Last Friday I took part in a debate entitled ‘Does Islam Need a Reformation?’ It was run by the Muslim group IREA. I was a bit wary. I’ve been to a couple of Muslim-run debates and round-table discussions in which the mainly Muslim participants veered off-topic and took turns to attack Western foreign policy and to accuse British culture of Islamophobia. There was often more grievance-airing than real debate. There was only a little bit of this on Friday: it was mostly a good discussion about the nature of religious reform and the question of Islam’s compatibility with secular values.
It left me feeling hopeful on one level. It was encouraging that Muslims were defending their religion with reference to universal human rights. Authentic Islam treats women and religious minorities well, said some; medieval Islam was far ahead of Christendom on such matters.
It is great news that Muslims are arguing within a humanitarian framework. At
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