Friday, February 16, 2007

Islam's political ambitions

The relevance of Islam today is due to the strength the Muslim communities the world over have received from oil wealth and its resultant political strength, long centuries after they were down and out with the collapse of their many empires, the last being the Ottaman empire. The enrichment and political prominence of a community does not per-se mean a danger to other communities but in the case of Islam, the sine-qua-non of the religion is bringing the world under its dominance. This means ending democracy and secularism, ending freedom of speech and freedom of dissent. That is to say, the real danger is the political nature of Islam and its inability to regulate its constitution, the Shariat, to the requirements of each age. The danger is not that there is one more religion called Islam, but that Islam has political ambitions.