Ten years after Samuel Huntington charged Muslim societies as having "bloody borders", some may now see his comments as prescient. Indiscriminate slaughter on the streets of London, Madrid and Baghdad, violent protests against the drawings of the Prophet earlier this year, and the backlash surrounding Pope Benedict's recent comments have led some people to ask whether Islam is a religion of hate.
Are Muslims more prone to violence? Indeed, are Muslims too sensitive about their religion? There certainly are those within the "Western world", particularly in the United States, who feel a stifled political environment and economic stagnation contribute to the broadening of the call to jihad, particularly in the Middle East. Conversely, the "War on Terror" is seen by many as equating to a "War against Islam".
The 9/11 attacks invigorated the debate about what role, if any, Islam should play in Muslim nations; secondly, whether Islamic rule is the antithesis of democracy; and thirdly, what is the role of the West's own Muslim minorities. The growing chorus demanding "western" Muslims publicly and forcibly denounce the perpetrators of violence is bordering on hysteria.
What is more vital, however, and often ignored is that there is also a battle of ideas within Islam at present, rarely heard by the West. This revolves around what it means to be Muslim in the 21st century, and the conduct of East-West relations. It is a debate that has been going on since the 19th century. Framing the debate are ideas about colonialism, the decline of the Islamic world, and the need for modernity.
It is also a debate seeking to re-define Islam and its relevance to the modern world. The question “Whose Islam?” is a very difficult one to demarcate—do we mean "official" Islam, as sanctioned and enforced by Saudi Arabia or Egypt, where the government controls al-Azhar? Or are we talking about it as one of personal faith?
One of the challenges facing thinkers and intellectuals alike is the lack of any central authority in Islam. There is no Pope-like figure. Similarly, almost anyone can issue a religious edict (fatwa) without having undertaken any theological training. The raft of fatwas issued by bin Laden calling upon Muslims to fight "the crusaders", despite his own lack of theological training is a pertinent example.
In response to this phenomenon, the Muslim world's top scholars have agreed that fatwas should only be issued by clerics