I just finished reading the interview that His Majesty king Abdullah gave to foreign papers in which he discussed a number of interesting topics. One particular quote that caught my eye was this:
"There’s a problem inside of Islam. The problem is not Jordan or the United States or Saudi Arabia," the king maintained.
Source [The Financial Times]
I wonder how this statement will be perceived in the Muslim world at large. This Egyptian blogger called His Majesty brave for admitting this.
First Middle Eastern leader admits that there is a problem in Islam. Middle Eastern counrtries like Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco and Saudi Arabic were attacked by Islamists’ terrorism but most defended Islam as saying this is not not the "true Islam". King Abullah, first brave Arab leader, to admit the problem. The language of King Abdullah indictates seriousness and firmness in tackling Jordan’s crisis with terrorism.
Another statement that caught my eye was that Jordan is planning to abolish the death penalty.
"We want to lead as the first country in the Middle East to do away with capital punishment," he said.
Way to go Jordan. I’m totally for abolishing the death penalty.
The King didnt say there is something wrong with Islam. Interesting that everyone is reading their own little personal ideas into his quote. He said the problem is “inside” Islam. Not with Islam, but within the Islamic world. I couldnt agree more.
Islam is a religion for all times. There is nothing wrong with Islam, rather something greatly wrong with Muslims and the Islamic world, for sure. Islam is a dynamic religion, those who think it is stagnant and a religion based on the old times are those extremists, and those who would through it away.
Stop looking at things in black and white. The extremists in religion and those who would throw religion away. Opposite sides of the same coin.
The king is absolutely right. There is somethign inherently wrong with Islam. The central belief that the Quran is inerrant and not open to discussion is the centre of the problem. Islam is in dire need of reform. I am extremely pleased that the King came out and said it.
Dear Natasha,
I absoloutly think those were interesting quotes, but I thought there are also alot more interesting quotes, that was my point.
The King’s speech to CNN introduced many new ideas and insights about how the Jordanian leadership thinks.
Christoph, Read this article:
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/ed8539d2-5694-11da-b98c-00000e25118c.html The last paragraph says:
Please point me to the source of the king’s statement that he wants Jordan to be the first country to abolish the death penalty. Human Rights Watch would be thrilled!
Dear Rami,
The reason I chose these quotes was because His Majesty was probably the first Arab leader to publicly say this about Islam. Wouldn’t this attract you?
It attracted even non-Jordanians including the Egyptian blogger that I mentioned in the post.
The second quote attracted me was because I never knew that Jordan was working on abolishing the capital punishment. Both quotes were news to me.