Progressive Muslims challenge tradition

[Canadian_moderate]

I will probably be chastised for saying this, but I hope this sets a trend for more Muslims around the World. Social liberalism is totally at odds with the conservative and ultra-conservative interpretations of the World's major religions. There is no reason why any of us should have to accept or defend any type of religious fanatics. I am sick of having conservatives accuse liberals of siding with extremists and fundamentalists. To me, this is an example that many of the people who practice the Muslim faith are ready to exit their religion's dark ages.

URL=http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1097878212492]http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentSe...d=1097878212492

Excerpt from article
Roshan Jamal has never seen herself as a traditional Muslim woman. The Toronto chartered accountant wears business suits to work and doesn't cover her hair in public. And for a long time, she felt she didn't fit in at Islamic centres where men and women were segregated, used separate entrances and women were covered up.

``I belonged nowhere,'' says Jamal, who heads the new Noor Cultural Centre in North York, a liberal-minded Muslim organization. ``When I was raising my children, I had nowhere to go.

``It seemed you belonged either in the secular world, or you went into traditional areas. There didn't seem to be a midway and I felt there were a lot of women like me in mainstream Canadian society.''

And not surprisingly, there are a lot of men like her, too.

Jamal, who is CEO of the centre, is part of a growing North American movement of progressive Muslims creating alternatives to more traditional, conservative organizations.

The movement is largely being driven by North American-educated Muslims from diverse cultural backgrounds, many of whom are in their 30s and 40s, who are beginning to step back and take a critical look at traditional practices.

[bicentennial_baby]

1. Thanks for the article

I'm in the middle of writing a paper on the challenges to political, economic and cultural modernization in the Middle East. Interesting read, thanks.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

2. Good to hear this!

Islam should be allowed to have more than one way of existing. Other religions have non-orthodox sects too.