.... Over the past decade, the idea of the “Islamist state” has been devalued among Muslims in the West. But that is not to say that the benefits of secular democracy have been accepted.
Secularism remains a dirty word in Islamist political parlance. And there is still a yearning among some British Muslims for a state ruled by sharia, as they understand it. A small minority suggest that this should be in Britain, but others wish to see this fantasy state emerge somewhere in the greater Middle East.
Still, calls among young activists for an “Islamist state”, or for the use of violence to create it, are symptoms of deeper social issues. A Muslim population that feels at home in and with the West will not produce people who wish to undermine it.
Yet Muslim leaders in Britain and America are still struggling to articulate confidently a form of Islam that is in harmony with the modern world. Too often, Islam becomes a political rallying cry, and not the devotional, contemplative religion that it ought to be. [telegraph.co.uk] Read more
