Irshad Manji blames the Quran for contributing to terrorism. She talks glibly about authentic introspection, critical thinking and reasoned debate, but does not seem to have engaged in any, and certainly not with any serious scholars of Islam. She should have done justice to the readers by quoting the full title of Bishop Spong’s book: “The Sins of Scripture : Exposing the Bible's Texts of Hate to Reveal the God of Love”. She misrepresents that Spong’s re-interpretation of the Bible is accepted by “moderate” mainstream Christians, it is not.
She herself is an example of the problem of people without knowledge and understanding taking it upon themselves to misinterpret the Scriptures (Torah, Gospel and Quran) to suit their agenda, be it political or personal, whether at the liberal or extremist ends of the spectrum amongst Muslims, Christians and Jews.
Are the Scriptures to blame? If a text is misinterpreted out of ignorance, lack of understanding, or deliberately for an agenda, should the text be blamed? If Timothy McVeigh interprets the Constitution of the United States to kill hundreds of fellow Americans, is that the fault of the Constitution? If White Christian Supremacist in the US use the Bible to justify their anti-Semitism, is the Bible at fault? Even if the Scriptures were written like Real Estate contracts of sale, or the IRS Tax Code, someone would find loopholes to justify their agenda. Those who seek misinterpretations can find it in the Torah, the Gospel and the Quran.
The Jewish extremist Yigal Amir, who assassinated Yitzhak Rabin, claimed to be following the Halacha, the Jewish legal code. Eric Rudolph, who bombed an abortion clinic, quoted the Bible as his justification. If these claims are recognized to be false to those religions, why accept similar claims by misguided persons that they are following Islam in committing acts of terrorism? Muslims seem to have more than their fair share of nuts, misguided and seriously emotionally disturbed persons, so should Islam be held responsible, and should the Quran be blamed? The Quran is a test of one’s mind and heart, does one have the knowledge and intelligence to understand it, and does one have the sincerity, humility, love and fear of God, and soundness of heart to submit to God’s will and commands. One’s interpretation and application of it is a reflection of one’s mind and heart.
The only true and acceptable interpretations are those by the knowledgeable, wise and sincere scholars of Islam, and their interpretations and explanations make it clear that terrorism is contrary to God’s commands.
Does religion plays a role in motivating terrorism? It certainly is a factor, but is it the primary cause or a secondary contributing factor? This was not the first time bombs have gone off in Britain, so was the motivation of the IRA that they were good Catholic Christians? Is there more to this than just religion?
Patriotism used to be the last resort of the scoundrel. In these times, religion and patriotism are the first resort of the scoundrels. It is true that there are some “Michael Savage”s in Muslim countries, or worse, intolerant irresponsible people who rant and rave, and incite hate and violence based on their twisted perspectives. But like the IRA, their motives are primarily political, or “patriotic” or nationalistic, while using religion to support their agenda. But there needs to be fertile ground for the seeds of hate to take root and grow. She ignores the historical events, the politics and the oppressive conditions that make Muslim countries fertile ground for the seeds of hate to grow. The long-standing oppressive conflicts in Kashmir and Palestine contribute to the mindset. But in recent times, it was not the Muslims, but the Americans, who first openly encouraged jihad in Afghanistan and let loose the “dogs of war” against the Russians. The war in Iraq has unfortunately provided yet another impetus to the misguided to rant and rave to recruit the gullible and ignorant for acts of terrorism.
But none of these or any other reasons cited by her or others can ever be justification for acts of terrorism against innocent people. Terrorism is absolutely contrary to Islam, and those who use Islam as an excuse are confused, or misguided, or do not know, or do not understand Islam, or are deliberately misinterpreting Islam for political or other agendas. The home-grown London bombers are a different phenomenon from Al-Qaida foreign terrorists, more like the Columbine pair, but redirecting their misguided misinterpretation to public terrorism.
There are problems with Muslims, but Islam and the Quran are not the problem; misinterpretations by extremists and terrorists in support of political or personal agendas is the problem. And the solution is not a false acknowledgment that the Quran is to blame, as she suggests, but conveying the true and proper interpretations, and recognizing and dealing with the other motives and agendas.
She is also out of touch with the reality of interfaith dialog, for neither the fundamentalist evangelist Christians nor the Orthodox Jews seem to be inclined towards any serious dialog or discussion, if our experience in this city of Colorado Springs is representative, for they refuse to even meet with Muslims. And yet it is their attitudes, not those of the “liberal” churches or synagogues, that shape much of interfaith attitudes in America, and they are simply not interested in discussing or understanding Islam, or appreciating the contribution of the Muslim civilization to modern Western civilization. They seem to prefer perpetuating the medieval antagonistic attitudes towards Islam and Muslims, even here in the United States, even in these “modern” times.
The Muslims need to convey true Islam and the proper interpretation of the Quran, first to other Muslims, so that there is no doubt in the minds of young Muslims about the evil of terrorism, that it can never be justified in Islam. There is some material on the internet for those Muslims and non-Muslims seeking a better understanding, including our web site isocs.org. And the leaders of Muslim communities need to come down hard on those who incite hate and violence, contrary to Islam. But let’s not have the likes of Irshad Manji and her confused thinking contribute to further misunderstandings and misrepresentations of the Quran and Islam.