The Moroccan Model

[Aristophanes]

A Different Sort of Radical Muslim
Ahmed Abaddi is helping Muslims to understand the West.

By Joel C. Rosenberg

As Osama bin Laden and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad continue to breathe their murderous threats against Christians and Jews, and attempt to incite Muslims around the world to annihilate the U.S. and Israel, another Muslim leader made the rounds in Washington last week offering a radically different vision.

Topping his agenda were under-the-radar peace talks with Israel, religious classes to teach Imams the history and virtues of the West, and dramatic new initiatives to build ties to Rabbis and evangelical Christians.

Were Dr. Ahmed Abaddi merely a soft-spoken, gentle-mannered professor of comparative religion in his native Morocco, his views would certainly be welcome, but not particularly newsworthy. However, Abaddi is actually in a position of some influence. As Morocco’s Director of Islamic Affairs and senior advisor to King Mohammed VI, he is responsible for overseeing his country’s 33,000 mosques. And he’s not just talking about a new approach to Muslim relations with the West. At the direction, and with the blessing, of his King, Abaddi has already taken a number of concrete—and controversial—steps.

Abaddi recounted to House and Senate leaders, Bush administration officials, journalists, and business leaders the changes he and his colleagues have brought about in recent years:

They embarked upon a campaign of interviews, speeches, and sermons that condemn al Qaeda’s teachings and violence. This accelerated after 9/11 and a series of suicide bombings that ripped through Morocco’s Muslim- and Jewish-owned restaurants, as well as a bombing at a Jewish community center on May 16, 2003, that left some 45 dead and more than 100 wounded.

cont'nd...

Seeing as I'm always doom and gloom when it comes to Islam, I thought I'd post a positive piece. Basically, if this guy is successful, and it looks like he might be, Islam's gonna look a lot nicer and a lot more modern.

[Ahiga]

Thanks Aristophanes. It's good to see that there is some improvement in the region and that the concept that every islamic is cruel and evil isn't true. That the moroccan president is even welcomming it is a greater fact.

It might show that the further you come from the Middle east, the more and more moderate Muslim's become. I've quoted before that Albania is 70% muslim, Niger or Nigera 81% muslim, and chad 70% muslim, and we seem to rarely hear of extremism there.

I hope this guy has success.

[Mr.Flint]

Thanks Aristophanes. It's good to see that there is some improvement in the region and that the concept that every islamic is cruel and evil isn't true. That the moroccan president is even welcomming it is a greater fact.

It might show that the further you come from the Middle east, the more and more moderate Muslim's become. I've quoted before that Albania is 70% muslim, Niger or Nigera 81% muslim, and chad 70% muslim, and we seem to rarely hear of extremism there.

I hope this guy has success.

i was hoping that someone wouldve reply that in the other thread, but apparently no one did.
Albania as a former Communist (read forced atheism) is more secular than religious, and as one albanian member of the forum stated here once (i honestly dont remember his nickname, Mods do you remember?) that there is a growing trend of christianity rather than return to islam, in Albania.

Nigeria had religious riots and massacres recently... a number of its muslim provinces live by Sharia, and stone women for adultery.

In Kaduna in February-May 2000 over 1,000 people died in rioting over the introduction of criminal Shar'ia in the State. Hundreds of ethnic Hausa were killed in reprisal attacks in southeastern Nigeria. In September 2001, over 2,000 people were killed in inter-religious rioting in Jos. In October 2001, hundreds were killed and thousands displaced in communal violence that spread across the states of Benue, Taraba, and Nasarawa

http://www.pluralism.org/news/intl/i...eria&sort=DESC
It refused polio vaccinations on the grounds that it is an effort by Westerners to sterilize young Nigerian Muslim girls.
Chad is also going through a decade long religoius civil war...

[Ahiga]

i was hoping that someone wouldve reply that in the other thread, but apparently no one did.
Albania as a former Communist (read forced atheism) is more secular than religious, and as one albanian member of the forum stated here once (i honestly dont remember his nickname, Mods do you remember?) that there is a growing trend of christianity rather than return to islam, in Albania.

Nigeria had religious riots and massacres recently... a number of its muslim provinces live by Sharia, and stone women for adultery.

http://www.pluralism.org/news/intl/i...eria&sort=DESC
It refused polio vaccinations on the grounds that it is an effort by Westerners to sterilize young Nigerian Muslim girls.
Chad is also going through a decade long religoius civil war...

Well I will not argue in the case of religious societies in the middle east. I wholly support secular societies and think it is the best form of society that one could aspire for. In more secular nations of the muslim states, we do see a trend of at least conflict between fanatical and reserved. They will need to find a way to cow their religious zealots into behaving civilized, the way that the west has (and boy-howdy, do we have a share of our own folks who want Sharia-laws of christianity). That is dissapointing to hear about Nigeria, and I would feel is a product of Islam mixing with the instability of nation's in Africa. A muslim Germany, Denmark, or Canada, would fare far better than a muslim state in africa or the middle east. This is of course due to a number of reasons, not the least of which is from some of the social achievement's made by christianity.

As for refusing polio - arrogant of them, but do not forget that the roman catholic church preached not using condom's and even preached false information about the stopping power of Condom's in the Aids epedmic. I don't feel both are dramatically different - Both are stupid, stupid moves.

Thank you for dealing with this subject, because from what I had seen ,nobody had addressed this comment of mine before. It's bad for my arguement, but good to hear none the less. I thought Chad did not have religious civil war, and that it was evident in Sudan. Again, I think it's that the religion, any religion, has become warped by a number of factor's in the region. Because Islam is in much of the world's rougher regions, and those which do not find themselves near it (South america), may be this way for a number of reasons, one of which being that without a conflict of religion (The way we see it in north ireland), the primarily roman-catholic (I presume this to be so) nations of South America have no reason for religious conflict.

If you took Venzewela and made it Jewish and had it come into conflict with Columbia, then perhaps you might have that sort of conflict.

[Hub'ite]

It would be about time for Islam to get their head out of their asses and realize its the 21st century.

[Erik]

It's not that strange for dictatorships (because that's what Marocoo is: a dicatatorship ruled by a King) to strongly oppose radical Islam because it forms a big threat to their power.

Still, I think these are good steps even if they are made out of self interest and preservation.

But I would only be surprised if their "history and virtues of the West" also included Democracy.