It can be difficult, being a moderate imam in France these days:
(Hassen) Chalghoumi, at 36 one of the younger and certainly one of the most liberal imams in France, told Le Parisien last week that he supported “a legal ban of the burka, which has no place in France, a country where women have been voting since 1945″.
The imam, whose mosque is in Drancy, a north-eastern suburb of Paris, also criticised those Muslims who advocated the wearing of the burka, saying they “belong to a tiny minority tradition reflecting an ideology that undermines the Muslim religion. The burka is a prison for women, a tool of sexist domination and Islamist indoctrination…”
Chalghoumi’s comments were designed to provoke discussion among the Muslim community in France, but a small minority of radicals considered his pronouncements so insulting that on Monday evening they stormed Chalghoumi’s mosque and threatened to kill him.
Thus, dialogue.
Two bottles of Sam Adams says he don’t last a year.
I would classify that bet a foolish to take on. Better bet is will he continue to speak out for dialog.
How can we be sure that the imam is truly a moderate? Perhaps his statement(s) regarding the wearing of burkas is simply the employment of taqiyya, as per the earlier post (http://www.neptunuslex.com/2010/01/26/threat-brief/), and he is being purposely deceitful in his declarations to the non-believing general public. I joke somewhat, of course, but still …
For me, reading that previous article has certainly sown the seeds of doubt and mistrust. Can anything a believer of Islam says to a non-believer be trusted, based on what would appear to be the tenants of their own beliefs?
Thus, dialogue. A right powerful conversation indeed.
My Moderation comment is in moderation.
Burkas yes, but it would be worthwhile for any of the imams or clerics to speak out against radical Islamic violence.
Doubt that will happen.