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Criticizing Islam, Islamism: Evaluating the History & Beliefs of Islam

What is Islam? What do Muslims believe? Is Islam a violent or a peaceful religion? In scholarship of Islam, traditionalists confine themselves to Muslim sources and take them at face value, accepting as true whatever they claim to be true. Articles here adopt a more critical and skeptical perspective. Not all criticisms of Islam are correct, but neither are all defenses of Islam and Muslim behavior. There is much in Islam that is wrong, incorrect, and unethical.
Islam & Racism: Does Islam have something to Teach the West?
The standard story in Islam is that Muslims are color-blind because Islam is color-blind. Islam preaches absolute submission to God in the context of perfect equality of all races. No one race or ethnic group is superior to any other because all are equally inferior before God. That's the standard story, at any rate, but it's not the full story.
Islam and Religion in Turkey
People concerned about the direction Islam is taking or may take should pay careful attention to Turkey. A Muslim society with a strong tradition of secularism and democracy (though imposed through force), it is currently having trouble reconciling that secularism with Muslim doctrines. If Turkey can work things out positively, there is hope for Muslims elsewhere.
Islamic Dress in French Schools & Multiculturalism
In many Western nations, Muslims are experiencing legal battles over whether women have a right to wear sectarian Muslim dress - specifically, a hijab which largely covers a women from head to toe. Sometimes the dress is defended on cultural grounds, sometimes on religious grounds. Should Muslims be able to wear it or are there reasons to prevent it?
Historical Islam: Superior or Inferior? To What?
Whenever discussing the conflict between Islam and the West today, it's common to cite the fact that at one point Islam was 'superior' to the West and it's currently lower status in terms of culture, technology, and power have created a hard feelings that make amicable relations difficult. But was Islam really superior? If so, to what and why?
Can Islam Be Reformed?
It's widely agreed that for the problems with Islam and Islamic violence to be solved, there will have to be changes with in Islam itself. There's nothing in Muslim scriptures and traditions which can't also be found in Christians and Jewish traditions, but Jews and Christians have generally become able to ignore or re-interpret the problematic parts.
Islam, Legalism, and Sex
Traditionally, Islam has generally been pretty open and frank when it comes to sexuality. Islam lacks the doctrine of original sin which has made sexual activity so sinful in Christianity. To a certain extent, this has meant that sex has always been more healthy in Muslim societies; since not every sexual behavior is licit, however, it has also led to extensive legalism with regards to sex.
Muslim Basic Beliefs: What Do Muslims Believe? Holy Days, Holy Sites, and Basic Beliefs in Islam
Many Muslim beliefs are similar to the beliefs in Christianity and Judaism, but other beliefs do differ. The most central beliefs are contained in the Five Pillars of Islam. Muslims also have a number of important Holy Days and Holy Sites which differ from those found in Christianity and Judaism. Any basic understanding of Islam requires first understanding what Muslims believe, why, and how those beliefs differ from beliefs in other religions.
Islam's Holy Days: Muslim Calendar of Holidays and Holy Days in Islam
The Islamic calendar begins in the Western year 622 A.D. on the date which Muhammad and his closest companions moved from Mecca to Medina, known as the Hijra. During the twelve lunar months there are a number of important holidays, or holy days, including: Al-Hijra, Ashura, Mawlid al-Nabi, and Eid Al-Adhha. The term Eid is the Arabic term for festivity or celebration, and is only attached to a couple of holy days in the Muslim year.
Crisis in Islam
Islam is experiencing a crisis of credibility and authority that stems directly from the nature of Islam itself. This makes it difficult to come up with solutions of any sort because few Muslims will be willing to alter the structure of their religion.
Muslim Orthodoxy vs. Religious, Political, and Social Innovation
For many in the West, Islamic societies appear backward in just about all possible measures: scientific, technological, political, social, etc. This isn't just prejudice and misunderstandings. Many Islamic societies are very backward, regressive, and reactionary - this is deliberate and a direct consequence of some common, authoritative teachings of Islam.
Status of Women in Christianity & Islam (Book Notes: No God but God)
A common criticism of Islam is its treatment of women; at the same time, though, Christianity does not have a very good track record with its treatment of women, either. The reasons do not appear to be the same in both religions, though...
Islam and Government
Many Muslims in the Middle East see their governments as corrupt, ineffective, and repressive. They dream that a proper Islamic government would solve all their problems and Islamic radicals encourage this belief. In Iran, though Muslims know what it is like to live under an Islamic government - and they aren't joyful about it.
Islam and Human Rights under the Shari'a
One of the problems facing Islam today is its failure to deal with basic human rights. Traditional, orthodox Islam doesn't recognize equal rights for women, the right to convert from Islam to another religion, or the right to criticize Islam, the Qu'ran, or Muhammad. Where Islam reins, basic human rights are restricted in the name of religious ideology.
Understanding and Misunderstanding Islam
Islam is a religion, obviously enough, and with that non-Muslims in the West seem to believe that they know enough about it. This is a mistake, however, because while Islam is indeed a religion it is also more: a culture, a way of life, and an identity. In this, Islam is quite different from Christianity.
Free Will vs. Determinism in Islam & Christianity
One of the longest-running debates in philosophy is over the existence of free will. Does free will exist or not? Some say it does, others say that the nature of the universe is deterministic. For religious believers, some think that God has foreordained every event and has fully determined the future. What a person believes on this matter has serious implications for how they behave.
Reform in Islam
Most people recognize that there are significant problems with the world-wide Muslim community. Perhaps the biggest problem is the uncritical adherence to "tradition" which, over the centuries, has proven an impediment to every sort of positive change, development, or reform. Today, perhaps, there are movements that will achieve something.
Glossary of Religion and Philosophy: Islam
Because Islam relies on Arabaic as its primary language, many of the theological and political terms people from the West see are totally unfamiliar. This glossary will help you better understand some of the words b
Recently Reviewed Books on Islam
What is Islam? Is Islam opposed to democracy and human rights? Are there good reasons to reject Islam and its theological claims? To what extent have politics and economics influenced the development of Islam in the Middle East? The books here answer those questions and more, presenting a critical and scholarly perspective.
Recently Reviewed Books on Palestine & Israel
Few people are unaware of the violence which keeps occurring between Israelis and Palestinians. Why is this happening - what are the causes, and are there any solutions? Everything comes back to religion: the disagreement and violence between Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Understanding the role of religion in these disagreements is necessary to understanding the violence itself.
Recently Reviewed Books on Religion, Violence, and Terrorism
Religious leaders normally argue that religion is a force for good and love in the world. Yet, at the same time, we see religion regularly used for war, mass murder, terrorism, and even genocide. Why does this difference exist - how can religion be claimed as a basis for peace while so many use it as a basis for terroris
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