Thoughtful Muslim.

This gentleman appears to be a fairminded Muslim willing to debate Islam, Christianity, the West, etc. He quotes an interesting comment to one of his posts by one Ikram Saeed. The aforementioned gent concludes that what Islam needs is another Renaissance not a Reformation:

Wahbism [sic] is the reformation. Traditional Sunni Islam has four Madhabs (schools of thought), and the interpretation of religion is only permitted by religious scholars in that Madhab. To become a scholar requires many years of work, and an understanding of some 1400 years of religious thought and commentary. Traditional Sunni-ism is somewhat centralized and "Catholic" (though not nearly as mush as Shi'ism -- "the fifth madhab?").

Wahabis smash this hierarchy, and go extreme "protestant" They argue that the 1400 years of interpretation has clouded and distorted the original message of the Prophet. Muslims need to go back to the fundamentals, to Islam the way it was practiced at the time of the prophet. Each Muslim should read the Quran, and particularly the Hadiths, and reach his own, correct, understanding.

* * * *

The Christian Reformation occurred as a reaction to corruption in the catholic church, not as a reaction to strict morals. If [anything], teetotalling moralistic protestants were more violent and more strict than Catholics. Similarly, Wahabis are more strict than "Madhabis" to coin a term.

"Wahabism IS the Reformation?" City of Brass, 12/9/02.

See also his "Silence of the media IV: dialouge of unprovable assertions." 12/7/02.

Dang. The Colonel, normally hate-filled, must be going soft in the head.