Reza Aslan: If ISIS Says It's Muslim, Then It's Muslim

[trotsky]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/15/reza-aslan-isis-muslim_n_5992110.html

Aslan joined HuffPost Live's Marc Lamont Hill to discuss the rise of the Islamic State and the media's complicated response to it on Wednesday. In a previous interview with CNN, Aslan criticized comedian Bill Maher for making sweeping statements about Islam, a theme he returned to on HuffPost Live.

"There's a difference between criticizing a person's belief and condemning that person themselves, and loathing them or dismissing them, or even suggesting that those people should be harmed because of their beliefs," Aslan said.

Aslan also warned against saying that the Islamic State isn't Muslim, which may be true in some regards but misleading in others.

"ISIS' notion of reestablishing slavery as part of Islam -- I mean, if you know anything about Islamic history the very first thing that Muhammad did was outlaw slavery," Aslan said. "Nevertheless, there is no such thing as a Muslim pope, there is no such thing as a Muslim Vatican. No one gets to tell you who is and who is not a Muslim."

Interesting snip from Aslan, since he has basically attempted to tell others who is and who isn't a Muslim in the past.

[The Magistrate]

1. The Congregation's Acephelous Nature, Sir, Is One Of Its Chief Strengths and Greatest Weaknesses

Such a body can display great resilience under external pressure, since anyone can become a local leader if he has the character to manage it, and it can also be tremendously difficult to change, since anyone can become a local leader if he has the character to do so, and reaction is always an easier appeal in a religious milieu. For all the difficulty one sees with the Vatican, an organization with a chief and some chain of command can be turned to a new course more easily, for better or worse, since fewer minds need to be changed, and once the key ones are, the thing is settled to a fair certainty. Islam is a thing it is particularly ludicrous to try a 'no true Scotsman' line about....

[rug]

2. You really should watch the whole thing.

[Fred Sanders]

3. Yes, Aslan is saying the opposite of the OP title, Westobro Church can call itself Christian if it

wants to also, does not mean defining themselves makes them Christian in spirit or deed.


"ISIS' notion of reestablishing slavery as part of Islam -- I mean, if you know anything about Islamic history the very first thing that Muhammad did was outlaw slavery," Aslan said. "Nevertheless, there is no such thing as a Muslim pope, there is no such thing as a Muslim Vatican. No one gets to tell you who is and who is not a Muslim."

[rug]

4. That's it exactly.

There is an objective meaning of ideology.

[Igel]

5. Muhammed may have outlawed slavery.

But for many, many centuries after Muhammed the Arabs, "good Muslims," practiced an active slave trade. They were the Salafi, of course, and IS is salafist if anything.

Primarily enslaving Europeans at first, they eventually wound up trading in probably more black slaves than the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Benghazi was a glorious trans-shipment point for slaves. The slave trade continued under the Ottomans and the caliphate--the Russian national poet Pushkin's (great?)grandfather was a black slave given by the sultan to Peter I. The rule was you didn't enslave Muslims.

The Portuguese were danged happy to figure out where the Arabs got their slaves. So they could horn in on the lucrative business. And possibly be more efficient--they came close to the Arab's overall volume but had far less time to achieve those numbers. (Then again, they also had better technology and a larger sales territory.) Yes, it sounds callous. On the other hand, it's a good remedy to Aslan's fact-free flight of fantasy.


Still, Aslan's point is both valid and petty. The Vatican doesn't get to say who's Xian and not. Nor does anybody else, except for "theory-internal" wrangling. So a pastor in my old church said he could, but knew that the judgment only stuck for those in the church (at times).