I received the following comment on my entry Bombings in Amman: The aftermath of the tragedy and I felt obliged to reply to it, in my constant quest for knowledge.

“Islamic fundamentalsim is a problem inherent in Islam. We can’t simply say that Islam is a violent blood thristy religion but what we can say is that there Islam is crisis. Fundamentalism is not the pretence of one or two people. It is a huge movement, a school of thought that is gaining momentum fast within the Arab and Islamic world.

Even in Jordan, prior to today 60% of Jordanians were happy about Al-Qaeda. and a further 10& did not feel that attacks attributed to Al-Qaeda were morally wrong (I read this article on the BBC a while ago but i dont havethe link you can look it up).

I mean our society has definitely shifted towards religiosity since the 60s and the 70s. As an avowed atheist I see this as a problem inherent on all religions. that is the danger of religion to motivate people towards unthinkable acts in the name of faith. Personally I find the fact people
still buy into the mass delusion that is religion today to mind boggling. But I’m not going to attack religious people here.

What I want to say is that Islam needs a reformation similar to the Christian reformationWhat we need are better Islamic scholars. Where are the Ibn KHaldun’s, Al ghazali’s, and Averroes of the modern day?The sad truth is if you go down to the University of Jordan and look up admission records for the Islamic studies department you will find that the religion department (which churns out future Imams and islamic scholars) accepts the lowest of the low of the applicant pool. And this is true of Universities all across arab world (with exceptions such as Al-Azhar in Cairo but that has also let its standards slip).

Our Imams are the dumbest people in our society according to their high school leaving (tawjihi)tests. We are leaving our spiritual well being to a group of semi retarded idiots. I wouldn’t trust
someone who got a 55% on the tawjihi with deciphering my TV remote let alone my spiritual well ebing. Personally I didn’t do Tawjihi I did the International Baccalaureate instead so I don’t know what the Tawjihi is but if the best and brightest with 90% are going into Engineering that I’m assuming that a lare number of people do well and 55% is not a respectable grade.

So I say reform Islam or obliterate Religion, purge it from our midst (I personally would prefer the latter but thats just me.On a personal note watching what’s happening on CNN from the comfort of my apartment in college is absolutely surreal.”

-Khaled Talhouni

Dear Sir,
I thank you for an informative, although controversial, piece. Anonymous to me as you are, you comment has reached me and has been read by a good number of members of my readership, notwithstanding the fact that you entertain a line of (dis)belief different from mine and that of others, and that I have never met or talked to you face-à-face.

Trust that I do not wish to preach you into Islam, indeed I do not have that goal set before me and I personally, and quite bluntly, could not care less if a person commenting on my entries worshipped his or her pinkie. This here is an open forum and variations in religion and thought are always welcome to help broaden my, and my readers’, horizons.

You started your comment stating: “Islamic fundamentalsim is a problem inherent in Islam”. I could agree on that, only I have one problem blocking the way of that consent. I am ignorant to what you mean by “Islamic Fundamentalism”, and I confess my ignorance. Kindly post a comment clarifying what that term means, where and when it originated, by whom it was coined and after what incidents or in answer to what reasons. I cannot possibly accept less than a crystal clear, and documented, answer, since there seem to be in circulation a number of ambiguous terms.

To put a nasty hat on, I must also ask you to explain what you meant when you, so strongly and without doubt, mentioned that this same so-called “Islamic Fundamentalism” is “inherent” in Islam. Kindly provide examples of incidents where this “phenomenon”, if I may call it so, was rife and make them documented.
Moving on to you next point about the percentage of Jordanians who were for the killing of innocent people, I do not see how you found it passable to connect that to “religiosity” when you said: “ our society has definitely shifted towards religiosity since the 60s and the 70s.”

If I am to assume that you meant to establish some tie between the religiosity that you say has increased since the 60s and 70s, and for that bit of intelligence I have no official record, indeed, who could measure people’s degrees of faith?, and the support of massacres worldwide, well sir I could easily prove you wrong. I am not assuming that, however, but I will be so open as to ask you to elaborate, and furnish a well-structured rationalization.

Sir, do not mistake this for a trial. I am eager to learn from you and I think this projected exchange of thought to be of great use. You have proceeded in your comment to inform me, and anyone who read the comment, that you are an avowed atheist and you see the danger of religion to motivate people towards unthinkable acts in the name of faith. You were not about to attack religious people, by your own admission, and I am not about to attack you or any other.

But what I find most amusing is that atheism seems to clutch to certain concepts in its self-defense. Have no doubt that I possess, probably, a more skeptic stand and a critical mind when it comes to the existence of a certain deity. I do not wish to tell you of my path of mind and spirit so far, although I do hope that you feel that you, and other atheists, are not alone in posing certain questions.

The line of reasoning that you follow is questionable when you deduce that religion drives people to do evil. People are capable of evil with or without religion, sir. Should we have the capacity to carry out , well, let’s call it a “social experiment”, and we erected a small village of people with no religion and put them in the midst of natural circumstances occurring in possibility in any other society, in my estimation their capability of doing wrong would equal that of other people, if it does not exceed it.

From where I stand, Islam needs to be understood. I wonder what reformation you were referring to when you sustained that “Islam needs a reformation similar to the Christian reformation”.

I share your wondering when it comes to brilliant historical personages, but I am not as pessimistic as I have received you to be. There is a good number of sensible and highly respected Islamic scholars in our day. From where I see it, they do not get enough exposure. That is a problem that should be dealt with because moderation needs to be stressed and divulged.

I would not necessarily link the high school averages of those who apply to major in Islamic studies and what not, with their level of intelligence. I would certainly not infer that such individuals, or Imams as you like to say, are “the dumbest people in our society” and are “semi retarded idiots”. Such descriptions come too extreme and I would advise against using them. I do not approve of a big chunk of what many so-called religious representatives say, and I do not know how they have been taught to say what they say, but I would not use such adjectives if indeed I were to verbalize this disapproval.

If one does not trust the intelligence of Imams, one can always learn for one’s self. Islam encourages learning and urges people to entertain critical minds and to question what they stand for. Despite what some people market, Islam is a highly personal faith. It is you and your lord, settling out your record is your own business and not the business of any other. That is not to say that the collectivity of Muslims play no role in society, which is an issue present in most, if not all, societies.

I respect you opinions and I hope you continue to share them with my readership and me. It is a rare occasion when one finds pleasure in learning of intriguing remarks. I also extend an invitation to all willing to take part in this conversation, all viewpoints matter.

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This entry was posted on Friday, November 11th, 2005 at 8:02 am and is filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.