Questions you need to ask “moderate” Muslims…

The media is chock full of interviews of presumed “moderate Muslims.”  Their purpose is either to balance out another Muslim being interviewed who is considered “radical”, or to defend or promote their “religion of peace” in the face of facts about Islam from non-Muslims.

Zudhi Jasser is one such Muslim making the circuit, especially on FOX News.  There are many others, including those that CAIR will trot out to promote the idea that Islam loves democracy, loves America, and is just “another religion” that needs to be protected from Islamophobes.

Some of us may have Muslim neighbors, acquaintances, or coworkers who appear as nice as any neighbor next door.  Here is the problem:  Islam has gained such a reputation for terror, intimidation, supremacism, and intolerance that any Muslim who is not overtly practicing such behaviors is considered “moderate” and “nice.”

We need to be much more discerning with Muslims than we have been.  While it is not good to lump them all together as being terrorists, it is also not good to believe that they are all “just like us”, with similar values, morals, life principles and objectives.

Here is a set of questions that, when the opportunity arises, we should ask Muslims.  These questions would also be appropriate to ask those who are blind defenders of so-called “moderate Muslims.”

• Do you believe in the principle of abrogation, wherein the Medinan portions of the Qur’an abrogate or supersede in importance the Meccan portions?  (They may plead ignorance of this broadly-accepted means of Qur’anic interpretation.)
• Do you try to imitate the life Muhammad and practice his teachings?
• Do you believe that Muhammad initiated or led violent battles against his enemies?
• What do you believe was Muhammad’s attitude toward women?
• What do you believe was Muhammad’s actions toward infidels?
• Do you believe Muhammad led a perfect life?
• How does Islam promote the rights of women today?
• What is Islam’s approach to infidels today?
• What are your thoughts about Sharia law in Islamic nations?   Eventually in America?
• Why do Muslims react so violently to cartoons of Muhammad, burning of the Qur’an, and any other perceived offense against Islam?
• Do you think Islam is superior to all other religions?  Does that superiority justify intolerance of other religions?
• What do you think of the verses of Islamic writings that call for slaying of non-believers such as in Quran (2:191-193) - "And slay them wherever ye find them, and drive them out of the places whence they drove you out, for persecution [of Muslims] is worse than slaughter [of non-believers]...and fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is for Allah."  Dozens of other examples are HERE.  Pick two or three.
• What portions of the Qur’an or Hadith would you dismiss or spiritualize to enable Islam to become more tolerant of others who believe differently?
• What portions of the Qur’an would you dismiss or spiritualize to enable equal rights for women and gays?
• Do you support the right of Israel to exist?  Why or why not?
• Do you understand the concept of “taqiyya?”

This last question may be a key to whether the answers to any of the above questions were delivered truthfully.  Since Islam teaches a morality 180 degrees from Judeo/Christian morality, any answers provided may not represent their true beliefs.  This is done to protect and defend their faith.

Zudhi Jasser calls himself a “devout Muslim.”  He comes across in his interviews and in panel discussions as sounding sincerely moderate; even a defender of our constitution and in opposition to the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR).  However, being a “devout Muslim” presumes reverence for that “religion’s” leader, Muhammad, for its god, Allah, and for the entirety of its “sacred” scripture, the Qur’an.

It is inconsistent to call oneself “devout” on one hand, and reject major portions of the life and teachings of the religion’s founder and its sacred writings on the other.  There is a significant amount of “taqiyya” being practiced by Jasser.  Otherwise, he would have chosen some other religion as his faith.  This same assessment, by definition of “Muslim”, must be made with regard to any individual who calls himself a “moderate Muslim” or who claims to practice a “moderate Islam.”

Non-Muslim promoters of so-called ‘moderate Muslims” must receive an equal does of skepticism.

We need to continue to interact with Muslims.  But we must understand that, for the most part, they think differently than we do, they have a different moral compass and a different agenda.  We need to understand where they are coming from and where they want to take us.  And that place is nowhere near where our founders intended or where liberties will flourish.