Jamie Glazov's
interview with Raheel Raza failed to adequately explain some serious flaws in the mindset of a lot of Muslim "moderates" today. Ms. Raza sounds like her heart is, indeed, in the right place; but she skips over the most vital issues concerning Islam.
Although she does not say so specifically, she seems to reject all of Islamic history as well as most of the Koran and the Hadith. How is this possible? From which texts, exactly, does she get this great "spirituality" of Islam? How does she connect the dots between the Islamic holy texts and her notion of Islam? How does she deal with such verses in the Koran and Hadith as these:
-- Surely the vilest of animals in Allah’s sight are those who disbelieve. (8.55)
-- The unbelievers are your inveterate enemy. (4:101)
-- Make war on them until idolatry shall cease and God's religion shall reign supreme. (8:40)
-- We will put terror into the hearts of the unbelievers. (3:151)
-- Muhammad said, "You (i.e. Muslims) will fight with the Jews till some of them will hide behind stones. The stones will (betray them) saying, 'O 'Abdullah (i.e. slave of Allah)! There is a Jew hiding behind me; so kill him.' "
And, there are dozens more verses like these in the Koran and the Hadith that motivate so many Muslims to become jihadists (both violent and non-violent).
The problem with Islam is Islam -- the holy texts themselves, not some "tiny minority of extremists who misinterpret" those texts.
How can Raheel Raza call Islam "spiritual" when it considers the above texts sacred and binding on all believers? How can she ignore these holy Islamic texts and still claim to be Muslim?