Stop the Hate: Islamo-Fascism's Battle Against Moderate Muslims

Stop the Hate: Islamo-Fascism's Battle Against Moderate Muslims

By Farish A. Noor

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Let us, the growing and increasingly visible fraternity of moderate Muslims, lay our cards on the table and be honest with ourselves. We must – as it is our ethical duty to do so – condemn the rising tide of militarism worldwide, the brutal abuses of human rights, the economic exploitation of the poor, the growing power differentials between the developed and developing worlds; but we must also turn this critical energy to ourselves and our community as well. Not all is well in the house of Islam. Indeed, something stinks, and it is called Islamo-fascism.

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But in the course of this long sojourn in the ever-shifting terrain of Islamic/st political praxis, I have also come across a wide spectrum of losers, cop-outs, desperados and hapless ne’er-do-wells, ranging from closet homophobes, latent racists, self-denying bigots and downright fascists masquerading behind the mask of a presumed religiosity that, in the opinion of this writer, they are not entitled to.

How, pray tell, can some of these so-called ‘defenders of Islam’ pose as defenders of a marginalized and persecuted community when they themselves are more than happy, able and willing to mouth some of the most obscene and outrageous insults against others who happen to be different from themselves, be they gender minorities or other ethnic/religious communities? It is no use trying to sell the plight of the Palestinians, Chechnyans or Bosnians if and when your speeches are laced with racist and bigoted comments towards Jews, Hindus, Christians, gays and lesbians, Europeans or others. One cannot fight against racism if one is a racist himself, it is as simple as that.

For progressive Islam to get off the ground, it needs to prioritise and foreground its concerns in the most inclusive, tolerant and universal manner; seeking out strategic and meaningful alliances with all groups and communities that are likewise fighting for the same goals of social justice and the uplift of humanity as a whole. In the course of my own struggle as an academic and activist, my allies have been not only fellow Islamists, but also secular European democrats, conscientious Christians, Jews, Hindus and Buddhists – and not to forget atheists – as well as gender minorities such as gays and lesbians who are all suffering under the same structures of domination, prejudice and routinised state and social discrimination.

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Dr. Farish A Noor is a Malaysian political scientist and human rights activist."

More:
http://www.muslimwakeup.com/main/archives/2004/12/002552print.php


Great essay by Farish Noor, as usual.