This is an intriguing site. (Thanks to Jonathan for the link.) Their statement that "Political Islam is a movement that arose in the 1940s as a reaction to foreign domination and political corruption" is demonstrably false; political Islam is as old as the Prophet Muhammad, and I provide an abundance of proof of this in Onward Muslim Soldiers.
Nevertheless, there is no quarrel with this:
We, the undersigned, oppose Political Islam, its agenda of hatred and oppression, and its imposition of the most barbaric interpretation of Sharia law. We seek a future in which all people, men and women, Muslims and non-Muslims, enjoy the benefits of equality, justice, democracy and human rights, and freedom of inquiry, freedom of thought, and freedom of expression.
Check it out.
1940?
Their is evindence of involment of the Muslim Brohterhood with the NSDAP.
The conection is Amim al Husseini, the Grand Mufi of Jeruzalem and commandor of the islamic handszgar ss-brigade.
http://www.tellthechildrenthetruth.com/
But I agree political Islam is as old as the time whem Mohammed first opened his mouth in the name of Allah
So what if their recount of history is wrong on the birthdate of political Islam. If the website was developed in the Islamic world, it is a breath of hope for reform of the Islamic world...versus the "they are all hopeless islamofascists, let's just nuke 'em" mentality often seen on this website.
I say NO to political Islam myself, but their history is half truths. I recall from Onward Muslim Soldiers that modern Political Islam started in the 1920's with the Egyptian Brotherhood, although Wahhabism is even older.
The half truth of NTPI history is that these currents in history gained momentum after the 1940s as the Muslim world responded to outside events and forces. It is easy to see how the break up of the European Empires, WWI, WWII, the cold War, and the fall of Communism affected modern politcal Islam.
On the other hand, Wahhabism's beginning is roughly contemporaneous with the American Revolution & the French Revolution- Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab was an almost exact contemporary of Ben Franklin. I wonder, was there any cross-pollination of ideas or events in the 18th century?
So I agree with Spencer: their history is faulty but their aim is laudable. Given that traditional Islam is political, NTPI has an uphill climb.
Kirk,
The mentality of which you speak is rarely used and only then when we are shown heights of evil from the islamic world that is almost beyond belief.
I actually found the mentality of this website uniquely refreshing as apposed to all the "islam is a religion of peace" , "islam is not a threat to the west" " and " anything you say that is the minutest bit anti-islam is racist" mentalities of the media, government and idiotic student/leftist protesters.
Although intriguing, and full of half-truths, it is unlikely that any reform can take place because jihad is central to Islam. Clerical authority is central to Islam, and so on. Muslims must adhere not only to the Five Pillars, they must worry about the appearance of being Muslim every tiny detail of their lives. They must spread Islam in any way possible as a basic duty.
Petitions have come and gone in Islam with no success. No, it is unlikely that any change will occur because of this one.
the above pledge/petition isn't worth the time taken to pen it. remember, a muslim doesn't have an obligation to speak the truth to the non-muslim. this thing is mere window dressing or a potemkin-like cover for the rot underneath. let's see some action somewhere and not just words...
Apolitical islam is an oxymoron. Political systems exist to allocate scarce resources when market mechanisms cannot, or by public choice, are not allowed to do so. Since Muhammed was a temporal ruler, by definition, islam became a political ideology that is, in the eyes of the true believers, a system that was perfected during the reign of the prophet. Any deviation to "adapt" to modernity is logically considered by the faithful to be a perversion of the will of God since adaptation necessarily diverges from the precedents established by the prophet himself.
An extreme version of this worldview is that held by Masai tribesmen in east Africa. Their view is that they have lived like their ancestors have lived for 25,000 years and that the trappings of the "modern" world (last 8,000 years or so of "civilization") are transitory. They see no reason to adapt to something that will eventually go away so they prefer to live in the pastoral world of their ancestors, a world that they believe will return in general.
Reform of islam in the same way as Christianity was reformed by the Protestant movements or by accomodation of the discoveries of the Age of Reason is not possible. Only abrogation of Sharia will do the trick. This will necessitate the appearance and acceptance of a movement from within the womb of islam that will claim authority equal to that of the prophet.
While this is a tall order, it is not without precedent in the history of islam. There just hasn't been any movement that has achieved the critical mass necessary to pull it off yet. There have been limited success stories on local and regional levels but the scale needed to get the job done properly has not yet appeared. In recent history the closest thing to achieving this success is probably the Babi and Bahai movements that emerged from 19th century Iran. Time will tell if these movements or movements like them can finally get the job done and ultimately rid the world of the malignant scourge of jihad.
"it is a breath of hope for the reform of the Islamic world..."
Kirk,
Your above statement is absurd, naive at best.
The Islamic world is not in the process of reforming it self.To the contary, Radical Islam is rapidly growing worldwide, like a maligant canerous tumor, infecting the body of the world.
You need to wake up and "smell" the coffe,
more so you need to WAKE UP! and "smell" the putrid stench rising from the islamo-fascits and their "alleged" religion of peace.
Lets pray that it will not be necessary to use nuclear weapons to rid the world of this "EVIL" scourge.
Although,the more I read, I am not so optimistic.
Hulegu Khan,
as you pointed out muslims believe the Sharia should be implemented as it is from the age of when their prophet (spit on the nonce's grave) was their leader. But what makes islam so pathetically babaric and primitive is that aside from following these laws and believing that they should be the only laws in the world and not changed, they also have never allowed for the possibility or ideals of evolution and natural progression ( which is an obvious human trait) within the confines of these laws.Therefore it makes any modern invention or piece of technology harem within islam. This is one of the reasons why islam/muslims have been practically left behind by the rest of the advancing world, and why muslims have done pratically nothing of any value, nothing constuctive for the world on the whole ( exept for their precious oil, hope you can eat it allah-slaves).