What is difference between moderate and extremist Muslim?
ExtremistA person who holds extreme political or religious views, especially one who advocates illegal, violent, or other extreme action. - definition of extremist in Oxford dictionary (American English) (US)People who are not able to co-exist peacefully with other people who have a different ideology, creed, lifestyle, culture etc. People who think that the only right way is their way. People who think that they are somehow superior in intellect to others who do not share their thinking, and thus believe or feel that they have an inherent right to dictate or control others.Those who find it hard to or fail to tolerate something which is not inline with their set of beliefs, and feel that they have a right to finish it, by forcefully making the ones who differ submit to them or their beliefs, and tyrannizing or even killing those who won't. If they can neither make them submit to their beliefs, nor kill them, they will use social pressure. Those who don't share some of their beliefs might be called too liberal, rebellious, and might be socially isolated. This is also extremism. They are also extremists.- Those who think that they are born to rule the world, though God knows what makes them think so, and they have the right to take back what (they think) belongs to them.ModerateA person who is capable of co-existing peacefully with people who do not share his thinking, ideology, lifestyle, culture etc. A moderate person is capable of having tolerance and respect for all fellow human beings, not because they are Muslims (or belong to their sect etc.), but because they are human beings. A person who does not believe in depriving others of their rights (as human beings) because they think differently.
Why don't the moderates in muslims speak out against the extremist in Islam?
It is a major problem of our day. For one, Catholic Priests don't call out for violence unless they literally go insane. Then we get them some medical help. No where in the Bible does it talk of murdering your brother if he does not believe like you. Christianity doesn't have that stuff. Also, as you pointed out in a way - Catholics have the spiritual authority of the Pope. He would never allow that stuff to go on in the Catholic Church. In islam, you have a bunch of problems. Very few people in islam have the courage to speak out for peace and good sense. They are afraid of getting killed themselves. Also the koran preaches and calls for this violence. Also, there are dozens of types of muslims out there. Sunni and Shi'ite are just a couple and there are subsets within those. They don't all fall under the same ideas and prophets. Sort of means they are more like a group of thugs that look alike rather than a single gang that can be controlled or prodded in the right direction. We need to pray some of them finally speak up and get control of the killers in their midst. Anyone who can cry tears of joy when their little girl is blown up to murder other innocents is pretty sick and twisted. It is hard to imagine that kind of hate. Take a look at the nonsense the leaders of Iran believe about the 12th mahdi. It is pretty frightening. They want nukes and believe the end of the world needs to come before their messiah can come back. They also publicly proclaim that the USA and Israel need to be wiped off the map. Yep, so much for your religion of peace.
What do moderate or extremist Islamists think of Muslim terrorist groups wrecking havoc in the name of their religion?
What do you think they think? This is an example of a question that isn’t really a question, What do Christians think of racists who claim to be upholding the values of their religion walking into a church during bible study and slaughtering African Americans? Obviously, they are horrified and revolted. Muslims feel the same.
Why don't the so called moderate Muslims condemn terrorism?
The problem is the Quran (Koran) it’s filled with cruelty and violence, intolerance, and contradictions. You don’t have read very long to find it. The Cow 2:6-7 “As to those who reject Faith, it is the same to them whether thou warn them or do not warn them; they will not believe.” [7] “Allah hath set a seal on their hearts and on their hearing, and on their eyes is a veil; great is the penalty they (incur).” So the Quran is telling Muslims not to bother warning non-Muslims. Allah has made it impossible for them to believe so that he can torture them forever after they die. The funny thing is that Muslims themselves don’t even understand the Quran. The Cow 2:1 “A.L.M.” Many surahs start with three Arabic letters. Muslims themselves don’t know why. But I have a theory. The mysterious letters (Alif. Lam. Mim.) are the Quranic equivalent of WTF.
What are the differences between a liberal Muslim and a moderate Muslim?
Having an upper hand in manufacturing new technological devices and subsequent ideological contents, the westerners along with their influential media manipulate different ‘terms’ and ‘expressions’ to define their friends and foes. The labels such as ‘liberal’, ’moderate’, ‘fundamental’, ‘radical’ and ‘extremists’ are the offshoots of the western-based media outlets used to describe the different groups of Muslims. Thus, Muslims are categorized based on their level of belief and commitment to the divine codes of law. Those devout Muslim individuals whose character translate their beliefs, are called either radical or extremist Muslims. According to their notion, radical Muslims submit their will to Allah’s and do not dare stand in the face of Allah’s words. Moderate Muslims, according to their definition, are those who are on the verge of joining their campaign against what they term as anti-terrorism.To identify who the liberal Muslims are? one should have the knowledge of liberals in advance. Liberal is defined as: open to new behavior or opinions and willing to discard traditional values. Or he who favors individual liberty, free trade, and moderate political and social reform. Abstractly, one can define liberal as he who is not literal!According to their definition of liberal Muslims, they are the professed Muslims who have produced a considerable body of liberal thought on the re-interpretation and reform of Islamic understanding and practice.*To some, liberal Muslims have no deep knowledge of their religious teachings. Being not sure about the authenticity of their religious beliefs, they are interested to change their mindset and then their behavior accordingly. They find westerners’ secularistic approach towards politics, society, culture and economy, more interesting and appealing. Thus, sooner or later, they will join them. They can be called nominal Muslims who hold Muslim IDs only. Neither their worldview nor their actions represent the true teachings of Islam.The result: to many Muslims, such reductionist labels manipulated by westerners, are divisive and stigmatizing.*Khan, ed., M. A. Muqtedar (2007). Debating Moderate Islam: The Geopolitics of Islam and the West. Salt Lake City, UT: University of Utah Press.
What is behind the belief that "there are no moderate Muslims"?
Summary: Bigotry, ignorance or both, unless they are a Fox television personality or Republican seeking nomination (in which case, they might be bigoted or ignorant, but are more likely self-serving.)To assert that there are no moderate Muslims indicates that the speaker isn't aware of the following:Ismaili Muslims (575,000 in Canada at last count and around 10,000,000 worldwide) [1] are one of the most moderate sects of Islam, even when they are practicing Ismaili. They are not required to wear special garb, are expected to pray three times a day at convenient times and location, they are expected to interact with others, they are strongly focused on commerce in whatever country they exist and they are generally indistinguishable from citizens of the country they abide in. The Aga Khan, their spiritual leader, does enormous good throughout the world, backing architectural and relief activities and speaks out against extreme Islam interpretations.Cultural Muslims - In non-Muslim nations, significant percentages of Muslims are 'cultural' Muslims in the same sense that there are 'cultural' Christians that celebrate Christmas and Easter as more generic holidays, don't go to church and don't pray. In Denmark, 30% of identified Muslims neither believe nor practice and less than half consider themselves to be practicing, yet 70% continue to fast on some or all of Ramadan. [2]Organizations such as the Free Muslims Coalition [3] and Islam Against Extremism [4] which speak out against extreme interpretations of their beliefs by other Muslims.If they are unaware of them, they are ignorant. If they are aware of them and discount them as false fronts, they are bigots. It is worth understanding that fear and a deep psychological inadequacy lies at the roots of bigotry. When you run into someone such as the person that instigated this question, educate them and if they will not be educated, pity them.[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ism...[2] http://islamineurope.blogspot.co...[3] http://www.freemuslims.org/[4] http://www.islamagainstextremism...