Egypt's President Calls For A 'Revolution' In Islam

[BlueStateSaint]

Yeah, it's a HuffPo piece, but I've got to hand it to Sissi--he's getting right into it with the Muslim Brotherhood.

Egypt's President Calls For A 'Revolution' In Islam

(Saint's note:  The original source is an AP article.)
By SARAH EL DEEB and LEE KEATH

Posted: 01/09/2015 8:42 am EST Updated: 1 hour ago

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's president opened the new year with a dramatic call for a "revolution" in Islam to reform interpretations of the faith entrenched for hundreds of years, which he said have made the Muslim world a source of "destruction" and pitted it against the rest of the world.

The speech was Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi's boldest effort yet to position himself as a modernizer of Islam. His professed goal is to purge the religion of extremist ideas of intolerance and violence that fuel groups like al-Qaida and the Islamic State — and that appear to have motivated Wednesday's attack in Paris on a French satirical newspaper that killed 12 people.

But those looking for the "Muslim Martin Luther" bringing a radical Reformation of Islam may be overreaching — and making a false comparison to begin with. El-Sissi is clearly seeking to impose change through the state, using government religious institutions like the 1,000-year-old al-Azhar, one of the most eminent centers of Sunni Muslim thought and teaching.
 
Al-Azhar's vision for change, however, is piecemeal, and conservative, focusing on messaging and outreach but wary of addressing deeper and more controversial issues.

Al-Azhar officials tout a YouTube channel just launched to reach out to the young, mimicking radicals' successful social media outreach to disenfranchised youth. They proudly point out that clerics in the videos wear suits, not al-Azhar's traditional robes and turbans, to be more accessible.

I hope that Sissi (or el-Sissi) doesn't suffer the same fate as Anwar Sadat.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/09/egypt-president-revolution-islam_n_6436734.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592

Islam is the only major religion to not have had a Reformation.

[DumbAss Tanker]

The longest journey begins with a single step.  Martin Luther started out as a monk just wanting to improve the Catholic church.

[JohnnyReb]

In my opinion Mohammed laid down rules that will make it impossible for them to reform.

[Conservative Libertarian]

In my opinion Mohammed laid down rules that will make it impossible for them to reform.

Not necessarily. My wife is a member of a Muslim sect that does not interpret the Koran in ways that promote spread via coercion and violence. They do not subscribe to any follow-on books that further entrench intolerance and violence. The teachers in her sect all have very high level science degrees. Instead of sitting in front of the congregation barking out intolerant rules for how they should believe "OR ELSE!", they teach them how to learn about it on their own. They promote using your education for the overall betterment of mankind. One of the teachers is my BIL. He is a PhD physicist that has been involved in super conductor research and radiation therapy related research. They are actually somewhat pacifist and are non-violent.

The only problem is that the government of Iran declared their sect to be illegal and systematically persecute them via the power of the government. As a result, they are spread throughout the western world and not allowed to get their POV out within the Muslim countries.

[txradioguy]

And to think...this is the guy our State Department and WH wanted removed from office and have the MoBro's idiot put back in his place.


 

[Eupher]

Not necessarily. My wife is a member of a Muslim sect that does not interpret the Koran in ways that promote spread via coercion and violence. They do not subscribe to any follow-on books that further entrench intolerance and violence. The teachers in her sect all have very high level science degrees. Instead of sitting in front of the congregation barking out intolerant rules for how they should believe "OR ELSE!", they teach them how to learn about it on their own. They promote using your education for the overall betterment of mankind. One of the teachers is my BIL. He is a PhD physicist that has been involved in super conductor research and radiation therapy related research. They are actually somewhat pacifist and are non-violent.

The only problem is that the government of Iran declared their sect to be illegal and systematically persecute them via the power of the government. As a result, they are spread throughout the western world and not allowed to get their POV out within the Muslim countries.

Curious about your wife's brand of Islam. Rough count - how many are there associated with this sect? You say that Iran has declared your wife's sect illegal. Have other countries declared your wife's sect illegal? If not, why not? Is the sect your wife in strictly Persian?

Are there other sects within Islam that have roughly parallel philosophies? If so, which and where are they primarily located?

How do these numbers stack up against the roughly 1.6 billion muslims in the world today?

[freedumb2003b]

Not necessarily. My wife is a member of a Muslim sect that does not interpret the Koran in ways that promote spread via coercion and violence. They do not subscribe to any follow-on books that further entrench intolerance and violence. The teachers in her sect all have very high level science degrees. Instead of sitting in front of the congregation barking out intolerant rules for how they should believe "OR ELSE!", they teach them how to learn about it on their own. They promote using your education for the overall betterment of mankind. One of the teachers is my BIL. He is a PhD physicist that has been involved in super conductor research and radiation therapy related research. They are actually somewhat pacifist and are non-violent.

The only problem is that the government of Iran declared their sect to be illegal and systematically persecute them via the power of the government. As a result, they are spread throughout the western world and not allowed to get their POV out within the Muslim countries.

It sounds like she is a member of islam's version of B'nai B'rith -- hardly mainstream (no offense and I wish her and her others great success) and probably not adherents.

[Conservative Libertarian]

Curious about your wife's brand of Islam. Rough count - how many are there associated with this sect? You say that Iran has declared your wife's sect illegal. Have other countries declared your wife's sect illegal? If not, why not? Is the sect your wife in strictly Persian?

Are there other sects within Islam that have roughly parallel philosophies? If so, which and where are they primarily located?

How do these numbers stack up against the roughly 1.6 billion muslims in the world today?

She is in a Sufi subsection of Shia. Their numbers are very low. Probably well under 0.5%. They are not liked by most mainstream Muslims. Don't know if any other countries actually made them illegal. I wouldn't be surprised if they did. Her sect is mainly Persian.

[Eupher]

She is in a Sufi subsection of Shia. Their numbers are very low. Probably well under 0.5%. They are not liked by most mainstream Muslims. Don't know if any other countries actually made them illegal. I wouldn't be surprised if they did. Her sect is mainly Persian.

0.5% of 1.6 billion?

That's 8,000,000. That's a sizable chunk of people...

[Conservative Libertarian]

0.5% of 1.6 billion?

That's 8,000,000. That's a sizable chunk of people...

As I stated, it's actually far less than 0.5%. I don't have exact stats. I would say that they are less than one million but I really don't know. Remember, many live outside of Iran. The only ones that are counted with any chance of accuracy are outside of Iran. The ones that are inside Iran live in secrecy.

[Donpeyote]

Good Luck with this ... prayers sent

[DumbAss Tanker]

Not necessarily. My wife is a member of a Muslim sect that does not interpret the Koran in ways that promote spread via coercion and violence. They do not subscribe to any follow-on books that further entrench intolerance and violence. The teachers in her sect all have very high level science degrees. Instead of sitting in front of the congregation barking out intolerant rules for how they should believe "OR ELSE!", they teach them how to learn about it on their own. They promote using your education for the overall betterment of mankind. One of the teachers is my BIL. He is a PhD physicist that has been involved in super conductor research and radiation therapy related research. They are actually somewhat pacifist and are non-violent.

The only problem is that the government of Iran declared their sect to be illegal and systematically persecute them via the power of the government. As a result, they are spread throughout the western world and not allowed to get their POV out within the Muslim countries.

I have an in-law who is a member of a similar Sufi sect, don't know if it's the same one or not...he's a convert, not an ethnic.

[Conservative Libertarian]

I have an in-law who is a member of a similar Sufi sect, don't know if it's the same one or not...he's a convert, not an ethnic.

If you are interested, I can PM the link to their website. There are various types of Sufis within both Shia and Sunni.