The Tehran Times carries an essay (via Ummah News Links) pleading for the creation of what the author calls a "New Folk Islam." It decires the tendency of urban intellectuals to look down on their simpler rural bretheren in the Ummah, because it hurts the "unity" of Islam. However, in general, the rural peasants have [a] stronger and more sincere faith than the urban Islamists. The urban Islamists have a certain academic education but must learn piety, sincerity, simplicity, and modesty from the rural peasants and nomads who practice Folk Islam. Many of the urban Islamists look down upon the rural masses, which actually defeats the purpose of the Islamist movement and undermines efforts to attain Islamic unity. Their rhetoric speaks of connecting with the masses but they take very little concrete action toward that end. If we could create some kind of New Folk Islam to unite the urban intellectuals and the rural peasants, this might help to advance the cause of Islamic unity. It...(Read Full Post)