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This approach may yield some positive results, but ultimately it suffers from one huge handicap: people can read the Qur'an outside school. What's more, the absence of this material from government textbooks can be used by Islamic hardliners as evidence that the government has apostatized, and must be replaced by one that is more loyal to Islamic principles.
As I have pointed out before, certainly the creation of any genuinely and lastingly moderate Islam depends on the success of efforts to deemphasize various Qur'anic passages, as well as some elements of the Sunnah -- and a complete reevaluation of Islamic jurisprudence. Some commentators point to the fact that for centuries -- notably, although not universally, in central Asia, Eastern Europe, and West Africa -- jihad supremacism largely lay dormant and even dropped out of the Muslim consciousness. But simply to point out that that happened is not enough anymore, precisely because jihadists are using chapter and verse of Qur'an and Sunnah to teach their vision of Islam to cultural Muslims.
That's why it is no longer enough for Morocco to stop teaching these verses. The verses will still remain, and can be taught by someone else. Morocco needs to keep teaching these verses, and explain why they cannot and must not be taken literally now or in the future. They have to be explicitly rejected, and a non-literalist Islam constructed.
But also because of the mainstream character of literalism within Islam, this will be very, very difficult.
"Morocco: Government Omits Koranic Verse From Textbooks," from AKI, with thanks to Sr. Soph:
Rabat, 5 Oct. (AKI) - The Moroccan education ministry has decided to scrap a Koranic verse from textbooks on Islamic education, along with a hadith - traditions relating to the words of the Prophet Mohammed important to determine the Muslim way of life - and the photo of a hijab-clad girl, the Dubai-based DPM news agency reported on Thursday. Education minister Al-Habib Al-Maliki reportedly told the Moroccan parliament the move was aimed at preventing the rise of fundamentalism among youths.The Koranic omitted verse reads: "And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and be modest and to display of their adornment only that which is apparent and to draw their veils over their bosoms..."
The scrapped hadith quoted the Prophet as cursing men and women who crossed-dressed, DPM said.
The decision to remove the picture of the hijab-clad young woman reportedly followed strong pressure from women's rights groups.
Morocco approved in 2004 one of the most progressive laws on women's and family rights in the Arab world.
It has also started promoting changes to school curricula - reportedly scrapping references to 'jihad' in Islamic textbooks, among other things - following the 9/11 attacks on the US, DPM says.
Posted by Robert at October 5, 2006 6:20 AM
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French police admit to heavy casulties sustained from Muslim intifada.
Over 2500 in one year.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/10/05/wmuslims05.xml
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at October 5, 2006 6:49 AM
Morocco has only
...started (sic) promoting changes to school curricula - reportedly scrapping references to 'jihad' in Islamic textbooks, among other things - following the 9/11 attacks on the US (!)
Those attacks were more than five years ago and they are only starting now! I wonder why it took them so long.
What have they been doing in between?
at October 5, 2006 6:57 AM
This is a very good thing. We have to understand that Islam will fall one person at a time. If the real nature of Islamic doctrine and Muhammad's character are hidden with the aim of raising civilized young people (and not deceiving the west) there is a very positive potential result. A Muslim who develops a correct sense of morality by studying the "Meccan" Islam, and then discovers the extent of the moral malaise of Muhammad and Islam after the Hegira, may become less religious, or even leave Islam altogether, for a moral religion or atheism.
Islam is dangerous no matter what, but omitting its considerable dark side from education can make a huge difference. It is no easy task to turn a young person into a suicide bomber. They have to be raised on a very twisted sense of morality. Ultimately I still agree that it is either Islam on the one hand, or morality and ethics on the other, but it is not going to be a simple path from the former to the latter in the benighted Islamic world. The Morroccan education system is doing a good thing, not just for their young people but the entire world.
Posted by: Quijybo at October 5, 2006 9:21 AM
The Morrocan government won't allow itself to be messed with. Back in the 1980's the former king ordered a group of Islamists executed for firing into the walls of a Jewish cemetary.
Posted by: DesertDawgN29 at October 5, 2006 10:34 AM
“Obsession: Radical Islam’s war against the West”
“Obsession” is available again.
It was available for a while on google and then mysteriously disappeared. It is back!
“Obsession” is I think, one of the most important political films ever made.
The film is available in it’s entirety here.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-692071627799119020&q=obsession+islam
It is just as important as “An inconvenient truth.”
You will need broadband to watch this.
Email the website address onto all the people in your address book who you think will benefit from watching it.
(Be careful who you send it to; you do not want to provoke a backlash)
Having said that, I think that the vast majority of all the points made in it are fair.
at October 5, 2006 10:53 AM
Although I agree with you, Robert, that the steps taken by the Morocco are not enough, but to suggest that they would be taken by Jihadists as a sign of apostaty, is self-defeating. Yes, we want these "fous d'Allah" (Insanes of Allah) to see that a pressure on them is real and that they are not going to win the ideological battle in the short term. The stick of the regime in Morocco is thick and falls hard on people heads, because the regime knows how to play the political game. The regime uses Islam to sustain its political legitimacy, but it is its definition of the terms not the Jihadists. If the rulers want to strip the Koran verses from textbook, so be it. There will not be a rosy tomorrow anyway, so why not.
Furthermore, what else is someone going to be labeled if he/she does not agree with Islam particularly if he/she is a former cult member (I happen to beleive that Islam is the "cult of the personality of Mohamed") and nothing more.
I think that everything that stands as counter measure against les fous d'Allah is a step forward. We all know that book burning rituals has been widely used by many groups in history to undermine the others. I simply cannot see it happening in any Muslim country, although I wish it. This will require a divine intervention for real.
If Morocco is willing to strip verses of the Koran from secular books I think the Monarchy should be given to benefit of the doubt that it may work (wishful thinking). Now it is time for Egypt, Jordan, Iran and Palestinian authorities, do do the same, because what they teach in public schools and what is written in secular textbooks in these countries make Morocco look like nothing. The situation is unbelievably bad in these countrie. Their curricular sources might as well as be Madrasa as far as I know. Like using Koran to teach history and science. This is simply uncceptable. You have to see it to believe it.
Again, my point, Robert, is that a genuine solution to this problem is far more complicated, but we need to see to it that ANYTHING and I mean ANYTHING that counter this jihadist thread should seen as positive sign, while we wait for more daring and appropriate measure to emerge to seal the problem one and for all.
at October 5, 2006 11:16 AM
No doubt this qualifies as an earthshaking event over there. The question is when will the fatwas and riots begin over this?
Posted by: ISLAMSFORLOSERS at October 5, 2006 1:31 PM
So the koran is not taught officially. It will still be taught in the millions (JWers don't baulk at this figure, while there are 'official' madrasas, any shack in a muslim hovel doubels as one).
Posted by: arjun.sevak at October 5, 2006 2:14 PM
Islam depends on the success of efforts to deemphasize various Koranic passages, as well as some elements of the Sunnah -- and a complete reevaluation of Islamic jurisprudence.
Having published a couple of books, I know a little bit about editing.
I would ask you, dear editor, if you clean up the Islamic scriptures, then, what would the authors be left? A 20 - 25 page Koran? A 600 page Hatith? Man, Ishaq would be cut down big-time, and for sure al-Tabari would get a royal reaming.
610 * 623 * 732 * 1066 * 1215 * 1453 * 1492 * 1683 * 1928 * 1938 * 1948 * 1996 * 2001
There are fundamentals, bases, tenets, princples, themes, foundations, central theories, whatever ya wanna call 'em, that cannot be changed for they are quintessential.
The project of copy editing Islamic scriptures to the point where Moslems become rational and friendly and non-threatening reaches beyond the pale into the realm of fantastic delusional dreaming.
Posted by: Alarmed Pig Farmer at October 5, 2006 8:39 PM
Re: "and a non-literalist Islam constructed."
Sorry Robert, Islam won't be morphed into some kind of new and improved version for the modern world by constructing a non-literalist version to the Quran.
Are you mingling with Islamic reformers?
Islam is fundamentally flawed at its very inner core.
Muhammad and the false teachings that he claimed were divinely inspired by Allah shouldn't be digitially altered to fit 21st century conceptions.
Posted by: Johnathan at October 6, 2006 12:31 AM
I am willing to take any chance that may bare fruit. Anything that allows real peace.
However, the killing continues every hour, every day. How long before the next major attack? Those who do the killing are too far gone to reach, and will bring this to a major conflict long before the generations have a chance to alter the minds who follow Islam.
How many years can the world stop from exploding against islam from the fear, attacks, killings?
Time is fast running out for this goal of the "religion of peace". One at a time perhaps, but both?
Posted by: Islofob IS-1 at October 6, 2006 1:04 AM
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