Sunday, May 29, 2005

What is a Progressive Muslim? Episode I

People sometimes ask "What is a Progressive Muslim?" Or even "What is a Moderate Muslim? How is one different from another type of Muslim?" This post and others will try to tackle aspects of this discussion.

The way I see it, the diversity of opinion within the progressive "fold"--and not just amongst Muslims, for I see this mirrored at least in Christian and Hindu circles--ranges from die-hard a-theistic secularists who identify as "Muslim" as a matter of strategy and/or culture, through secular (in the I-believe-in-the-separation-of-Church-of-State-but-I-have-a-strong-faith sense of the word) believers, right up to those that genuinely believe that a Muslim can live their faith within a constitutional and/or democratic framework. Of course, often these three strains co-exist in the world view of individual members...

Or maybe this is just wishful thinking on my part.

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