Apostasy and reform in Islam
Guest Commentary
Dr. Mohammad Omar Farooq
Professor, Upper Iowa University
March 21, 2007

This column is part of a dialogue that has been inspired by the Secular Islam Summit that took place in St. Petersburg, Fla., on March 4 and 5. See Mike Ghouse's initial Guest Commentary, a response by John Lobenstein and Mr. Ghouse's reply to Mr. Lobenstein.

I have been following discussions about the Secular Islam Summit before it took place as well as afterward. The summit was attended mostly by non-Muslims, ex-Muslims and only two to three avowed Muslims who appeared to have no connection with the mainstream Muslim community. There was a public declaration when the summit ended. The mainstream Muslim community ignored the summit for the most part, considering it an Islam-bashing propaganda sand-castled on Islamophobia.

Some mainstream Muslim communities and organizations condemned or dismissed this summit as irrelevant or even malicious. I also read the exchange between Mr. Robert Spencer of the Jihad Watch website, one of the patrons of the summit, who needs little introduction, and Mr. Mike Ghouse of the World Muslim Congress, an American Muslim committed to engage the Muslim community in upholding and promoting the ideals of pluralism, justice and peace.

Regardless of the way mainstream Muslims may view this summit and might even dismiss it, some serious underlying issues and problems might be glossed over, which is the focus of this write-up. Relevant also is that it seeks a common ground, to identify the points of tangency and convergence and collectively build consensus toward common good.

First, it is important to identify and acknowledge non-Muslims as stakeholders in a broader sense in issues pertaining to Islam. All stakeholders may not formulate or implement a decision or agenda, but an entity should consider their concerns because of both moral and self-interest factors. Muslims often contend that Islam is purely an internal matter; they are unwilling to listen to outsiders or to those who are critical of Islam, let alone Islam-bashers, Islamophobes or abusers of Islam and the Prophet. It is a common tendency to think the worst of those who are critical. However, while effective reforms are internally driven, critics may offer pertinent input that many devotees may not. Indeed, this reality is often ignored.