not too much

I keep saying that even as a non-Roman catholic, I find The Tablet to be an fine publication. The 23 July 2005 edition has an interesting feature article by Shaikh Abdal-Hakim Murad, who teaches Islamic Studies in the Faculty of Divinity at University of Cambridge, is imam of the Cambridge Mosque, and chair of the Muslim Academic Trust. He says that Wahhabism, the hardline ideology at the core of current terrorism, has cut deep wounds in Islam, and helped alienate young UK Muslims. He considers whether Islam in the UK can be freed of this influence.

Fortunately, serious moves are under way to challenge the extremists on religious grounds. The most recent was an ecumenical conference in Jordan, held between 4 and 6 of July, at which the assembled leaders of Sunni and Shia Islam issued a joint statement banning the key Wahhabi practice of considering other Muslims to be unbelievers. The immediate context for the conference was Wahhabi violence against Shia and other non-Wahhabi communities in Iraq; but the problem was acknowledged to be global.

The article is well worth reading, though no doubt a few Muslims may disagree with it. Murad has written numerous articles on Islam, including, on this topic, The poverty of fanaticism, and Recapturing Islam from the terrorists.