Tawfik Hamid would like to reform Islam, he writes in Opinion Journal. He is on the right path, particularly with this paragraph.
Well-meaning interfaith dialogues with Muslims have largely been fruitless. Participants must demand--but so far haven't--that Muslim organizations and scholars specifically and unambiguously denounce violent Salafi components in their mosques and in the media. Muslims who do not vocally oppose brutal Shariah decrees should not be considered "moderates."
To get around difficulties in the Quran and the ahadith themselves, he could take the historical approach. The call to jihad was for the seventh century, not for today. Never mind that Islamic armies stormed out of the Arab Peninsula within two years of the Prophet's death in 632 and carried on warfare for centuries. Nevertheless, it is heartening to see Hamid require that Muslim organizations and scholars denounce specific brutal Shariah decrees. This must include brutal decrees in the Quran, as well, such as Surah 9:29, which commands warfare (qital, not jihad) and a tax on Jews and Christians for no material opposition to Islam, but for the refusal to believe in its message. Dr. Hamid is to be commended for his bravery and call to action. He delivers some straight talk and does not sugarcoat the problems in the earliest Islamic documents.
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