A response to last weeks article

My younger brother (he’s 70, I’m 72) wrote a reply to last week’s entry about freethinking Muslims. I thought you might be interested in reading it. For the past several years he has traveled the mid-East, consulting with universities in Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Oman. He has worked with individual universities and with groups of universities on a variety of projects.

That's an encouraging article, and I applaud the openness and visibility of their statement. The good news is that there are many muslims who think that way. In fact, there are many more who believe that way than dare to make such a public declaration. the fact that some do helps the others. In the long run, I believe this position will win out and Islam will join the modern world. However, I do think it will be a long time coming.

Right now we have a few Arab countries that are trying to move this way - Jordan, UAE, Qatar, and to a lesser extent Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain. And you have mixtures of things going on that highlight some of the issues, such as Saudi Arabia under the fundamentalist theocratic control of the Mahabis and simultaneously building strong universities and bringing in top scholars. Oil money provides a great buffering for rulers in times of transition and it slows the pace of change in a case like Saudi Arabia while it allows change to move more swiftly in a case like Kuwait.

With the enormous strengthening of higher education in the middle east coupled with the impossibility of totally controlling information in this internet age, things will be changing at different paces in different countries. However, the transition will not be easy or without conflict. Good examples of countries with conflict are Lebanon, Syria, and Egypt. As any threatened group does, the Islamists (followers of Islam who want to establish theocratic governments) become more fanatically fundamental when their traditions, and especially their power, weaken. We can only hope for more examples of enlightened muslims speaking out as in the statement you sent. And we need more examples of the benefits of secular democracy. The current economic situation hurts perceptions ("See the greed of secularism and what it brings."). The election of Obama was a very strong positive signal ("See that democracy is real and works."). In time more of the Arab leaders such as in Jordan and Qatar will push for democracy, and in other countries the people will demand more freedom from autocrats whether their rulers or their clerics.

In the meantime I suggest we applaud, support, and befriend muslims who take such clear stands for secular societies. They often come under intense pressure from within their muslim community.

M-----