The Moderate View

This editorial from the Sunday edition of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reminds us that we have to pay attention to the moderate voices in the Muslim world (in particular, Indonesia), and not just react to the polarized Jihadist view. Here's a longish snippet, but it's worth a full read:

What's interesting about Indonesia, however, is that most Muslims want nothing to do with the group. "They are destructive, not constructive. They produce anger and hatred," Andreas Harsono, a journalist and foundation executive, told visiting American journalists recently. "They bring anarchy and discredit to Islam," said Amir Ma'ruf, a cleric on Indonesia's national council of Muslim scholars.

The same reaction is echoing across Muslim Asia -- from Bangladesh to Indonesia to Malaysia -- as religious moderates confront a rising tide of Islamic militance. Americans should listen in on the conversation, for the moderates respect U.S. opinion and deserve U.S. support.

South Asia, home to two-thirds of the world's Muslims, has spawned some truly frightening terrorist groups, including the Jemaah Islamiyah organization in Indonesia. But on balance it harbors a durable and moderate stream of Muslim thinking that has produced novel experiments combining Islam with secular government, democratic capitalism and religious tolerance.

The result is a lively and important debate over the role of Islam in society and public life. Sometimes the topic is as simple as personal piety. At a recent colloquium organized by the East-West Center in Honolulu, two Asian journalists -- both women and both devout Muslims -- argued earnestly over whether female broadcasters should appear on television without hijab, the Muslim head scarf that signifies faith and modesty. In several South Asian nations the debate is playing out on a much larger stage, with fierce national struggles over the role of Islam in commerce, the courts, politics and public education.

If the United States hopes to lead an international struggle against violence perpetrated in the name of religion, Americans must understand this debate, for in the long run Muslim moderates will be the best check on Muslim extremists.