of the Prophet Muhammad and Allah.  These are the Terrorists and there will be more to follow.  They all link back to Osama, different Muslim training camps, and Islamic Extremist centers. 

President Obama tried to distance himself from the collective notion that the acts of these men and others were ‘isolated’ and that is to simply deny the truth.

There is a ‘War’ going on and all free people, all Muslims that feel they are indeed ‘Moderate’ and willing to stand-up for change and adopting new ways within their Ideology (it may have to be changed all together to succeed – i.e. Quran II – the New Testament of the Quran), must resist and be united by the fact that Islamic Extremists are the Terrorist Killing Fields.

Pray for all who believe in liberty and freedom and will continue to be honest in expressing their concerns and less politically correct going forward in recognizing the dangers we all face.

Grace and Peace,