Mr. Fjordman does not believe there is such a thing as moderate Islam. I live in Istanbul and can reassure him that indeed there is. I am surrounded by men and women who are by any reasonable definition both Muslims and moderates: They are Muslims in the sense that they believe there is no God but God and Mohammed is his messenger; they pray five times daily in the direction of Mecca; they observe the Ramadan fast, complete the hajj if they can, and call themselves Muslims. They are moderates in the sense that they are tolerant of other religions; they do not equate Jews with pigs and apes, drop walls on homosexuals or blow up airplanes and Buddha statues, and they do not reject or fear modernity. I encounter these moderate Muslims by the score every time I step out my front door.

I am an American Jewish woman who looks and behaves like one. I dress exactly the way I would if I lived in Los Angeles, and obviously I express my political opinions freely. Yet I feel perfectly at home and at ease in my neighborhood of friendly, tolerant, moderate Muslims. I am sure my friends here in Istanbul—among them devout but liberal Muslims such as Mustafa Akyol—would be most puzzled to be told they do not exist, although perhaps intrigued by the discovery and its implications for their income tax status. It is frankly silly to say that there is no such thing as a moderate Muslim or that there cannot be such a thing.

Mr. Fjordman can see no significant signs of a reformation in Islam. Again, if he looked to Turkey, he surely would. The Islamic reformation here dates from the late Ottoman Empire. A vibrant moderate-Muslim bourgeoisie has emerged in Turkey over the past 20 years, coinciding with a general opening of Turkish society. Muslim politicians such as Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullah Gul have stressed the need for reform in the Islamic world. The country’s Directorate of Religious Affairs (known as the Diyanet) which controls more than 76 thousand mosques in Turkey and many others in Europe, recently declared that the Diyanet will remove from the hadiths—the non-Koranic commentary on the words and deeds of the Prophet Mohammed—statements that condone the mistreatment and oppression of women. This is an extremely important step for the Islamic world. (Note that the head of the Diyanet, Dr. Ali Bardakoglu, is a liberal theologian who was appointed three years ago by the Islamic AKP government.) I would direct Mr. Fjordman’s attention not only to Turkey, but to the flourishing in other Islamic countries of such groups as the Liberal Islam Network, the Progressive Muslims, the International Forum for Islamic Dialogue, and the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy.

Of course it’s theologically possible to reform Islam. If it is theologically possible to reform Judaism and Christianity, it is possible to reform Islam as well: Islam is what Muslims make of it.