FRESH IDEAS FROM MUSLIMS

Things may be slowly changing among Muslim Intellectuals London-based Arabic-language daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat published a series of articles authored by an Arab diplomat writing under the name Abu Ahmad Mustafa addressing the leadership crisis in the Arab world. He asked the following questions:

"I am astounded by our religious leaders, who deafen us with words about the Jihad against Israel and who are preoccupied with struggling and competing with each other to issue religious legal rulings [Fatwas justifying] the suicides but do not prod the people to wage Jihad against their [own] evil inclinations. [3] Would this not better serve the nation… [which is] now facing [another] catastrophe at the hands of some of its Ulema [i.e. scholars]. I mean of course the scholars of religion, and not the scholars of physics, medicine, and engineering. They instill fear and horror, and it is enough for one of them to accuse you of apostasy for you to retreat to a distant corner, looking around fearfully lest some madman lay his hands on you. Isn't there a glimmer of hope in this Arab nation for which we can live?"

Another question:

What would have happened if, from 1948 onwards, every Arab country had dedicated itself to domestic construction and not made the Palestinian problem its main preoccupation and relentless concern?

And then another:

"Why don't these officials hasten to protest the terrible state (indeed, the absence) of basic services in their countries, which have no health, education, or [social] services. [These countries] are below the poverty line (and beyond disgrace). They are all preoccupied with Palestine, and with the slogan 'No voice is higher than the voice of battle'…"

There's lots more. Read the whole thing if you like HERE. It's long but while we in The West have asked these questions for years, it's nice to see a Muslim ask them too.

It goes without saying that it isn't published in a Muslim country and the writer is so fearful that he uses a false name. But he surely isn't alone or they wouldn't print a series of articles. This may mean a major shift in that part of the world.