Hesham Hassaballa writes at AltMuslim about Thom Hartmann’s call for a reformation for Islam, similar to that in Judaism and Christianity:
[G]iven the often terrible news about Islam, it is understandable why this question would even be raised in the first place. When people see constant references to vicious barbarity—beheadings, suicide bombings, public flogging, “honor killing,” and the like—all done overtly in the name of Islam, it is only natural to wonder whether Islam itself is the problem. Yet, as tempting as it is to apply the Christian experience as analogy, it is a flawed premise from the very beginning.The Protestant Reformation was a movement, begun in the 14th and 15th centuries, to reform the Catholic Church. It sought to change various beliefs and practices that were fundamental to the Church at the time, such as purgatory, particular judgment (the judgment of a soul immediately after death), devotion to Mary, devotion to the saints, most of the sacraments, mandatory celibacy, and the authority of the Pope. In England, the divorce of the Church of England from Rome was started by Henry VIII, after he was denied an annulment from his wife by Pople Clement VII. Again, a new church was started in reaction to “wrong” beliefs in the Catholic Church.
There is no such corollary in Islam. All of the barbarity that is done in the name of Islam is a deviation from the fundamental beliefs, principles, and traditions of Islam.
Read the full post here.