VIEWS ON ISLAM - Divergent Voices

"How do we reconcile today’s divergent voices of Islam?" PBS NewsHour 12/23/2015

IMHO:  ISIS is NOT Islam and has no right to speak for all of Islam.

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  With the rise of the Islamic State group, there have been questions about just who speaks for Islam and what the message should be.  Chief foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Warner talks with Manal Omar of the United States Institute of Peace and Asra Nomani, co-founder of the Muslim Reform Movement, about standing up to violent religious extremism.

MARGARET WARNER (NewsHour):  The recent terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, its perpetrators inspired by jihadist ideology, have reignited a long-running debate about the nature of Islam and its links to violent extremism.

In his address after the San Bernardino killings, President Obama urged Americans not to scapegoat all Muslims.  But he also called on Muslims to combat what he described as a dangerous trend in their faith.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:  An extremist ideology has spread within some Muslim communities.  This is a real problem that Muslims must confront, without excuse.

MARGARET WARNER:  The next day, leading Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump called for a temporary ban on foreign Muslims entering the U.S. and a more watchful approach to those living here.

DONALD TRUMP, Republican Presidential Candidate:  We have to look at mosques.  And we have to respect mosques.  But, yes, we have to look at mosques.  We have no choice.  We have to see what’s happening, because something is happening in there.  Man, there’s anger.  There’s anger.  And we have to know about it.

MARGARET WARNER:  Democratic contender Hillary Clinton has taken the opposite tack in discussing Islam.

HILLARY CLINTON, Democratic Presidential Candidate:  Islam is not our adversary.  Muslims are peaceful and tolerant people, and have nothing whatsoever to do with terrorism.

MARGARET WARNER:  This debate extends to the global Muslim community as well.  Jordan’s King Abdullah, who speaks often of a war within Islam, insists Islamic State militants are way outside the mainstream.

KING ABDULLAH II BIN AL-HUSSEIN, Jordan:  These are outlaws.  These are renegades.  They have nothing to do of understanding what our religion is about.

MARGARET WARNER:  The struggle to understand and agree on what Islam represents in an age of terror is sure to continue.

And, for more, we’re joined by two Muslim American women, both former journalists.  Manal Omar is associate vice president for the Middle East and Africa Center at U.S. Institute of Peace.  And Asra Nomani is co-founder of Muslim Reform Movement.  She’s also the author of “Standing Alone:  An American Woman’s Struggle for the Soul of Islam.”