Today’s articles include a good sampling of thoughtful pieces on Shari’a and Islamism. There is also some troubling news from Britain, Canada, Malaysia, Nigeria, Egypt, and Libya. And, yes, the United States, too—including a potential security breach. U.S. Department of Homeland Security Advisory Council member Mohamed Elibiary is alleged to have leaked sensitive law enforcement documents.
The Charlie Hebdo incident is still in the news. Richard Landes takes on Bruce Crumley and Time Magazine regarding that. How can it be that the debate over Islamism remains at a point where Western authors are stlll bending over backwards not to offend radical Muslims? Of course, the West did something similar in the face of overwhelming evidence of bad news with regard to Nazi Germany in the 1930s. And behaving less provocatively than one’s adversaries has long been a Western tendency. I am also puzzled that so many still believe the West’s relationship with the Islamic world is entirely a matter of its support for Israel.
Harold Rhode sent us a long piece on how Muslims view each other and how they view non-Muslims. Anyone still hoping for the functional reconciliation of the Dar al-Islam and the Dar al-Harb in our time would do well to pay close attention to Rhode. Don’t misunderstand him: he is by no means arguing that the problem is Islam rather than Islamists. You will also find below three pieces—by Faisal Abbas, Nooredin Abedian, and Ghaffar Hussain—that are critiques of the behavior and thinking of some of their co-religionists in the Middle East, Iran, the UK, and elsewhere.
Out of place, but too important to sit on is an article from YNET NEWS on Iran sanctions. Former Treasury official Avi Jorisch talks about efforts to stifle Iran’s economy and what is stopping the Obama administration from taking more drastic measures. The piece comes in the shari’a banking section because it’s largely about banking.
Regarding shari’a banking, the evidence is mounting that the trend is accelerating, especially in Southeast Asia.