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October 27, 2004
A Case For Islamic Renewal
[Originally published in FrontPage Magazine]
My grandfather was a very devout, pious Muslim. When I was about at the age of 10, and at a summer holiday, he called me to his and my grand mom's house in order to give me some Islamic education. He taught me how to perform the regular Muslim prayers and some very basic knowledge about Arabic. I enjoyed this gracious summer school; besides all the warm family values, I was happy to learn about God, my Creator, and the religion He had revealed.
Continue reading "A Case For Islamic Renewal"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 5:37 PM | Comments (5)
October 26, 2004
Inviting Bat Ye'or To Consider Fairness
[Originally published in FrontPage Magazine]
In a recent article on Frontpage, titled "Spare Us Another "Golden Age?", Bat Ye'or responded to my earlier rejoinder to her colleague, Andrew Bostom. Both Ms. Ye'or and Mr. Bostom believe that terrorists such as al-Qaeda spring from and represent the supposedly inherent violence of Islam. I argue, on the other hand, that the current "Islamic terrorism" we face stems from a distortion of the true Islamic faith.
Continue reading "Inviting Bat Ye'or To Consider Fairness"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 12:40 AM | Comments (3)
October 22, 2004
Akyol At The Symposium, "Terror & Poverty: A Connection?"
[Originally published in FrontPage Magazine]
Is "Islamist terrorism" rooted in economic inequality and social injustice? To discuss this question, Frontpage Symposium has assembled panel. The guests were Mustafa Akyol, Salim Mansur, (a Muslim writer and a professor of political science at the University of Western Ontario) and and John Loftus, (a former Justice Department prosecutor).
Continue reading "Akyol At The Symposium, "Terror & Poverty: A Connection?""
Posted by Web Master at 4:55 PM | Comments (1)
October 20, 2004
Terror' Roots Not in Islam [A Reply to Robert Spencer]
[Originally published in FrontPage Magazine]
After my article on Frontpage, titled Still Standing For Islam – And Against Terrorism, Robert Spencer, the editor of the Jihad Watch website posted a rebuttal. He argued that Islam is indeed the legitimate source of terrorists such as al-Qaeda, and my arguments can't persuade those militants to stop their
violence.
Continue reading "Terror' Roots Not in Islam [A Reply to Robert Spencer]"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 12:28 AM | Comments (2)
October 8, 2004
Still Standing For Islam - and Against Terrorism
[Orginally published in FrontPage Magazine]
A few weeks ago, Frontpage published a very long article titled "Jihad Killings of POWs and
Non-Combatants," written by Andrew G. Bostom. Mr. Bostom's
piece was basically a rebuttal against my two earlier articles appearing on the
National Review Online, titled "The Prophet and Paul Johnson"
and "Al-Qaeda vs. The Koran".
In both of these articles, I had argued that indiscriminate killings by
al-Qaeda and its ilk are unacceptable from a true Islamic perspective.
However, this proved to be unacceptable for
Mr. Bostom. For him, and for other like-minded authors such as Robert Spencer,
who also criticized me at
his "Jihad Watch" website, the very faith of Islam is the source of
today's radical Islamist terrorism and al-Qaeda is doing exactly what the Koran
advocates. In another article that
disapproved my argued, Hugh Fitzgerald summed this up. "Bin Laden is a
good Muslim," Mr. Fitzgerald wrote, "an orthodox Muslim."
Continue reading "Still Standing For Islam - and Against Terrorism"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 4:13 PM | Comments (3)
October 2, 2004
Caffe Europa Interviews Akyol on Turkey's EU Bid
Caffe Europa, a widely read Italian magazine, published an interview with Mustafa Akyol in its October 2, 2004 issue. The interview titled "Turkish Islam wil be an antidote to fundamentalism" it available here , yet only in Italian.
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 5:17 PM | Comments (0)
