As an American Muslim, I have often been frustrated by the general lack of influence of enlightened thinkers like Tariq Ramadan, Khaled Abou El-Fadl and others on the global community of Muslims. While these thinkers give us intellectual pleasure and inspire deeper insights into our sacred text, their impact is strangely marginal. Ramadan's take on the French situation is incisive, as are his comments on the various ills that plague Muslims today, but as a call to action, they rarely pack a punch. In contrast, any Muslim extremist can drive his followers into a frenzy with a few words like jihad and martyrdom. Unless we moderate Muslims act on our conviction, the extremists will continue to marginalize us and we will continue to play catch-up with them.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The Maine fight was supposed to be the dress rehearsal for repealing California's Prop. 8 -- but gay marriage lost
Once one obtains Seriousness credentials in the Washington media, they are irrevocable no matter one's conduct.
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