The Quran that is a treasure house of knowledge and wisdom, time and again enjoins on man to indulge in observation and ponderance as it is the key to his success. … The Quran enjoins on man to persevere with namaz (prayers) and shun shirk (worship of non-God) on countless occasions. In the same way it inculcates man to study and ponder in many of its verses giving the impression that it wants to see Muslims a thinking community, a community with scientific outlook and temperament. To Quran a Muslim can’t afford to be thoughtless. In other words, thought and observation run in the veins of a Muslim. The Quran expects Muslims to develop a scientific temperament and look at all that exists in the universe with a scientific vision and study and research on it to get the realization of the oneness of God and at the same time acquire the same order, harmony and balance that is present in God’s universe in his own personality.-- Sohail Arshad, NewAgeIslam.com

The Quran has made it clear that killing someone who is innocent is synonymous with killing the entire humanity and if someone saves someone’s life, as if he saves the entire humanity. In Islam the value of a single individual’s life is as much as that of the entire humanity because God loves all the beings on earth equally. The Quran emphasizes the importance of patience, restraint, suppressing anger and having pity on the weak. It says:

Then he became one of those who believed, and recommended one another to perseverance and patience, and (also) recommended one another to pity and compassion. They are those on the Right Hand (the dwellers of Paradise). (Al Balad: 17-18)

The Quran also stresses on gentle behavior and asks believers to keep away from meaningless arguments as it leads to bigger conflicts:

“And the slaves of the Most Beneficent (Allah) are those who walk on the earth in humility and sedateness, and when the foolish address them (with bad words) they reply back with mild words of gentleness.”(Al Furqan: 63)

Misinterpreting Islam to justify the killings of innocent is a grave crime

The holy Quran also comes down heavily on those who misinterpret the teachings of Islam to justify the killings of innocent non-combatant non-Muslims including old men, children and women to further the political ambitions of a coterie of misguided Muslims. They unleash bloodshed and mayhem and think that they are reformers purifying the world of sins and sinners. See what the Quran says about these men:

And when it is said to them: "Make not mischief on the earth," they say: "We are only peacemakers." (Al Baqra: 11)

And so advises this misguided lot in the following words:

"Eat and drink of that which Allah has provided and do not act corruptly, making mischief on the earth."(Al Baqra: 60)

… Jahangir Alam Qasmi, NewAgeIslam.com

I see Liberal Islam as forming a whole spectrum of beliefs, progressing in a ladder-like fashion. It is possible to maintain, like many Christians, that Quran is not the literal word of God, but was inspired by God and clothed in human language because of the constraints of the human condition, but was inspired by God and clothed in human language because of the constraints of the human condition. It is also consistent with the view that may see Islam as a mystic tradition rather than a revealed religion. This doctrine has not yet seen any significant adoption among Islamic theologians, but has been expressed in certain neo-Vedantist reviews of Islam and remains a potential mode of thought. Such is the diversity and richness of Liberal Islam which has been much ignored. We have here a number of theological traditions in which Islam can be made compatible with modernity and liberalism.-- Awais Aftab

At the meeting with muftis, Mr. Medvedev returned to the same topic. He noted that Moslem religious organizations are doing a lot to make the Caucasus peaceful. “Sometimes, a religious leader must be very bold to openly say that real Islam has nothing to do with violence,” the president said. “In the last year, over 20 muftis, who tried to withstand extremist interpretations of Islam, were killed.” “Unfortunately,” he continued, “we cannot do away with terrorism overnight. But it is inspiring that we are united in our aims and our efforts. At present, many people of non-Moslem nationalities, who have fled from the Caucasus because of unrest, are coming back to their once abandoned homes. It is up to Moslem organizations to create a friendly atmosphere for these people.”-- Natalya Kovalenko

Though USA has all the weapons it needs for its safety and security but it is weakest on earth as far as moral power is concerned and hence despite all its weapons it feels most insecure and will continue to feel in future too. It attacked Iraq by telling lie that there are weapons of mass destruction and when the truth was exposed it did not even apologize though thousands were killed in this war of lies and two countries Afghanistan and Iraq were destroyed. The aforesaid T.V. Channel also claimed that this time Osama has been discovered in Pakistan as USA is preparing to attack Pakistan to destroy its nuclear weapons. -- Asghar Ali Engineer

…, “O you who believe be upright for Allah, bearer of witness with justice; and let not hatred of people incite you not to act equitably.” (5:8). Thus we see that even hostility with people also should not come in the way of being just or equitable, as it is justice which will ensure peace and healthy society. One who is truly religious has to be strictly truthful and ethical in behaviour. … Arrogance (what Qur’an calls istikbar) is the worst trait of ones character and its worst example is Pharaoh and Nimrod. It was their arrogance which led to their downfall.” -- Asghar Ali Engineer

An impressed Maududi wrote back saying: “When I was reading your articles I felt I were reading my own mind.” The Maulana invited her to spend Ramadan with his family in Pakistan. “ Mawdudi opened a door. He showed me how I might escape the awful destiny that awaited me in America,” she wrote to her parents. Jameelah, who went on to marry and have children in Pakistan, attacked western materialism in her substantial volume of work. -- Neha Tara Mehta Photo: Maryam Jameelah

The state of Muslims, good, bad or indifferent, is one thing and success or failure of Islam quite another. The truths represented by Islam are as old as creation itself. These truthful values began forging their way gradually on their onward march. Different people in different periods of history owned them and reaped a happy and hefty harvest. Islam as an ideology and way of life (deen) is an ongoing organic process that will keep on germinating with fresh fruits, but for a new crop, properly guided efforts based on modern knowledge and in line with Quranic values are necessary.--Prof Muhammad Rafi

A resolution passed by the Mahmood Madani faction of the Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind (JUH) at a meeting of its managing committee held in New Delhi on March 7 says that “Muslims should be convinced for regular practice of namaz and keeping fasts during the month of Ramadan. Youths should be persuaded to practise salam, don their Islamic identity and create a religious atmosphere at home.”  The Jamiat  also proposed the setting up social reform committees in villages and towns to ensure that Muslim residents live by “Islamic rules and social values.” Of course Namaz and fasting are important institutions in Islam. But should they be treated as mere rituals? Or is there a wider meaning to them? Unfortunately, the JUH pronouncements seem to reinforce the centuries old ritualistic notion that restricts Islam to a  mere belief in “five pillars” namely, faith in Allah and Prophet Muhammad, the five times prayers, the Ramazan fasting, the Hajj and the concept of Zakat. Identity markers such as a long untrimmed beard for men and the hijab or burqa for women also.--A. Faizur Rahman

Due to the rising militancy and extremist violence within the country, Pakistan’s government has been struggling to bring madrasas under its control. But attempts to register and scrutinize the religious schools’ finances have met with much resistance. At the end of this past year, the Interior Ministry concluded yet another agreement with the United Organizations of Pakistani Madaris (ITMP), a coalition of five major madrasa boards in the country, which grants them independence in designing religious curriculum. However, they must begin teaching modern subjects like mathematics, science and social studies in accordance with the syllabus prescribed by the government.  This agreement, however, did not clarify exactly what the religious curriculum for madrasas would encompass. This is worrying since inclusion of modern subjects is not alone sufficient to prevent intolerance, especially if madrasas continue to propound myopic worldviews. -- Syed Mohammad Ali

“I had a colleague,” said a fellow journalist “who looked very pious in the office. He had almost all things needed to symbolize his devotion before the God. He was very disciplined and performed many prayers, to his coworkers’ admiration.” “But one day, when we had a gathering and met his wife, who was surprised when a friend suddenly complimented her husband for his piety in the office. We certainly were more surprised seeing her reaction. She then told us something different: he was absolutely different at home.” It is surely none of our business whether someone is religious at home or not. -- Khalid Azhar

What does Pakistan stand for? What are our values? Where lies our repository of truths? What is my role? What has caused this malaise and the spate of recent tragedies? Questions rather than answers and proclamations should be asked. Our notions of Islam need to be deepened; we should revisit many aspects of this great faith in all its diverse and pluralistic traditions. We should resist succumbing to the rejectionist tendencies and reductionism of denial like most Pakistanis. We should not reject that there are serious problems in Pakistan, and not reduce the problems’ causes to a single factor or to divert responsibility to ‘external forces’, nor should we suggest the solution in such a vague and crude manner by simply parroting “Islam is the solution” without even realising what we are talking about. -- Ahmad Ali Khalid

While many people assume that Priest Antonius Richmond Bawengan’s Temanggung case in Central Java tarnishes the quality of Islam, I argue that this assumption actually blemishes the Islamic studies program in Indonesia.

The case has happened between Oct. 23, 2010 and Feb. 8, 2011. One of Bawengan’s opinions asserts that a pilgrimage (haj) ritual in Mecca is a symbol of filth. This idea reminds me of one of the monographs of Snouck Hurgronje (1857-1936) on the topic of the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca (haj) and Islam (de Hadj en de Islam) in his Mekkaansche Feest (1923: 18-20/Meccan Festival).

In this article, I discuss one of the themes of this topic; that is, the role of polytheism in the historical, pre-Islamic background of the pilgrimage.

To prove or attest to this role, Hurgronje “allowed” some controversial traditions of the origin of the sacred objects in the hills of Safa and Marwah speak for themselves. -- Usep Abdul Matin

I had argued that the emergence of religious political movements from the 1970s onward had comparable roots in Islam, Judaism and Christendom: They were all born of a reaction to the passing of the industrial age and had to do with a global rewriting of political identities — from social to religious. Paradoxically, Huntington had focused only on the chapter that dealt with the Islamic world, and made use of it to help develop his idea about the exceptional character of the Muslim civilisation; he had no interest studying its internal, opposing forces. To him, Islam was homogenous — and “other.” We had a good talk, though our views remained quite dissimilar. A few years later came 9/11. Huntington was elevated to a second media apotheosis: Al-Qaeda terrorism proved him right, many believed, as it demonstrated on the ground that Islam had an absolutist dimension, and that the mass of the faithful could become Osama bin Laden’s followers. In the meanwhile, I had written another book, Jihad, whose subtitle in the original French was “Expansion and Decline of Islamism.” The English-language translation, published in early 2002, skipped that part. -- Gilles Kepel

Today the whole emphasis in these seminaries is on traditional sciences and theological issues which is of course necessary but only as a part of training. Along with these theological issues they must train the students in these seminaries in modern social and physical sciences which will greatly help broaden their vision. They should also be trained in reinterpreting Qur’an so that it can embrace modern knowledge. The earlier commentaries and interpretations were done in the light of knowledge which was available then. One cannot continue to teach same Tafsir (commentary) as if not only Qur’an but also the Tafsir literature is also divine. While Qur’an is divine, Tafsir is entirely human effort to understand it within the parameters of available knowledge. The existing Hadith literature comprises both authentic as well as Hadith of doubtful origin. The students must be trained in modern method of critiquing the existing Hadith literature and rigorously select only those which are authentic and in keeping with reason. Integrity of the narrator is not enough; it should also fulfill the criterion of reason. Reason and intellect are divine gifts and the Qur’an recognizes the role of ‘Aql (reason). -- Asghar Ali Engineer